The Proclamation of the Turkestan (Kokand) Autonomy (1917)

In November 1917 the Tashkent Soviet, which had seized power in Tashkent, refused to admit representatives of the local Muslim population to the leadership. In response Turkestan's intellectuals called an extraordinary congress in Kokand.

On 27 November 1917 the Extraordinary All-Turkestan Muslim Congress in Kokand proclaimed Turkestan autonomous within a Russian federation. It elected a 12-member Provisional Council and a wider People's Assembly, in which some seats were reserved for the other peoples of Turkestan. The government was led first by Mukhamedzhan Tynyshbayev and then by Mustafa Shokay.

The autonomy had no means to collect taxes or raise an army. In February 1918 the Tashkent Soviet sent troops to Kokand, the city was heavily destroyed with great loss of life, and on 22 February 1918 the autonomy fell. The Kokand Autonomy is remembered as the first experiment in democratic national government in Central Asia.