Sherali (Serali) Munaytbasovich Lapin (1868-1919) was a public and political figure in Turkestan. He was one of the leaders of “Shurai Ulama” organization.
Sherali Lapin was born in March 1868 in Perovsk uyezd of Syrdarya region (previously Okmachit, now near Kyzylorda). His father’s name was Munaytbas Lapin, his mother’s name was Boshai. He graduated from the Perovsk City Educational Institution, the Turkestan Teachers’ Seminary in Tashkent (1889), and the Law Faculty of St. Petersburg University (1904). He was fluent in Turkish and Russian.
From February 1, 1892, he started working as a translator in the Samarkand regional court. Since 1893, he worked as a translator in the military governorate of Samarkand region. He worked as a translator during the trips of Baron A. B. Vrevskiy, the governor-general of the Turkestan region and the commander of the Turkestan district, to Bukhara and Karki. In June-July 1897, he was sent by the military governor of Samarkand province to the Iskandar volost of Samarkand province to learn Yaghnob language. Later, he was on a business trip in Fergana, Syrdarya, and Zakaspian regions.
In 1895, two of his works were published in Samarkand: “Russian-Uzbek dictionary” (with 4,000 words and a brief grammar of the Uzbek language) and “Translation of inscriptions on the historical monuments of the city of Samarkand” (in Russian). Lapin was the first to translate into Russian the inscriptions in Gori Amir, Shahizinda mausoleums, Bibikhanim mosque and madrasa, Kokaldosh madrasa, Shaybani shrine and other architectural monuments in Samarkand. He published scientific articles on the history, religion, and culture of the Turkic peoples in the Central Russian press. He demanded to open modern schools in Turkestan [1].
After resigning in 1904, he worked as a lawyer and engaged in political activities. He opened his own private law office in St. Petersburg in 1908-1910. He worked in the organizational bureau of the Z-State Duma Muslim faction in Russia. He returned to Turkestan in 1910.
He actively participated in the IV Congress of All-Russian Muslims (Petersburg, July 1914). After the February revolution, his political activity increased. In March 1917, he became the chairman of the Council of People’s Representatives in the city of Okmachit. In July 1917, when the “Shurai Islamiya” society split into two, he headed the Tashkent branch of the “Shurai Ulama” organization (1917-1918). He was the participant of the III National Congress of Workers, Soldiers and Christian Deputies of Turkestan in Tashkent (November 15-22, 1917) and the Fourth Extraordinary Congress of All-Turkistan Muslims in Kok (November 26-28, 1917). At the Congress, he was included in the National Assembly of Turkestan and even though he was nominated for the post of chairman of the parliament, he refused it.
In November 1917, Sherali Lapin approached the Russian Bolsheviks who seized power in Tashkent by violence. From January 1918, he began to cooperate with the Soviet authorities and the Bolsheviks. After the Turkestan Autonomy was drowned in blood, he stopped this cooperation. S. Lapin received Turkish citizenship with the help of the German consul general, returned to Petrograd, and arrived in Berlin on September 20, 1918 via Pskov. He fell seriously ill in Germany and was admitted to the hospital of the Edel Institute on December 17, 1918.
Sh. Lapin returned to Samarkand in 1919 and soon died due to unknown reasons. He was buried in Shahizinda cemetery in Samarkand.
Sh. Lapin’s daughter Rabiga (1893-1954) was born in Tashkent. She was the wife of the famous statesman Sanjarbek Asfandiyorov (1889-1938).
Rajabov Q., Haydarov M. Lapin Sherali // Oʻzbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi. Tom S. - Toshkent: “Oʻzbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi” Davlat ilmiy nashriyoti, 2003. - B. 227.
