Kyrgyz History Chronology
A Chronology:
The selection of events for inclusion in a chronology such as this is subjective ... but we have tried to include the major events which have had a significant effect on the history and culture of the region and the lives of the people.
BC – or BCE (Before the Common Era)| Date | Event |
| 20000 BC | Evidence of the earliest human habitation – Tosor on the Southern shores of Lake Issyk Kul |
| 2000 -1000 BC | Bronze Age – Evidence of irrigation systems, utensils and some jewellery. Petroglyphs, for example at Saimaluu Tash |
| About 1000 BC | Foundation of Osh (in the Fergana Valley in the south of the
country) During the first millennium BC, there are mentions of the Sogd, Bactria and Khorasm peoples in ancient chronicles. |
| 7th-3rd centuries BC | Sak period – the Saks and Usun peoples inhabit the area of the Chui valley |
| 356-323 BC | The Armies of Alexander the Great enter Central Asia |
| 201 BC | First mention of "Kyrgyz" in Chinese sources |
| 2nd-1st centuries BC | Kyrgyz tribes travel from the Yenesei region in Siberia to Baikal |
| 138-116 BC | Chang Ch'ien journeys to the Ferghana valley in search of Allies for China against the Xiongnu |
| 1st century BC | The Kyrgyz tribes are conquered by the Huns |
| Date | Event |
| 5th century | Possible date for the foundation of Tash Rabat caravanserai |
| 6th – 8th centuries | Turkic peoples arrive in Central Asia – The Turkic Khanates operate between 552 and 744 – in 581 it splits into two separate Khanates – “Eastern” and “Western” |
| 8th century | Arab invaders conquer Central Asia, including what is now Kyrgyzstan, and introduce Islam. |
| 751 | Battle of Talas |
| 840 | Emergence of a Kyrgyz empire on the Yenisei River |
| 940 | The Karakhanid dynasty captures Balasugin |
| 9th century | Kyrgyz people migrate southwards to the Tian-Shan region |
| 10th century | Possible date for the Burana Tower complex |
| 1015 (?) | Yusuf Balasugin born |
| 11th century | Kashgari |
| 11th-12th centuries | Uzgen complex (mausoleums and minaret …) |
| 12th century | Shah Fazil mausoleum at Safed Bulan built |
| 1219-1224 | Mongol invasion of Central Asia under Genghis Khan |
| 1254-1324 | Marco Polo |
| 14th century | Koshoi Korgon fortress is built |
| 1334 (?) | The Manas Mausoleum in Talas is built |
| 1685 | Kyrgyz people settle in the area that is now Kyrgyzstan; area conquered by the Oirats, a Mongol people, after centuries of Turkic rule. |
| 1336-1405 | Tamerlane |
| 1483-1530 | Babur |
| 1710 - 1876 | Khanate of Kokand, founding of Bishkek (Pishpek) |
| 1731-1854 | Russian influence spreads into the Kazakh steppes |
| 1758 | Oirats defeated by the Chinese Manchu dynasty and the Kyrgyz become nominal subjects of Chinese empire. |
| 1762-1831 | The Kokand Khanate acquires territories occupied by the Kyrgyz |
| 1774-1782 | The Russian explorer Efremov travels through Kyrgyz Territories on his way to India |
| 1777-1853 | Nikita Bichurin - Russian Monk and Diplomat – wrote extensively about the peoples of Central Asia |
| 1785 | First Kyrgyz Embassy to the Russian Court in St. Petersburg |
| Early 19th century | Kyrgyz come under the jurisdiction of the Uzbek khanate of Kokand, to the west. |
| 1811-1907 | Kurmandjan Datka – Queen of the Alai |
| 1825 | The fortress of Pishpek (later Bishkek) is built |
| 1827-1914 | Pyotr Semyenov (Tianshanky) |
| 1830s | Uprising against Kokand led by Taylik Baatyr |
| 1835-1865 | Chokan Valikhanov - A Kazakh serving as an officer in the Tsarist military. He made several expeditions into Kyrgyzstan and wrote extensively about the people, customs and traditions, political and economic developments in the region. |
| 1839-1888 | Prezhervalsk |
| 1839-1912 | Shabdan Baatyr |
| 1840s | The Kyrgyz in various regions riot against Kokand rule – in 1844 the Kyrgyz of Issyk Kul formally ask for Russian protection against the Kokand Khanate (finally granted in 1855) |
| 1853 | Civil war between the Bugu and Sarbargysh tribes for supremacy amongst the Kyrgyz. |
| 1856-1857 | Semyenov's journey of exploration into the Tien Shan. |
| 1860 | Russian forces from Verney (Almaty) capture the Pishpek |
| 1863 - 4 | Kyrgyz tribes from remote regions (Ak Sai, Chatyr Kul, Chatkal) accept Russian protection |
| Date | Event |
| 1864-1933 | Toktogul Satylganov |
| 1873 | Pulat Khan leads a rebellion |
| 1875-6 | The Russians conquer Kokand, the khanate ceases to exist and the area is annexed to the Russian empire; beginning of Russian immigration |
| 1878 | The regional administration is moved to Pishkek after serious flooding in Tokmok – which, until then had been the regional centre |
| 1882 | Refugees arrive from the Dungan uprising in Xingjian – and receive subsidies from the Russian authorities. |
| 1916 | Central Asian insurrection against Russia (bloody suppression and emigration of up to one third of the Kyrgyz population, mostly to China) |
| Date | Event |
| 1917 | November – (October under the old calendar) – Revolution takes place in Russia |
| 1918 | January – the Bolsheviks under Ivanitsyn seize power in Pishpek.
The area becomes part of the Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic of
Turkestan December – A Counter Revolution starts in Belovodsk, which is defeated with the help of troops summoned from Verney (Almaty) |
| 1924 | October - Establishment of the Kara-Kyrgyz Autonomous Region within the RSFSR |
| 1920s and 1930s | Soviet land reforms, which consolidate all arable and grazing lands into large state-owned farms, upset the traditional Kyrgyz way of life, which is based on nomadic livestock-herding, forcing some Kyrgyz to escape to the mountains and to China; Kyrgyz Communist Party established as the sole legal party; many members of the Kyrgyz intelligentsia, including Communists, who express dissent are imprisoned or executed. |
| 1920’s | Many formerly nomadic Kyrgyz resettled as part of land reforms; improvements in literacy and education made. |
| 1920 | April – The Kyrgyz Autonomous Region is established. |
| 1921 | Area of present-day Kyrgyzstan becomes part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR). |
| 1922 | December - Creation of the USSR |
| 1924 | Kara-Kirgiz Autonomous Region (renamed Kirgiz Autonomous Region in 1925) formed, corresponding to the borders of present-day Kyrgyzstan, after the Soviet authorities delineate new territories in Central Asia along ethnic lines.
An Arabic based Kyrgyz alphabet is introduced for written Kyrgyz. |
| 1925 – 1943 | “Interhelpa” – A Workers’ Collective composed of volunteers from various European countries arrives in Bishkek and work on several projects to develop the infrastructure.
August – The Kyrgyz Autonomous Oblast is established First Kyrgyz language Newspaper – Erkin Too (=”Free Mountains”) was published in Tashkent. |
| 1926 | February - Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan
Pishpek is renamed Frunze (for General Mikhail Frunze, 1885 - 1925) The first passenger ship on Lake Issyk Kul is launched The First Radio station is established. The first census is conducted. |
| 1927 | The Central Museum of Kyrgyzstan was opened |
| 1928 | The Arabic based alphabet for Kyrgyz is replaced by a Latin based alphabet |
| 1930 | Forced collectivization is introduced in agriculture. The Kyrgyz State Theater was established |
| 1934-1941 | Basmachi rebellion |
| 1935 | The Russian Drama Theater was established |
| 1936 | The Pedagogical Institute opens and becomes the first University in Kyrgyzstan
December - Establishment of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic |
| 1937 | The Mass execution of the Kyrgyz Supreme Soviet takes place at Chong Tash – just outside Bishkek |
| 1940 | A Cyrillic based alphabet replaces the Latin based alphabet for the Kyrgyz language |
| 1941 - 1945 | The Second World War – otherwise known as The Great Patriotic War – in which Kyrgyz contingents participated as units in the European theatre. |
| 1942 | First Film Studio opened The Kyrgyz State Theater of Opera and Ballet was established |
| 1967 | May – Riots in Bishkek |
| 1979 | The Toktogul Hydroelectric power station is built |
| 1984 | The statue of Lenin is erected in Ala Too square in Bishkek |
| 1990 | The Kyrgyz Communist Party leadership opposes change to the Soviet
constitution which allows non-Communist parties to take part in political life;
June – a state of emergency is imposed after several hundred people are killed in interethnic clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz over access to land and housing around the town of Osh, near the border with Uzbekistan; October – Askar Akaev, a liberal academic on the reform wing of the Kyrgyz Communist Party, elected by the legislature to the newly created post of president. December – Declaration of sovereignty – the country is renamed Kyrgyzstan |
| 1991 | The city of Frunze is renamed Bishkek |
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- Kyrgyz History Chronology from Kyrgyz Travel Encyclopedia
