Emigration in Turkmenistan (20-30-ies of XX century)

Abstract

The insurgent movement of 1920-1935 in Turkmenistan created the new phenomenon in social and political life of the republic emigration. Being naturally nomad people and consisting of several tribes and families, Turkmens from ancient times lived on boundless open spaces, from the Caspian Sea in the east of and from the Aral Sea and Amu Darya in the West and in the north from Afghanistan and Iran to the Kazakh steppes. To the middle of the 19th century the most part of the Turkmen tribes passed to settled life. This state remained also at the initial stage of the Soviet period. However, a new situation, the establishment of the developing Soviet power later, forced parts of the Turkmen population to look for shelters and to emigrate to the neighboring territory of Afghanistan and Iran. The main periods of emigration were shown in article on the basis of the new materials revealed by authors in archives of Turkmenistan, the attempt is made to generalize data on quantity of the emigrated families on areas and districts of the Turkmen republic in the 20-30th of the last century.

Keywords

• Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, the Soviet period, Turkmen tribes, Emigration