Russian conquest of Central Asia

Russian conquest of Central Asia
Part of the territorial evolution of Russia

Map of Russia's advances into Central Asia, 1912
Date1713–1895
Location
Result Russian victory
Territorial
changes
Belligerents

 Tsardom of Russia (1713–1721)
 Russian Empire (1721–1895)
Kalmyk Khanate (1721–1771)
Kalmyks (1773–1895)

Dzungar Khanate (until 1719)
Kazakh Khanate (until 1848)
 Emirate of Bukhara (until 1868)
 Khanate of Khiva (until 1873)
 Khanate of Kokand (until 1876)
Turkmen tribes
Kyrgyz tribes
 Afghanistan
 British Empire

Commanders and leaders
Russian Empire Peter the Great
Russian Empire Ivan Buchholz
Russian Empire Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky 
List of Commanders
Abul Khair Khan
Ablai Khan
Sapura Matenqyzy
List of Commanders
Strength
Russia In 1714–1716:
2,940 troops
In 1717:
4,000 troops
In 1715–1725:
2,000 troops
5 guns
12 pounds of gunpowder
300 cores
200 shot and buckshot charges
In 1773–1775:
35,000 troops
In 1832–1833:
1,050 troops
In 1835:
3,347 troops
In 1837:
3,080 troops
In 1838:
2,620 troops
In 1839-1840:
6,651 troops and 10,000 camels (Khiva)
2,600 troops (Kazakh Khanate)
In 1843:
30,000+ troops (Summer)
3,100 troops (Autumn)
In 1844:
3,000 troops
In 1853:
2,000+ troops
In 1864:
2,500 troops
In 1873:
13,000 troops
In 1879:
3,500 troops
In 1881:
7,100 troops
In 1883–1885:
1,500 troops
Kazakh Khanate:
~10,000 troops (1717)
~500 troops (1720)
~300 troops (1721)
~3,000-6,000 troops (1773–1775)
~About 2,000 troops (1838)
~3,500 troops (1843)
~20,000 troops[1] (1844–1845)
Khanate of Kokand In 1853:
~12,000 troops
In 1865:
~36,000 troops
Casualties and losses
Russia In 1716:
2,300 killed
1,300 captured
In 1717:
About 4,000 killed (Khiva)
3,000 captured (Kazakh Khanate)
In 1722:
5,000 captured
In 1774–1776:
2,500 killed
In 1839:
2,500 killed or died of diseases
In 1866:
500 killed and wounded
In 1879:
200+ killed
~250 wounded
In 1881:
59–268 killed
254–669 wounded
645 died of diseases
In 1885:
11 killed or wounded
Khanate of Kokand In 1853:
2,000 killed[2]
In 1875:
thousands killed
Emirate of Bukhara In 1866:
12 000 killed
In 1868:
3 500+ killed
Turkmen tribes:
In 1879:
2,000+ killed
2,000+ wounded
In 1881:
~8,000 killed (incl. civilians)
Emirate of Afghanistan In 1885:
~900 killed or wounded

In the 16th century, the Tsardom of Russia embarked on a campaign to expand the Russian frontier to the east. This effort continued until the 19th century under the Russian Empire, when the Imperial Russian Army succeeded in conquering all of Central Asia. The majority of this land became known as Russian Turkestan—the name "Turkestan" was used to refer to the area due to the fact that it was and is inhabited by Turkic peoples, excluding the Tajiks, who are an Iranian ethnicity. Upon witnessing Russia's absorption of the various Central Asian realms, the British Empire sought to reinforce India, triggering the Great Game, which ended when both sides eventually designated Afghanistan as a neutral buffer zone.

Although the Russian Empire collapsed during World War I, the Russian sphere of influence remained in what was Soviet Central Asia until 1991. This region now comprises Kazakhstan in the north, Uzbekistan in the centre, Kyrgyzstan in the east, Tajikistan in the southeast, and Turkmenistan in the southwest; the Russian language is still recognized in some capacity in many of these countries.

  1. ^ Бекмаханов Е.Б., Восстание хана Кенесары (1837-1847), с. 27
  2. ^ Terentyev 2022, p. 323.

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