A Historiographical Analysis of Research on the Karakalpaks of the Fergana Valley

Alisher Mamataliev

doi:10.57033/mijournals-2026-3-0366

Keywords

Fergana Valley Karakalpaks historiography Soviet ethnography foreign scholarship local research ethnic classification population census language ethnic identity

Abstract

This article examines scholarship on the Karakalpaks of the Fergana Valley published between 1933 and 2026 from a historiographical perspective. It explores how Soviet-era ethnographic and linguistic evidence was interpreted in Western and Turkish scholarship and how these interpretations relate to subsequent local research. Publications are compared in terms of their sources, research questions, and methods of substantiating conclusions. The works of E. D. Polivanov, L. S. Tolstova, and D. S. Nasyrov are treated as an earlier scholarly foundation rather than as foreign historiography. Particular attention is paid to bibliographic connections among K. H. Menges, S. Wurm, and J. Eckmann, the development of Tolstova’s research, ethnic classification in census records, and Turkish scholars’ use of historical chronicles. The analysis distinguishes official nationality records, everyday language use, and ethnic memory as different kinds of evidence. It argues that the historiographical significance of these publications lies in the changing relationship between evidence and interpretation rather than in their number or place of publication. The conclusions are limited to the publications examined.

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