Millet Mejlisi

Millet Mejlisi, also known as Millät Mäjlese or Millät Mäclese, was a national assembly formed in the final months of the Russian Empire to represent Muslim Turko-Tatar communities in Inner Russia and Siberia. It emerged from the political mobilization that followed the 1917 Russian Revolution and was created by a decision of the Second All-Russian Muslim Congress. The assembly began work in Ufa on 20 November 1917, shortly after the Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd, and continued meeting until 11 January 1918. The body was intended to provide an institutional framework for Muslim Turko-Tatar political representation during a period in which imperial authority had collapsed and competing visions of Russia's future were being advanced. Its membership numbered approximately 110 participants, with a further group of elected representatives who did not attend its sessions. The assembly included politicians and intellectuals from several Muslim communities and became a forum for debate over whether the region's future should be organized through cultural-national autonomy or a territorial form of self-government. Two broad factions developed within Millet Mejlisi. The Türkiysilər favored national-cultural autonomy, which would preserve a common cultural and institutional framework for Turko-Tatar communities without necessarily creating a single territorial state. This tendency included Sadri Mäqsudi, Äxmäthadi Mäqsudi, Ğayaz İsxaqi, Zakir Qadıyri and other national activists. The Tupraqçılar, or territorialists, supported territorial autonomy and included figures such as İlyas Alkin, Hadi Atlasi, Ğabdulla Sönasi, Ğalimcan İbrahimof, Sələxetdin Ağnagulof, Ğäbdelbari Battal, Sälimgerey Jantörin and Ğalimcan Şäräf. Sadri Mäqsudi was elected chairman. İbniämin Äxtämov became deputy chairman, while Ğabdraxman Fäxretdinov served as secretary. The assembly operated through commissions dealing with legislative proposals, mandates, education, finance, religious affairs, territorial autonomy and national regions. These committees indicate that Millet Mejlisi was not merely a consultative gathering: it sought to develop an administrative and constitutional program for the Muslim peoples it represented. The assembly did not recognize Soviet authority. Instead, it decided to pursue the establishment of an Idel-Ural State, a proposed political entity for the Volga-Ural region and its associated Muslim populations. In January 1918 it created a Commission for the Implementation of the Idel-Ural State and helped establish the Milli İdärä, or National Board, as the executive body of the proposed autonomy. These steps connected the parliamentary project with a broader attempt to construct an autonomous or independent political order amid civil conflict and state collapse. Millet Mejlisi met in a house owned by the merchant Sämiğulla Şämğulof at the corner of Aleksandrovskaya and Malaya Kazanskaya streets in Ufa. There were plans to relocate the assembly to Kazan, but its active parliamentary period ended in January 1918. The Bolshevik authorities' consolidation of power and the wider civil-war environment prevented the assembly from developing into a durable state institution. Its short existence nevertheless made it an important episode in the history of Tatar, Bashkir and wider Muslim political movements in the Volga-Ural region.

Millet Mejlisi was established during the political upheaval of 1917, when the collapse of the Russian imperial order opened space for national and religious movements across the former empire. Muslim political activists from Inner Russia and Siberia used the All-Russian Muslim Congresses to debate their communities' institutional future. The Second All-Russian Muslim Congress decided to create a national assembly, which began functioning in Ufa on 20 November 1917. The assembly represented approximately 110 members, although some elected delegates did not take part in its meetings. Its composition reflected disagreements over the proper form of self-government. The Türkiysilər supported national-cultural autonomy: a model centered on common cultural, educational, religious and political institutions for Turko-Tatar communities. The Tupraqçılar advocated territorial autonomy, seeking a territorial political unit in the Volga-Ural region. These factions did not represent an absolute division over every issue, but they expressed the principal strategic debate within the assembly. Sadri Mäqsudi was elected chairman, with İbniämin Äxtämov as deputy chairman and Ğabdraxman Fäxretdinov as secretary. The assembly created specialized commissions for legislative proposals, mandates, education, finance, religious affairs, territorial autonomy and national regions. Through these bodies it addressed both cultural matters and the practical design of a future political administration. Millet Mejlisi rejected Soviet authority and pursued the creation of an Idel-Ural State. In January 1918 it established a Commission for the Implementation of the Idel-Ural State. An executive board known as the Milli İdärä, or National Board, was also formed to serve as the administrative structure of the proposed autonomy. The parliamentary and executive initiatives represented an attempt to translate Muslim national politics into a territorial government during the uncertain period between revolution and civil war. The assembly held its sessions in a house owned by the merchant Sämiğulla Şämğulof at the intersection of Aleksandrovskaya and Malaya Kazanskaya streets in Ufa. A move to Kazan was considered, including a proposed location at Ğabdulla Säğdief's house on Yekaterininskaya Street, but the relocation was not completed during the assembly's active existence. Millet Mejlisi ceased meeting on 11 January 1918. Soviet consolidation and the rapidly changing military and political environment prevented it from establishing a lasting autonomous state. Its work nevertheless influenced later discussions of Tatar, Bashkir and Idel-Ural self-determination.

• 1918

  Idel-Ural implementation commission and National Board established

  [1]Millet Mejlisien.wikipedia.org

  In January, the assembly created a commission to implement the Idel-Ural State project and established the Milli İdärä as its proposed executive board.

• 1918

  Assembly ends its work

  [1]Millet Mejlisien.wikipedia.org

  Millet Mejlisi's active parliamentary period ended on 11 January 1918.

• 1917

  Second All-Russian Muslim Congress creates the assembly

  [1]Millet Mejlisien.wikipedia.org

  The congress decided to establish a national assembly for Muslim Turko-Tatar communities of Inner Russia and Siberia.

• 1917

  Sessions begin in Ufa

  [1]Millet Mejlisien.wikipedia.org

  Millet Mejlisi began its parliamentary work in Ufa on 20 November 1917.

A representative political institution for Muslim Turko-Tatar communities, combining parliamentary deliberation with a program for national-cultural or territorial autonomy.

• 1917

  Reject Soviet authority and pursue Idel-Ural statehoodStrategy

  Background

  The assembly operated after the Bolshevik seizure of power and sought a political framework for the Muslim peoples of the Volga-Ural region.

  Action taken

  Millet Mejlisi refused to recognize Soviet authority and adopted the objective of establishing the Idel-Ural State.

  Aftermath

  The assembly created implementation and executive bodies in January 1918, but the project was overtaken by Soviet consolidation and the civil-war environment.

  Source

1. 1Millet Mejlisien.wikipedia.org