Russian Turkestan was the vast region of Central Asia governed by the Russian Empire, often described by historians as a colonial possession. It was formally organized as the Turkestan Governorate-General in 1867, and was also known as the Turkestan Krai from 1886 onward. For administrative and military purposes, its territory was managed as the Turkestan Military District.
It comprised the oasis regions south of the Kazakh Steppe but excluded the Russian protectorates of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Khanate of Khiva. While these states retained internal autonomy, their independence was largely nominal, as Russia controlled their foreign relations and military affairs. The population consisted primarily of speakers of Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tajik, with a significant Russian settler minority.
