 History |
The region where Uzbekistan is today located, was part of some very old Persian states including Bactria, Khorezm and Sogdiana. In the 4th century BC Alexander the Great stopped near Samarkand and married Roxana, the daughter of a local leader. This alliance contributed to the flourishing of the region, and the Silk Road brought peaceful contacts with the world facilitating the growth of wealth, and culturally diversified towns. In the 6th century AC, the Western Turks settled in this area and renounced their previous nomadic lifestyle, whereas the Arabs who have brought with them Islam and the written alphabet did not like to remain in this area because they found it too big and burdensome to govern. In the 9th and 10th century, the Samanid dynasty brought an era of intellectual, religious and commercial renaissance, and in the 11th century the Samanid dynasty was replaced by the Turkic Khorezmshahs.
After the Turks came the Mongolians and Genghiz Khan, also contributing to the diversification of the culture of the later Uzbekistan.
Nevertheless, Central Asia became well known and
recognised as a potent force only with the rise
of Timur, the warrior and a patron of the arts who
created a lively and glamorous Islamic capital in
Samarkand. |
From around 1313 to 1340, the greatest khan of the tribes wandering in this region was Ozbek or Uzbek, and consequently these tribes had begun to name themselves after him. They started moving South East, mixing with sedentary Turkic tribes and adopting the Turkic language.
In the early 18th century the khan of Khiva asked Peter the Great for help against Turkmen and Kazakh tribes and in exchange he offered to become Russia's vassal. But by the time the Russians arrived in Khiva, the khan had changed his mind regarding the Russian help and thus he massacred the entire Russian army. Decades after, one more attempt was made by the Russians, by the Tsar Nicholas I, who wished to prevent British expansion in his backyard, but it was unsuccessful. However, by 1875 the Russians had completely taken over Uzbekistan.
In October 1924, Uzbekistan was declared as an independent country, and the Uzbeks suddenly had a homeland territory, an official identity and a literary language, even though the Uzbek SSR changed shape and composition over the years as Moscow wished. During the Soviet occupation, the rural Uzbeks endured forced and faced often bloody collectivisation of the agriculture sector, and also a massive shift to cotton cultivation.
The first non-communist popular movement was formed in 1989 to protest on cotton farming and the use of Uzbek as an official language. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Uzbekistan was declared independent. In December 1991 Uzbekistan held its first direct presidential elections, which Islam Karimov won by 86% of the vote. Nowadays, Uzbekistan contributes positively to the stability of Central Asia; the region affected by Islamic movements and influences from the different crossroads surrounding Uzbekistan. |
