Siege of Ak-Mechet
First major engagement of the Russo-Kokand War.
The siege of Ak-Mechet, lasting from July 2 to 28, 1853, marked the first major clash in the Russo-Kokand War. This fortress, situated on the Syr Darya River, served as a key northern stronghold for the Khanate of Kokand. It was used to tax local Kazakhs and oversee trade routes between Russia and southern Central Asia. Because this outpost gave Kokand leverage over the Kazakh Steppe, Russian regional governors prioritized its capture or destruction.
Quick Facts
- Part of
- the Russo-Kokand War
- Location
- Ak-Mechet, Khanate of Kokand (modern Kyzylorda)
- Date
- 2–28 July 1853 (3 weeks and 5 days)
- Result
- Russian victory
Facts from the source article.
Background
Ak-Mechet was built in 1820 as the Kokand Khanate's most influential northern stronghold. It controlled Russian trade routes with Kokand, Bukhara, and Khiva, and was a center for collecting zakat from Kazakh tribes. An early proposal to attack the fort was raised in a letter dated March 17, 1851 by Governor-General of Orenburg Vladimir Obruchev as part of a plan to counter British advances into Afghanistan. Tsar Nicholas I strongly rejected the proposal and removed Obruchev, replacing him with Vasily Perovsky.
By 1852, Russia prioritized suppressing Kokandi influence on the Kazakh Steppe, as attacks by Kokandi and allied Kazakh forces interfered with Russia's goal of capturing Khiva. In July 1852, Perovsky ordered Colonel Ivan Blaramberg to survey the land from Fort Raim to Ak-Mechet with 125 infantry and 200 Cossacks, and possibly to destroy the fort. Blaramberg attacked in July but failed due to lack of equipment, including siege ladders and siege artillery, retreating to Fort Raim with 10 dead and 40 wounded.
His forces burned the fort's outer defenses and destroyed three minor forts during the retreat. After the failure, Kokandi forces rebuilt and strengthened the fortress, tearing down outer ramparts and buildings, leaving a square fortress approximately 750 by 750 feet, with towers in the center and corners, and merging two moats into one 12-foot-wide ditch.
Preparation
In January 1853, Perovsky proposed to war minister Vasily Andreyevich Dolgorukov a plan to build four fortresses on the right bank of the Syr-Darya, one over Ak-Mechet, claiming fiscal and strategic benefits. Tsar Nicholas strongly endorsed the plan, and it was approved by Dolgorukov. Perovsky spent spring preparing at Fort Raim, organizing a smaller force of stronger soldiers gathered from forts including Orenburg, Orsk, Uralsk, and Aralsk, rendezvousing at Karabutak.
Ill or tired soldiers were left at the next fort to increase average fighting strength and reduce logistical drain. The expedition left Karabutak on May 23 with 2,168 men, including 550 Ural Cossack cavalry, 500 Bashkir-Meshcheryak cavalry, a sapper battalion, rocket battalion, mortar battalion, and 12 artillery pieces, plus 150 volunteer Kirghiz auxiliaries. A flotilla with steamships Perovsky and Obruchev provided by Grigory Butakov transported supplies and troops along the Syr-Darya.
Remaining equipment was carried by a camel caravan provided by native Kazakhs, who also served as reconnaissance and guides. The march was difficult due to barren terrain, swarms of mosquitos and horse-flies, and heat reaching 120.2 F, but suffered no significant losses.
Siege
On July 2, Perovsky's force set up camp about 3,600 feet from Ak-Mechet. The fort's commander, Abd al-Wali, invited Perovsky to peace talks. When Perovsky arrived with his party, Abd al-Wali ordered shooters on the walls to fire volleys at him. Perovsky and his men escaped unharmed, but two horses were wounded.
Fearing a Kokandi counterattack, Perovsky hurried the rest of his troops forward; they arrived between July 3 and July 5. Judging his cannons could not break the 24-foot-thick walls, Perovsky ordered a mine dug, zigzag trenches built, and a bombardment. Captain Alexey Maksheev observed that Lieutenant General Stepan Khrulev's battery placements often hit each other instead of the fort, doing little to help capture it. On July 18, Perovsky sent a surrender demand to Abd al-Wali, writing that Ak-Mechet was already taken, the Russians were there forever, and he could destroy everyone without losing a man.
A ceasefire lasted until evening. The Kokandis replied that Russia had not declared war or tried diplomacy, but would surrender if the Russians withdrew and gave them 15 days to leave. Perovsky refused and resumed siege construction the next day.
Aftermath
By the battle's end, 34 Russian soldiers were killed, 130 wounded, and one missing. Of the Kokandi garrison, 226 were killed, including Abd al-Wali, and 35 wounded. Among the survivors were 83 women and 67 children. Several commanders who surrendered were forced to dress in women's clothing as humiliation, and others were executed.
Stories of defenders being martyred spread through Turkestan, building anti-Russian sentiment, though Kokandi historian Mullah Yunus Tashkandi defended the attack, claiming women were repatriated and wounded cared for. Khudayar Khan, who had recently regained power after a coup, lost much legitimacy due to the defeat. He sent two expeditions to recapture the fort; the first of 7,000 soldiers was repulsed 25 miles outside, and the second in December 1853 initiated a three-day siege broken after defenders encircled and routed the Kokandi forces.
Kokand continued small attacks into the 1860s. Ak-Mechet was the first enemy fort Russia captured during their conquest of Central Asia, became a lynchpin in Russia's new fortification line along the Syr-Darya, and was the first Central Asian settlement to have its name russified, renamed Fort Perovsk.
More in 19th-century Military History of the Russian Empire
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