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DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

59 

   https://masterjournals.com/index.php/CRJH 

 

THE STATESMEN OF KARAKALPAKSTAN (in 1950-1990) 
 

Ibragimov B. 

Assistant Lecturer, Department Of Uzbekistan And Karakalpakstan History, Karakalpak State University 

 

INTRODUCTION 

The socio-political situation after the Second 

World War is well conveyed in the memoirs of 

NuriddinMukhitdinov: “Astronomical figures 

measured material losses, people's exhaustion 

from malnutrition, difficult living conditions, 

housing, communal conditions, long and 

exorbitant physical and mental stress affected. It 

was difficult to measure the enormous damage in 

the moral condition”.[4,p.44] 

It was difficult for the country's economy to 

recover, a peaceful life was difficult to establish, 

something was constantly lacking. The logic of 

“push and do” worked flawlessly, the temptation 

of a “simple solution” led to its approval as the 

only possible one and, as a result, to 

monopolization of trends in science, culture and 

social life in general. 

The memoirists state that the collective farms 

entered the first post-war five-year plan 

significantly weakened, with a drastically 

reduced labor force, with an undermined 

material and technical base. Nevertheless, 

memoirists note that material deprivation during 

this period was consciously perceived as 

temporarily inevitable, as a consequence of the 

war. 

The people who came out of the war had to 

clearly imagine ambitious goals, for the sake of 

ABSTRACT  
 
The article describes the role of the statesmen of Karakalpakstan in the second half of the XX century in the 
social and political life of society. Based on the mars of political views, the main changes in various spheres of 
the economic life of Karakalpakstan. 
 
 
KEYWORDS: - Memoirs, Karakalpakstan, national economy, railway, construction, cotton growing, rice 
growing 
 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
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which it was worth working, possible to 

overcome everything. Thus, a kind of symbol of 

the future appeared in the public consciousness - 

“the great construction sites of communism” - 

the Chardzhou-Kungrad railway, the 

MainTurkmenCanal (KarakumCanal).Observing 

life in the country in the first post-war years, the 

memoirists noted that a firm belief of the 

population that everything is rapidly changing 

for the better served as a worthy compensation 

for difficulties and hardships. Over time, it will 

become obvious that the idea of building the 

Main Turkmen Canal along the ancient channels 

of the Uzboy of the Amu Darya River, formulated 

as a practical goal, ran far ahead, turned out to be 

unrealized. But this idea nevertheless played its 

mobilizing role in the first post-war years. The 

desire to participate in the “building of 

communism”, which was considered the 

Chardzhou-Kungrad railway and the 

MainTurkmenCanal, awakened the labor activity 

and creative thought of the population of 

Karakalpakstan.On the wave of enthusiasm 

among collective farmers, traditions and labor 

initiatives, born in antiquity (“Hashar”), the pre-

war and war years, continued to develop and 

spread. Contemporaries more often recalled the 

end of the 40s, when the Stakhanovites and 

shock workers were the most respected people. 

In the postwar years, much attention was paid to 

the development of road transport and the 

asphalting of dirt roads. The main highway 

Khodjeyli - Pristan - Nukus - Khalkabad - 

Chimbay with a length of 164 km was built. 

Nevertheless, the absence of railway lines (the 

cheapest after waterways) in Karakalpakstan 

caused enormous difficulties in the development 

of the national economy. 

On the agenda was the question of building a 

railway from the city of Chardzhou through 

Khorezm and Karakalpakstan to the city of 

Beineu - Kazakhstan. The first secretary of the 

regional party committee P. Seitov took 

advantage of the favorable moment - the 

adoption of the project of the century - of the 

MainTurkmenCanal raised the question to the 

first secretary of the Central Committee of the 

Communist Party of Uzbekistan UsmanYusupov 

about the construction of a railway in 

Karakalpakstan. 

“I asked the Central Committee of the Communist 

Party of Uzbekistan to resolve the issue of 

building a railway for Karakalpakstan,” 

PirzhanSeitov recalled in those years. - First 

Secretary of the Central Committee of the 

Communist Party of Ukraine UsmanYusupov 

took responsibility for the construction of the 

Chardzhou-Kungrad railway line. The 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

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participation of 35 thousand people from 

Karakalpakstan in this construction was 

envisaged.These 35 thousand people were 

gathered in the districts. Due to lack of transport, 

many builders went on foot to Dargan-Ata. 

MatekeJumanazarov (Chairman of the Presidium 

of the Supreme Soviet of the KKASSR), members 

of NauryzDzhapakov (chairman of the Council of 

People's Commissars of the KKASSR) and 

G.I.Skorobogatov (second secretary of the 

Karakalpak regional committee of the WUCP (b)) 

were appointed as the chief of staff of the site 

allocated to Karakalpakstan.All agricultural and 

other work I had to supervise myself”[5]. 

UsmanYusupov wanted to strengthen the 

friendship of the peoples inhabiting Uzbekistan, 

to bring the distant and close regions of the 

republic closer together. One of his main dreams 

was to connect Khorezm and Karakalpakstan by 

rail with Tashkent and other regions. He 

understood the importance of connecting Central 

Asia through the Ustyurt plateau with the help of 

a railway with Europe.On this basis, the 

construction of the Chardzhou-Kungrad railway 

was started in 1947. In the summer of the same 

year, more than 100 thousand people were 

mobilized for construction, in 45 days with the 

help of workers more than 5 million cubic meters 

of land was raised under the rails in the 

Chardzhou- Khazarasp.This construction was 

one of the largest in Uzbekistan, which played a 

radical turning point in the socio-economic 

development of Karakalpakstan and Khorezm 

[2,p.20]. 

The merit of UsmanYusupov, who brought the 

railway to Karakalpakstan, Khorezm and 

Tashauz regions, is invaluable. This is a fatherly 

concern, a thought about the future of the people 

and their material security. 

The years of restoration of the national economy 

after the Second World War, only now, are 

becoming the object of deep study. However, in 

historiography, the question of the fate of the 

political prisoners of the Takhiatash camp, of the 

participation of the population of the republic in 

the construction of the MainTurkmenCanal 

remains undeveloped. We think that the 

memories of living participants in these events 

will provide a lot of information for reflection. 

The head of Karakalpakstan in the late 40s and 

early 50s, PirzhanSeitov, was a very intelligent, 

modest person. “His ability to dress, to behave in 

public, aroused the love and admiration of those 

around him,” Kamalov recalls. “He was a very 

neat, very strict and charming person.He never 

indulged in idleness, could not stand alcohol, 

never hearsay, was a highly cultured and highly 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

62 

   https://masterjournals.com/index.php/CRJH 

moral person. I never smoked, I couldn't even 

stand tobacco smoke. Of course, all these good 

qualities of PirzhanSeitov had a positive impact 

on all of us, his many students” [2,p.20]. 

Memories of N. Mukhitdinov, K. Kamalov, A. 

Kunnazarov are of great importance for 

rethinking the post-war period and the period of 

“great construction projects” - the Chardzhou-

Kungrad railway line, the MainTurkmenCanal. 

In the second half of 1954, the Chairman of the 

Government of Karakalpakstan P. Seitov together 

with the Chairman of the Government of 

Uzbekistan N. Mukhitdinov submitted Notes on 

an important, key issue affecting the direct 

interests of the inhabitants of the region and the 

development of agriculture for consideration by 

the Central Committee of the CC CPSU and the 

Council of Ministers of the USSR.“Having 

prepared the necessary documentary 

justifications and calculations,” N. Mukhitdinov 

recalls this process of “begging” the Center for 

subsidies, -we made detailed proposals, in which 

we provided for requests: to increase the basic 

weighted average procurement price per ton of 

raw cotton of domestic varieties for all collective 

farms from 2150 rubles up to 3100 rubles and 

fine-fiber varieties from 3660 rubles up to 6150 

rubles; to stop differentiating payments of 

premiums-allowances to collective farms within 

the plan; for each ton of raw cotton handed over 

by collective farms in excess of the contracting 

plan, to pay a premium in the amount of 100% to 

the main procurement price; in order to 

encourage collective farms to pay bonuses for 

achieving high yields of raw cotton; to terminate, 

starting from January 1, 1955, the effect of the 

resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR 

of April 29, 1949 No. 1720 on the introduction of 

monetary payment for water used for irrigation, 

the needs of enterprises and other economic 

needs; to grant cotton-growing collective farms 

the right, at their discretion, to set the amount of 

contributions to the indivisible funds within the 

range of 10-15% of monetary income;to allow 

collective farms to pay for the workdays spent on 

irrigation construction, the construction of 

livestock and other premises, the establishment 

of orchards, vineyards, mulberry plantations and 

other perennial plantations at the expense of 

indivisible funds; to write off from the cotton-

growing collective farms the arrears in 

contributions to the indivisible funds, formed as 

of January 1, 1955; to introduce for the collective 

farms of the republics of Central Asia and the 

Transcaucasus for a period of 3 years the selling 

prices for mineral fertilizers, which exceed by 

50% the current prices for collective farms of the 

RSFSR, BSSR, and the Ukrainian SSR; to reduce 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
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the rate of payment in kind for MTS tractor work 

within the range of 15-20% and to establish 

material responsibility of MTS for the cotton 

yield on collective farms; to provide additional 

benefits for collective farms developing new 

irrigated lands for sowing cotton” [4,p. 122-123]. 

These government documents came out at the 

end of 1955 with entry into force on January 1, 

1956. The past year and a half turned out to be 

for N. Mukhitdinov, P. Seitov and other leaders 

literally “walking through torments”. They made 

"shuttle flights" between Tashkent and Moscow, 

knocked down the doorsteps of ministers and 

senior officials of the central office. It is 

important to emphasize that this great concern 

for cotton growers had a positive impact on the 

rise of cotton growing, was well received in all 

cotton-growing collective farms, state farms, 

districts and regions, as evidenced by the 

significant development of cotton growing and 

other branches of irrigated agriculture in 1956. 

Memoirs of contemporaries are valuable sources 

for characterizing the leaders of the second half 

of the twentieth century in our region. The 

actions of the new leader of Karakalpakstan, 

NosirMakhmudov, were accompanied by 

adventurism, which Kamalov recalls with 

bitterness: he introduced the practice of shallow 

sowing of cotton seeds. The collective farms of 

the northern regions of the republic were 

disbanded, and state farms were created 

together. As a result, out of 475 collective farms, 

only 38 remained; on the basis of the remaining 

437 collective farms, more than 20 large state 

farms were created. For example, on the scale of 

one Kegeilinsky region, one state farm "Kegeili" 

was created (director - A.S. Gulyants). He could 

not, with all his desire, thoroughly study the state 

of the state farm economy due to the large 

territory [2,p.64]. 

Instead of eleven districts, there were three 

districts. It took 15 days for the head of the 

enlarged region to visit their farms and get 

acquainted with them. The reduction of 

experienced business executives who worked in 

managerial positions caused great damage to the 

national economy. Even sending an authorized 

republican asset to farms for a year did not help. 

Scientists were forced to write their doctoral 

dissertations without interrupting their duties as 

representatives of the republican activists in the 

fields of collective farms, as Academician S.K. 

Kamalov wrote about 

[3].Soontheyhadtoabandonthisideaof 

consolidation. 

The division of the party organs into industrial 

and agricultural, the system of economic 

councils, - states the memoirist K. Kamalov, - was 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

64 

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completely incomprehensible and difficult to fit 

into the concept of "improving management." On 

the scale of Karakalpakstan, regional committees 

for industry and agriculture were created, and in 

the regions of the republic there were positions 

of the head of agricultural departments. Party 

bosses of the districts moved to second positions 

in the conditions of the agrarian republic. Thus, 

the party and economic leaders of the districts: 

Turtkul - K. Nurimbetov and M. Rozumbetov; 

Amudarya - F. Vasigov and R. Japakov; 

Khodjeilinsky - D. Ozhyraev and V. Dontsov; 

Kegeilinsky - P. Khalmuratov and T. Naurizbaev; 

Chimbaysky - K. Abdreimov and H. Mazhitov had 

to solve the question: who is the boss in the area? 

This lasted only two years, but nevertheless 

caused enormous damage to the national 

economy. 

The vicissitudes of the convocation of the first 

congress of the intelligence part of Uzbekistan 

and Karakalpakstan on October 10-13, 1956 in 

Tashkent are sufficiently reflected in the 

memoirs of N. Mukhitdinov, who initiated the 

organization of this event. 1,200 delegates 

attended the convention. N.Mukhitdinovmade a 

report on the process of rehabilitation of the 

repressed. When he talked about who organized 

the whole case of repression, how they glued 

labels to this or that intellectual, leader, not only 

individuals, but entire groups, there was a 

violent reaction in the forum hall. In total, about 

40 thousand people, living and dead, were 

rehabilitated in Uzbekistan and Karakalpakstan. 

Construction of modern highways on both banks 

of the Amu Darya: Gazli - Urgench - Takhiatash - 

Kungrad - Muynak (about 450 km), Dul-Dul - 

Turtkul - Beruni - Nukus - Kazakhdarya (about 

330 km) and the Tashkent - Aral Sea in the 70s of 

the XX century meant breaking the deadlock and 

connecting into a single transport system of 

Uzbekistan.  

The middle of the 60s is characterized by 

increased attention to the development of rice 

growing in Karakalpakstan. If in 1965 25.7 

thousand tons of rice were grown, in 1983 this 

figure reached 332.3 thousand tons. In 1980, 

there were 17 rice-growing state farms in 

Karakalpakstan equipped with modern 

agricultural machinery. If in 1970 the gross 

harvest of rice was 59.1 thousand tons, then in 

1980 it reached 296.5 thousand tons. 

From the point of view of source study and 

historiographic value, portraits of prominent 

statesmen of Uzbekistan - UsmanYusupov, 

SharafRashidov and Islam Karimov created by K. 

Kamalov are of great importance. For the sake of 

fairness, we note that this completes the touches 



CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY 2(5): 59-65, May 2021      
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37547/history-crjh-02-05-15 
ISSN 2767-472X 
©2021 Master Journals 

   
  Accepted 25th May, 2021 &  Published 31th May, 2021  

 

 
 

 

CURRENT RESEARCH JOURNAL OF HISTORY                           
ISSN – 2767-472X 

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to the political portrait of these figures, which 

cannot be found in the official history. For 

example, the facts of receiving a reprimand from 

the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee by 

UsmanYusupov in 1947, when he personally 

headed the construction of the Chardzhou-

Kungrad railway. K. Kamalov pays special 

attention to the personality of SharafRashidov, 

an outstanding figure of Uzbekistan in the 60-80s 

of the XX century. His style of state leadership, 

his role in training personnel for Karakalpakstan, 

his tireless work to protect the interests of the 

Uzbek and Karakalpak peoples in the conditions 

of totalitarian statehood, in the regime of 

subordination to the governors of the Center are 

well covered in his memoirs. The sections of K. 

Kamalov's memoirs about SharafRashidov are 

important, for “while rehabilitating the name of 

SharafRashidov today, we must see in this matter 

a modest but organic part of the big work to clear 

the name of the Uzbek people” [1,p.93]. 

Continuing to create portraits of statesmen, K. 

Kamalov highlighted PirzhanSeitov, 

MatekeZhumanazarov, NauryzZhapakov, their 

role in the development of the national statehood 

of the Karakalpak people in the pre-war years, 

during the Second World War, during the 

restoration of the national economy. These 

figures did everything to exalt the good name of 

the Karakalpak people, to show the whole world 

its wonderful features. The way of thinking and 

deeds of these outstanding figures, their 

harmony was for K. Kamalov and his associates a 

guide in work and life. At the same time, K. 

Kamalov's memoirs also reflected the times of 

the leadership of such figures of Karakalpakstan 

as OrziMakhmudov, NosirMakhmudov, who left a 

kind of trace in the people's memory. 

 

REFERENCES 

1. Karimov I.A. The fiery heart of the son of the 

people. Speech at the celebrations dedicated 

to the 75th anniversary of SharafRashidov. 

November 1992 // Karimov I.A. Uzbekistan: 

national independence, economy, politics, 

ideology. T.1. Tashkent. 1996.-P.93. 

2. Kamalov K. At peoples’ serve. Memoirs... p. 

20. 

3. Kamalov S.K. Thoughts about represent// 

Council of Karakalpakstan, 1990, October 27 

4. Mukhitdinov N. Years spent in the Kremlin. 

Tashkent. 1994.- p.44. 

5. Seitov P. On a big road. Memoirs // Council of 

Karakalpakstan, 1984, 15 November 

 


