Ürkün — the 1916 uprising

In summer 1916 the Russian Empire decided to conscript Central Asian Muslims for labour behind the front in the First World War, on top of land seizures for settlers and abuses by officials.

The Kyrgyz and Kazakhs rose in revolt and were brutally suppressed. Hundreds of thousands fled across snowy mountain passes to China, many dying of hunger, cold and attacks on the way — the Kyrgyz call this flight Ürkün.

Researchers estimate that between 100,000 and 500,000 people died in the region. Since 2016 Kyrgyzstan has marked 7–8 November as the Days of History and Commemoration of Ancestors.