Said Ahroriy and Jadid Modernism in Turkestan
Abstract
This paper examines the Jadid reformist agenda of Said Ahroriy (Muhammad Said Abdurashidkhoja o‘g‘li Ahroriy) through archival materials and contemporary press evidence, tracing his activities from the late imperial and revolutionary years to the early Soviet period. It focuses on Ahroriy’s role as an organizer, editor, and educator who sought to translate Jadid modernist ideas into institutional practice. Particular attention is paid to his participation in establishing Turk O‘chog‘i in Tashkent (1918), launching the newspaper Turk So‘zi, and promoting youth mobilization through the Turk Izchilar To‘dasi, where civic discipline, literacy, vocational training, and physical–military instruction were framed as tools of national renewal. The article situates these initiatives within a volatile political environment marked by competing elite groups, Bolshevik consolidation, and intensifying social discontent in Turkestan. It also follows Ahroriy’s later trajectory in Bukhara, including his editorial work for Buxoro Axbori, diplomatic assignment to Baku, and the increasingly precarious conditions that culminated in his arrest, secret execution in 1931 under RSFSR Criminal Code Article 58, and posthumous rehabilitation in 1957. By foregrounding Ahroriy as a representative yet distinct Jadid actor, the study argues that Jadid reformism in Turkestan functioned not only as a discourse of enlightenment but also as a practical program of institution-building—one that became especially vulnerable under early Soviet security regimes.