SUMMARY:

The archival document “Fundamental Propositions on the Question of the Formation of Uzbekistan” is published in the original Russian version and an English translation and with annotations by Adeeb Khalid. The translation is based on the original preserved at the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History. The document features the first mention of Uzbekistan in political documents of the 1920s. It starts with “the nation of Uzbeks” united by Timur in his state, but then speaks of “the Turkic population” and “Turkic nationalities” in the plural before seamlessly reverting to the Uzbek nation as the main locus of concern. The basic propositions laid out here guided the Uzbek delegation throughout the process of delimitation. The Uzbekistan that emerged in November 1924 was the one outlined in this program.