Latest / The Story of Uzbekistan: Silk Road Kingdoms and Soviet Legacy — Fexingo History / The Siege of Jizzakh: Russia's Brutal Conquest of Uzbekistan
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've covered a lot of ground in this series — the Timurids, the Khanates, the Soviet era. But there's one moment in the Russian conquest that I think we've only touched on obliquely, and it's a brutal, pivotal siege that really opened the door to Samarkand. I'm talking about the siege of Jizzakh in 1866. Luna: Jizzakh — that's in the middle of modern Uzbekistan, right? Between Samarkand and Tashkent? Lucas: Exactly. After the fall of Tashkent in 1865, the Russians under General Chernyayev had taken the biggest prize in the region. But the Khanate of Kokand wasn't finished. They still held Jizzakh, a formidable fortress on the main road from Tashkent to Samarkand. The new Russian commander, General Dmitry Romanovsky, decided he needed to take it to secure the route south. Lucas: Romanovsky was a seasoned officer, a veteran of the Caucasus campaigns. He arrived with about 2,000 men — infantry, Cossacks, and artillery. The Jizzakh garrison was larger, maybe 5,000 to 6,000 defenders, including Kokand regulars and local Kipchak fighters. But the Russians had a huge advantage in training and, crucially, in artillery. Luna: So how did the siege actually play out? Lucas: The siege began in October 1866. Romanovsky ordered a bombardment that quickly breached the mud-brick walls. But when the Russians stormed the breach, they met fierce resistance. The defenders fought door to door, from rooftops, even from the mosque. The fighting lasted two days. When it was over, Romanovsky reported that 'no prisoners were taken' — a phrase that historians still argue about. Did he order a massacre, or was it just a statement of fact that the defenders fought to the death? Lucas: Contemporary Uzbek sources, passed down orally, describe a different story. They say that after the walls fell, many civilians and wounded fighters were killed in the chaos. Some accounts mention mass graves outside the city walls. It's one of those events where the official Russian version and local memory diverge sharply. Luna: That's heavy. And this siege — it's not as famous as the fall of Tashkent, but it seems like it was just as important. Lucas: Absolutely. Jizzakh was the last major obstacle before Samarkand. Once it fell, the road was open. Romanovsky marched south and took Samarkand in May 1868 with almost no resistance — the Emir of Bukhara had already fled. So Jizzakh was the hinge point. It also solidified Russian control over the entire Zarafshan Valley, the breadbasket of the region. Luna: What happened to Romanovsky after that? Lucas: He was promoted and later served as governor of Turkestan for a time. But his reputation is mixed. Some Russian sources praise his efficiency; Uzbek histories remember him as the 'butcher of Jizzakh.' He died in 1885, but the controversy around Jizzakh never really faded. It's a reminder that the 'Great Game' wasn't just diplomatic maneuvering — it was bloody conquest on the ground. Lucas: And if you found this exploration of a lesser-known turning point useful, you know, the way we keep this show ad-free is through listener support. If you'd like to help us keep digging into stories like this, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that goes a long way. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us keep the research deep and the episodes coming. So thanks to anyone who considers it. Lucas: Now, back to Jizzakh. The aftermath of the siege had long-term consequences for the region. The Russians built a garrison there and began settling Russian peasants in the fertile lands around it. That created tensions with the local Uzbek and Tajik population that simmered for decades. And when the Basmachi revolt broke out after the Russian Revolution, Jizzakh became a center of anti-Soviet resistance — the memory of 1866 still fresh. Luna: So the siege echoes through history. It's not just a one-off battle. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes it worth revisiting. It's a story of courage, brutality, and the human cost of empire — themes that run through so much of Central Asian history. Next time we might look at the fall of Samarkand itself, or perhaps the role of local collaborators in the Russian conquest.