THE GENDARMERIE, SECRET POLICE, AND POLITICAL SURVEILLANCE IN THE FERGANA OBLAST UNDER RUSSIAN IMPERIAL RULE

This article examines the formation and operational structure of the imperial Russian security apparatus in the Turkestan Region, with particular focus on the Fergana Oblast, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on archival materials from the Uzbekistan National Archives (UzNA), the study traces the institutional evolution from the early gendarmerie railway directorates established in 1901 and 1905 through to the founding of the Turkestan District Security Department (TDSD) in 1907.