Mullah Abdugafur Mirza Raim Khodjaev.
Volost administrator of the Namangan district, an administrative-territorial unit of the Fergana region of the Turkestan Governor-General. 1913.
With Bukhara shashka on the belt.
After the inclusion of Turkestan into the Russian Empire, the Russian government retained the existing system of self-government of the native people. It was based on the management of rural and urban quarter communities by elders. Among the Muslim population, such elders were called aksakals (oқsokol - literally "white beard" in Uzbek). Such a structure was close to that which existed in Russia, where from the 16th century elders were elected to manage small administrative-territorial units and public groups. Therefore, the Central Asian form of self-government turned out to be familiar to the Russian administration.
The population of Turkestan in each county was divided into volosts. The volost administrators were at the head of the volosts
The elections of the volost administrator were two-stage, first a village gathering was held, at which one elective was elected from 50 home ownership. Then the elected representatives of rural societies gathered at the volost congress, which was held in the presence of representatives of the Russian administration. As a rule, it was the county chief or his assistant, who observed the order, while not interfering in the course of the elections itself. The volost congress was considered invalid if it was attended by less than 2/3 of the total number of elected.
Police and administrative power was concentrated in the hands of the volost administrator. He was responsible for maintaining general order and tranquility.
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