American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN (E): 2832-8019 Volume 43, | December - 2025 P a g e | 192 www.americanjournal.org ELECTRIFIACTION OF UZBEKISTAN: HISTORIOGRAPHY OF LAST PART OF XX AND BEGINNING OF XXI CENTURIES Gulzora Nematjonovna Saidboboeva, Doctor of Historical Sciences (DSc), Docent of the Department Archival Studies and Historical Sources of the National University of Uzbekistan ABSTRACT KEYWORDS Electrification as an important part of economic and industrial history and the historical process is being studied quite intensively by researchers. Many scientific literatures created at the end of the last and the beginning of this century contain information about electrification, which were studied directly in connection with socio-economic history. This article details their historiographical analysis. Historiography, research, electric power industry, industry, national economy. Introduction The collapse of the Soviet state created the basis for the emergence of studies in Uzbekistan and neighboring countries that reflected approaches to the issue of electrification based on new principles. Many dissertation studies have proven that during the colonial and Soviet periods, Turkestan’s industry was mainly transformed into a raw material supply network, the electrification indicators of the country were significantly lower than in the central regions, and due to inattention to this area, it lagged behind the development of the time. A number of scientific works published in recent years clearly demonstrate that scientific discussions and debates by local and foreign researchers are still ongoing to clarify the issue, and its solution is being comprehensively covered through various processes (socio-economic, political, cultural). MAIN PART The scientific literature published during the years of independence is distinguished by its broader and more objective approach to the history of the country, in particular, its socio-economic situation, and the approach to the problem from the point of view of the interests of our people and the region. In his monograph on the socio-economic and capitalist production relations of Turkestan during the Russian Empire’s colonization, N.U. Musayev, based on archival data, writes that in 1917, out of a total of 1,428 industrial enterprises in Turkestan (together with the Bukhara Emirate and the Khiva Khanate), 34 were power plants, and in another work, he writes that complete information about industrial enterprises in the Trans-Caspian and Seven Seas regions during the colonial period has not been reached, and, relying on various sources and statistical reviews, a total of 45 power plants operated in the country by 1915[1]. American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 43 December - 2025 P a g e | 193 www.americanjournal.org The works prepared and published by the Center for the New History of Uzbekistan cover the colonial period of the Russian Empire and the economic history of Turkestan during the Soviet period, and also contain information related to industry[2]. In particular, in Book 1, the “NEP direction”, which was the leading one in the socialist sector of industrial production, was aimed at a large-scale restructuring of management in industry and enterprises based on the introduction of strict planning and economic accounting, which ensured control in soums and a certain expansion of production democracy[3]. In S. Kholboeev’s monograph on the establishment of the Turkestan People’s University (now the National University of Uzbekistan), the issue of the technical faculty and personnel training in it was partially discussed. On April 11, 1918, the first meeting of the university’s technical faculty was held, and “thus, classes began on May 9 at the natural mathematics and technical faculties of the Turkestan People’s University, which had accepted Russian or Russian-speaking people,” the author writes[4]. Also, in the book “They Studied in Germany” by the well-known literary scholar Sh. Turdiev and the researcher B. Irzaev’s books “Uzbek Youth and Foreign Education” describe in detail, based on archival documents and living memories, that among those sent to study in Germany in the early 1920s were local young people such as Tolgan Mumin and Sultanbek Matkul, who later led the work of educating local workers working in the electrification sector in Uzbekistan, developing electrical networks in the republic, rationally using electricity at industrial facilities, and managing the electricity system based on modern science, and that in 1938 they became victims of repression[5]. The fact that industry in the Turkestan ASSR “mainly focused primarily on cotton processing enterprises and the preparation of raw materials” was also reflected in a book published by a team of authors (2019)[6]. Russian archivist B.I. Kozlov in his article, revealed that the personnel issue was a rather painful issue in the policy of the young Soviet state in the field of industry and electrification in the 1920s, the distrust of the famous technicians of the tsarist era by the leadership of the RCP(b), their repression, and the negative impact of this on the technical potential of the country[7]. In recent years, a number of other works published in Russia have provided valuable materials on the history of electrification of the empire, and in particular Turkestan, and they are also distinguished by the superiority of their approach to the issue based on new historical evidence that was previously unknown, and the context of the development of world electrification[8]. The work also considered a number of dissertation studies defended during the years of independence and analyzing the industrial history of the Turkestan region. In particular, N.A. Abdurakhimova’s doctoral dissertation emphasized that in the second half of the 19th century, technical changes aimed at free economic development and introduction of industrial civilization were very slow in Turkestan due to the social weakness of the metropolis itself[9]. R.N. Tursunov’s candidate's dissertation studied the views of the Jadids on socio-economic processes in Turkestan at the beginning of the 20th century, and the researcher noted that the Jadids of the country, who considered themselves leaders of the time, did not stand aside from the rapid development of science and technology and the introduction of new technologies in industrial production[10]. A number of other scientific studies devoted to the socio-economic history of Turkestan in the late 19th and first quarter of the 20th centuries have analyzed in detail the low level of the country's industry and technical condition, and the fact that the main attention of the colonial and Soviet administration was focused on raw materials from agriculture. In particular, S.B. Shodmonova’s doctoral dissertation revealed that the number of industrial enterprises in the Russian Empire lagged behind European American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 43 December - 2025 P a g e | 194 www.americanjournal.org countries and the USA in terms of technical equipment, which also affected the colonial state of Turkestan[11]. The immediate mobilization of new human potential to construction sites, mines, and industrial enterprises only created additional difficulties in organizing production[12], requiring additional costs and attention to train newcomers in technical matters, their labor discipline, and the quality of the products they produced[13]. Researcher K.A. Tukhtabekov in his PhD thesis, studied the colonial nature of the economic policy of the Russian Empire in Turkestan during the First World War, noting that “the colonial administration, by placing various artificial obstacles to the development of manufacturing industry in Turkestan, tried with all its might to develop cotton growing in the country” [14]. M.M. Khaidarov’s PhD thesis, which is related to the time frame of the research topic, states that although the New Economic Policy did not last long, economic growth was observed and essentially new industrial enterprises were put into operation[15]. N.B. Makhmudova’s PhD thesis in historical sciences states that, based on the data of the Senator K.K. Palen’s inspection commission, the area of cotton sown in the country was constantly increasing, and little attention was paid to industry[16]. CONCLUSION The works created during the years of independence, as well as the data in a number of dissertation studies defended, are distinguished by their comparative nature, well-founded conclusions, and an approach to the problem based on the principle of fairness. REFERENCES 1. Musayev N.U. Turkistonskiy kapitalistik ishlab chiqarish munosabatlarining vuzhudga kelishi (XIX asrninig okhiri va XX asrning boshlari). – Toshkent, 1995. – B. 89; Id. XIX asrning II yarmi–XX asr boshlarida Turkistonda sanoat ishlab chiqarishining shakllanishi. – Toshkent: «IQTISODIYOT- MOLIYA», 2008. – B. 103-104. 2. O’zbekistonning yangi tarikhi. 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