Treaty of Talas (1727)

The Treaty of Talas (Iradi: 1727-jylgy Talas kelishimi) is the name given in Iradi historiography to the charter (firman) that Abd al-Rahim Biy, ruler of the Khanate of Kokand, granted to the Christian elders of the Iradi clans in 1727. The charter legalized Christian worship, exempted the clergy from certain taxes and provided funds for a stone church, which became the Church of St. Janyl in Iyık Janyl. It rewarded Iradi Christian horsemen who had served as scouts and auxiliaries in Kokand's wars against the Dzungars. Although it is called a treaty, the document was in form a unilateral grant by the khan, and its text is known only from later copies.^[1][2]

Background

The Khanate of Kokand was founded in the Fergana Valley around 1709 by Shahrukh Biy. In 1723 the Dzungars, an Oirat Mongol power, overran the Kazakh steppe and the towns of the middle Syr Darya, the "Years of Great Disaster" of Kazakh history, and raided the Fergana Valley and the mountain country to its north.^[3] Kokand's second ruler, Abd al-Rahim Biy (r. c. 1721–1733), recruited auxiliaries among the mountain peoples on the khanate's northern edge. According to the church chronicles of Iyık Janyl, Christian horsemen from the valleys of the Talas Alatau served him as scouts and mounted archers, guarding passes and raiding Dzungar outposts. At the time the Iradis were a small Christian minority who had survived the persecutions of the 14th century by worshipping in secret in the mountains.^[1]

Terms

The surviving copies describe the following grants:^[2]

• freedom for the Christians of the clans to worship openly and to hold processions on their feast days;
• exemption of priests and monks from the poll tax and from labor service;
• money and building timber for a stone church.

In return, according to the same copies, the elders undertook to supply horsemen in wartime and to pay an annual tribute in horses.

Sources and name

The original document has not survived. Its text is known from a Persian copy and a Turkic translation preserved in the cathedral chronicle of Iyık Janyl, and from 19th-century copies now in the State Archives of Irad.^[2][4] Kokand's own court chronicles, most of them written in the 19th century, do not mention the grant. Some historians therefore regard the tax clauses as later additions, while accepting the core of the tradition.^[1]

The name "Treaty of Talas" came into general use only in the 20th century. Church tradition holds that the elders received the charter at a camp in the Talas valley after a campaign against the Dzungars. Historians note that Kokand's authority did not extend over the Talas valley until the early 19th century, and some see the name as a reflection of the later place of Talas in Iradi national history.^[1]

Consequences

The church was built on Cathedral Hill and consecrated in 1730. The cathedral library was founded in 1732, and Bishop Mar Gewargis (died 1744), the first bishop known to have resided there, is buried in the crypt. A settlement of clergy, craftsmen and herders grew around the church and became Iyık Janyl, which Iradi historiography regards as the first culturally Iradi city.^[2] The Iradis remained a marginal minority within the khanate. Under the khans Alim (r. 1798–1810) and Umar (r. 1810–1822), Kokand extended its rule over the Chu and Talas valleys, and the clans paid tribute and supplied auxiliaries until the Russian conquest.^[1]

Legacy

National historiography presents the charter as the first formal recognition of the Iradi Christians by a neighboring Muslim state, and as an early example of accommodation between Christians and Muslims in the region. It is a standard topic in school history textbooks in the Irad Special Economic Zone. The church built under it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2004, together with the Ruins of Old Iyık Janyl, on a nomination submitted by the United States during the territorial period.

References

1. ^ Talas State University Press (2009). The Treaty of Talas and the Church of St. Janyl, 1727. Talas.
2. ^ Cathedral Archives of Iyık Janyl. Architectural Chronicles and Restoration Registers (1727–2020).
3. ^ Levi, Scott C. (2017). The Rise and Fall of Khoqand, 1709–1876: Central Asia in the Global Age. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.
4. ^ State Archives of Irad (Talas), Fond 3: Kokand Charters and Church Records of Iyık Janyl (1727–1876).