Abstract
The article attempts to describe Dykma-serdar, one of the brightest characters of Turkmen history. Noting that in historiography there are almost no special studies on the man’s personality and activities, the author makes a detailed reconstruction of his life path, placing it in a broad socio-historical context. The study is conducted at the intersection of biography and prosopography: the portrait of Dykma-serdar against the background of the history of the Russian Empire’s penetration into Central Asia and incorporation of the Turkmen lands into the imperial body becomes a means of revealing certain strategies inherent in the ethnic elite of the region. Tracing the life of Dykma-serdar, the author shows how and under the influence of what factors his attitude to Russia and its presence in the region changed. Courageous, energetic, intelligent, with an undoubted talent as a military commander, having great authority both among his tribesmen and in Russian military circles, Dykma-serdar understood the inevitability of inclusion of the Turkmen lands into the empire that was superior to them economically, politically, militarily and technically. So he tried to minimize the costs of that inclusion, repeatedly joining negotiations with representatives of the Russian command and involving his relatives in the negotiation process. However, short-sighted and insulting behavior of the Russian military forced Dykma-serdar to abandon peaceful interaction. And only a personal meeting with M.D. Skobelev brought him back to the camp of negotiators. Dykma-serdar’s tragic hesitation between cooperation and confrontation were typical for representatives of his ethno-social group and well illustrate the behavior of Turkmen ethnic elites during the Great Game in Central Asia.
Published Version
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