Russian Conquest of the Central Asian Khanates (Kokand, Bukhara, Khiva)
- Date
- 1865–1876
- Category
- Exploration & colonisation
- Region
- Central Asia
- Era
- Modern
- Significance
Between 1865 and 1876 the Russian Empire subjugated the three Uzbek khanates of Central Asia, completing its southward expansion into Turkestan.
The campaign opened decisively in June 1865 when General Mikhail Chernyayev, acting largely on his own initiative and heavily outnumbered, stormed and captured Tashkent, the wealthiest city of the Khanate of Kokand. In 1867 St. Petersburg organised the conquered lands into the Governorate-General of Turkestan under Konstantin von Kaufman, headquartered at Tashkent, who then defeated the Emirate of Bukhara, taking Samarkand in 1868 and reducing Bukhara to a Russian protectorate. The Khanate of Khiva was crushed in Kaufman's 1873 expedition and likewise became a protectorate, while the Khanate of Kokand was formally abolished and annexed as Fergana Oblast in 1876 after a revolt suppressed by Mikhail Skobelev. These conquests extended Russian power to the borders of Afghanistan and Persia, intensifying the "Great Game" rivalry with Britain and reshaping the political map of Central Asia for over a century.
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Empires active in 1865–1876
- French Colonial Empire (Second)1830 CE – 1962 CE
- Russian Empire1721 CE – 1917 CE
- British Empire1583 CE – 1997 CE
- Qing Dynasty1636 CE – 1912 CE
- Spanish Empire1492 CE – 1976 CE
- Portuguese Empire1415 CE – 1999 CE
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Further reading
The wider story
Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present
Bold single-volume history placing the steppe and Silk Road at the center of Eurasia.
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