AHistoryIndependent states
The Khanate of Kokand (1709-1876)
A khanate founded in the Fergana valley by the Ming tribe, home of the poet Nodira, and abolished by the Russian Empire.
In 1709 Shahrukh Bey of the Uzbek Ming tribe broke the Fergana valley away from Bukhara and founded a separate state. Kokand soon became its capital. The early rulers were called "bey"; in the early 19th century Alim Khan took the title of khan.
Under Umar Khan (1810-1822) the khanate reached from Tashkent to the city of Turkistan and Zhetysu. Literature flourished at court: Umar Khan wrote poetry under the pen name "Amiri", and his wife Nodira is one of the best-known women poets of Uzbek literature.
From the mid-19th century the khanate was weakened by internal strife and by Russian campaigns. Tashkent was lost in 1865. The palace built under Khudayar Khan in the early 1870s is Kokand's best-known landmark today. In February 1876 the khanate was abolished and became Russia's Fergana Oblast.
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Updated: November 10, 2026