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Download Free Sampler Thank you for downloading this free sampler of: THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKSTAN IRAJ BASHIRI Series: Central Asian Studies May 2020 | 336 pp. 9781644692875 | $119.00 | Hardcover SUMMARY In the 10th century, the Turks separated the Tajiks, a Central Asian community, from their Iranian kinfolk. The Tajiks adopted the Hanafi faith and, alongside ethnicity, made it a pillar of their identity. Between 1920 and 1990, the Soviets tried to alter the Tajiks’ identity. While they could affect the Tajiks’ social status substantially (cf. Afghanistan), they failed in changing the Tajiks’ ideology. Instead, they became involved in a conflict that pitted Soviet Tajiks against radical Muslim Tajiks, the latter intentionally misidentified as Wahhabis by the Soviets. The question was about the viability of enforcing the secular Soviet constitution versus the Islamic Shari’a. Inability to resolve the dispute led to civil war (1992). The volume traces the conflict from its roots in Bukhara to the establishment of an independent secular Tajik state (1997). ABOUT THE AUTHOR Iraj Bashiri is one of the leading scholars in the fields of Central Asian studies and Iranian studies with a focus on Tajik and Iranian identity. His extensive publications on Tajikistan include History of a National Catastrophe (ed.), The Samanids and the Revival of the Civilization of Iranian Peoples, and Prominent Tajik Figures of the 20th Century. Take 20% off your order when you sign up for our newsletter at www.academicstudiespress.com/newsletter THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKISTAN Central Asian Studies Series Editor: Timothy May, University of North Georgia THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TAJIKISTAN IR A J BASHIRI BOSTON 2020 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Bashiri, Iraj, author. Title: The History of the Civil War in Tajikistan / Iraj Bashiri. Description: Boston : Academic Studies Press, 2020. | Series: Central Asian studies | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2019051150 (print) | LCCN 2019051151 (ebook) | ISBN 9781644692875 (hardback) | ISBN 9781644692882 (adobe pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Tajikistan--History. | Tajikistan--Politics and government. | Tajikistan--History--Civil War, 1992–1994. | Tajikistan--Social conditions. | Bashiri, Iraj. | Kenjaev, S. Classification: LCC DK928.6 .B38 2020 (print) | LCC DK928.6 (ebook) | DDC 958.6086--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051150 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019051151 Copyright © 2020 Academic Studies Press All rights reserved. ISBN 978-1-64469-287-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-64469-288-2 (adobe pdf) Book design by PHi Business Solutions Limited. Cover design by Ivan Grave. Published by Academic Studies Press. 1577 Beacon Street Brookline, MA 02446, USA [email protected] www.academicstudiespress.com Contents 1. The War Year 1 2. The Emirate of Bukhara 51 3. The Sovietization of Tajikistan 88 4. End of an Era 139 5. The Government of National Reconciliation 181 6. Reinventing the Wheel 216 7. The Path to Recovery 235 Appendix 291 Glossary 299 List of Abbreviations 307 Bibliography 309 Index 317 CHAPTER 1 The War Year INTRODUCTION his chapter covers my acquaintance with Tajikistan (1990–2016), focus- Ting on 1993 when, as the IREX resident scholar in Dushanbe, my wife and I spent a year in the city, at the time the only relatively safe place in the republic. The chapter begins with the preliminary steps that I took while look- ing for a suitable place in Central Asia to carry out research. For the purpose, I traveled to Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to become acquainted with the region, and learn about the options that existed for carrying out research. The intention of the chapter is not to provide a comprehensive study of life in Dushanbe, but to understand how middle-class Tajiks lived under war circumstances, feeding their relatively large families, coping with low, stagnant salaries and constantly rising prices. It was also important for me to gather some facts about pre-Soviet Tajikistan in order to assess the impact of Soviet rule on Muslim Tajiks, an impact that over the decades had led to civil war.1 The chapter ends with my general thoughts about Tajikistan, the result of twelve trips I have made to work with Tajik academicians, colleagues, and friends, my supporters for nearly thirty years. I stayed abreast of the devel- opments in the republic in order to follow the careers of people who were popular in 1993 but followed different paths soon after. More importantly, I wanted to assess the lives of those who made a difference through their own thoughts and assertions. Only then, I thought, would I be able to present the extent of their involvement, the amount of their contribution, and their strengths and weaknesses. 1 Cf. Asliddin Sohibnazar, Subhi Sitorakush (Dushanbe: Donish, 1997), 29. 2 The History of the Civil War in Tajikistan THE PREPARATION My acquaintance with the Tajiki language began in Ann Arbor in 1967 when I took a course on linguistic typology. I learned that Tajiki was an Indo-European language like the Persian of Iran. I also learned that it was spoken in one of the republics of the Soviet Union that at the time was behind the iron curtain. The first time I heard Tajiki and talked to actual Tajiks was in 1989 when movie director Marvorid Kosimova brought her movie Rohi Sapid to Minneapolis for screening.2 The theme of the movie was a gentle goodbye to both Tajikistan’s traditional culture and to the moribund Soviet state. Over a cup of coffee, Ms. Kosimova asked me if the Ministry of Education of Tajikistan were to invite me to Tajikistan for a short visit, would I consider traveling to Dushanbe. I said that I would. In subsequent months, her assistant, Vosse, kept in touch with me and, eventually, an invitation arrived. Extremely interested to see that part of the world, I began preparation for the trip. I also tried to learn as much as possible about the little known republic of Tajikistan. My most memorable recollection of Dushanbe at that time was the following description of the Varzob gorge: A sea of green among the highlands that have given birth to the Iranian race; where the Persian language is in its purest form and where tall Tajik men court gazelle-eyed beauties carrying jugs of water on their shoulders from the purest springs; the home of Rustam in the neighborhood of the legendary castle of Afrasiyab. Oddly enough, at the time, I was involved in a study of Ferdowsi’s Shahname (book of kings), looking for elements that could distinguish the Central Asian Turks from the descendants of the legendary warrior prince, Tur. In any event, I decided to undertake the trip for three reasons. First, I had branched out of Ira- nian studies into Central Asian studies where I intended to develop courses that informed the students about events in Soviet Central Asia through hands-on research and observation. In that context, I wanted to examine the status of Islam in Central Asia after seventy years of conflict with communist ideology. Second, I had written a novella called theBlack Tulip. Between Kosimova’s visit and the coming of the invitation, Vosse had translated the Persian version of the 2 Rohi Sapid (lit. “white road”) means “bon voyage.” It is said to a person who is embarking on a long journey. The War Year 3 novella into Tajiki, but the censors would not allow its publication. The pub- lishers thought my presence in Dushanbe might give them leverage to publish it. Third, I was looking for a place outside the Islamic Republic of Iran to con- tinue my study of developments in Iranian identity. Tajikistan seemed an ideal place for that. I found the Tajiks to be extremely kind. They had not had much contact with people from the West, so both they and I were experiencing a new encoun- ter. Although the Ministry had invited me only to participate in the Borbad cel- ebration, soon after arrival I was separated from my colleagues who were going to conference venues. Instead, I was taken to Varzob and Hisor, the beautiful places that I had read about. I was worried, however, that I was not present at the meetings that I thought I should be attending. Saif Rahim explained. “Ustod,”3 he said. “Technically you are invited by the Ministry of Education to participate in the Borbad celebration. But in reality the Ministry invited you at the request of Kinostudio, our organization. So, we thought we should be the ones to set the agenda for your visit.” I was not aware of that arrangement. It turned out that during the last couple of decades, with the help of Davlat Khudonazarov and before that, with the assistance of Bentsiion Arievich Kimi- iagarov, the studio had produced a series of films based on the stories in the Shahname. They wanted to bring those productions to the world market, and they thought I might be able to help in that. After a meeting with Davlat Khudonazarov and others to secure funds for dubbing the films into English, or adding subtitles as required, my work with the group ended for the time being. Thereafter, I joined my colleagues and pre- sented my scheduled paper on the “Role of the Farr in Ferdowsi’s Shahname.” Furthermore, I was informed by the Academy that, in 1994, they intended to present my study entitled Ferdowsi’s Shahname: 1000 Years After at the forth- coming international congress on “TheShahname and Our Time.”4 Before leaving Tajikistan, at the airport, an old man approached me and asked me if I was Dr. Iraj Bashiri. I said I was.
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