Encyclopedia
TashkentThe name of the city has evolved in a number of stages. In the medivieval times the town and the province was known as
Chach. Later, the town came to be known as Chachkand/Chashkand, meaning "Chach City." After the 16th century and the steady replacement of the old, Persian-speaking population with Uzbeks, the name was changed slightly from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand, which as "stone city" was more meaningful to the new inhabitants than the old name. The modern spelling of Tashkent is a Soviet product.
Geography
Tashkent is located at . The local time in Tashkent is
UTC/GMT +5 hours.
History
Tashkent is not an
ancient city, but rather more of a crossroads on the
Silk Road. It started as an
oasis on the Chirchik River, near the foothills of the
Golestan Mountains. In ancient times, this area was the principality of
Chach, whose main town had a square citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some 8 km south of the
Syr Darya River. By the
7th century AD, Chach had over 30 towns and a network of over 50 canals, forming a trade center between the
Sogdians and
Turkic nomads. The region subsequently came under the sway of
Islam in the early parts of the 8th century.
Hsien-tsang mentioned the name of the ciy as
Che-shih. The Chinese chronicles Sujshu, Bejshu and Tanshu mention a possession called Shi or
Chzheshi with a capital with the same name since the V c. AD [Bichurin, 1950. v. II].
Under the
Samanid dynasty, the city came to be known as
Binkath. However, the Arabs retained the old name of Chash, pronouncing it
Shash instead. The modern Turkic name of Tashkent comes from Kara-Khanid rule in the 10th century.
The city was destroyed by
Genghis Khan in 1219, although the great conqueror had found that the
Khorezmshah had already sacked the city in 1214. Under the Timurids and subsequent Shaybanid dynasties the city revived, despite occasional attacks by the
Uzbeks,
Kazakhs,
Persians,
Mongols, Oirats and
Kalmyks.
In 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the
Khanate of Kokand. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in
Central Asia. It prospered greatly through trade to
Russia, but chafed under Kokand’s high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of
Bukhara over that of Kokand. However, before the
Emir of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived.
In May 1865, General
Mikhail Grigorevich Chernyayev , acting against the direct orders of the
tsar, and outnumbered at least 15-1 staged a daring night attack against a city with a 25 kilometer long wall, 11 gates and 30,000 defenders. While a small contingent staged a diversionary attack, the main force penetrated the walls, led by a
Russian Orthodox priest armed only with a crucifix. Although defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city after two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders. Chernyayev, dubbed the “Lion of Tashkent” by city elders, staged a “hearts-and-minds” campaign to win the population over. He abolished taxes for a year, rode unarmed through the streets and bazaars meeting common people, and appointed himself "Military Governor of Tashkent", recommending to
Tsar Alexander II that the city be made an independent khanate under Russian protection.
The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the impulsive general as a “loose cannon”, and soon replaced him with General
Konstantin Petrovich Von Kaufman. Far from granting Tashkent its independence, Tashkent became the capital of the new territory of
Russian Turkistan, with Kaufman as first Governor-General. A cantonment and Russian settlement were built across the Ankhor Canal from the old city, and Russian settlers and merchants poured in. Tashkent was a center of espionage in the
Great Game rivalry between Russia and
Great Britain over Central Asia. The
Trans-Caspian Railway arrived in 1889, and the railway workers who built it settled in Tashkent as well, bringing with them the seeds of
Bolshevik Revolution.
20th century
With the fall of the
Russian Empire, a provisional government attempted to maintain control in Tashkent. It was quickly overthrown and local
Muslim opposition crushed. In April 1918, Tashkent became the capital of the
Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . The new regime was threatened by White forces, British spies, basmachi, revolts from within, and purges ordered from
Moscow. Tashkent fell within the borders of the Uzbek SSR, and became the capital of the Uzbek SSR in 1930, displacing
Samarkand.
The city began to industrialize in the 1920s and 1930s, but industry increased tremendously during
World War II, with the relocation of factories from western Russia to preserve the Soviet industrial capacity from the invading
Nazis. The
Russian population increased dramatically as well, with evacuees from the war zones increasing the population to well over a million.
On April 25 1966, Tashkent was destroyed by a huge
earthquake . Over 300,000 were left homeless.
Soviet historians made a great story about "battalions of fraternal peoples” and urban planners from each of the Soviet republics, who “volunteered” to rebuild devastated Tashkent. They did a good job, creating a “model Soviet city” of wide shady streets, parks, immense plazas for military parades, fountains, monuments, and acres of apartment blocks. At that time residents of Tashkent began to realize that they were not being consulted in the planning, or necessarily being hired in the rebuilding. The problem exploded when Moscow announced that 20% of the new buildings would be given to the mostly Russian “volunteers”, who would be staying permanently. The subsequent riots were called the Pakhtakor Incident, after the stadium where the trouble began. The
Red Army eventually had to be called in to maintain order.
At the time of the collapse of the
Soviet Union in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth largest city in the country and a center of learning in the science and engineering fields.
Tashkent today is a very Soviet city, with few reminders of its position on the Silk Road or its 2000+ years of history. It is the most cosmopolitan city in both Uzbekistan and Central Asia, with large ethnic
Russian and
Korean minorities. The city is noted for its tree lined streets, numerous fountains, and pleasant parks. As capital of the nation, it has also been the target of several
terrorist attacks since Uzbekistan gained independence, which the government has attributed to Islamic fundamentalists.
See also
Sights
Due to the destruction of most of the ancient city during
1917 revolution and, later, to the 1966 earthquake, little remains of Tashkent's traditional architectural heritage. Tashkent is, however, rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments.
Dating back to the reign of Abdullah Khan it is currently being restored by the provincial Religious Board of
Mawarannahr Moslems. There is talk of making it into a museum, but it is currently being used as a
mosque.
Near the Kukeldash Madrassa, this huge open air
bazaar is the center of the old town of Tashkent. Everything imaginable is for sale.
Contains the
Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest extant
Qur'an in the world. Dating from 655 and stained with the blood of murdered caliph Uthman, it was brought by Timur to
Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to
Saint Petersburg. It was returned to Uzbekistan in 1989.
A group of three 15th century
mausoleums, restored in the 19th century. The biggest is the grave of Yunus Khan, grandfather of
Mughal Empire founder
Babur.
During the 19th century Grand Duke Nikolai Konstantinovich , a first cousin of
Alexander III of Russia was banished to Tashkent for some shady deals involving the Russian Crown Jewels. His palace still survives in the centre of the city. Once a museum, it has been appropriated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre
Built by the same architect who designed Lenin's Tomb in Moscow,
Aleksey Shchusev, and built with
Japanese prisoner of war labor in
World War II, this theatre hosts Russian
ballet and
opera to Uzbek concerts.
- Fine Arts Museum of Uzbekistan
Contains a major collection of art from the pre-Russian period, including Sogdian murals,
Buddhist statues and
Zoroastrian art, along with a more modern collection of 19th and 20th century Uzbek
applied art, such as suzani embroidered hangings. Of more interest is the large collection of paintings "borrowed" from the
Hermitage by Grand Duke Romanov to decorate his palace in exile in Tashkent, and never returned. Behind the museum is a small park, containing the neglected graves of the
Bolsheviks who died in the
Russian Revolution of 1917 and to Ossipov's treachery in 1919, along with first Uzbek President Yuldush Akhunbabayev.
Housed in a traditional Uzbek house originally commissioned for a wealthy tsarist diplomat, the house itself is the main attraction, rather than its collection of 19th and 20th century
applied arts.
Tashkent's largest museum, housed in the ex-Lenin Museum.
An impressive building with brilliant blue dome and ornate interior . Inside, the exhibits of
Timur and of President
Karimov vie for the visitor's attention. The gardens outside contain a statue of Timur on horseback, surrounded by some of the nicest gardens and fountains in the city.
A commemoration of Uzbekistan's adopted literary hero,
Alisher Navoi, with replica manuscripts,
Persian calligraphy and 15th century miniature paintings.
City built environment
- The only modern metro system in Central Asia.
- Tashkent Airport is the largest in the country, connecting the town to Asia, Europe and the American continents.
- The largest city square in the former Soviet Union, which once held the tallest statue of Lenin in the Soviet Union. Lenin was replaced in 1992 by a globe showing a map of Uzbekistan.
- Government, trade union and private medical and dental facilities.
- Offices of several American and European consulting firms like Arthur Andersen Ltd, Deloitte & Touche, PricewaterhouseCoopers and
Education
- Several universities and institutions of higher learning:
- Tashkent University of Information Technologies
- Westminster International University in Tashkent
- National University of Uzbekistan
- University of World Economy and Diplomacy
- Tashkent State University of Economics
- Tashkent State Institute of Law
- Tashkent Institute of Finance
- State University of Foreign Languages
- Conservatory of Music
- Tashkent State Medicine Academy
- Institute of Oriental Studies.
- Other educational institutions:
- Ohr Avner Chabad Day School
Media
- 9 Uzbek language newspapers, 4 in English and 9 publications in Russian
- Several television and cable television facilities, including Tashkent Tower, the tallest structure in Central Asia.
Sister Cities
See also
- Names of Asian cities in different languages
External links
