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Kyrgyzstan history has seen a lot many changes in the lives of the hardy and simple people of the land. The history of Kyrgyzstan is an exploration of the origin of the tough and proud Kirghiz character. This is the reason that history in Kyrgyzstan is still a living breathing reality rather than a dead uninteresting subject because the basic human traits which created and modified it is still very much a presence in Kirghiz life.
The history of Kyrgyzstan originates in the ancient days, when man first learned to tame wild wild roving animals and follow them on a set route as they migrate with the rains. Traditionally these Turkic people were pastoral rovers, who ultimately settled in the mountains of Tien Shan. Stone tools detected in these Tien Shan mountains reveal the existence of human beings in this place about 2 million to 3 million years ago. The first written records of a regional civilization of Kyrgyzstan are found in Chinese annals from about 2000 B.C. The first truly authoritative historical reference about them dates back to 201 A.D. Muslim and Chinese sources of the 7th–12th centuries AD depict the Kyrgyz as red haired or brunettes with fair skinned and blue-green eyes. The migration from the region of the China and upper Enisei resulted in their settlement in about the 16th century, in the area that is now known as Kyrgyzia . The region came under the control of the Mongolians in the late 17th century, and was ruled by the Kokand Khanate in the 19th century. Tsarist Russian forces got the better of the Khanate in 1876, and annexed present-day Kyrgyzia as a part of the Russian Empire. Frequently the territory of Kyrgyzia became the battlefield for diverse states for dominion in the area. Those events and time are well delineated in the singular magnumopus - Epos Manas, which reflects the age-old history of the Kyrgyz people and their social life during the period of that millennium.
In the 1900s there was comprehensive Russian colonization and Russian colonists were yielded most of the very fertile agricultural land. The discontent of the masses, in 1916, saw a mutiny by the Kyrgyz people. In 1924 Kyrgyzstan became a dominion of the Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and was given autonomy as a republic in 1926. The USSR made Kyrgyzstan a constituent republic in 1936. Under the soviet rule the Kyrgyz let go of their pastoral culture, and modern industrial production and agricultural techniques were brought into their nomadic society.
On Aug. 31, 1991, Kyrgyzstan announced its independence from the Soviet Union and in
December 1991, the country became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The
nation became a part of the IMF and the UN in 1992 and embraced an extreme economic reformation program. Referendum voters endorsed proposed constitutional and market reforms that allowed the economy to stand on its feet.
After many many years of struggle, both external and internal, today Kyrgyzstan history is standing on the threshold of a newer and brighter future, where the people themselves shall steer their own boat to success.
For more information on Kyrgyzstan history refer to the following pages:
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