Alash (party)

Alash was a political party and liberation movement in the Alash Autonomy on the territory of present-day Kazakhstan and Russia. They advocated for equal treatment between Kazakhs and Russians and the cessation of Russian settlement on the Kazakh lands. It was notably the first modern organized political Kazakh elite group.[1]

Alash party attempted to reinforce Kazakh identity rather than embracing Russian identities. Western secularism and ties to the Muslim world were the major dividing issues among the party intelligentsia and the Kazakh elites, through the Russian Civil War.[1]

Chairman of the party and president of the Alash Autonomy was Alikhan Bokeikhanov. Prior to the formation of Alash party, he and other notable members of the party were members of the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party,[1] which they maintained some relations with.

Alash party ceased to exist on August 26, 1920, after the Bolsheviks defeated White Army that was occupying territory of the Alash Autonomy, and formed the Kirghiz Autonomous Socialist Soviet Republic.