The History of the Civil War in Tajikistan

by Iraj Bashiri

In the 10th century, the Turks separated the Tajiks, a Central Asian community, from their Iranian kinfolk. The Tajiks adopted the Hanafi faith and, alongside ethnicity, made it a pillar of their identity. Between 1920 and 1990, the Soviets tried to alter the Tajiks' identity. While they could affect the Tajiks' social status substantially (cf. Afghanistan), they failed in changing the Tajiks' ideology. Instead, they became involved in a conflict that pitted Soviet Tajiks against radical Muslim Tajiks, the latter intentionally misidentified as Wahhabis by the Soviets. The question was about the viability of enforcing the secular Soviet constitution versus the Islamic Shari'a. Inability to resolve the dispute led to civil war (1992). The volume traces the conflict from its roots in Bukhara to the establishment of an independent secular Tajik state (1997).

Genres: History

336 pages, ebook

Published May 12, 2020

Reviews

[Julien Neter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most people have no clue that Tajikistan exists. Less people can place it on a map. Even less known that, just over thirty years ago, it went through a devastating civil war which may have killed up to 150,000 people and displaced over a million. This is a landmark volume due to the absolute dearth of material on this war, one of the most forgotten conflicts in one of the most forgotten regions of the world. As a whole, though, it is less a history of the Tajik civil war than a history of Tajikistan leading to the civil war, dwelling relatively little on the war itself.

This is a fairly accessible book, providing lots of context and requiring very little prior knowledge. That being said, accessible does not mean easy. The author waltzes through names, places, acronyms and ideologies, often requiring a reader to backtrack to remember who Sohibnazar or Navjuvonov or Langari Langariev are. Another thing I missed was a map, due to the numerous places mentioned. Thankfully, I read this in ebook format, and could quickly google things when needed, but other readers might not have this luxury.