UBAIDULLA KHOJAYEV

 

Ubaidulla Khojayev [Ubaidullakhoja Asadullakhojayev; Ubaydulla Asaddullayevich Khojayev] was a well-known state and public figure, a well-known representative of the Jadidism movement in Turkestan, and one of the organizers of the Uzbek press [1].

He was born in Tashkent in 1886 in a craftsman’s family. Some sources indicate that he was born on May 12, 1878. Studied at the Institute of Law in Saratov (1908-1912). In his student years, thinking about solving the problems of the time, he corresponded with the famous Russian writer Lev Tolstoy (1909). Since 1913, he worked as a private lawyer at the Tashkent District Court. He joined the Jadidism movement and soon became one of its leaders. One of the founders of “Turon” society (1913). He published “Sadoi Turkistan” newspaper in Tashkent in April 1914 and edited it. Gathering young people around him, he created the secret society “Umid”. Later, this organization was called “Taraqqiparvar” and became one of the main organizations of Turkestan Jadids. After the newspaper “Sadoi Turkistan” was closed by the local authorities of the Russian Empire in April 1915, he came to Andijan and published the newspaper “Turkestansky Golos” in Russian [2].

He was the chairman of the “Turkistan Recruitment Committee” established in Tashkent (1916). He went to Petrograd together with the local investor Mirkomilboy Mirmominbayev to cancel the decree of Emperor Nicholas II on recruitment.

He was the secretary and member of the Central Council of Muslims of Turkestan (National Center) established at the First Congress of All-Turkistan Muslims (April 1917). He was a member of the Executive Committee of the All-Russian Muslim Council (May 1917). He was the chairman of the “Shurai Islamiya” organization established in March 1917 in Tashkent. He was one of the initiators of the autonomy movement. He was the Minister of Military Affairs of the Turkestan Autonomous Government (November 1917 - February 1918).

In February 1918, Ubaidulla Khojayev went to the Caucasus on the government’s behalf and decided the issue of bringing grain to Turkestan [3]. According to Mustafa Chokai, after the dissolution of the autonomous government, he fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks on the Ashgabat-Samarkand railway [4].

After being pardoned by the Soviet authorities in May 1918, he went to Orenburg and in November 1918 took an active part in the establishment of the government of Bashkortostan.

Ubaidulla Khojayev was imprisoned by the Soviet regime several times (1918, 1929, 1931, 1938). He lived in poverty in his sister’s house in Tashkent. He translated the famous work “Mowgli” by the English writer J.R. Kipling into Uzbek. He was arrested for the last time on February 20, 1938 in Tashkent, and by the decision of the special council of the NKVD of the USSR, he was sentenced to a labor correction camp for 8 years on May 14, 1939. On the same day, he was sent to the Kotlas railway station of Gorkovsk to serve his sentence [5]. He died in Kotlas prison on October 31, 1942. After his death, he was exonerated by the Soviet authorities [6].

People’s writer of Uzbekistan Shukrullo (1921-2020), who is the son of Ubaydulla Khojayev’s sister, that is, his nephew, in the novel “Tirik ruhlar” (Living Souls, 1999) described the work of his uncle Ubaydulla Khojayev and in his memoir “Kafansiz komilganlar” (Buried without Shrouds, 1990), he highlighted the fate of our repressed compatriots [7].

 

[1] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 30-32.

[2] [Rajabov Q.]. Asadullaxoʻjayev Ubaydullaxoʻja //Oʻzbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi. T. 1. –Toshkent: “Oʻzbekiston milliy ensiklopediyasi” Davlat ilmiy nashriyoti, 2000. –B. 443.

[3] Unutilmas siymolar. Jadidchilik harakatining namoyandalari. Matnlar muallifi: S. Aʼzamxoʻjayev, D. Alimova, Sh. Rizayev. –Toshkent: “Akademiya”, 1999. –B. 22.

[4] Mustafo Choʻqay oʻgʻli. Istiqlol jallodlari. –B. 49.

[5] Bu haqda qarang: Oʻzbekiston Milliy xavfsizlik xizmati arxivi, P – 35554, 2, 62 – varaqlar; P – 19990, 2, 31 – varaqlar.

[6] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 31-32.

 [7] Rajabov Q. Turkiston Muxtoriyati vazirlari hamda milliy majlis aʼzolari hayoti va taqdiri. – Toshkent: “Bodomzor Invest”, 2021. – B. 32.