Investigation and Trial of the Participants in the Events of July 11, 1916 in Tashkent: Source-Study and Procedural-Legal Aspects

The article explores the understudied procedural, legal, and source-study aspects of the investigation and trial of the participants in the July 11, 1916, uprising in Tashkent.These events became one of the most prominent episodes of mass protests in the Turkestan Governor-Generalship, provoked by the Imperial Decree on the mobilization of the "alien" (inorodtsy) population for rear-line work during World War I. Based on unpublished materials from the National Archives of Uzbekistan (specifically, the "Turkestan Military District Court" fund), the author reconstructs the mechanisms of the Russian law enforcement and judicial systems under colonial conditions.The work provides a detailed analysis of the sequence of investigative actions, ranging from crime scene inspections and forensic medical examinations to the interrogation of witnesses from the colonial administration and the accused.The particular attention is paid to the legal qualification of the rebels' actions.The study demonstrates how, through the application of the Penal Code and the Provisions on Measures for the Preservation of State Order, the authorities interpreted the protest as an armed rebellion against the state, which, under wartime conditions, carried the death penalty.The article describes the activities of the Special Temporary Military Court, the specifics of the "question sheets", and the role of the defense in the trial.A key element of the research is the analysis of the confirmation of the sentence by Governor-General A.N. Kuropatkin.The author concludes that the significant mitigation of punishments for the majority of the convicted was dictated not only by humanism but also by a pragmatic desire to stabilize the region and avoid further escalation of the conflict.The article emphasizes that despite the formal severity of imperial justice, judicial practice allowed for variability and considered the social factors that had turned peaceful residents into "hardened criminals".The research contributes to the understanding of the colonial policy of the Russian Empire and the instruments of legal control during periods of crisis.