History of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistanis alandlocked countryinCentral Asia. It is itself surrounded by five landlocked countries:Kazakhstanto thenorth;Kyrgyzstanto thenortheast;Tajikistanto thesoutheast;Afghanistanto thesouth,Turkmenistanto thesouth-west. Itscapitaland largest city isTashkent. Uzbekistan is part of theTurkic languagesworld, as well as a member of theOrganization of Turkic States. While theUzbek languageis the majority spoken language in Uzbekistan,Russianis widely used as an inter-ethnic tongue and in government. Islam is the majority religion in Uzbekistan, most Uzbeks beingnon-denominational Muslims.In ancient times it largely overlapped with the region known asSogdia, and also withBactria.
The first people recorded in Central Asia wereScythianswho came from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan, sometime in the first millennium BC; when these nomads settled in the region they built an extensive irrigation system along the rivers.At this time, cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) emerged as centres of government and high culture.By the fifth century BC, theBactrian,Soghdian, andTokharianstates dominated the region.As China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Persian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centres of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and rural settlements the Sogdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. As a result of this trade on what became known as theSilk Route,Bukhara,SamarkandandKhivaeventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at timesTransoxiana(Mawarannahr) was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity.A remote part of thePersian Empire, the area was briefly conquered byAlexander the Great, and was known asSogdiaat this time.  It, or parts of it, then passed through theSeleucid Empire,Greco-Bactrian Kingdom,Kushan Empire,Hephthalite Empire, andSasanian Empire.  AsTurkic peoplesarrived in the area, largely replacingIranicpeoples, theSogdian city-statesformed part of theFirst Turkic KhaganateandWestern Turkic Khaganate.
Long beforeIslamicinvasion, the region was ruled byHindu kingsfor several centuries. Among all the dynasties,Kushandynasty was the most remarkable and influential one. This period is well known the for expansion of science, art and culture from both Hinduism and Buddhism while both religions flourished in harmony. The region was at its peak glory during the period.
TheEarly Muslim conquestsand the subsequentSamanid Empireconverted most of the people, including the local ruling classes, into adherents ofIslam.  This period saw leading figures of theIslamic Golden Age, includingMuhammad al-Bukhari,Al-Tirmidhi,al Khwarizmi,al-Biruni,AvicennaandOmar Khayyam. nnovations in science, such as the development of chemical processes by Jabir ibn Hayyan and astronomical studies by Ibn Al-Haytham, were also prominent during this period.The localKhwarazmian dynastyand Central Asia as a whole were decimated by theMongol invasionin the 13th century, after which the region became dominated by Turkic peoples. The city ofShahrisabzwas the birthplace of the Turco-Mongol conquerorTimur(Tamerlane), who in the 14th century established theTimurid Empireand was proclaimed the Supreme Emir ofTuranwith his capital inSamarkand, which became a centre of science under the rule ofUlugh Beg, giving birth to theTimurid Renaissance. The territories of theTimurid dynastywere conquered byUzbek Shaybanidsin the 16th century, moving the centre of power to Bukhara. The region was split into three states: theKhanate of Khiva,Khanate of KokandandEmirate of Bukhara. Conquests by theMughal emperorBaburtowards the east led to the foundation of India's newest invasions as theMughal Empire.
All of Central Asiawas gradually incorporatedinto theRussian Empireduring the 19th century, withTashkentbecoming the political center ofRussian Turkestan. In 1924,national delimitationcreated theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republicas an independent republic within theSoviet Union. Following thedissolution of the Soviet Union, it declaredindependenceas the Republic of Uzbekistan on 31 August 1991.
In 1938 A. Okladnikov discovered the 70,000-year-old skull of an 8- to 11-year-oldNeanderthalchild inTeshik-Tashin Uzbekistan.After thisCentral Asiawas occupied by theScythians,Iraniannomadswho arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Kazakhstan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spokeIranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region.  Cities such asBukhara(Bukhara) andSamarqand(Samarkand) began to appear as centers of government and culture. In the first millennium BC,Iraniannomadsestablishedirrigationsystems along the rivers ofCentral Asiaand built towns atBukharaandSamarqand. These places became extremely wealthy points of transit on what became known as theSilk Roadbetween China and Europe.
In the seventh century AD, theSoghdianIranians, who profited most visibly from this trade, saw their province of Transoxiana (Mawarannahr) overwhelmed byArabs, who spreadIslamthroughout the region. Under the ArabAbbasid Caliphateand (starting from the mid-9th century), the PersianSamanid Empire, the eighth to tenth centuries were a golden age of learning and culture in Transoxiana.
By the fifth century BC, theBactrian,Soghdian, andTokharianstates dominated the region. AsChinabegan to develop itssilktrade with the West, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centers of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and settlements in the province of Transoxiana (Mawarannahrwas a name given the region after theArab conquest) in Uzbekistan and farther east in what is today China'sXinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on what became known as theSilk Route, Bukhara and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Transoxiana was one of the most influential and powerfulPersianprovinces of antiquity..
Alexander the Greatconquered the region in 328 BC, bringing it briefly under the control of hisMacedonian Empire.The wealth of Transoxiana was a constant magnet for invasions from the northernsteppesand from China. Numerous intraregional wars were fought betweenSoghdianstates and the other states in Transoxiana, and the Persians and the Chinese were in perpetual conflict over the region. The Chinese in particular sought theHeavenly Horsesfrom the region, going so far as to wage a siegewaragainstDayuan, an urbanized civilization in the Fergana Valley in 104 BC to obtain the horses.
In the same centuries, however, the region also was an important center of intellectual life and religion. Until the first centuries after Christ, the dominant religion in the region wasZoroastrianism, butBuddhism,ManichaeismandChristianityalso attracted large numbers of followers.
Traces of Buddhism have been found in all five former Soviet Central Asian republics. But Michael Barry Lane who is UNESCO's representative in Uzbekistan explains why so many Buddhist sites are concentrated around Termez, the former northern capital of ancient Bactria, a historic region that included southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and northern Afghanistan: "The main inspiration for the Buddhist culture transmitted to China and Japan was the Greco-Buddhist culture -- or Hellenistic culture -- which flourished in Gandahara, in today's northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, from about the first century B.C. to the fourth century A.D. The trade route from Gandahara to the northwest also left a lot of influences and a lot of vestiges along the Amu Darya River in Central Asia. And the center of this region was Termez". Founded 2,500 years ago in the foothills of Nepal, Buddhism spread to Gandahara. From there, the religion traveled along trade routes to reach Parthia in modern Turkmenistan and northeastern Iran, and Bactria. Mostly from Bactria, Buddhism arrived to Sogdia in central Uzbekistan and northwestern Tajikistan. Later, in the seventh century, Buddhism continued its route to southern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
In 563–567, the territory of modern Uzbekistan became part of theTurkic Khaganate.In 630 and 658, the Eastern and Western Turkic Khaganate were conquered by theTang Dynastyof China.
During the era of theWestern Turkic Khaganate(603-658), the political influence of the Turks in Sogd increased. The process of settling the Turks in the oases of Central Asia led to the development of the ancient Turkic writing and monetary relations. Some Turkic rulers ofBukhara,Chachand Fergana issued their own coins.Part of the Bukhara Turks adopted Christianity. The Turks from other regions adopted Buddhism and Zoroastrianism. The first steps for the official introduction of Buddhism into the religious practice of the Turks were made byMukan Kağan(553-572). However, onlyTaspar Kağan(572-580) gave the Buddhist mission a scope that could provide the followers of this religion with cultural and political priority in the Kagan headquarters.Most of the Turkic population retained their religion. The sources mention the following Turkic deities:Tengri(Sky),Umay(Mother Goddess),Yer-sub(Earth-Water) and Erklig (Lord of Hell), among which Tengri, the ruler of the Upper World, held a dominant position.
Theconquest of Central Asiaby MuslimArabs, which was completed in the eighth century AD, brought to the region a new religion that continues to be dominant. The Arabs first invaded Transoxiana in the middle of the seventh century through sporadic raids during their conquest of Persia. Available sources on the Arab conquest suggest that the Soghdians and other Iranian peoples of Central Asia were unable to defend their land against the Arabs because of internal divisions and the lack of strong indigenous leadership. The Arabs, on the other hand, were led by a brilliant general,Qutaybah ibn Muslim, and were also highly motivated by the desire to spreadtheir new faith(the official beginning of which was in AD 622). Because of these factors, the population of Transoxiana was easily subdued. The new religion brought by the Arabs spread gradually into the region. The native religious identities, which in some respects were already being displaced by Persian influences before the Arabs arrived, were further displaced in the ensuing centuries. Nevertheless, the destiny of Central Asia as an Islamic region was firmly established by the Arab victory over the Chinese armies in 750 in abattleat theTalas River.
Despite brief Arab rule, Central Asia successfully retained much of its Iranian characteristic, remaining an important center of culture and trade for centuries after the adoption of the new religion. Transoxiana continued to be an important political player in regional affairs, as it had been under various Persian dynasties. In fact, theAbbasid Caliphate, which ruled the Arab world for five centuries beginning in 750, was established thanks in great part to assistance from Central Asian supporters in their struggle against the then-rulingUmayyad Caliphate.
During the height of the Abbasid Caliphate in the eighth and the ninth centuries, Central Asia and Transoxiana experienced a truly golden age. Bukhara became one of the leading centers of learning, culture, and art in the Muslim world, its magnificence rivaling contemporaneous cultural centers such asBaghdad,Cairo, andCordoba. Some of the greatest historians, scientists, and geographers in the history of Islamic culture were natives of the region includingal-Bukhari,Al-Tirmidhi,al Khwarizmi,al-Biruni,AvicennaandOmar Khayyam.
As the Abbasid Caliphate began to weaken and local Islamic Iranian states emerged as the rulers of Iran and Central Asia, thePersian languagecontinued its preeminent role in the region as the language of literature and government. The rulers of the eastern section of Iran and of Transoxiana were Persians. Under theSamanidsand theBuyids, the rich Perso-Islamic culture of Transoxiana continued to flourish.
In the sixth century, the continued influx of Turkic nomads from the northern steppes brought a new group of people into Central Asia.These people were theTurkswho lived in the great grasslands stretching fromMongoliato theCaspian Sea.
Later, introduced mainly as slave soldiers to the Samanid Dynasty, these Turks served in the armies of all the states of the region, including the Abbasid army. In the late tenth century, as the Samanids began to lose control ofTransoxiana(Mawarannahr) and northeastern Iran, some of these soldiers came to positions of power in the government of the region, and eventually established their own states, albeit highlyPersianized. With the emergence of a Turkic ruling group in the region, other Turkic tribes began to migrate to Transoxiana.
The first of the Turkic states in the region was the PersianateGhaznavid Empire, established in the last years of the tenth century. The Ghaznavid state, which captured the Samanid domains south of theAmu Darya, was able to conquer large areas of eastern Iran, Central Asia,Afghanistan, and Pakistan during the reign ofSultan Mahmud. The Ghaznavids were closely followed by the TurkicQarakhanids, who took the Samanid capital Bukhara in 999 AD, and ruled Transoxiana for the next two centuries. Samarkand was made the capital of the Western Qarakhanid state.
The dominance of Ghazna was curtailed, however, when theSeljuksled themselves into the western part of the region, conquering the Ghaznavid territory ofKhorazm(also spelled Khorezm and Khwarazm).The Seljuks also defeated the Karakhanids, but did not annex their territories outright. Instead, they made the Karakhanids a vassal state.TheSeljuksdominated a wide area fromAsia Minor, Iran, Iraq, and parts of theCaucasus, to the western sections of Transoxiana, in Afghanistan, in the eleventh century. The Seljuk Empire then split into states ruled by various local Turkic and Iranian rulers. The culture and intellectual life of the region continued unaffected by such political changes, however. Turkic tribes from the north continued to migrate into the region during this period.The power of the Seljuks however became diminished when the Seljuk SultanAhmed Sanjarwas defeated by theKara-Khitansat theBattle of Qatwanin 1141.
In the late twelfth century, a Turkic leader of Khorazm, which is the region south of the Aral Sea, united Khorazm, Transoxiana, and Iran under his rule. Under the rule of the KhorazmshahKutbeddin Muhammadand his son,Muhammad II, Transoxiana continued to be prosperous and rich while maintaining the region's Perso-Islamic identity. However, a new incursion of nomads from the north soon changed this situation. This time the invader wasGenghis Khanwith hisMongolarmies.
As Turks began entering the region from the north, they established new states starting from the 11th century and began to change the demographics of the region. After a succession of states dominated the region, in the twelfth century,Transoxianawas united in a single state with Iran and the region of Khwarezm, south of theAral Sea. In the early thirteenth century, that state was invaded byMongols, led byGenghis Khan. Under his successors, Iranian-speaking communities were displaced from some parts of Central Asia. UnderTimur(Tamerlane), Transoxiana began its last cultural flowering, centered inSamarqandthrough theTimurid Renaissance. After Timur the state began to split, and by 1510Uzbektribes had conquered all of Central Asia.
The Mongol invasion of Central Asia is one of the turning points in the history of the region. The Mongols had such a lasting effect because they established the tradition that the legitimate ruler of any Central Asian state could only be a blood descendant of Genghis Khan.
TheMongol conquest of Central Asia, which took place from 1219 to 1225, led to a wholesale change in the population of Mawarannahr. The conquest quickened the process of Turkification in some parts of the region because, although the armies of Genghis Khan were led by Mongols, they were made up mostly of Turkic tribes that had been incorporated into the Mongol armies as the tribes were encountered in the Mongols' southward sweep. As these armies settled in Mawarannahr, they intermixed with the local populations which did not flee. Another effect of the Mongol conquest was the large-scale damage the soldiers inflicted on cities such as Bukhara and on regions such as Khorazm. As the leading province of a wealthy state, Khorazm was treated especially severely. Theirrigationnetworks in the region suffered extensive damage that was not repaired for several generations.Many Iranian-speaking populations were forced to flee southwards in order to avoid persecution.
Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation,Mongol lawof theMongol Empiremaintained orderly succession for several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants ofChaghatai, the second son of Genghis. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united.But,Khwarezmwas part ofGolden Horde.
In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, theChaghtaiterritory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain,Timur(Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Genghis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of theAral Sea. He also invaded Russia before dying during an invasion of China in 1405.
Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich Perso-Islamic culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand and other population centers. Timur also patronized scientists and artists; his grandsonUlugh Begwas one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkic, in the form of theChaghatai dialect, became aliterary languagein its own right in Mawarannahr, although the Timurids were Persianate in nature. The greatest Chaghataid writer,Ali Shir Nava'i, was active in the city ofHerat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the fifteenth century.
The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of theUzbeknomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr.
By 1510 the Uzbeks had completed their conquest of Central Asia, including the territory of the present-day Uzbekistan. Of the states they established, the most powerful, theKhanate of Bukhara, centered on the city of Bukhara. The khanate controlled Mawarannahr, especially the region ofTashkent, theFergana Valleyin the east, and northern Afghanistan. A second Uzbek state, theKhanate of Khivawas established in the oasis ofKhorazmat the mouth of the Amu Darya in 1512. The Khanate of Bukhara was initially led by the energeticShaybanid Dynasty. The Shaybanids competed against Iran, which was led by theSafavid dynasty, for the rich far-eastern territory of present-day Iran. The struggle with Iran also had a religious aspect because the Uzbeks wereSunniMuslims, and Iran wasShia..
Near the end of the sixteenth century, the Uzbek states ofBukharaandKhorazmbegan to weaken because of their endless wars against each other and the Persians and because of strong competition for the throne among the khans in power and their heirs. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Shaybanid Dynasty was replaced by theJanid Dynasty.
Another factor contributing to the weakness of the Uzbek khanates in this period was the general decline of trade moving through the region. This change had begun in the previous century when ocean trade routes were established from Europe to India and China, circumventing the Silk Route. As European-dominated ocean transport expanded and some trading centers were destroyed, cities such as Bukhara,Merv, and Samarqand in the Khanate of Bukhara andKhivaandUrganch(Urgench) in Khorazm began to steadily decline.
The Uzbeks' struggle with Iran also led to the cultural isolation of Central Asia from the rest of the Islamic world. In addition to these problems, the struggle with the nomads from the northern steppe continued. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,Kazakhnomads and Mongols continually raided the Uzbek khanates, causing widespread damage and disrupt. In the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Khanate of Bukhara lost the fertile Fergana region, and anew Uzbek khanatewas formed inQuqon.
In the sixteenth century, the Uzbeks established two strong rivalkhanates,BukharaandKhorazm. In this period, theSilk Roadcities began to decline as ocean trade flourished. The khanates were isolated by wars with Iran and weakened by attacks from northern nomads. Between 1729 and 1741 all the Khanates were made into vassals byNader Shahof Persia. In the early nineteenth century, three Uzbek khanates—Bukhara,Khiva, andQuqon(Kokand)—had a brief period of recovery. However, in the mid-nineteenth centuryRussia, attracted to the region's commercial potential and especially to itscotton, began the full military conquest of Central Asia. By 1876 Russia had incorporated all three khanates (hence all of present-dayUzbekistan) into its empire, granting the khanates limited autonomy. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the Russian population of Uzbekistan grew and some industrialization occurred.
The following period was one of weakness and disruption, with continuous invasions from Iran and from the north. In this period, a new group, theRussians, began to appear on the Central Asian scene. As Russian merchants began to expand into the grasslands of present-dayKazakhstan, they built strong trade relations with their counterparts in Tashkent and, to some extent, in Khiva. For the Russians, this trade was not rich enough to replace the former transcontinental trade, but it made the Russians aware of the potential of Central Asia. Russian attention also was drawn by the sale of increasingly large numbers of Russian slaves to the Central Asians by Kazakh andTurkmentribes. Russians kidnapped by nomads in the border regions and Russian sailors shipwrecked on the shores of theCaspian Seausually ended up in the slave markets of Bukhara or Khiva. Beginning in the eighteenth century, this situation evoked increasing Russian hostility toward the Central Asian khanates.
Meanwhile, in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries new dynasties led the khanates to a period of recovery. Those dynasties were theQongratsin Khiva, theManghitsin Bukhara, and theMinsinQuqon. These new dynasties established centralized states with standing armies and new irrigation works. However, their rise coincided with the ascendance of Russian influence in the Kazakh steppes and the establishment ofBritish rule in India. By the early nineteenth century, the region was the scene of the "Great Game", a series of political maneuverers between the two powers to prevent the other from gaining power in Central Asia. The Central Asian powers took little notice of this political bickering between the European powers, continuing to wage wars of conquest amongst themselves.
In the nineteenth century, Russian interest in the area increased greatly, sparked by nominal concern over increasingBritish influencein Central Asia; by anger over the situation of Russian citizens held as slaves; and by the desire to control the trade in the region and to establish a secure source ofcottonfor Russia. When theUnited States Civil Warprevented cotton delivery from Russia's primary supplier, the southern United States, Central Asian cotton assumed much greater importance for Russia.
As soon as theRussian conquest of the Caucasuswas completed in the late 1850s, the RussianMinistry of Warbegan to send military forces against the Central Asian khanates. Three major population centers of the khanates—Tashkent,Kokand, andSamarqand— were captured in 1865, 1876, and 1868, respectively. In 1868 theKhanate of Bukharasigned a treaty with Russia making Bukhara a Russianprotectorate. In 1868 theKhanate of Kokandwas confined to the Ferghana Valley and in 1876 it was annexed. TheKhanate of Khivabecame a Russian protectorate in 1873.
Thus by 1876 the entire territory comprising present-dayUzbekistaneither had fallen under direct Russian rule or had become aprotectorateof Russia. The treaties establishing the protectorates over Bukhara and Khiva gave Russia control of the foreign relations of these states and gave Russian merchants important concessions in foreign trade; the khanates retained control of their own internal affairs. Tashkent andQuqonfell directly under a Russian governor general.
During the first few decades of Russian rule, the daily life of the Central Asians did not change greatly. The Russians substantially increased cotton production, but otherwise they interfered little with theindigenouspeople. Some Russian settlements were built next to the established cities of Tashkent and Samarqand, but the Russians did not mix with the indigenous populations. The era of Russian rule did produce important social and economic changes for some Uzbeks as a new middle class developed and some peasants were affected by the increased emphasis on cotton cultivation.
In the last decade of the nineteenth century, conditions began to change as new Russian railroads brought greater numbers of Russians into the area. In the 1890s, several revolts, which were put down easily, led to increased Russian vigilance in the region. The Russians increasingly intruded in the internal affairs of the khanates. The policy of the Russian authorities (refusal to approve waqf documents) resulted in the fall of incomes and the level of living standards in Islamic "sacred families".
The only avenue for Uzbek resistance to Russian rule became the Pan-Turkish movement, also known as Jadidism, which had arisen in the 1860s among intellectuals who sought to preserve indigenous Islamic Central Asian culture from Russian encroachment. By 1900 Jadidism had developed into the region's first major movement of political resistance. Until theBolshevik Revolutionof 1917, the modern,secularideas of Jadidism faced resistance from both the Russians and the Uzbek khans, who had differing reasons to fear the movement.
Prior to the events of 1917, Russian rule had brought some industrial development in sectors directly connected with cotton. Although railroads and cotton-ginning machinery advanced, the Central Asian textile industry was slow to develop because the cotton crop was shipped to Russia for processing. As the tsarist government expanded the cultivation of cotton dramatically, it changed the balance between cotton and food production, creating some problems in food supply—although in the prerevolutionary period Central Asia remained largely self-sufficient in food. This situation was to change during the Soviet period when the Moscow government began a ruthless drive for national self-sufficiency in cotton. This policy converted almost the entire agricultural economy of Uzbekistan to cotton production, bringing a series of consequences whose harm still is felt today in Uzbekistan and other republics.
By the turn of the twentieth century, the Russian Empire was in complete control of Central Asia. The territory of Uzbekistan was divided into three political groupings: thekhanatesofBukharaandKhivaand the Guberniya (Governorate General) ofTurkestan, the last of which was under direct control of the Ministry of War of Russia. The final decade of the nineteenth century finds the three regions united under the independent and sovereign Republic of Uzbekistan. The intervening decades were a period of revolution, oppression, massive disruptions, and colonial rule.
After 1900 the khanates continued to enjoy a certain degree ofautonomyin their internal affairs. However, they ultimately were subservient to the Russian governor general inTashkent, who ruled the region in the name ofTsar Nicholas II. The Russian Empire exercised direct control over large tracts of territory in Central Asia, allowing the khanates to rule a large portion of their ancient lands for themselves. In this period, large numbers of Russians, attracted by the climate and the available land, immigrated into Central Asia. After 1900, increased contact with Russian civilization began to affect the lives of Central Asians in the larger population centers where the Russians settled.
Russian influence was especially strong among certain young intellectuals who were the sons of the rich merchant classes. Educated in the local Muslim schools, in Russian universities, or inIstanbul, these men, who came to be known as theJadidists, tried to learn from Russia and from modernizing movements in Istanbul and among the Tatars, and to use this knowledge to regain their country's independence. The Jadidists believed that their society, and even their religion, must be reformed and modernized for this goal to be achieved. In 1905 the unexpected victory of a new Asiatic power in theRusso-Japanese Warand the eruption of revolution in Russia raised the hopes of reform factions that Russian rule could be overturned, and a modernization program initiated, in Central Asia. The democratic reforms that Russia promised in the wake of the revolution gradually faded, however, as the tsarist government restored authoritarian rule in the decade that followed 1905. Renewed tsarist repression and the reactionary politics of the rulers of Bukhara and Khiva forced the reformers underground or into exile. Nevertheless, some of the future leaders of Soviet Uzbekistan, including Abdur Rauf Fitrat and others, gained valuable revolutionary experience and were able to expand their ideological influence in this period.
In the summer of 1916, a number of settlements in eastern Uzbekistan were the sites of violent demonstrations against a new Russian decree canceling the Central Asians' immunity to conscription for duty in World War I. Reprisals of increasing violence ensued, and the struggle spread from Uzbekistan into Kyrgyz and Kazak territory. There, Russian confiscation of grazing land already had created animosity not present in the Uzbek population, which was concerned mainly with preserving its rights.
The next opportunity for the Jadidists presented itself in 1917 with the outbreak of theFebruaryand October revolutions in Russia. In February the revolutionary events in Russia's capital,Petrograd(St. Petersburg), were quickly repeated in Tashkent, where the tsarist administration of the governor general was overthrown. In its place, a dual system was established, combining a provisional government with direct Soviet power and completely excluding the native Muslim population from power. Indigenous leaders, including some of the Jadidists, attempted to set up an autonomous government in the city ofQuqonin the Fergana Valley, but this attempt was quickly crushed. Following the suppression of autonomy in Quqon, Jadidists and other loosely connected factions began what was called theBasmachi revoltagainst Soviet rule, which by 1922 had survived the civil war and was asserting greater power over most of Central Asia. For more than a decade, Basmachiguerrillafighters (that name was a derogatory Slavic term that the fighters did not apply to themselves) fiercely resisted the establishment of Soviet rule in parts of Central Asia.
However, the majority of Jadidists, including leaders such asAbdurauf FitratandFayzulla Khodzhayev, cast their lot with the communists. In 1920 Khojayev, who became first secretary of theCommunist Party of Uzbekistan, assisted communist forces in the capture of Bukhara and Khiva. After theAmir of Bukharahad joined theBasmachi movement, Khojayev became president of the newly establishedBukharan People's Soviet Republic. APeople's Republic of Khorezmalso was set up in what had been Khiva.
The Basmachi revolt eventually was crushed as the civil war in Russia ended and the communists drew away large portions of the Central Asian population with promises of local political autonomy and the potential economic autonomy of Soviet leaderLenin'sNew Economic Policy. Under these circumstances, large numbers of Central Asians joined the communist party, many gaining high positions in the government of theUzbek Soviet Socialist Republic(Uzbek SSR), the administrative unit established in 1924 to include present-day Uzbekistan andTajikistan. The indigenous leaders cooperated closely with the communist government in enforcing policies designed to alter the traditional society of the region: the emancipation of women, the redistribution of land, and mass literacy campaigns.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Jadidist movement of educated Central Asians, centered in present-day Uzbekistan, began to advocate overthrowing Russian rule. In 1916 violent opposition broke out in Uzbekistan and elsewhere, in response to the conscription of Central Asians into the Russian army fighting World War I. When the tsar was overthrown in 1917, Jadidists established a short-lived autonomous state at Quqon. After the Bolshevik Party gained power in Moscow, the Jadidists split between supporters of Russian communism and supporters of a widespread uprising that became known as theBasmachi Rebellion. As that revolt was being crushed in the early 1920s, local communist leaders such asFaizulla Khojayevgained power in Uzbekistan. In 1924 theSoviet Unionestablished the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, which included present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Tajikistan became the separateTajik Soviet Socialist Republicin 1929. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, large-scale agriculturalcollectivizationresulted in widespread famine in Central Asia. In the late 1930s, Khojayev and the entire leadership of the Uzbek Republic were purged and executed by Soviet leader Joseph V. Stalin (in power 1927–53) and replaced by Russian officials. The Russification of political and economic life in Uzbekistan that began in the 1930s continued through the 1970s. During World War II, Stalin exiled entire national groups from the Caucasus and the Crimea to Uzbekistan to prevent "subversive" activity against the war effort.
In 1929 theTajikandUzbekSoviet socialist republics were separated. As Uzbek communist party chief, Khojayev enforced the policies of the Soviet government during thecollectivizationof agriculture in the late 1920s and early 1930s and, at the same time, tried to increase the participation of Uzbeks in the government and the party. Soviet leaderJoseph V. Stalinsuspected the motives of all reformist national leaders in the non-Russian republics of the Soviet Union. By the late 1930s, Khojayev and the entire group that came into high positions in the Uzbek Republic had been arrested and executed during the Stalinist purges.
Following the purge of the nationalists, the government and party ranks in Uzbekistan were filled with people loyal to the Moscow government. Economic policy emphasized the supply of cotton to the rest of the Soviet Union, to the exclusion ofdiversified agriculture. During World War II, many industrial plants fromEuropean Russiawere evacuated to Uzbekistan and other parts of Central Asia. With the factories came a new wave of Russian and other European workers. Because native Uzbeks were mostly occupied in the country's agricultural regions, the urban concentration of immigrants increasingly Russified Tashkent and other large cities. During the war years, in addition to the Russians who moved to Uzbekistan, other nationalities such asCrimean Tatars,Chechens, andKoreanswere exiled to the republic because Moscow saw them as subversive elements in European Russia.
Following the death ofJoseph Stalinin 1953, the relative relaxation of totalitarian control initiated by First SecretaryNikita Khrushchev(in office 1953–64) brought the rehabilitation of some of the Uzbek nationalists who had been purged. More Uzbeks began to join the Communist Party of Uzbekistan and to assume positions in the government. However, those Uzbeks who participated in the regime did so on Russian terms.Russian was the language of state, and Russification was the prerequisite for obtaining a position in the government or the party. Those who did not or could not abandon their Uzbek lifestyles and identities were excluded from leading roles in official Uzbek society.Because of these conditions, Uzbekistan gained a reputation as one of the most politically conservative republics in the Soviet Union.
As Uzbeks were beginning to gain leading positions in society, they also were establishing or reviving unofficial networks based on regional and clan loyalties. These networks provided their members support and often profitable connections between them and the state and the party. An extreme example of this phenomenon occurred under the leadership ofSharaf Rashidov, who was first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan from 1959 to 1982. During his tenure, Rashidov brought numerous relatives and associates from his native region into government and party leadership positions. The individuals who thus became "connected" treated their positions as personalfiefdomsto enrich themselves.
In this way, Rashidov was able to initiate efforts to make Uzbekistan less subservient to Moscow. As became apparent after his death, Rashidov's strategy had been to remain a loyal ally ofLeonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, by bribing high officials of the central government. With this advantage, the Uzbek government was allowed to merely feign compliance with Moscow's demands for increasingly higher cotton quotas.
Moscow's control over Uzbekistan weakened in the 1970s as Uzbek party leader Sharaf Rashidov brought many cronies and relatives into positions of power. In the mid-1980s, Moscow attempted to regain control by again purging the entire Uzbek party leadership. However, this move increased Uzbek nationalism, which had long resented Soviet policies such as the imposition of cotton monoculture and the suppression of Islamic traditions.
In the late 1980s, the liberalized atmosphere of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev (in power 1985–91) fostered political opposition groups and open (albeit limited) opposition to Soviet policy in Uzbekistan. In 1989 a series of violent ethnic clashes involving Uzbeks brought the appointment of ethnic Uzbek outsiderIslam Karimovas Communist Party Chief. When the Supreme Soviet of Uzbekistan reluctantly approved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Karimov became president of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
During the decade following the death of Rashidov, Moscow attempted to regain the central control over Uzbekistan that had weakened in the previous decade. In 1986 it was announced that almost the entire party and government leadership of the republic had conspired in falsifying cotton production figures. Eventually, Rashidov himself was also implicated (posthumously) together withYuri Churbanov, Brezhnev's son-in-law. A massive purge of the Uzbek leadership was carried out, and corruption trials were conducted by prosecutors brought in from Moscow. In the Soviet Union, Uzbekistan became synonymous with corruption. The Uzbeks themselves felt that the central government had singled them out unfairly; in the 1980s, this resentment led to a strengthening of Uzbek nationalism. Moscow's policies in Uzbekistan, such as the strong emphasis on cotton and attempts to uprootIslamictradition, then came under increasing criticism in Tashkent.
In 1989 ethnic animosities came to a head in theFergana Valley, where localMeskhetian Turkswere assaultedby Uzbeks, and in 1990 in the Kyrgyz city ofOshUzbek and Kyrgyz youth clashed.
Moscow's response to this violence was a reduction of the purges and the appointment ofIslam Karimovas first secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan. The appointment of Karimov, who was not a member of the local party elite, signified that Moscow wanted to lessen tensions by appointing an outsider who had not been involved in the purges.
Resentment among Uzbeks continued to smolder, however, in the liberalized atmosphere of Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev's policies ofperestroikaandglasnost. With the emergence of new opportunities to express dissent, Uzbeks expressed their grievances over the cotton scandal, the purges, and other long-unspoken resentments. These included the environmental situation in the republic, recently exposed as a catastrophe as a result of the long emphasis on heavy industry and a relentless pursuit of cotton. Other grievances included discrimination and persecution experienced by Uzbek recruits in the Soviet army and the lack of investment in industrial development in the republic to provide jobs for the ever-increasing population.
By the late 1980s, some dissenting intellectuals had formed political organizations to express their grievances. The most important of these,Birlik(Unity), initially advocated the diversification of agriculture, a program to salvage the desiccatedAral Sea, and the declaration of the Uzbek language as the state language of the republic. Those issues were chosen partly because they were real concerns and partly because they were a safe way of expressing broader disaffection with the Uzbek government. In their public debate with Birlik, the government and party never lost the upper hand. As became especially clear after the accession of Karimov as party chief, most Uzbeks, especially those outside the cities, still supported the communist party and the government. Birlik's intellectual leaders never were able to make their appeal to a broad segment of the population.
Theattempted coupagainst the Gorbachev government by disaffected hard-liners in Moscow, which occurred in August 1991, was a catalyst for independence movements throughout the Soviet Union. DespiteUzbekistan's initial hesitancy to oppose the coup, theSupreme Sovietof Uzbekistan declared the republic independent on August 31, 1991.
Post-Soviet countrieshave signed aseries of treaties and agreements to settle the legacy of the former Soviet Unionmultilaterally and bilaterally.
In December 1991, an independence referendum was passed with 98.2 percent of the popular vote. The same month, a parliament was elected and Karimov was chosen the new nation's first president.
Although Uzbekistan had not sought independence, when events brought them to that point, Karimov and his government moved quickly to adapt themselves to the new realities. They realized that under theCommonwealth of Independent States, the loose federation proposed to replace the Soviet Union, no central government would provide the subsidies to which Uzbek governments had become accustomed for the previous 70 years. Old economic ties would have to be reexamined and new markets and economic mechanisms established. Although Uzbekistan as defined by the Soviets had never had independent foreign relations, diplomatic relations would have to be established with foreign countries quickly. Investment and foreign credits would have to be attracted, a formidable challenge in light of Western restrictions on financial aid to nations restricting expression of political dissent. For example, the suppression of internal dissent in 1992 and 1993 had an unexpectedly chilling effect on foreign investment. Uzbekistan's image in the West alternated in the ensuing years between an attractive, stable experimental zone for investment and a post-Soviet dictatorship whose human rights record made financial aid inadvisable. Such alternation exerted strong influence on the political and economic fortunes of the new republic in its first five years.
In 1992 Uzbekistan adopted a new constitution, but the main opposition party, Birlik, was banned, and a pattern of media suppression began. In 1995 a national referendum extended Karimov's term of office from 1997 to 2000. A series of violent incidents in eastern Uzbekistan in 1998 and 1999 intensified government activity againstIslamic extremist groups, other forms of opposition, and minorities. In 2000 Karimov was reelected overwhelmingly in an election whose procedures received international criticism. Later that year, Uzbekistan began laying mines along the Tajikistan border, creating a serious new regional issue and intensifying Uzbekistan's image as a regional hegemon. In the early 2000s, tensions also developed with neighboring states Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In the mid-2000s, a mutual defense treaty substantially enhanced relations between Russia and Uzbekistan. Tension with Kyrgyzstan increased in 2006 when Uzbekistan demanded extradition of hundreds of refugees who had fled from Andijon into Kyrgyzstan after the riots. A series of border incidents also inflamed tensions with neighboring Tajikistan. In 2006 Karimov continued arbitrary dismissals and shifts of subordinates in the government, including one deputy prime minister.
The activities of missionaries from some Islamic countries, coupled with the absence of real opportunities to participate in public affairs, contributed to the popularization of a radical interpretation ofIslam. In the February1999 Tashkent bombings, car bombs hit Tashkent and President Karimov narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. The government blamed theIslamic Movement of Uzbekistan(IMU) for the attacks. Thousands of people suspected of complicity were arrested and imprisoned. In August 2000, militant groups tried to penetrate Uzbek territory from Kyrgyzstan; acts of armed violence were noted in the southern part of the country as well.
In March 2004, another wave of attacks shook the country. These were reportedly committed by an international terrorist network. An explosion in the central part ofBukharakilled ten people in a house allegedly used by terrorists on March 28, 2004. Later that day, policemen were attacked at a factory, and early the following morning a police traffic check point was attacked. The violence escalated on March 29, when two women separately set off bombs near the main bazaar inTashkent, killing two people and injuring around 20. These were the firstsuicide bombersin Uzbekistan. On the same day, three police officers were shot dead. InBukhara, another explosion at a suspected terrorist bomb factory caused ten fatalities. The following day police raided an alleged militant hideout south of the capital city.
President Karimov claimed the attacks were probably the work of a banned radical groupHizb ut-Tahrir("The Party of Liberation"), although the group denied responsibility. Other groups that might have been responsible include militant groups operating from camps inTajikistanandAfghanistanand opposed to the government's support of theUnited Statessince September 11, 2001.
In 2004, British ambassadorCraig Murraywas removed from his post after speaking out against the regime's human rights abuses and British collusion therein.
On July 30, 2004, terrorists bombed the embassies ofIsraeland theUnited Statesin Tashkent, killing three people and wounding several. The Jihad Group in Uzbekistan posted a claim of responsibility for those attacks on a website linked toAl-Qaeda. Terrorism experts say the reason for the attacks is Uzbekistan's support of the United States and itsWar on terror.
In May 2005, several hundred demonstrators were killed when Uzbek troops fired into a crowd protesting against the imprisonment of 23 local businessmen. (For further details, see2005 Andijan Unrest.)
In July 2005, the Uzbek government gave the US 180 days' notice to leave the airbase it had leased in Uzbekistan. A Russian airbase and a German airbase remain.
In December 2007 Islam A. Karimov was reelected to power in a fraudulent election. Western election observers noted that the election failed to meet manyOSCEbenchmarks for democratic elections, the elections were held in a strictly controlled environment, and there had been no real opposition since all the candidates publicly endorsed the incumbent. Human rights activists reported various cases of multiple voting throughout the country as well as official pressure on voters at polling stations to cast ballots for Karimov.The BBC reported that many people were afraid to vote for anyone other than the president.According to the constitution Karimov was ineligible to stand as a candidate, having already served two consecutive presidential terms and thus his candidature was illegal.
The lead up to the elections was characterized by the secret police arresting dozens of opposition activists and putting them in jail including Yusuf Djumayaev, an opposition poet. Several news organizations, includingThe New York Times, theBBCand theAssociated Press, were denied credentials to cover the election.Around 300 dissidents were in jail in 2007, includingJamshid Karimov, the president's 41-year-old nephew.
In 2016,Islam Karimovdied after suffered with stroke for almost a week earlier, while still being a president and was replaced byShavkat Mirziyoyev, who was Uzbekistan's interim leader since the death of Islam Karimov. In December 2016, Shavkat Mirziyoyev won the presidentialelectionwith signs of fraud.
On 6 November 2021, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was sworn into his second term in office, after gaining a landslide victory in presidentialelection.
On 1 July 2022protests broke outin the autonomous region ofKarakalpakstanover proposed amendments to theConstitution of Uzbekistanwhich would have ended Karakalpakstan's status as an autonomous region of Uzbekistan and right to secede from Uzbekistan via referendum. They were brutally suppressed, at least 18 people were killed.