Historic Overview Of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan in the ancient cradle between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers is historically the most fascinating of all Central Asian republics. It possesses some of the most ancient towns in the world, some of the Silk Road’s main centres and most of Central Asia’s architectural heritage such as in Samarkand and Khiva and Bukhara. This region, that of present day Uzbekistan, is much more settled and less nomadic than the surrounding regions. It has been a part of various foreign empires from ancient times, including Bactria, Khorezm and Sogdiana. Then came Alexander the Great in the 4th century, followed by Kushans, when Buddhism also came along. The Silk Road brought prosperity and cultural diversity to the towns.   The Western Turks settled down here in the 6th century AD. The Arabs brought Islam and the written alphabet in the 8th century but couldn’t control Central Asia. The Persians under the Samanids in 9th and 10th centuries made Bukhara the centre of an intellectual, religious and commercial renaissance. Genghis Khan ravaged the area and then came Timur who established Samarkand as the dazzling Islamic capital of Central Asia in the 14th century. Timur’s empire was overrun by Mongol hordes who gave the Uzbek name to the people here: the Uzbeks were named after the Khans one of the great Mongol tribes, Ozbeg or Uzbek. The Uzbeks mixed with the sedentary Turkish tribes and adopted the Turkish language. They ruled from Bukhara, a separate line ruling in Khiva. Abdullah II was the greatest of the Shaybanid Khans who ruled from 1538 till 1598. He built some of the finest buildings in Bukhara. The Russians came in the 18th century and after some futile attempts finally captured Tashkent in 1865, Samarkand and Bukhara in 1868, Khiva in 1873 and Kokand in 1875.
Till the early 20th century the Uzbeks identified themselves as either Turks or Persians. In 1924 they were given an official identity and a literary language. Under the scythe of Soviet policies Uzbekistan was compelled to reweave its economic and social fabric. Collectivisation of agriculture and shift to cotton cultivation took place, and intellectuals who bucked under the iron hand of the USSR were systematically purged. 

By the spring of 1991 the parliament of Uzbekistan had declared its independence and sovereignty along with those of the other four central Asian republics. But none of them was prepared for the reality of independence. They are all grappling with the huge population shifts as the minority Slavs and Germans are emigrating. They are all passing through economic crisis while they expect some economic help from each other. As they still fear Russia, which is trying to reassert its interests, these Central Asian states are opening to other spheres of interests such as Turkey, Iran, China and the industrialized West.

In December 1992, the Uzbek Supreme Soviet adopted a new constitution committed to multi party democracy and human rights. The Ukrainian communists changed the name of their party but few of their policies. Their leader Karimov won the election sand has hung onto power since. In spite of what the Constitution espouses, Uzbekistan is not yet a vibrant democracy and political dissent and opposition is still stifled.