The present day Republic of Uzbekistan – the land of the Uzbeks – forms the very centre of ex-Soviet Central Asia, for it alone borders each of the new republics – Kazakhstan to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east and south-east, Turkmenistan to the south-west, as well as Afghanistan to the south.
Unlike some of their neighbours, the Uzbek people remain a clear majority in their republic, accounting for almost 75% of the total population. Most of its territory lies between the 2 major rivers of Central Asia, the Syr Darya (Jaxartes) and the Amu Darya (Oxus).
In centuries gone by, the great cities of Uzbekistan were the focal point for the Ancient Silk Road trading route that wound its way from China to the Mediterranean, the road along which traders, merchants and pilgrims would travel, silk being one of the many luxuries traded along the way.
Historical evidence relating to the Silk Road can be traced back to the 2nd century BC when Chinese Ambassador, Zhang Qian, visited the countries of Central Asia on a diplomatic mission. The fact that he actually arrived here is remarkable because until then, the way from Europe into Asia stopped at the borders of China. The mountain ranges of Asia, the Tien Shan, the Kum-Lun, the Karakorum, the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas had protected ancient Chinese civilisation from the rest of the world.
When he reached the Fergana Valley – in present day Eastern Uzbekistan, Zhang Qian was amazed by what he saw. The area thrived on crafts and agriculture, trading with India, the Near and Middle East and Zhang Qian was keen for China to be involved. Among other gifts brought by future Chinese embassies was silk.
From China, the main road passed through the Uzbek cities of Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand on its way to Merv – in present day Turkmenistan – Baghdad and the Mediterranean Sea where goods were shipped to Egypt, Byzantium and Venice in Italy.
In the 13th century, a new and unexpected power was to emerge from the East and explode on to the scene, rapidly conquering and controlling the entire length of the Silk Road, leaving devastation and ruin in its wake. The man responsible for this savage incursion came from the steppes of Mongolia. His name was Temujin, who would later assume the title of Genghis Khan.
By 1221, his domains spread from China to the Caspian Sea and beyond into Eastern Europe, and the great cities of Central Asia were left in ruin. Their campaigns left some 5 million dead, yet in their wake the Mongols established “Pax Mongolica” – over a century of stability and recovery.
They established the ‘yam’ horse relay system which speeded up communication across the empire. A series of outposts were set up at strategic distances across the realm so that Imperial messengers were assured of fresh horses thus enabling fast communication with far flung parts of the realm. As a result of this, overland trade between Asia and Europe greatly increased, encouraging thousands of Western merchants to travel the Silk Road to China, the most famous of whom was Marco Polo. He was en route to a 17 year stay, mainly in the service of Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan. From his writings it is known that he passed through Bukhara and Samarkand.
Before he died in 1227, Genghis Khan divided his realm between his 4 sons, with much of Uzbekistan coming under the control of his second son, Chagatai.
Subsequent rulers of the Chagatai Khanate adopted Islam and were soon absorbed into the Central Asian Turkic culture. To the north and west, Mongol allegiance was diminishing and ‘local hero’ and distant descendant of Genghis Khan, Temur (Tamerlane) became dominant in Uzbekistan by 1370. The name Tamerlane came about when he was wounded by an arrow in his right leg. He was then referred to as Temur the Lame which over time became Latinised to Tamerlane.
Born in Shakhrisabsz, near Samarkand, Temur became a formidable military leader, conquering much of the land previously overcome by Genghis Khan. His rule inspired the creation of some of the greatest works of architecture ever built, including the Registan, the Bibi Khanum Mosque and his own tomb of Gul-Emir in Samarkand, as well as buildings in Bukhara and Shakhrisabsz, renovations of which are all on the present day tourist trails.
Few individuals shaped the face of Central Asia as much as Temur. It has been estimated that his merciless campaigns led to the deaths of 17 million people from as far afield as Iran, Iraq and India.
All caravan trade routes passed through Samarkand, Temur’s capital city. The city became the crossroads of Asia and as customs duties and taxes were raised in all caravan cities, it became the most powerful city in the whole of Central Asia. Temur spent considerable sums of money in ensuring that Samarkand also became the most ‘beautiful city in the world’.
Temur died in 1405 whilst planning his biggest and most ambitious campaign yet, the invasion of Ming China and the eastern end of the great Silk Road. It was never to be and his body was brought to Samarkand for burial in the Gul-Emir tomb.
Genghis Khan’s fame may have been greater but Temur’s legacy shines brighter for he turned Samarkand from sun dried brick into the architectural masterpiece of Central Asia, much of which is still visible for tourists to present day Uzbekistan.
Temur’s descendants, especially his great, great, great grandson, Babur, would go on to found the Mughal Dynasty in India (1526 – 1867), including the design and construction of many of India’s iconic buildings, such as the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatephur Sikri. Forced to leave the Ferghana Valley (Eastern Uzbekistan today), Babur fled to capture Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan and finally Delhi in India, after the Battle of Panipat in 1526, where he proclaimed himself to be the first Mughal Emperor.
The 19th century saw the Russian Empire extend southwards towards India, Britain’s “Jewel in the Crown”, just as the British Empire was expanding its grip into the Northwest Frontier and Afghanistan. The middle ground between the two empires was largely unexplored and certainly not mapped, so both sides saw it as an imperative if they were to protect what was theirs.
“The Great Game” as it was called, was an imperial play of cat and mouse set in the deserts and mountains of Central Asia and in Uzbekistan in particular.
Russia’s initial forays into the region in the 18th and early 19th centuries were disastrous culminating in a humiliating reverse at Khiva in 1839.
In the meantime, a series of intrepid British traveller-spies began to brave the harsh conditions of the desert. Characters such as James Abbott, Arthur Connolly, Charles Stoddart, Frederick Burnaby and Alexander Burnes became the most notable players among many who ventured into the unknown not knowing if they would return.
Using a combination of charm and flattery, these men were usually well versed in local languages and dialects, and dressed or disguised in local cloaks and turbans. They busied themselves discreetly gathering information that would help them write their secret reports, reconnoitring potential military routes and if they were lucky to make it back home, they would invariably be pressed into publishing a best-selling memoir and picking up a Gold Medal from the Royal Geographical Society.
Many historians contend that the Great Game is more fiction than fact, probably due to early insights of the game that was being played out in Rudyard Kipling’s Kim.
Regardless, it was a dangerous job. Famously, Captain Connolly and Colonel Stoddart came to Bukhara to ‘befriend’ the Emir and ended up being ordered to be thrown into a vermin-infested pit. They remained there for 2 years before being killed. The pit is still visible today at the rear of the Ark Citadel in Bukhara.
Alexander Burnes, in spite of being on reasonably good terms with the ruling faction, was hacked to death in Kabul by an Afghan mob. Numerous others perished at the hands of local tribes or from disease and starvation in the hostile desert landscape.
The Russian incursion was gradual and yet unstoppable, largely because the Emirates and Khanates of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand were squabbling amongst themselves to worry about what the Russians were doing. Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva had all fallen to the Russians by 1873.
The disastrous British invasions of Afghanistan in 1838 and 1878 left a clear message to any budding conqueror – no-one invades Afghanistan and wins. A message that the Russians were to encounter to their cost more than a century later and that we are still counting.
The Great Game came to a head and the two empires were on the brink of war, when, in 1907, the Anglo-Russian Convention was signed in St Petersburg. This laid to rest the rivalries that had been played out in the Central Asian belt and defined and defendable borders were established.
On the Russian side, Turkestan became the name of the region which effectively consisted of the 5 ‘Stan republics as we know them today.
After the Russian Revolution in 1917, a Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was created. This was eventually split into the Kazakh SSR (Kazakhstan), Kyrgyz SSR (Kyrgyzstan), Tajik SSR (Tajikistan), Turkmen SSR (Turkmenistan) and the Uzbek SSR (Uzbekistan) in 1924 by Josef Stalin, who at that time was the Commissar of Nationalities.
Having created these new identities, the Soviets then set about destroying them. As socialism developed into communism, policy swung from the virulent repression of Stalin and Krushchev to the relative leniency of Brezhnev and Gorbachev.
Until 1990, the Communist Party was the only legal party in the Uzbek SSR. In March 1991, the Union-wide referendum returned a 90% vote from the Central Asian SSRs in favour of retaining the Union. However, in August 1991, Moscow was brought to its knees by a coup and as the effects of the revolution spread, Uzbekistan reluctantly declared its independence and the borders originally defined in 1924 became real international boundaries.
Islam Karimov, who was the former chief of the Communist Party in the Uzbek SSR was sworn in as President of the independent Republic and remains so to this day.