South Caspian Governorate Южно-Каспийская Губерния Yuzhno-Kaspiyskaya Guberniya (Russian) Түркменистан Губернаторы Türkmenistan Gubernatoryi (Turkmen) |
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| Motto: "Жемчужина Каспия" "Zhemchuzhina Kaspiya" (Russian) "Хазарың шай-сеплери" "Hazaryň şaý-sepleri" (Turkmen) ("Jewel of the Caspian) |
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| Capital | Ashgabat | |
| Official languages | Russian, Turkmen | |
| Leaders | ||
| - | Governor-General | Vladimir Rozhkov |
| - | Head Minister | Karim Manzurov |
The South Caspian Governorate (Russian: Южно-Каспийская Губерния, Yuzhno-Kaspiyskaya Guberniya; Turkmen: Түркменистан Губернаторы, Türkmenistan Gubernatory) is one of the Russian Empire's southern-most governorates in Central Asia also known as South Caspian (Russian: Южный Каспий, Yuzhnyy Kaspiy) or Turkmenistan (Turkmen: Түркменистан).
The South Caspian is one of the Russian Empire's "breadbaskets", being rich in oil and gold and local international economic centers. However, due to being mostly Black Sand desert, it is one of the Russian Empire's most sparsely-populated governorates.
The population of the governorate is 9 million.
The South Caspian has been at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries; Merv is one of the oldest oasis-cities in Central Asia and was once the biggest city in the world. In medieval times, Merv was also one of the great cities of the Islamic world and an important stop on the Silk Road. Annexed by the Russian Empire in 1881, South Caspian later figured prominently in the anti-Bolshevik movement in Central Asia. In 1926, became a constituent governorate of the resurgent Russian Empire under Tsar Cyril I, the Turkmen Governorate; it became re-named the South Caspian after a failed Turkmen Revolt in 1991. However, a referendum was passed in 2013 allowing Turkmen-language sources to finally use the Turkmenistan name, while it remains referred to as the South Caspian in Russian-language sources.
South Caspian possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas. Most of the country is covered by the Karakum or Black Sand Desert, therefore also making it the Russian Empire's driest region. From 1993 to 2017, citizens received government-provided electricity, water and natural gas free of charge.
The South Caspian is one of the Russian Empire's most globally-involved economic centers, having strong economic links to Persia, China and the Islamic World, as it did historically.
History[]
in 1991, Atakillah Bashirov, the Governor-General of Turkmenistan, attempted to exploit the ethnic civil unrest in Russia by waging the Turkmen Revolt, and proclaiming to be the president of the independent Islamic Republic of Turkmenistan similar to Davaadorjiin Ganbold and Mongolia.
Like the other Turkic revolts, Bashirov's revolt failed, when government forces utilized indigenous-style warfare to fool Bashirov's rebels, leading Bashirov himself to surrender in 1992, nonetheless, separatism still remained rampant, and the governorate fell into near-anarchy. Procurator General Pavel Grachev responded by sending more Russian troops into Turkmenistan, a move that failed and only infuriated the situation. Wassily Felgenhauer, who succeeded the ineffective Pavel Grachev, ordered the complete cessation of electricity and gas supplies to Turkmenistan, and installed Semyon Lisitsyn as the Governor-General, and abolished the Head Minister position, and similar to other retaliatory pogroms against Turkic rebellions.
Russian authorities feared usage of the name Turkmenistan would draw nationalist and separatist connotations, therefore, Prime Minister Sergey Baburin passed a reform renaming Turkmenistan to the South Caspian, and Turkmen was temporarily banned from being used in the public.
The moves were enough for Turkmen rebels to surrender. General Felgenhauer then ordered the re-supplying of gas and electricity to the South Caspian, however Turkmen culture remained suppressed.
Under the leadership of Head Minister Ismail Aymanov, the South Caspian capital city of Asghabat saw major rapid progress, in which it evolved to become the "White Marble City of the Caspian", to its high number of white marble buildings. Relations between ethnic Russians and Turkmens saw rapid progress under Aymanov's leadership, who spearheaded strong economic ties with the neighboring Persia and China.
This allowed for the development of Ukyok, literally from a Turkmen phrase for "No Sleep", which in essence - is Russian Vegas, via deals with moguls elsewhere in Russia, as well as those from China and the Western nations.
In 2012, a referendum was introduced by Prime Minister Pavel Orlov, in collaboration with Head Minister Abu-Walid Sakinov and Governor-General Eduard Semyonov allowing for Turkmen-language sources to re-use the Turkmenistan name, under the sole condition that it is not used for separatism. The referendum went into effect in 2013.
Media[]
South Caspian Daily (Russian: Южный Каспий Eжедневный, Turkmen: Түркменистан Гүн-Гүнден) is the largest governorate-level news broadcasting media, owned privately by Andrey Ushakov. It offers broadcasting services in both Russian and Turkmen.
Others include Tele-Muzzein (Теле-Муэдзин), an Islamic prayer service broadcasting channel, owned privately by Yusuf Muhsinov.
Religion[]
Islam forms the majority in the South Caspian, and has been long-established as the predominant religion after most of the once-Buddhist population converted to Islam. Approximately 75% of South Caspians are Muslim.
The Russian Orthodox Church forms 15% of the population, and is practiced by ethnic Russian enclaves throughout the governorate.
Under Constitutional laws, both Islamic and Russian Orthodox holidays and traditions are publicized in the South Caspian. However, the Islamic jizyah tax is fore bidden from being implemented into public law, as Russian authorities claimed it violates constitutional law.
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