The Formation of State Archives in Uzbekistan: A Historical

Overview

Iskandarova Shohsanam Isoyevna

Navoi Innovations University, Navoi, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Archival Fund, Archival Documents, Market Relations, Regional Archives, Archival Work, Scientific and

Information Apparatus, Information and Communication.

Abstract: This article examines the development and organization of archival work in the Uzbek SSR. It covers the

creation of legal frameworks, the establishment of republican and regional archives, and the efforts to ensure

the free operation of archives within the republic. The article highlights the initiatives taken to strengthen the

material and technical foundations of these archives. Additionally, it provides an analysis of the current state

of archives in Uzbekistan, focusing on how historical practices have influenced present conditions. This study

underscores the importance of archival systems in preserving the nation's history and the ongoing challenges

in maintaining and improving these systems. By tracing the evolution of archives from the Soviet era to the

present day, the article offers insights into the progress and issues facing archival institutions in Uzbekistan

today.

1 INTRODUCTION

Analysis of archives and issues related to archival

work are of great importance in the study of history.

First, if we talk about the term "archive", different

definitions have been given to this term by local and

foreign authors. In particular, the first paragraph of

the work written by the foreign archivist scientist

Craig Robertson (Media History and the Archive. -

New York. Routledge, 2011) is called Thoughts about

the Archive and Lines about history. In this work, the

author defines the concept of an archive as follows.

"In recent years, the concept of archive has become a

constant topic for scientific analysis by people who

are not archivists. Of course, there is no husband to

be surprised by this. Because, in their research,

scientists began to look at the archive as a permanent

source, a science" (Craig, 2011).

Another archivist scientist in his research

critically approaches the concept of the archive and

gives the following points: "An archive is a place

where anyone who uses it can easily find the

information they need, and is in a position to

guarantee the accuracy, history, and impact of this

information on users. must be. Graig Roberson cites

another archivist scholar's definition of an archive.

The archive is a "house of real documents" (Antonina,

2005).

2 ANALYSIS

The emergence of writing constantly developed

archival work. According to the researchers, the

emergence of writing was caused by such factors as

the need to have complete information in the ruling

circle and the local society, to convey it or to restore

the initial state. For example, in the beginning, the

relations between the states were conducted verbally.

The messages of any ruler were delivered orally by

special messengers. As a result of this, there were

many cases where the chapter used his psychological

arguments, added redundant words, or forgot some

words. As a result, 10 information and messages are

not fully delivered, or the possibilities of correct

reception are limited. In many cases, such exchange

of information caused mutual misunderstandings

between the parties. In addition, verbal agreements in

foreign and domestic policy (drafting of agreements,

announcement of government decrees) did not allow

separate clarify some facts and details of those

agreements after a certain time. One of the oldest

types of writing in Central Asia is the Aramaic script,

1102

Isoyevna, I.

The Formation of State Archives in Uzbekistan: A Historical Overview.

DOI: 10.5220/0012953900003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 1102-1107

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

which was widespread during the Achaemenid

period. Akhundjanov E.A. according to research, in

Central Asia at different historical stages, BC. From

the III century, there were three different types of

writing:

 Aramaic writing (writings based on

Khorezm, Parthian, Sogdian, Middle

Persian, Manichean, and Old Turkish)

 Inscriptions based on Greek graphics (Greek

and Greco-Bactrian inscriptions)

 Indian scripts (kharoshthi, Brahmi).

After the conquest of Central Asia by the Arab

caliphate and the transition to Arabic graphic writing,

in addition to the reforms in the state administration,

the collection and storage of documents in the palace

and private archives, as well as in the offices - divan,

library, and madrasas - were started. year. It is known

that the Arab caliph relied on the Wazir-ul-Wuzara

(Prime Minister) in the administration of the state.

Various issues of state importance are considered in

the advisory board. In turn, the Diwan Ad-Dar is

divided into three main Diwans: al-Mashriq, al-

Maghrib, and al-Kharaj. The Arabs adopted such a

system of divans from the Sasanians of Iran, and the

term divans means accounting and office. For

example, tax documents in Iran are made in triplicate.

One copy of them was kept in the royal cabinet, the

second was sent to the responsible official, and the

third had to be kept in the qazi of that area. The royal

court is also called "the court where seals are placed",

and this term was also used in the Arab era.

It is known that at the beginning of the 16th

century, the nomadic Uzbeks led by Shaibani Khan

captured Movarounnahr and Khurasan, put an end to

the rule of the Timurid princes, and founded their

centralized state in this huge area. In 1583, during the

reign of Abdullah Khan II, Bukhara was strengthened

as the capital of the Shaybani state, and the territories

subordinated to the political, administrative, and

economic centre began to be called the Khanate of

Bukhara. Later, during the reign of Amir Shahmurad

(1785-1800), a representative of the Mangite dynasty,

this khanate was called the Bukhara Emirate, the new

rulers officially began to rule with the title of "Amir",

and this state remained in history under the name of

the Bukhara Emirate. There were 34 very complex

state administrations in the Emirate of Bukhara. From

the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century,

three dynasties ruled the Emirate of Bukhara: The

Shaibanis, the Ashtarkhanis, and the Mangits. Their

administrative management system was built based

on the administration inherited from Amir Temur and

the Timurid state, with some changes made to the

traditions typical of nomadic Uzbeks. At first, the

system of dargahs and devans, which existed in the

Timurid state, was continued in the Emirate of

Bukhara. During Shaibani Khan's reign, the system of

divans was reformed, and most of the tasks related to

them were given to special officials in the dargah.

Including, the task of delivering decrees of the

Supreme Ruler, honorifics, and other official

documents to the responsible persons and ensuring

their execution is entrusted to the "parvanachi".

Accepting, registering, and responding to

applications and complaints sent to the Dargah is the

duty of "dodkhoh". Various forms and methods of

state administration are used in the administrative

management system of the emirate. The state was

ruled by the Amir, who had absolute legislative and

executive power. Political, economic, religious, and

other issues related to the life of the state were

decided in the headquarters in Bukhara-Ark. From

time to time, from 5 to 20 highest officials were

members - very important issues were considered in

the State Council. In state administration, the Amir

relied more on state institutions such as the state

court, tax obligations, religious courts, and

surveillance. Various state agencies were responsible

for the execution of the orders of a supreme ruler, and

in turn, they controlled each other.

According to the information of K.V. Muhsinova,

a scientific employee of the MDA of the Republic of

Uzbekistan, in 1949, he conducted scientific and

technical activities on the documents of the Bukhara

Emir Kushbegi archive. Every letter in the Emirate

was stamped with the author's name, date and seal.

However, since the stamp was made to order in the

first year of the official's appointment, the date

indicated in the document did not always correspond

to the content of the letter and the actual date, because

he used the same stamp even after several years. On

the other hand, when he prepared the Khatami, the

author did not sign it, according to the customs of that

time, it was considered disrespectful to sign after the

name of the god and the emir. Except for high

religious officials: judges, chairmen, and, in some

cases, governors of prestigious regions, they are

allowed to indicate their names on documents.

It is known that the second half of the 19th century

was a time when the fate of the peoples of Central

Asia took a sharp and tragic turn. In 1873, the

protectorate of the Russian Empire was established

over the Khanate of Khiva, and the Imperial

Administration Council (Devon) was introduced to

supervise the activities of the Khanate and the

Khanate. The members of the Council consisted of 7

people, four of whom were representatives of the

Russian administration and three consisted of the

The Formation of State Archives in Uzbekistan: A Historical Overview

1103

Khiva khanate (the khan himself, devanbegi, and

mehtar). The chairman of Devon is Khan. Important

decisions taken by him had to be approved by the

Governor General of Turkestan. As a result of the

division of the Khanate of Khiva into two

independent administrative units, the devan system

was abolished. According to the 1886 "Regulations

on the Administration of Turkestan Territory", the

Amudarya department was included in the Syrdarya

region and was subordinated to the military governor

of the region. He could use the rights and obligations

of the extended head of the district in terms of civil

administration to appoint and release officials to the

local administration and people's court. His assistant

and court functioned under the head of the

department. It is known that the Russo-Khiva treaty

(1873) preserved the structure of the administrative

state in the khanate. In the territory left to him, the

Khan of Khiva, like the emir of Bukhara, retained

unlimited power within the Khanate. In the Khanate

palace, there was a group of officials who performed

the same duties as in the Bukhara Emirate. The

position and level of this or that official in the power

system is determined by his proximity to the khan.

According to the decree of the Khan himself, various

public positions in the palace were distributed, and in

many cases, these positions were inherited from

generation to generation.

According to the period we are studying - in the

administrative management system of the Kokand

Khanate, officials are divided into two categories:

"umaro" - officials responsible for "worldly" affairs

and "ulama" - religious officials. At first, the

hierarchy of khanate management was built on the

model of administrative management in the Bukhara

Emirate. Later, because of the establishment of

administrative-state institutions in the khanate,

changes took place in the management system.

Among them, the position of qushbegi - the position

of Prime Minister of the khanate - is given to

Mingboshi. Mingboshi was a high-ranking official in

the khanate, he managed all the internal affairs of the

khanate, and at the same time, he was considered the

khan's main advisor in foreign policy. The

management of the khanate was assigned to the

devanbeg, who oversaw the khan's cabinet. By the

50s and 60s of the XIX century, this position was

transferred to the discretion of the Mirzaboshi.

Devonbegi was subordinated to all officials below the

mirza. Devonbegi was responsible not only for

administration, taxation, and financial affairs, but also

for military matters, such as leading military

campaigns, assigning allowances and rewards to

soldiers, negotiating with the enemy, concluding a

peace treaty, accounting for taxes from waqf land to

the treasury, and various things presented to the khan

by the local people. also applies to various gifts.

According to A.L. Troiskayan, the report in the

notebook was copied from the patta. It was sent from

Patta Khan's office to the village administration and

residents as information on land taxes. These pattas

were sent to tax collectors and were kept by them,

sometimes affixed to notebooks as proof of

information.

The establishment of state archives in Uzbekistan

is directly related to the history of the Uzbek SSR. It

was from this period that separate state archives

began to be established. In 1924, because of the

national judiciary demarcation in Central Asia, Soviet

republics were established. Archive documents were

divided among the newly created republics in the

following order. Archival funds of Central Asian and

Union importance are stored in the Central State

Archives of Central Asia - Tashkent. Archival funds

of each republic will be given to this republic. The

fund of the Unified State Archive of the Republic of

Turkestan was divided in this way - Abdurazzokh

Samarkandi (1960). On December 28, 1924, by a

special decision, the Central Department of Archives

of the Uzbek SSR was established under the MITK of

the USSR. All regional archival funds established on

the territory of Uzbekistan were handed over to the

Central Department of Archival Affairs of the USSR.

Also, archival funds of Central Asian importance

were handed over to the Archives Department of

Uzbekistan because the central state archive of

Central Asia was not established. These Central

Asian archival funds were created in Tashkent.

Thus, not only documents related to the history of

the republic but also materials related to the entire

history of Central Asia began to be stored in the

archive of the USSR. On July 22, 1925, by the

decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and

Communications of the Ussr, the regulation "On the

Central Department of Archive Work of the Ussr"

was approved. According to this regulation, the

Unified State Archive Fund (YaDAF) was

established in the republic. It was indicated that the

archives of government, trade, industry, cooperatives,

and trade union organizations, as well as religious and

personal archives were included in this fund.

Regional archive bureaus were established in the

regions (in 1925 - Fergana, Samarkand, Tashkent,

Zarafshan, in 1926 - Khorezm, Kashkadarya,

Surkhandarya). As a result of national territorial

demarcation in Central Asia and due to the

dissolution of the republics of Turkestan, Bukhara,

and Khorezm, the state agencies of these republics

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accepted archival materials and took them to the

capital of the republic, Samarkand. In January 1925,

archival materials in about 50,000 storage units were

handed over to the Central Department of Archives.

In 1925-1929, 134 archival funds were received as

part of the work of integrating the state archives with

archival materials. In 1929, the Central Department

of Archives received 863 archival funds and 764,000

collective volumes ("Letter of Temuriya".

Manuscript fund of the Institute of Oriental Studies of

the UzFA. No. 2278).

924 archival funds and 994,000 collective

volumes are kept in regional archives. On April 9,

1930, by the decision of the Presidium of the Ministry

of Internal Affairs of the Ussr, the Central

Department of Archives of the Ussr was renamed the

Central Archive Department of the Ussr. With the

increasing number of archives of the Soviet era, based

on the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and

Communications of the USSR in April 1929, the State

Archive Fund was divided into pre-revolutionary and

Soviet-era archive funds by origin, and central and

local archive funds by importance. On May 20, 1931,

the MIK of the USSR adopted a decision on the

regulation of the Central Archive Department of the

USSR and its local offices. The Central State Archive

of the October Revolution of the USSR and the

Central State History Archive were established under

the Central Archives Department of the USSR. In

July 1934, by the decision of the MIK of the USSR,

the Military Archives of Uzbekistan was established

as part of the Central Archive Department of

Uzbekistan (Bobokulov B. Theory and practice of

archival work. Study guide. - T., 2011). In 1945, this

archive was closed, and all archival funds were

transferred to the Central State Archive of the Red

Army of the USSR in Moscow.

In 1939, the archival organizations of the republic

were transferred from the MIK of the USSR to the

People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the

USSR (IIXK - NKVD). In this regard, the Archive

Department of the People's Commissariat of Internal

Affairs of the USSR was established instead of the

Central Archive Department of the USSR. As a result

of steps taken to improve archival work, by 1936,

1,534 archive funds and 1 million 001 thousand 680

documents were kept in the archives of the republic.

By 1941, the number of funds reached 4116, and

documents exceeded 1 million 580 thousand 450

storage units. Despite the difficult times of the war

years, the government of the republic did a lot of work

in the field of improving the archive. On February 18,

1943, the Central State Archive of Film-Photo-

Phono-Documents of the USSR was established by

the decision of the Central State Archive of the

USSR. The work of filling archives with documents

was continued. In 1941-1942, 0.5 (half) million

documents were received in the state archives of the

republic. In 1944-1945, documents were received in

48,000 storage units. But the paperwork was very

slow.

In the post-war years, a lot of work was done in

the field of organizing existing archival funds. In

1945-1951, about 280,000 storage units were

organized - Abduvahobova M.R. et al., 2006. The

index of the Central State Historical Archive of the

USSR has been prepared, and work has begun on the

index of the Central State Archive of the October

Revolution of the USSR. In addition, a review

bulletin of more than 10 archival funds was compiled,

and thematic reviews were written. On October 14,

1963, the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted

a decision "On measures to improve archival work in

the USSR". This decision played an important role in

improving the work of departmental archives, that is,

archives of organizations. According to him, it is

planned to complete the regulation of office archives

within 2-3 years, to transfer permanently stored

documents to state archives, to place the archives

themselves and their documents in buildings suitable

for safe keeping, and to provide them with qualified

personnel. In 1964, a new building was built and

commissioned for MDA. In 1970, a special building

was built for the Cinema-Photo-Phono-Documents

MDA of the USSR. A lot of work was done in the

field of receiving documents to the state archives. In

1946-1955, documents in more than 600,000 storage

units were received from the archives of ministries

and agencies. By the decision of the Council of

Ministers dated May 9, 1961, the Archives

Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of

Uzbekistan was reorganized as the Archives

Department under the Council of Ministers of

Uzbekistan.

Based on this decision, local archival

organizations were reorganized into Archive

departments of the Council of Ministers of the

Karakalpakstan ASSR and regional executive

committees. The transfer of archival organizations to

the control of the Council of Ministers and the

executive committees of the regions increased their

role in the system of the state apparatus and started a

new stage in the development of archival work.

Archival organizations paid great attention to the

examination of the value of documents and the

completion of state archives with them. The state

archives of the republic have drawn up lists of

organizations, institutions, and enterprises whose

The Formation of State Archives in Uzbekistan: A Historical Overview

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documents are accepted, and which are not accepted,

and now, based on this list, they are accepting

documents from the state archives. The tasks of the

expert review commissions of state archives have

changed radically. In 1986-1990, a lot of work was

done in the field of integration of state archives. In

1990, the number of archival sources reached 9,576

across the country. In 1986-1990, 635,000 permanent

collections were accepted into the state archives of

the republic. In 1962, the central state archive of

medical documents of Uzbekistan was established in

Tashkent. In 1990, the branches of republican

archival organizations were the Main Archive

Department under the Council of Ministers of the

USSR, the Archive Department under the Council of

Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, archive

departments of 11 regional executive committees, 3

central state archives, the Central State of the

Republic of Karakalpakstan archive, 11 regional

archives, more than 40 regional state archives

branches- Ahmedov B. Sources of the history of

Uzbekistan.

After the Republic of Uzbekistan gained its

independence, from the very first days, it paid great

attention to the archive institutions, which store

invaluable documents that reflect the history and past

of not only the republic but also the Central Asian

region. Undoubtedly, the state archive and the works

related to its organization have gained importance.

Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan

"On Archive Work" adopted on June 15, 2010,

defines the term archive as follows. An archive is an

institution that collects, records, stores, and uses

archival documents.

So, the organization that collects, sorts, and

protects all sources and documents related to the

social, political, economic, spiritual, and cultural life

of the country is the archives.

In the study of the history of Uzbekistan, archival

documents and records stored in the archives are of

great importance. The dates and scenes of the past are

reflected and revealed through reliable original

documents stored in archives as the first primary

sources. So, archival documents are history, a living

past, without which we cannot imagine our yesterday,

today, or tomorrow; we can do Every moment, day,

month, and year of history mentioned in the

documents, it tells the story of the event that

happened. When we see the ancient Uzbek land, the

life and past of our people in the archive documents,

sometimes we are surprised, sometimes we feel sad,

sometimes our pride increases. That is why archival

documents are an invaluable historical treasure of our

nation. Archive documents are never destroyed, they

are kept forever (Jumayev U. History of archival

work in Uzbekistan: study guide for undergraduate

students. – Tashkent (2016).

In the Republic of Uzbekistan, from the first days

of independence, the necessary work was carried out

for the free operation of this organization. According

to the decision of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic

of Uzbekistan dated August 31, 1991, from

September 1, 1991, the Central State Archive of the

USSR was renamed the Central State Archive of the

Republic of Uzbekistan. The Central State Archive of

the Republic of Uzbekistan is considered a republic-

wide institution and is subordinate to the "Ozarkhiv"

agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic

of Uzbekistan. On July 6, 1992, according to the

agreement of the heads of the CIS countries,

considering the integrity and indivisibility of archival

funds, the funds kept in state archives were left at the

disposal of each republic - Rashidov (2019).

The independence of the Uzbek people and the

transition to market relations led to fundamental

changes in all areas of our society, including the

restoration of cultural heritage, the development of

history, and archival sciences. Due to the transition to

market relations, expropriation, and privatization of

property, several state-owned industrial enterprises,

transport, and construction, household service, and

trade enterprises were privatized, and a class of

owners began to form. Archive funds and archival

documents of non-state industries, construction

enterprises, farms, trade unions, charitable and other

foundations, political parties and movements, and

religious organizations have established a non-state

archive fund. State and non-state archival funds were

transformed into the National Archives Fund of the

Republic of Uzbekistan (UzR MAF).

Under the conditions of independence, complex

programs for improvement and development of the

main areas of archive work were developed and

implemented by the "Ozarkhiv" agency. These

programs are designed in the following directions and

are designed for five years: ensuring departmental

storage of documents, improving their state

accounting and scientific information apparatus, and

accelerating the use of archival documents.

The independence of the Uzbek people and the

transition to market relations led to fundamental

changes in all areas of our society, including the

restoration of cultural heritage, the development of

history, and archival sciences. Due to the transition to

market relations, expropriation, and privatization of

property, several state-owned industrial enterprises,

transport, and construction, household service, and

trade enterprises were privatized, and a class of

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owners began to form. Archive funds and archival

documents of non-state industries, construction

enterprises, farms, trade unions, charitable and other

foundations, political parties and movements, and

religious organizations have established a non-state

archive fund. State and non-state archival funds were

transformed into the National Archives Fund of the

Republic of Uzbekistan (UzR MAF).

Under the conditions of independence, complex

programs for improvement and development of the

main areas of archive work were developed and

implemented by the "Ozarkhiv" agency. These

programs are designed in the following directions and

are designed for five years: ensuring departmental

storage of documents, improving their state

accounting and scientific information apparatus, and

accelerating the use of archival documents.

In 2010, the Central State Archive of the Republic

of Uzbekistan issued a standard entitled

"Restavratsiya arxivnyx dokumentov na bumajnyx

nositelyakh" and "Polozhenie o poryadke proveniya

ekspertsii tsennosti dokumentov organizatsiy,

predpriyatiy i uchrejdeniy" and "Recommendation o

poryadke uporyadocheniya dokumentov

predpriyatiy, uchrejdeni i organizatsiy" documents

were prepared and approved by the scientific council

under the Agency.

In 2012, the Agency developed "Model

Regulations on Electronic Archives", "Regulations

on the Procedure for Document Valuation Expertise"

and "Enterprises whose archival documents must be

submitted to state archives", the Regulation on the

procedure for compiling the list of institutions and

organizations" was registered with the Ministry of

Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan. At the same

time, the state standard "Terms and definitions for

archival work and administration" was developed and

registered in the "Uzstandart" agency.

To improve the work of the national archives, the

qualifications of local archival departments, heads,

and specialists of regional state archives,

departmental archives, and clerical staff have been

regularly improved. In 2007, the Central State

Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the

Central State Archive of Film and Sound Documents

"Modern Archival Work and Work" were organized

to improve the skills of the heads of the archives of

the Republic of Karakalpakstan, regions and

Tashkent city, managers and specialists of the

regional state archives. methods", "Introduction of

information and communication technologies to

archival work" special training courses- Alimov

(2015).

3 CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, now there are more than 80 state

archives in the Republic of Uzbekistan, in which

more than 6 million collective volumes of documents

are preserved. These documents are widely used by

historians, researchers, students, and other specialists

in scientific and cultural educational work.

REFERENCES

Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On Archive Work."

(2010, June 16). People's word, (119).

Alimov, I., Ergashev, F., & Butaev, A. (1997). Archival

science. Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Sharq.

Isakova, M. (2012). Stanovlenie i razvitie archivnogo dela

v Uzbekistane. Tashkent, Uzbekistan: University.

Isakova, M., & Khaidarov, M. (2012). Providing

management with information (documents). Tashkent,

Uzbekistan.

Robertson, C. (2011). Media History and the Archive. New

York, NY: Routledge.

Burton, A. (2005). Archive Stories (facts, fiction, and the

writing of history). London, England.

Jumayev, U. (2016). History of archival work in

Uzbekistan: curriculum for undergraduate students.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan: TURON-IQBOL.

Rashidov, A. (2019). History of archival work in

Uzbekistan. Study guide. Tashkent, Uzbekistan: Ilm-

Ziya.

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