ISLAM SULTAN SHOAHMEDOV

He was a well-known Muslim public and political figure [1]. He was born on November 21, 1882 in Orenburg in a Tatar-Bashkir family. His father Shagisultan (Sultan) Shagiakhmetovich Shagiakhmetov (1855-1896) was from the Bashkir clan in Menzalinsk district of Ufa province. He graduated from the law faculty of Kazan University in 1876. In 1876-1890, he was a teacher at the Orenburg Tatar Teachers’ School, then he worked as an investigator in the judicial offices of the Orenburg region. His mother, Gaynizigan Muhammed-Sadigovna Nigmatullina, was a Tatar woman who belonged to the noble class by origin.

I.Shoakhmedov’s worldview was mainly formed among the Orenburg Tatars. His mother, a Tatar woman, played an important role in the formation of his spiritual life and social views.

After graduating from the Orenburg Men’s Gymnasium (1905), I.Shoakhmedov first studied at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, and then at the Faculty of Law (1905-1910) of St. Petersburg University. In addition to Turkish and Russian, he was fluent in English, French, and German. While being a student, he was interested in the social-democratic movement in Russia, and in 1907 he conducted propaganda work among the soldiers of the Tashkent garrison.

Having completed the full course of the university at the end of 1910, he received his diploma in January 1911. In August 1912, he started working in the court chamber of St. Petersburg. He became the editor of “Musulmanskoy gazety” published in Petersburg in October 1912. He defended representatives of the Menshevik party in a number of court cases. I. Shoakhmedov fought for the rights of the Muslim population in the Russian Empire. He came to Kokand in early 1915. I.Shoakhmedov began his career as a deputy investigating lawyer at the Skobelev District Court [2]. Here he played an important role in publishing the newspaper “Sadoi Fergana”. In 1916, he founded the “Ghayrat” society, launched the publication of the newspaper “Turkestansky kray”, and became its editor. In 1916, he supported the labor uprising that broke out in the Fergana Valley.

He was in Petrograd during the days of the February Revolution. At this time, he approached the People’s Socialist Party. At the end of March 1917, he returned to Turkestan. From June 1917, he worked as the acting chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Council. He was the participant of the II Congress of All-Russian Muslims held in Kazan in 1917.

Shoahmedov came to Tashkent in 1917 and took an active part in the autonomist movement in Turkestan. He was then editor and publisher of the newspaper “Turkestansky kray” (Tashkent, 1917), which started to appear again. He was a member of the Central Council of Muslims of Turkestan. He was an active participant of the I-IV Congresses of All-Turkistan Muslims [3].

In the Turkestan Autonomous Government, he became the Deputy Prime Minister, and later the Minister of Finance. He was the author of the draft Constitution of Turkestan Autonomy. He was captured by the Bolsheviks in the Kokand fortress during the dissolution of the autonomous government (February, 1918).

In the spring of 1918, it was written in the newspaper “Ulug Turkestan” that he went insane as a result of torture in a prison in Tashkent and was transferred to a prison infirmary. In May 1918, the surviving members of the Turkestan Autonomous Government were granted amnesty by the Bolsheviks and were released from prison.

In 1919-1920, I. Shoahmedov collaborated with the Bolsheviks. In 1920, he worked in the Central Council of National Economy of Turkestan and the Revkom of Kokand. At the end of 1920, he went secretly to Manchuria. In early 1921, he ended up in a Russian refugee camp in Peshawar, British India.

In May 1921, the letter of I.Shoakhmedov, who was seriously ill, fell into the hands of Russian emigrants in Paris. Later, Mustafa Chokai wrote about it in his article. I. Shoahmedov came to Vladivostok in August 1921 with the financial support of his relative, the wealthy merchant Agafurov family. He planned to leave for Paris from here. According to some reports, I.Shoahmedov fell seriously ill soon after and stayed with his relatives in Vladivostok [4]. He died about 1922 or later.

According to Mustafa Chokai’s article titled “Shaikh-Islam Shah-Ahmad-Bey” published in Berlin in 1931 in “Yosh Turkestan” journal, when he met Shoahmedov’s sister in Paris in 1922, his comrade was seriously ill. They did not find out about Shoahmedov’s further fate and destiny [5].

1. Shoahmedov had a brother named Shahgali (1882-?) and 4 sisters named Bibi Maryam, Bibi Galiya, Bibi Soliya, Bibi Zuhra. I. Shoakhmedov’s wife was Olga Viktorovna Benedskaya (since 1909) [6].

 

[1] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 20.

 [2] Isxakov S. Revolyutsioner, politik, gosudarstvenniy deyatel. Sh.-I.Shagiaxmetov // “Rossiya XXI” (Moskva). 2018. №4. –S.6-29.

[3] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 21.

 [4] Shagiahmetov Shaxislam (Islom) Shagisultonovich //Islam v Sankt-Peterburge. Ensiklopedicheskiy slovar. –Moskva-Nijniy Novgorod: “Medina”, 2009. –S. 301 – 302.

[5] Mustafa Shoqay. Shigʻirmalarinin toliq jinagʻi. On yeki tomdiq. Tom V. Kurastirgʻon algʻi soz ben tusinidirmelerdi jazgʻan K.Yesmagʻambetov. –Almati: “Dayk-Press”, 2013. –S.79-80.

[6] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 21-23.