The history of Kyrgyzstan and its people dates back to more than 2000 years. Geographically secluded by its mountainous location, it was ruled by Göktürks, the Uyghur Empire, and the Khitan people, before being conquered by the Mongols in the 13th century between periods of self-government. Subsequently, it did regain independence but was invaded by Kalmyks, Manchus and Uzbeks. It had an important role as part of the historical Silk Road trade route.
In 1876 Kyrgyzstan became a part of the Russian Empire. It remained as an important province in the USSR as the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic after the Russian Revolution. In 1990, the pro-independence candidate Askar Akayev was elected as the new president of the SSR who followed Mikhael Gorbachev’s democratic reforms in the USSR.
Kyrgyzstan and its people declared independence from the city of Moscow, on 31 August 1991, and a democratic government was finally installed.
Origins Of The Kyrgyz People
The Yenisei Kirghiz clan lived in the higher parts of the Yenisey River valley, in central Siberia. The Kyrgyz people were described as red-haired people with fair complexion and green (blue) eyes by the Muslim sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD and the Chinese sources of the 2nd century BC.
Later Kyrgyzstan became a part of the Kushan empire at the briefing of the Buddhism era as a part of the Tiele tribes and came under the rule of the Göktürks and Uyghurs. The Kyrgyz people quickly moved as far as the Tian Shan range subsequently and continued their dominance over this province for about 200 years.
After defeating the Uyghur Khaganate in 840 AD the early Kyrgyz state attained its greatest expansion. However, the Kyrgyz domination shrunk to the Sayan Mountains and the Altay Range as a result of the rising Mongol expansion.
With the rise of the Mongol Empire, the Kyrgyz people migrated south in the 13th century. Several cults of Turkic people governed over the Kyrgyz people before the power of the Oirats that is until 1685.
Mongol Domination
In the 13th century, the Mongol invasions of different parts of Central Asia destroyed the colonies of Kyrgyzstan. Apart from their independence, people also lost their written language.
The son of Genghis Khan, Juche, succeeded in overpowering the disunited Kyrgyz tribes who lived in the Yenisey valley region. Kyrgyzstan was partially under the rule of Golden Horde, partially under Chagatai Khanate and the rest parts were under the rule of the Oirats as well as the Dzungars who succeeded their regime for the next 200 years. Freedom was regained in 1510.
However, the Kyrgyz tribes were defeated again in the seventeenth century by the Kalmyks, by the Manchus in the mid-eighteenth century, and by the Uzbeks in the early nineteenth century.
The Russian Empire
The leaders of the Kyrgyz Sarybagysh tribe stabilised the first diplomatic relations with the Russian Empire by posting his diplomats to Catherine the Great in Saint Petersburg. The territory of Kyrgyzstan came under the control of the Khanate of Kokand in the early 19th century.
It was occupied and officially appended to the Russian Empire in 1876. The Russian takeover stimulated various uprisings against the Tsarist authority triggered by the Russian imposition of the military draft on the Kyrgyz and other Central Asian people. This caused many Kyrgyz to flee to China.
Kyrgyzstan Independence
The Supreme Council of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan approved a proposal on the “Declaration on State Independence of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan” on August 31, 1991.
The Kyrgyz Republic was henceforth declared as an independent state and authoritatively adhered to the postulates of the international law, and cooperation between peoples. The first constitution was adopted in 1993 and since then Kyrgyzstan has had 2 revolutions.