Uzbeks in St. Petersburg

Russian Empire

Historically, Uzbeks came to St. Petersburg as part of trade caravans, embassies and other missions ^[7] .

For the first time, the Uzbek presence in St. Petersburg was mentioned by the orientalist Grigory Spassky , according to which the Bukhara envoy Irnazar Maksudov arrived in the city, to whom Empress Catherine II allocated money for the construction of a madrasah in Bukhara ^[9] . The first Bukhara embassy, ​​headed by Abdulkarim Bukhari, appeared in the city in the XVIII century ^[10] . A little later, a number of new embassies appeared in St. Petersburg to establish trade between Russia and Bukhara.

In the 1870-1890s, the Bukhara prince Sayyid Mir-Mansur , who later received the rank of officer, studied at the Page Corps and the Nikolaev Cavalry School in St. Petersburg ^[11] .

In 1893-1896, the future emir Seyid Alim Khan studied in St. Petersburg in the Nikolaev Cadet Corps , receiving the rank of Lieutenant General of the Russian Army ^[12] .

At one time, prominent figures of Uzbek origin lived and studied in St. Petersburg, such as the educator Azhzi ^[13] , Abidjan Makhmudov, a graduate of the mining institute - the first Uzbek who received a diploma of mining engineer ^[14] , Tashmukhamed Kary-Niyazov - the first president of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan and others ^[7] .

Soviet period

For the first time, people of Uzbek nationality were officially registered during the census in 1926, then they amounted to only 103 people ^[15] . For many decades until the beginning of the 21st century, according to censuses, the number of Uzbeks remained within 8,000 people ^{[16] [17] [18] [19]} . The Uzbek diaspora was represented by the intelligentsia ^[7] and students ^[20] .

As in the time of Tsarist Russia, many future famous writers, linguists and scientists from Uzbekistan were educated in Leningrad , the most famous of them: Kamil Yashen - writer, Zarif Radjabov - first director of the Institute of History and Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, Abdullah Akhmedov - people's artist of Uzbekistan Ali Khamraev - professor of the directing department of the St. Petersburg University of Cinema and Television, head of the culture sector of the Uzbek diaspora of St. Petersburg, Khabibullo Abdusamatov - doctor of physical and mathematical sciences to and others ^[7] .

In 1935, the first national circus attraction of Uzbek tightrope walkers was created in Leningrad under the leadership of Tashkentenbai Egamberdiev, which existed until 1941 ^[7] .

Modernity

In modern times, the Uzbek diaspora is widely represented in St. Petersburg along with Moscow , the bulk is only temporarily living and is represented by migrant workers working in the fields of construction, agriculture, manufacturing, housing and communal services and consumer services ^[7] . According to 2011 data, more than 100 thousand Uzbeks receive the right to work annually. The quality of life for many workers remains unfavorable, most people live in apartments of 20-30 people, in the worst case - in basements or wagons. Migrant workers experience racial discrimination on the part of residents of St. Petersburg and indifference to local authorities, and on the day of the Airborne Forces or on Hitler's birthday (April 20) they try not to go out into the streets of the city ^[6] . Also, each migrant can regularly become an object for inspection by police. Those Uzbek workers who have been in St. Petersburg for a long time at a stable job are called “foremen” and, as a rule, help newcomer migrant workers to get comfortable ^[6] . Among the Uzbek migrants, men, women, and children are rare ^[6] .

There is no absolute homogeneity among the Uzbek community, many live compactly on the basis of regional origin in Uzbekistan: in particular, the Uzbeks living in the Torzhkovsky market are from Samarkand , mainly Uzbeks from the Ferghana Valley live on Uralskaya Street , on 24 lines of Vasilyevsky Island concentrated people from Khorezm , and in the area of ​​Kalinin base and Sennaya square - from Tashkent ^[6] .

Most Uzbeks, upon arrival in St. Petersburg, try not to make unnecessary contact with the urban population, observing strictly the traditions of the people, national cuisine (if possible) and faith. Uzbek children, as a rule, are more open to urban society and are better at learning Russian language and life. However, as a rule, they have problems with school performance, so they study with one year behind Russian peers. Over time, such children are often successfully assimilated into Russian society and feel like citizens of St. Petersburg ^[6] .

Illegals

According to approximate estimates of the Federal Migration Service, approximately 300,000-400,000 Uzbek migrants live in the city, but only 120,000 of them have work permits ^[20] . For illegal migrants, living conditions are much worse, as a rule, they live in large groups in barracks or emergency houses without heat, water and light ^[8] . Such migrants may become the target of planned robberies with informal support from the police, or the object of bullying by riot police . Police can also engage in laundering money and jewelry from illegal immigrants, threatening to arrest and further deportation to their homeland. ^[21]

Parallel Infrastructure

Due to the fact that most migrants do not have access to the city’s infrastructure, the Uzbek community has created a parallel “illegal” infrastructure. In particular, children of Uzbek migrants attend home kindergartens, where the mother is one of the children. In St. Petersburg, there are also many “Uzbek” hostels for migrant workers for temporary residence, public transport specifically serving Uzbek migrants, their own doctors, Uzbek restaurants for Uzbeks and more ^[6] . There are many small shops with national dishes designed for Uzbek buyers. In 2011, 3 specialized stores with products of Uzbek cuisine were opened ^[5] .

Support

Unlike Moscow, in St. Petersburg there is an organized community of the Uzbek diaspora - “St. Petersburg Society of Compatriots of Uzbekistan“ Umid “” under the leadership of Alidjan Khaidarov, which includes nearly 10,000 people and which provides active support to representatives of the Uzbek diaspora and immigrants in the field of employment ^[22] , in search of lost documents, with non-payment of salaries and drives to the police. The legal service of the company is engaged in solving problems. For a long time, the company provided services for the “return of a lost passport” for a certain amount, but the organization became the object of attention of the FSB because of this and as a result lost its further right to issue passports ^[20] With the direct support of the organization, labor migrants can send money home through 3 Bank, also Umid is developing its own banking branch, designed specifically for transferring money to Uzbekistan . The organization helps in financing and organizing Muslim holidays with the support of the Tatar diaspora ^[20] . The organization has cultural and sports sections. The organization also helps with national holidays, anniversaries, weddings of Uzbek communities.

In 2011, with the support of Umid, the “migrant card” system was introduced, which greatly facilitates the execution of documents for which at least 15,000 rubles had to be paid earlier. A card is issued to a migrant subject to his “decency and integrity” ^[20] .

The dynamics of the Uzbek population in the city of St. Petersburg

With the active support of the Uzbek community in St. Petersburg, the Cathedral Mosque was erected in the 1910s at the expense of the Emir of Bukhara Seid Abdul-Ahad Khan ^[7] .

In 2011, a dynasty of Uzbek tightrope walkers arrived in St. Petersburg, which is popular among the Uzbek community itself ^{[6] [25]} .

In the same year, the St. Petersburg newspaper in the Uzbek language, St. Petersburg Uz , began its release, designed to facilitate the availability of accessible information to Uzbeks who do not speak Russian ^{[3] [26]} . Almost simultaneously with it, another newspaper, Turan , began to be issued, oriented, in addition to Uzbeks, to workers from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan ^{[27] [28]} .

Restaurants of Uzbek cuisine are gaining more and more popularity, most of which are named after the cities of Uzbekistan ^[6] . Uzbek restaurants are called teahouses , and in St. Petersburg, according to data for 2012, their approximate amount is 200 units ^[29] .