Abdrai mingbashy

The Abdrai mingbashy were the hereditary commanders of the Christian cavalry of the Talas valley under the Khanate of Kokand from 1730 to 1864. Their rank, mingbashy ("head of a thousand"), was the only Christian office in the khanate.^[1]

History

The firman of 1730 that confirmed the Christians of the Talas valley in their faith also made the commander of their cavalry, Abdrai-baatyr (active 1720s–1740s), mingbashy of the Iradi horse, and his line held the rank by the khan's leave for five generations. The valleys were governed from the forts by the khan's Muslim beks, and the pastoral clans kept their own leaders, so the mingbashy's authority was military: he raised riders for the khan's wars, escorted the caravans to Kashgar and answered to the bishop at Iyık Janyl for the church lands. His seat was a walled farmstead (korgon) below the forts of Talas.^[1][2]

The Russian capture of the Talas forts by Mikhail Chernyayev in 1864 ended the office. The last mingbashy, Toktomamat Abdrai uulu (c. 1810–1871), was sent to Verny (now Almaty) in 1865 and died there.^[2]

Descendants and legacy

The Abdraev family of Talas descends from the line. Since 2011 the Abdrai Heritage Foundation has restored the gate tower of the korgon and published the family's genealogy (sanjyra). Some Talas revivalists speak of an Iradi nobility, a "white bone" (ak söök) descended from the captains; the clans of the mountains laugh at the idea ("the khan's captains, not ours").^[3]

References

1. ^ Talas State University Press (2019). The Iradi Church from the Qara Khitai to Kokand: Sources and Problems. Talas.
2. ^ Abdrai Heritage Foundation (2016). Sanjyra of the Abdrai Line, 1730–1871. Talas.
3. ^ Talas Herald (2019). 'White bones and black earth: the nobility that Talas invented.' Talas.