Since ancient times, the territory of our Motherland has been a region where multinational peoples and representatives of different religions live in peace and harmony. Since the end of the 20th century, census documents have noted that there are about 130 nationalities and ethnic groups in the national composition of the country. The process of multinationality in Uzbekistan has a long history. Let's touch on the question of how many nationalities live in our country. R. Murtazaeva notes: "It is known that Uzbekistan is one of the multinational states of the world, representatives of more than a hundred nationalities and nationalities live here, each of which has a unique material and spiritual culture. Many of them have lived here for centuries, formed as an ethnic unit and in a certain sense, they are the indigenous peoples of Uzbekistan. Thanks to the tolerance of the Uzbek people, a unique unity and diversity, the spiritual unity of different peoples, has formed on the territory of Uzbekistan.”

    After the establishment of the dominance of the Russian Empire on the territory of our Motherland, many representatives of the European population moved to Turkestan. The initial part of them arrived in the country as military personnel of the Russian Empire. In the same periods, numerous migrants from the Baltics also began to move to Central Asia.

    At that time, there were more than 20 ethnic groups in Turkestan. Today, however, there are about 140 ethnic groups in Uzbekistan, and most of them are the peoples of the Baltics. The migration policy of the Russian Empire served as one of the factors that served to further expand multinationality in the territory.

    A lot of research has been done on the history of the settlement of the peoples of the Baltic states. The Baltic peoples on the territory of Uzbekistan are considered peoples who were forced to resettle by the Russian colonialists.

    Representatives of the Latvian nationality first appeared in the Russian troops in Central Asia in the mid-60s of the XIX century. Later, a small number of Latvians - skilled workers, officials, teachers, doctors and employees - settled in Turkestan. Many of them were engaged in crafts, trade and belonged to the petty-bourgeois layer. The bulk of the settlers did military service in the army of the Russian Empire, was involved in the education, science, health care, economy and construction. During this period, many of them moved to the Turkestan region, partly to the regions of Bukhara and Khorezm subject to the Russian Empire. Basically, they settled in the suburbs, in the newly formed Russian settlements. For example, in 1903-1913, 116 Russian settlements were formed in the Turkestan region. The Baltic settlement was formed. This shows that the Baltic hackers are deployed in the country not individually, but together with representatives of the Russian population. They are also located mainly in urban and suburban communities. In the process of resettlement, migrants settle not on the land that is convenient for them, but on the territory indicated by the government. The main goal pursued by the Russian Empire in this policy was the creation of a support on the territory of Turkestan and Bukhara, Khorezm. They resettled representatives of different nationalities from distant countries, created conditions for them.

    The military, who arrived as part of the Russian Empire, were provided with all the privileges and amenities necessary for living in the country. This was one of the main motives for their permanent residence in these lands. It is worth noting that the provision of benefits and amenities to local residents faced difficulties and problems. This was due to the fact that the lands and property belonging to them were transferred to settlers or military personnel who wished to stay in this territory forever. In turn, the living conditions, the socio-economic situation of the local population became even more complicated.

    At the end of the 60s of the 19th century, Lithuanians were in Turkestan in the Russian army. A little later, citizens born in Lithuania with Russian citizenship began to come here. At the beginning of the last century, Lithuanians made up a significant proportion of the petty-bourgeois stratum of the cities of Tashkent, Samarkand and the Ferghana Valley.

    From these data it can be seen that the peoples of the Baltic also did not voluntarily become part of the Russian Empire. On the contrary, they were also integrated into the empire through invasions in different eras. In subsequent years, they were among those rings that were forcibly moved to various territories, in particular, to Central Asia, in the interests of the imperial government. That is, it turns out that they did not move here voluntarily.

Akobir Kobilov

Samarkand State University

Master of the Faculty of History