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History of Uzbekisatn is rich of significant events which date back to the depth of millennia. According to numerous archaeological finds, the territory of present Uzbekistan was inhabited by the people already in early Paleolithic.
In the late Paleolithic the Neanderthals inhabited this territory and their burial places have been found in Teshiktash grotto.
In the Stone Age (VI-IV BC) inhabitants of this region started turning into producing economy – cattle-breeding and farming.
Further development of settled-agricultural life can be observed in the Bronze Age (III-II centuries BC) when labor instruments made of bronze started being widely used.
In VII–VI centuries BC, historical and cultural provinces such as Sogd, Bactria, Khorezm, Margiana were formed in the territory of Central Asia and these satrapies were situated in full or in part in the territory of modern Uzbekistan.
In 539 BC, Achaemenids invaded the territory of Central Asia. A founder of the great Achaemenid Empire, King Cyrus was killed in the battle with Saks tribe, a ruler of which was queen Tomyris.
In the IV century BC, the army of Alexander the Great defeated Achaemenid Empire. Alexander started his military campaign towards Central Asia after killing the achaemenian king Darius III in 329 BC in Persia. His army moved from Northern India through the glaciers in the Hindikush and further via the Amudarya River, he started to invade Central Asian provinces. He tried to consolidate his power over the occupied territory by building new cities, reviving the old cities, inhabiting them with mixed Greco Bactrian population.
After his death in 323 BC, the established empire by Alexander was taken by one of his army leaders, Seleucid, who founded the Seleucids empire.
In 250 BC Greco Bactrian kingdom broke away from the Seleucids Empire and became an independent state founded by a Seleucid satrap Diodoth in Bactria. This period is characterized as being a golden age for the Hellenistic culture, as well as progress of crafts, field crop cultivation, gardening and wine-growing.
In the second half of the II century BC, Greco Bactrian kingdom collapsed by the Saks and Sarmats tribes.
The great Kushan empire, established in the first half of the I century BC by Kujula Kadphises included the territory of Central Asia, a part of present Afghanistan and Northern India. It was one of the most powerful empires of its time after Rome, China and Persia.
Irrigation system was built at this time, in the result of which agriculture in oasis has been improved and cities started to prosper. Population used to profess the local form of Zoroastrianism, but also the elements of Buddhism had its influence on the art.
In 1-3 centuries Central Asian cities became centers for crafts and trade. One of the main routes of the Great Silk Road passed through the territory of Uzbekistan. Integrally, during the rule of Kushan dynasty till the IV century AD, development of the art and architecture was widely observed.
In the IV century Kushan state was destroyed by the nomadic Hephthalites (White Huns). Economy and art of Central Asia in the III-IV centuries came to decline.
In 6 century Hephthalites’ state was smashed up by the Turks, who established Turkish Khanate.
Arabs started their military campaigns to Central Asia in 673. The Arab armies with their leader Kuteyba ibn Muslim between 704 and 712 occupied the territory of Central Asia that joined the Arab caliphate. They contributed to the development of trade and established relations with the other countries of the Near and Middle East, spread new religion of Islam.
Cities like Samarkand, Binkent (Tashkent), Termez, Bukhara developed.
In the first half of the IX century Tahirids came to the power, the founder of state was Tahir Husein. Under the rule of Takhirids, Islam religion was fully adopted. Also, at this time, development of cities and crafts centers as well as manufacturing of paper, glass, silk and fabrics can be observed.
Tahirids were replaced by the Samanids. In 892, the leader of samanids dynasty, Ismail Ahmad established a centralized and powerful state, independent from the Arab caliphate. The territories of present Uzbekistan, northern Afghanistan and southern regions of present Kazakhstan belonged to the samanids state, the capital of which was Bukhara.
At the end o the X century, Karakhanids, turkic tribes, settled in Central Asia in VI century started raiding on the territory of Samanids state. In the beginning of the XI century these campaigns made Samanid dynasty fall.
In the beginning of the XI century Central Asia was under the power of Mahmud Ghaznavi, a cruel of Afghanistan (998-1030). The territories from the Caspian Sea to Northern India belonged to the Ghaznavid state with the capital in Ghazna.
During ruling period of Mahmud, the state gradually came to decline and half of the possession was taken by Karakhanids and Seljukids. Seljukids founded a state stretched from Byzantine in then west to Toharistan in the east with their capital in Merv. The most prospered period of Seljucids state was during the rule of Ali-Arslan (1063-1078) and Malik Shah (1078-1093).
In the first half of XII century in the east of Karakhanids territories, a new power emerged, Kara-kitays, origin of Manchurian people. They had nomadic life near the Tarim river before they came to Central Asia. Though the kara-kitays defeated the united army of Seljukids and Karakhanids in 1141 near Katvan steppe, Karakhanids still had the power of ruling the country for some time.
Unsteady situation between the seljukids and kara-kitays was a great opportunity for the new rulers – Khwarezmshahs, firmly established at the end of the XI century in Khwarezm. In 1194 shah Aladdin Tekesh (1172-1200) freed Khorezm from seljucids. His successor Mohamed (1200-1220) conquered and took away Samarkand and Bukhara from kara-kitays, and occupied the territories of Afghanistan, Iran and intruded into Transcaucasia.
In 1219-1222, hordes of Mongolian conqueror Ghengizkhan came to Central Asia. The state of Khorezmshahs was swiftly destroyed. In the beginning of 1220, the army of Ghengizkhan intruded into the territory of present Uzbekistan and Bukhara, Samarkand, Termez, Urgench were destroyed completely. People of these cities were killed and took slavery. Many other prosperous cities were devastated and left by the people. Mongolian invasion was followed by full decline of culture.
Ghengizkhan divided the possessed territories between his sons before he died in 1227 and Khorezm belonged to his eldest son Juchi (Golden Horde), and the rest became the possession of his another son, Chagatay.
In the middle of the XIV century Amir Timur came to the political arena in Central Asia as being a founder of one of the powerful and centralized states in the history of the East. Timur was born in 1336 and in 1370 at the assembly in Balkh he was elected as a ruler of Maveraunnakhr. He made his military campaigns to Jete, Khorezm and the lower reaches of the Syrdarya River, uniting previous territories of the Chagatay khans into a new integrated state with its capital in Samarkand. Further Timur started expanding his state and invading the territories of Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and India. He died in 1405 on February 9 in Otrar during his campaign to China.
After his death, the state belonged to Timurids dynasty came to decline. His son Shahruh (1409-1447) could keep the ruling power on Khorasan, Afghanistan and Mavenaunnahr. He moved the capital of his state to Herat and appointed his son Ulugbek, famous scientist and astronomer, a governor of Samarkand. In 1447 Ulugbek became the ruler of the dynasty, but soon in 1449 he was killed by the order of his own son Abdulatif (1449-1450). Khorasan (Heart) was under the reign of Sultan Hussein (1469-1506), who contributed a lot to the culture and Alisher Navoi, a famous poet, was a vizier at his court. Thus, the Timurids state lost its power being unable to be protected from the threat of the main enemy, Muhammad Sheybanikhan (a descendant of Juchi).
Sheybanids invaded Samarkand and Bukhara in the beginning of the XVI century, Khorezm in 1505 and Heart in 1507 by putting an end to the power of the last Timiurid ruler Badi az-Zaman. After the collapse of Timurids state, the territory belonged to him was divided between the uzbek dynasties, its bigger part belonged to Shaybanids state and under Udaydulla khan’s reign Sheybanids had the most prosperous period (1534-1540) and especially at the time of Abdulla khan II (1583-1598). Abdullakhan built many madrasas, mosques, bath-houses, caravanserais, bridges, gardens in the main cities of his khanate. In general, he painstakingly developed agriculture, trade and science, but after his death and assassination of his son, Sheybanids dynasty collapsed.
In 1599 power was seized by the clan of Janids (Ashtarkhanids), originated from Baty’s brother – Ordu and Astrakhan khans. Under the new dynasty the state was again disintegrated to the parts fighting with each other. Khan Ubaydulla (1602-1611) was dethroned and killed. Imamkulikhan (1611-1642) was successful for a short time who defeated Kazakhs and won back Tashkent from them. But, anyway the state declined and was subject to devastating invasions of Khiva.
In the XVIII the state had to survive a big crisis. In 1740-1745 Bukhara was invaded by Nadirshah and he gave the power to his ally Muhamed Rahim. In 1753 Muhamed Rahim’s son founded a new Bukharian dynasty of Manghit. He annexed Tashkent, Khodjent, Turkestan, Kulab, Ghissar and other regions to the territory of his state. After his death in 1758 feudal controversies became renewed and the opposition of the rulers of such regions like Shakhrisabz and Kitab could be stopped only in 1853. Nasrullakhan (1826-1860) joined the khanate and strengthened central power.
In the middle of the XVIII century, in Khorezm, Muhammad Amin (1763-1790), an emir of another Uzbek tribe Kungrad, came to power. His son Eltuzar got the title of khan and became the first khan of Kungrad dynasty which ruled Khiva khanate right up to 1920.
In the beginning of the XVIII Ferghana became an Independent possession where Shahruh-biy who came from the ming tribe of the uzbeks was the first ruler. One of the rulers of Ferghana, Alambek, got the title of khan in 1805 and his state started being called Kokand Khanate under the name of his capital – Kokand. Besides Ferghana, Kokand Khanate included Tashkent and the territories of the Syrdarya River in 1808.
Thus, in the second half of the XIX th century there were three khanates in the territory of present Uzbekistan: Kokand, Khiva and Bukhara khanates.
Tsarist Russia had an interest in Central Asia already in the early XVIII th century. Peter the I discussed the matter of Khiva to be Russian nationality and in 1714-1717 he sent his envoy A. Bekovich-Cherkasskiy who was killed by the Khivans. Only in terms of fierce struggle with Great Britain for the control over Central Asia Russia proceeded to the final pressure on Central Asian khanates. In 1839-1840 the military campaign was arranged against Khiva. In 1862 war broke out against Kokand and Russian troops occupied Pishpek (present Bishkek) and Tashkent was taken in 1865. Then they destroyed Bukhara army and invaded a part of Bukhara khanate.
In the result of armed invasion of Russia, in the 1960s Kokand khanate was fully destroyed and Turkestan general-governorship was formed, but Bukhara emirate and Khiva khanate became the protectorate which is the vassal state with the reduced territory and limited sovereignty.
In 1867 all the territory occupied by the Russian empire became Turkestan general governorship with its capital in Tashkent. Based on the peace treaty signed in 1868 khan of Bukhara gave Khodjent, Ura Tube, Kattakurgan and Samarkand to the Russian Empire and this part was called the Zerafshan province of the general-governorship.
The Russian government laid special stress on cotton growing in the region for the needs of Russian industry. They started cultivating the new sorts of cotton, constructing cotton-cleaning factories and oil mills, railways and mining of minerals.
In 1917 in the result of armed revolt in Tashkent the Soviet power was proclaimed and in November Turkestan was proclaimed as Soviet republic and the Union of the peoples’ commissionaire under leadership of a Bolshevik Kolosov was formed.
In April 1918 Turkestan became an autonomous republic in RSFSR. In 1920 on April 02 the khan of Khiva abdicated and in April Khorezm Peoples’ Soviet Republic was proclaimed and in October 1920 Bukhara Peoples’ Soviet Republic was formed.
In 1924 on October 27 by the national demarcation 5 new republics were formed and Uzbek SSR was one of them.
In 1925 Uzbekistan became a part of the USSR as union republic. The first capital of Uzbek SSR was Samarkand in 1924. In 1930 Tashkent became the capital.
Uzbekistan proclaimed its Independence on August 31, 1991, at the VI special session of the Supreme Soviet.
The 1st of September is the Day of Independence – national holiday. The achievement of Independence is marked by the beginning of a new historical period – the period of free development.
The same year, in December, presidential elections were held and Islam Karimov became the president. |
