Editing Tashkent (section)

===Colonial period===
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[[File:Храм Александра Невского (Ташкент).png|thumb|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in Tashkent.]] 
In May 1865, [[Mikhail Grigorevich Chernyayev]] (Cherniaev), acting against the direct orders of the [[Tsar]] and outnumbered at least 15–1, staged a daring night attack against a city with a wall {{cvt|25|km|mi}} long with 11 gates and 30,000 defenders. While a small contingent staged a diversionary attack, the main force penetrated the walls, led by a [[Russian Orthodox]] priest. Although the defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city after two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders (including [[Alimqul]], the ruler of the Kokand Khanate). Chernyayev, dubbed the "Lion of Tashkent" by city elders, staged a hearts-and-minds campaign to win the population over. He abolished taxes for a year, rode unarmed through the streets and bazaars meeting common people, and appointed himself "Military Governor of Tashkent", recommending to [[Tsar Alexander II]] that the city become an independent [[khanate]] under Russian protection.
[[File:Taskent city coat 1909.gif|thumb|left|upright|Coats of arms of Tashkent, 1909]]
The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the impulsive general as a loose cannon, and soon replaced him with General [[Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman]]. Far from being granted independence, Tashkent became the capital of the new territory of [[Russian Turkistan]], with Kaufman as first Governor-General. A [[cantonment]] and Russian settlement were built across the Ankhor Canal from the old city, and Russian settlers and merchants poured in. Tashkent was a center of espionage in the [[Great Game]] rivalry between Russia and the United Kingdom over Central Asia. The [[Turkestan Military District]] was established as part of the military reforms of 1874. The [[Trans-Caspian Railway]] arrived in 1889, and the railway workers who built it settled in Tashkent as well, bringing with them the seeds of [[Bolshevik Revolution]].