Entrepreneurship of Bukharan Jews during Economic Modernization of Central Asia in the Early XX Century: Yusuf Davydov Trading House

Abstract

In the early XX century, Turkestan represented a remarkable model of economic modernization. Russian commercial banks and the local bourgeoisie welcomed the economic integration of the Central Asian periphery into the Russian Empire. Bukharan Jews had found their economic niche by the 1860s: they traded in cotton and acted as intermediaries between Turkestan cotton producers and Russian textile workers. However, the segregationist policy in the regional industry prohibited them to establish trading houses and, therefore, restricted their ability to obtain bank loans. Eventually, the liberal economic policy initiated by Prime Minister Sergei Yu. Witte facilitated the reorganization of Bukharan-Jewish enterprises. The patriarchal family businesses turned into modern trading and industrial companies, e.g., the Davydov Trading House, the Vadyaev Brothers, etc. The National Bank and the Russian Commercial Bank opened their outlets in the most important commercial and industrial centers of Turkestan, which was another important step towards economic modernization. This article focuses on the role of Russian commercial banks in the activities of Bukharan-Jewish business circles during the modernization of the Central Asian periphery of the Russian Empire in the early XX century. The Davydov Trading House was reorganized in 1906 and became a leader in the cotton trading market. It used the loans from Russian banks to build cotton ginning factories, breweries, and an internal network of seed-cotton suppliers. Unlike the Vadyaev Brothers, the Davidov family failed to create a stable family business model: in the summer of 1914, the Trading House and all its property were controlled by a committee board established by the major creditors from among the Russian commercial banks. In spite of the Great War, the board managed to save the Davydov Trading House from bankruptcy and modernized its operations.