Central Asian Calendar
The Central Asian calendar in use primarily in Turkestan and Ugyuristan is an adapted Gregorian calendar which blends in elements of the Persian and Chinese calendars.
The Months
The names of the months are Persian in origin:
Navruz March
Çavır April
Mamur May
Mizäm June
Şildü July
Tamuz August
Kärgüyük September
Hazan October
Qariça November
Jaltuqsan December
Qaņjar January
Aqpan February
However, the numbering of days within the months follows the standard Gregorian pattern, and the new year begins on the first of March, not the equinox as was traditional in the Persian calendar. The Central Asian New Year holiday remains on the 21st/22nd, however.
Year Numbering
Numbering of years also follows the Gregorian calendar brought by the Russians, but there is a two month lag between the Western and Central Asian calendars due to the differing start dates. Thus, the date of 11th January 2009 in the Russian Gregorian calendar is 11- Qaņjar 2008 in the Central Asian calendar
The Cycle of Animals
In addition, there is a Chinese-derived animal cycle system of naming the years which runs in parallel with the Gregorian year numbers. There are some differences from the usual Chinese system, replacing some of the animals with more Central Asian ones:
Year name: Years:Rat (Çıçqan) 1888 1900 1912 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008
Ox (Buqa) 1889 1901 1913 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009
Panther (Bars) 1890 1902 1914 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010
Rabbit (Qoyan) 1891 1903 1915 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011
Snail (Ulu) 1892 1904 1916 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012
Snake (Yılan) 1893 1905 1917 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013
Horse (At) 1894 1906 1918 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014
Sheep (Qoı) 1895 1907 1919 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015
Camel (Tüyü) 1896 1908 1920 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016
Cock (Ätiş) 1897 1909 1921 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017
Dog (It) 1898 1910 1922 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018
Pig (Qaban) 1899 1911 1923 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019
Thus, the start of the
Basmaçı Revolt would be written out in full as
13- Jaltuqsan, Ulu Jıl 1916.