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Tajikistan a Political and Social History

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Tajikistan a Political and Social History Tajikistan A Political and Social History Tajikistan A Political and Social History Kirill Nourzhanov and Christian Bleuer ASIAN STUDIES SERIES MONOGRAPH 5 Published by ANU E Press The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Nourzhanov, Kirill, author. Title: Tajikistan : a political and social history / Kirill Nourzhanov ; Christian Bleuer. ISBN: 9781925021158 (paperback) 9781925021165 (ebook) Subjects: Tajikistan--Politics and government--1991- Tajikistan--Social conditions. Tajikistan--Social life and customs. Other Authors/Contributors: Bleuer, Christian, author. Dewey Number: 958.6086 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU E Press Cover image: A statue of Lenin in eastern Tajikistan rises in front of a portrait of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon by Theodore Kaye: www.theodorekaye.com Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2013 ANU E Press Contents List of Maps, Figures and Tables . vii Acknowledgments . ix List of Abbreviations . xi Note on Transliteration . xiii Introduction . 1 1 . Tajiks on the Crossroads of History, from Antiquity to the Age of Colonialism . 11 2 . Forging Tajik Identity: Ethnic Origins, National–Territorial Delimitation and Nationalism . 27 3 . State Formation in the Soviet Era, 1917 to the 1960s . 51 4 . Traditional Society and Regionalism in Soviet Tajikistan . 75 5 . Formal and Informal Political Institutions in Soviet Tajikistan . 109 6 . Experimentation, Turmoil and Fragmentation under Gorbachev, 1985–1991 . 145 7 . The Rise of Opposition, the Contraction of the State and the Road to Independence . 193 8 . Islam in Society and Politics . 231 9 . From Political Confrontation to Civil War, 1991–1992 . 277 Epilogue: The Civil War of 1992 . 323 Appendix I: Districts of Tajikistan . 339 Appendix II: Major Ethnic Groups of Tajikistan . 341 Bibliography . 343 List of Maps, Figures and Tables Maps Map 1 Tajikistan’s Neighbours and Major Cities . xv Map 2 Satellite View of Tajikistan with the Vakhsh Valley Circled . 5 Map 3 Original Provinces of Tajikistan, 1924–29 . 93 Figures Figure 5 .1 The Leninobod-Kanibodom Group of Families . 132 Figure 5 .2 The Gharm-Pamirs Group of Families . 135 Figure 6 .1 Spatial Hierarchy of Identities in Soviet Tajikistan . 175 Tables Table 3 .1 Dynamics of Industrial Output in Tajikistan, 1913–40 (1913 = 1) . 63 Table 3 .2 Comparative Behavioural Parameters of Workers in Central Asia . 65 Table 4 .1 Number and Size of Families in Tajikistan, 1993 . 77 Table 4 .2 Comparative Social Indicators in Tajikistan and the Soviet Union as a Whole, 1988 . 83 Table 4 .3 Motivation for Marriage amongst College Students, 1990 . 84 Table 4 .4 Urban and Rural Populations of Tajikistan, 1989 . 95 Table 4 .5 Regional and Ethnic Composition of the CPT Central Committee . 96 Table 4 .6 Indices of Regional Economic Development, 1990 . 99 Table 5 .1 Changes in the Membership and Ethnic Composition of the CPT, 1933–38 . 112 Table 5 .2 Composition of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan . 114 Table 5 .3 Ministries in Tajikistan, 1976 . 116 Table 5 .4 Examples from Nomenklatura Lists of Party Organisations . 119 Table 5 .5 Ethnic Composition of the CPT Leadership . 122 Table 5 .6 Educational Levels of Secretaries of Regional, City and District Committees of the CPT . 123 Table 5 .7 Main Criteria for Admission to Higher Education Institutions . 133 Table 6 .1 Birth and Mortality Rates and Natural Population Growth in the USSR and Soviet Republics (per 1000 of population) . 147 Table 7 .1 Who is to Blame for the Events in February 1990 in Dushanbe? (Results of a poll conducted throughout Tajikistan in May–June 1990) . 210 Table 7 .2 Public Support for Political Parties in Tajikistan in November 1991 and June 1992 (percentage of those polled) . 214 Table 9 .1 Regional Composition of Tajikistan’s Electorate . 285 Table 9 .2 Personal Qualities Most Appreciated by Loyal Voters in Presidential Candidates, October 1991 . 289 Table 9 .3 Election Preferences of Ethnic Groups, October– November 1991 . 289 Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge The Australian National University and especially its Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (CAIS), which nurtured this project intellectually, administratively and financially. We could not have had a better environment in which to complete the book. Many people in Australia and beyond helped us with inspirational ideas, sources of information, by reading draft chapters and correcting errors and infelicities; we name but a few of them below and hasten to add that the mistakes that remain are wholly our responsibility. Kirill Nourzhanov would like to thank Dr Christian Bleuer—that the book has been completed at all is due to his tireless energy, enormous expertise, and impeccable work ethic. Professor Amin Saikal, the CAIS Director, took personal interest in the project and gave me valuable support. I owe a debt of gratitude to Associate Professor Matthew Gray, Dr Doug Sturkey and Ms Leila Kouatly at CAIS for their friendship and sage advice. Professor Reuel Hanks at Oklahoma State University read the entire manuscript and offered criticism while seriously ill—you are a true champion! My thanks go to Professor Craig Reynolds, who had faith in the project despite Tajikistan’s low profile on the Australian research agenda. I am forever in debt to Iskandar Asadulloev, Safar Haqdod and Zafar Saidi, who helped and sheltered me during the civil war in Tajikistan, and who have contributed to my research immensely over the past two decades. Christian Bleuer would like to acknowledge the people who were instrumental in helping him complete his PhD dissertation, much of which made up his contribution to this book. First of all, I thank my dissertation committee: Professor Amin Saikal, Dr Kirill Nourzhanov and Dr Robert L. Canfield. I am extremely grateful to have had the benefit of this high level of expertise on Central Asia while a PhD candidate at CAIS. Professor Saikal provided the firm guidance that kept me on track and reasonably on time with my work. His knowledge of Central Asian culture, history and politics was invaluable. Dr Nourzhanov’s deep understanding of Tajikistan and Central Asia is what allowed me to produce my dissertation. He never failed to guide me towards the best sources, and the feedback he provided on my numerous drafts enabled me to vastly improve on the work that I had produced. I am also very grateful to Dr Canfield, who, despite being far away at Washington University in St Louis, graciously agreed to be on my dissertation committee. His comments and criticism were valuable in refining my work into the state that it is now in. Additionally, I would like to thank Professor Saikal and Dr Nourzhanov for working to secure a scholarship that allowed me to come to The Australian National University for my studies. I am indebted to the government and ix Tajikistan: A Political and Social History taxpayers of Australia for funding my scholarships (the ANU PhD scholarship and the Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship). And for helping me through the bureaucratic and administrative processes here at the ANU I would also like to express my gratitude to Carol Laslett, Anita Mack and Leila Kouatly. Outside the university, I would like to thank my parents for supporting my education. I would also like to thank my numerous friends who encouraged me at every step of my time in university. As for those many people in Tajikistan who helped me in so many ways, I will, due to the current social and political situation there, thank them personally—and privately. x List of Abbreviations APC armoured personnel carrier ASSR Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic BCP Bukharan Communist Party CC Central Committee CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CPCO Committee for Protection of Constitutional Order CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPT Communist Party of Tajikistan CPUz Communist Party of Uzbekistan DPT Democratic Party of Tajikistan GBAO Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast GGT General-Governorship of Turkestan GNR Government of National Reconciliation GOSPLAN Soviet State Planning Authority IMU Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan IRP Islamic Revival Party (of Tajikistan) IRPU Islamic Revival Party of the USSR MRD Motorised Rifle Division NEP New Economic Policy NKVD People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs OGPU Joint State Political Directorate OMON special police unit within the Interior Ministry OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe PEEPFT Permanent Expedition for Exploring Productive Forces of Tajikistan RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty SADUM Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Central Asia and Kazakhstan SSR Soviet Socialist Republic STB Special Tasks Battalion STTMC South Tajik Territorial Manufacturing Complex STTPC South Tajik Territorial Production Complex SWB SU Summary of World Broadcasts—Soviet Union (BBC) Tajik SSR Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic xi Tajikistan: A Political and Social History TASSR Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic TCCR Temporary Committee for Crisis Resolution TCP Turkestan Communist Party UTO United Tajik Opposition VKP All-Union Communist Party VKP(b) All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) YDC Youths of Dushanbe City xii Note on Transliteration The basic purpose for choosing the transliteration system that we have is to avoid any special characters that are not on a standard keyboard (with some further simplifications). For transliterating/Romanising Tajik names, places and concepts from the Tajik Cyrillic alphabet, we will avoid all systems of transliteration that use special characters or diacritics. Instead, we will use the unnamed system that has become the standard commonly used in Tajikistan. Basically, it is the BGN/PCGN system with some small alterations.
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