Sneak Preview

Succulent shashlik kebabs dripping spicy juice on a skewer with tumblers of steaming tea at an Uzbek choikhana: the highway makes its way past this, stringing together tea stalls, gold toothed fruit vendors, doppy capped men, blue mosaic, brown landscape, white cotton fields, the fertile Ferghana, Bukhara, Samarkand, Tashkent… The Silk Road meets Timurleng meets Central Asian Republic.

The hub of social and economic life, bazaars have the hum, the buzz and the bristling bustle of Uzbek life like no other venue so no matter whichever cities you visit while you are in Uzbekistan, ensure that you spend an evening at the bazaar. Amidst swathes of slinky silks, mountains of luscious fruits and stacks of exquisite carpets and colourful rugs, over endless cups of tea at the chaikhanas, men and women meet to share the day’s gossip in merry camaraderie. The Chorsu Bazaar in Tashkent, the main bazaar near the Bibi Khanym mosque at Samarkand and the ancient domed bazaars of Bukhara all have that vibrancy!

Historically Speaking

Uzbekistan in the ancient cradle between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers is historically the most fascinating of all Central Asian republics. It possesses some of the most ancient towns in the world, some of the Silk Road’s main centres and most of Central Asia’s architectural heritage such as in Samarkand and Khiva and Bukhara.

This region that of present day Uzbekistan, is much more settled and less nomadic than the surrounding regions. It has been a part of various foreign empires from ancient times, including Bactria, Khorezm and Sogdiana. Then came Alexander the Great in the 4th century, followed by Kushans, when Buddhism also came along. The Silk Road brought prosperity and cultural diversity to the towns. The Western Turks settled down here in the 6th century AD. The Arabs brought Islam and the written alphabet in the 8th century but couldn’t control Central Asia. The Persians under the Samanids in 9th and 10th centuries made Bukhara the centre of an intellectual, religious and commercial renaissance. Genghis Khan ravaged the area and then came Timur who established Samarkand as the dazzling Islamic capital of Central Asia in the 14th century. Timur’s empire was overrun by Mongol hordes who gave the Uzbek name to the people here: the Uzbeks were named after the Khans one of the great Mongol tribes, Ozbeg or Uzbek. The Uzbeks mixed with the sedentary Turkish tribes and adopted the Turkish language. They ruled from Bukhara, a separate line ruling in Khiva. Abdullah II was the greatest of the Shaybanid Khans who ruled from 1538 till 1598. He built some of the finest buildings in Bukhara. The Russians came in the 18th century and after some futile attempts finally captured Tashkent in 1865, Samarkand and Bukhara in 1868, Khiva in 1873 and Kokand in 1875.

Till the early 20th century the Uzbeks identified themselves as either Turks or Persians. In 1924 they were given an official identity and a literary language. Under the scythe of Soviet policies Uzbekistan was compelled to reweave its economic and social fabric. Collectivisation of agriculture and shift to cotton cultivation took place, and intellectuals who bucked under the iron hand of the USSR were systematically purged.

By the spring of 1991 the parliament of Uzbekistan had declared its independence and sovereignty along with those of the other four central Asian republics. But none of them was prepared for the reality of independence. They are all grappling with the huge population shifts as the minority Slavs and Germans are emigrating. They are all passing through economic crisis while they expect some economic help from each other. As they still fear Russia, which is trying to reassert its interests, these Central Asian states are opening to other spheres of interests such as Turkey, Iran, China and the industrialized West.

In December 1992, the Uzbek Supreme Soviet adopted a new constitution committed to multi party democracy and human rights. The Ukrainian communists changed the name of their party but few of their policies. Their leader Karimov won the election sand has hung onto power since. In spite of what the Constitution espouses, Uzbekistan is not yet a vibrant democracy and political dissent and opposition is still stifled.

Habitat

Uzbekistan is located in Central Asia, just north of Afghanistan. It is a doubly landlocked country that has at its borders the other 4 Central Asian republics, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. It also shares a tiny stretch of 137 km with Afghanistan. Of its total area of 447,400 square kilometres much is in stretches of sandy arid land. Equally though, a lot of Uzbekistan is flat and fertile, irrigated by the Amu and Syr Darya and the Zeravshan. These rivers form the lifeline of the people of this hot land: providing water for man and beast and for crops.

Most of Uzbekistan is arid; the great swathe of land in the northwest is part of the Kyzyl Kum Desert. The Aral Sea is in the northwest, partly in Uzbekistan and partly in Kazakhstan. Under assault from toxic pollution the Aral Sea has begun to dry out at a startlingly rapid rate. The southeastern extremity is the fertile Ferghana Valley, which lies between the Chatkal and the Fan mountains.

Southwest Uzbekistan is fertile and cities and rural agrarian settlement are concentrated in these areas. The Khiva Oasis finds its water supply from the Amu Darya and the famous Ferghana Valley owes its dazzle to the waters of the Syr Darya and its tributaries. The Tashkent Oasis is irrigated by the Chirchik and Angren rivers, and Samarkand and Bukhara by the Zeravshan. In the southeast Uzbekistan curves up the slopes of the Tien Shan and the Pamir Alai mountain ranges. The bulk of the population and the richest farmlands are in the fertile valleys of this area. The central region consists of the Qarshi steppe.

There are 12 administrative regions called wiloyats of which one, called Karakalpakstan that makes up for about 37% of the country, is an autonomous republic.

There are about 40,000 species of flora and fauna in Uzbekistan. 500,000 hectares of the country’s land is protected under wildlife sanctuaries and natural reserves. A variety of rare species inhabit Uzbekistan: on its rocky mountain slopes there is the endangered Marchor or mountain goat, the Saiga deer inhabits the steppes and the Goitred Gazelle is found in arid desert and semi-desert areas. There are more than 11,000 types of flora in Uzbekistan including the rare tulipa carinata, the ffritillaria, and the shaffron, which is the world’s most expensive spice.