Soviet Tajikistan and the Tajik Civil War
Tajikistan was always the poorest state in the Soviet Union and soon after the Union collapsed in 1991 it descended into the most bloody of all the conflicts that broke out in the shadow of the break up of the USSR. This video looks at that experience, as well as shows some of what Tajikistan looks like, today.
This video is the second in a series of three about Tajikistan and it's social and historical context.
Sources:
A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East, Richard Foltz
Central Asia in World History, Peter B. Golden
Azan on the Moon: Entangling Modernity along Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway, Till Mostowlansky
Ferghana Valley: The Heart of Central Asia, Frederick Starr (Ed.)
Land Beyond the River: The Untold Story of Central Asia, Monica Whitlock
Also: The Economist, Eurasia.net and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty among others
Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:52 Soviet Tajikistan
04:21 Qurghonteppa
06:06 Yaghnobis
09:42 Chiluchor Chashma
11:31 Interruption
12:19 Independent Tajikistan
15:26 Civil War
Occasionally the YT algorithm serves up an absolute treasure; today was such a day… Beautifully presented. Subscribed now.
I speak Iranian Persian and I have learned to read the cyrillic alphabet so now I can pretty much fully understand written Tajik. 99% of the difference is found in pronunciation. The pronunciation changes are regular and if you know the rules you can pretty much guess how a word is pronunced in the other variety. For example Iranian a becomes Tajik o and Iranian o becomes Tajik u and Iranian e becomes Tajik i and Iranian i becomes Tajik e. Also word that end in e in Iranian Persian end in ä in Tajik and Afghan Persian. Iranians pronunce the letter v as v but in Afghanistan and Tajikistan it's usually pronunced as w. So the word for you (plural) in Iranian is shoma and in Tajik shumo, the word for god in Iranian Khoda and in Tajik Khudo, the word for lion in Iranian shir and Tajik sher and the word for life in Iranian is Zendegi and in Tajik it's Zindägi. Also understanding Tajik news and formal language is really easy. But informal Tajik is sometimes harder to understand. But needles to say Dari in Afghanistan and Tajik in Tajikistan are just dialects of Persian. Because the difference is similar to the difference between English or Spanish dialects.
Thanks for the comment, very interesting
@`Abdul-Hādi at-Turāni interesting
Бародар шумо аз Ирон хастед, фахмидам ки шумо хати кирилиси ро мефахмед
@`Abdul-Hādi at-Turāni вы ошибаетесь. Это не тюркский диалект. А Согдийский. У Согдийцев, Бадахшанцев изначально свой язык был. Бадахшанцы кое как сохранили язык. А согдийский вытеснил персидский. Но диалект от Согдийцев остался.
@@vatan.5642 так он и не писал, что таджикский это диалект тюркского. Он просто указал, что в согдийском диалекте очень много тюркского влияния и указал на примерах. Всё было по фактам
The Soviet Stans fared far better than Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This is so well made, high production & in depth. Criminally underrated channel putting multi million dollar corporations to shame!
Thank you for making these videos. This history is rarely mentioned in western media. This was an informative and entertaining watch.
Thanks a lot Jonathon, I appreciate you taking the time to comment. I'm definitely going to make more of them, it's just a question of finding the time
Can we also appreciate how good the music was throughout? Nearly always a brilliant quality, and always conveyed (what I thought) was the perfect mood. At 9:23 the music gave off this sense of majesty and power that it must have taken to make something out of such a harsh environment, and yet also a somber mood reflecting the tragedy behind it, and a steady sense of decay. Bravo! And a great video!
Thanks a lot for your comment! I put a lot of time into choosing it
I liked that you added some episodes of their daily life between telling their history and sharing facts. They make your video more interesting.
Thank you very much, hoping to put some more videos out soon!
Tajikistan main routes r Islam not rehmanove 😅
I want to compliment and deeply bow to the author of this post about Tajikistan. I am Bulgarian, born in 1964, at a time when America was an example and a dream of many Eastern Europeans, and I guess not only. I managed to live in America for about a year and hang out in the universities with Americans and this experience was shocking for me. On the one hand, admired by the Americans as people, and on the other hand, as a person educated under the Soviet system of education - shocked by their illiteracy. I don't need to describe my own impressions of it because many other people have done it too. But in short, we know how strong the Americans are in history or the geography of our planet. And against this background, such a deep analysis and understanding of the matter, such correct conclusions and lack of any clichés surprised, delighted and fascinated me. The human mind and sometimes genius can apparently grow even in the most hostile environment. Compliments again.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment!
Сколько войны произошло из за вины Америки?!
Thank you for your good work Alex. While Tajikistan Islamists were getting assistance from Islamic groups inside Afghanistan, the Tajik dominated government in Afghanistan at the time however particularly President Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud encouraged and arguably forced the Tajikistan Islamist leaders to make peace with President Rahmon government. Not surprisingly President Rahmon of Tajikistan like many Tajik elites many times expressed gratitude publicly for Rabbani and Massoud who helped Tajikistan end her civil war.
That is very interesting, I actually had no idea. Thanks for sharing!
@@AlexRothmanMassoud was definitely a real hero. Also can you speak about the fact that whole Afghanistan, Tajikistan, parts of uzubekistan, Iran und Pakistan were part of khorasan, which was whole of Afghanistan? 😊
@@Treasure-bl3cn a hero who sold his land to neighbours for his own pocket. HE was dealing with every secrect agency to get in power. SO he was not a hero byt a traitor who is responsible for killing thousands .
how the F does this channel have so few subscribers this is like top tier quality documentary
Thanks for the great info. I have no idea how come you have only 4.54K subscribers. You deserve at least 500K with your material.
I appreciate that! Definitely working on it
Just discovered your videos. Top class work and presentation. Thank you
Thank you 🙏 for this great documentary. We very much appreciate it. I am an Iranian/Afghan Persian but we fully understand the Tajiks it’s just a dialect 👍🏻👌🇷🇺
Great video, I'm going to visit this region and you helped me understand a little bit about it. Keep up the good work Alex and greetings from Poland :-)
Thanks for watching and commenting! There is a ton of stuff to explore in thre region
Thank you so much for this video. I have been looking for any information on the Tajik Civil War I can find, and most of it is from US terrorism reports and stuff, so watching this video that gave the perspective from a purely human POV was a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
I thought I was among few who almost know everything about our world a bit more or less. Now, I know that I didn't know much of a thing and so many stuff still to be known. Thanks, brother for these sets of videos on unknown (or little known) world of Central Asia. I already subscribed to your channel and hope you bring up more such things for general good of our global society.
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Всё американцы думают что всё обо всех знают, ведь они особенные ;) А по факту - одни из самых невежественных в мире.
Daaaaam, I found another hidden gem 💎 in KZhead ✌️💙❤ love your way man keep going please 🙏
Thank you! Will do!
Un documental de Tajikistan con un fondo música de música cubana, impresionante
Very well made. This is great journalism right here. I like that you made a hybrid video of informational material + traveling. Keep up the good work
Thank you for all the background research you shared in this video. Other videos of Tajikistan that I've seen focus primarily on the awesome landscapes and local cuisine. Now I feel much more educated, and look forward to the next video. Five stars!
Really informative
Thank you very much!
I've watched the first video and this one, the amount of research into the history and population dynamics that is overlooked by those in the West is amazing. KZhead covers every niche! Learnt a lot so far and in the first video, you dispelled the myth I thought was true in that the Soviets 'divided and conquered', when in reality, it's rather Occam's Razor and far more simple in localised power politics. Also, the way you present the content is fantastic as well. As stated by others, you aren't 'in your face' like a lot of travel bloggers and you present when needed and showcase the people and nature when needed but you are always in the background of it with the other thing being the prime thing.
These videos are outstanding!
Glad you like them!
Fantastic series, really interesting. Thank you so much for sharing. :-) Loved TJ,such an exiting country. Visited a few years ago.❤😊
The valleys! What a beautiful country!
Fantastic video, very educational.
superb one. loved it
Very nice indeed , enjoyable and informative. Probably your channel is a late bloomer but for sure it will bloom . Do not give up, you will eventually get the recognition you very much deserve .
The world is fascinating love this from Central Kenya.
Really love the mixture of travel videos with history! You're on to something here! Subscribed
Great informative video about this central asian country 💫💫
Nice blog brother
Really amazing videos!
Glad you think so!
keep making this great content for us :)
That was an amazing video, when I clicked on this I thought you were a KZheadr with over 1 million subscribers I’m shocked you dont even have 10,000. Great stuff
BRO 10k subscribers? First video ive seen and i subbed quick. Cant wait for more
Legend!
Just came back from two weeks in Tajik and it was pretty trippy seeing videos on YT of streets I had just walked a few days ago. Amazing video, sir! The post-soviet feel was especially strong when I wandered in shops inside bazaars selling old soviet military wears. Gotta ask, how did the food (especially the water) treat you? Did you catch "Tajik tummy"?
Thanks for the comment! The food wasn't too bad, from memory. I was probably helped though because I had been living in the region for about nine months at that point. In general people don't come to Central Asia for its food, right? It does get a bit monotonous. How was it for you?
very good reception video
U r so underrated!
Thank you!
My brother worked in Tajikistan in the mid 90,s, with an NGO, he said the majority of the population was Muslim with around 1% of the ruling class being Jewish, he also found Tajikistan was very corrupt, but the ordinary people were just trying to live their lives plus really nice and helpful.
Славо Богу что в "святой Америке " Нет коррупции, Байден с его сынком не дадут соврать🤷♂️
That ruling class is not shocking whatsoever, that’s most countries.
Good job, bro!
please help me research! I have a personal interest in reversing desertification, hydrology and permaculture. I cannot find any information about were the Yaghoobi people were forcibly migrated to (Zafarabad?), but more importantly to me is how they made the land habitable and productive. The video shows at bout 9:00 an example of the arid regions, then cuts to a green region. Please, any key words to search, links, information or whatever will help me understand this land transformation will be greatly appreciated.
You must do a documentary on Sunday easter attacks as well ❤
Tadzhikistan bratskaya strana, obnimayu iz Brazilii, ya uzbechka 🇺🇿🇧🇷
Wow great video
thank you very much for the information thank you very much I am glad with
Glad to hear that
why the background music in your videos are not Tajik or Iranian?
One of the main reasons, why the Soviet Union fell apart, was that there was a growing sentiment in European Russia, that they didn't want to subsidize the poor Central Asian republics anymore. Russia was struggeling with their own economic problems and some economists in the center thought it was a good idea to just get rid of those republics. After the three small Baltic republics, it was the Russian Federation that seceded first, at the same time as Ukraine and Belarus. In Central Asia the discussion about what path to follow without the Soviet Union had not even really started when this happened.
Ussr fell apart because it was a big fairytale from the beginning. For now Tajik nation as other countries follow the path of their own same as Samanids that kicked out arab invaders and created giant state. This video same as your comment is just hilarious compilation of jokes from people that don't know the stuff they talk about )
@@extremistterroristNo it fell apart from the festering liberal plague that grew in number after Stalin was no longer around to purge them
@@extremistterrorist none of you have a clue what youre talking about
@parallax9084 why so ?
Except it was all based on a lie. "We'll be independent and everyone will want our milk and electronics" said the Latvians. "We'll be independent and everyone will want our bread and heavy machine goods" said the Ukrainians. "We'll be independent and everyone will want our energy, cars, trucks, etc." said the Russians. And the end result is 30+ years of depopulation, deindustrialization, in most cases impoverishment and wars. But you're absolutely right. This was the thinking. The real beneficiaries of the breakup were the new generation of careerist party and Komsomol officials, who came to power after Andropov and Gorbachev cleared out the old guard.
We love tajikistan
Hi, Could you please send me the link to the song played in this video at 9:50 ..
you should link the other videos in the series in the description
Thank you on behalf of Tajik nation
Who sings the song at 10:50 of the documentary., "I'm moving on and on, on and on...". Btw, very nice that the author did his own research, that is fieldwork for the short doc. film.
Good question, it's a song I got via Epidemic Sound. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
@@AlexRothman kzhead.info/sun/rb2HlqhxjnaPn5E/bejne.html -- Lars Eriksson's song- On and On
Loved the video ! What's the name of the background music used at 16:00 ?
Thanks for watching. The song is one I found on Epidemic Sound, a music service for royalty free music
@@AlexRothman do you remember the name of it ? 😅
the kmusic is too loud, bro
You didn't mention anything about the Lyuli people.
13: 21 you mean "Samanids" and not Sasanids. Don't you?
You didn't mention who was (more) responsible for the civilians' casualties?
Thank you very much, it was interesting and informative Some remarks: 1. the Sogdians were the ancestors (among other Iranian peoples) of all Tajiks, not only the Yakhnobis, the difference being only that the Yakhnobis retained their ancient Eastern Iranian language 2. it is not quite correct to speak of Afghan Tajiks or Afghan Uzbeks. The issue of ethnic identity and nationality is very controversial. The creation of a national identity in Afghanistan was never successful and ultimately failed. The majority of Uzbeks and Tajiks do not refer to themselves as Afghans. It would be better and more accurate to speak of Tajiks or Uzbeks from Afghanistan
Thanks for watching and thanks for your comments. I've noted your comments and I defer to your expertise! That's interesting what you are saying about the slight difference in emphasis
This is the most important event in world history
I think you mean the _Tajik Soviet and the Tajikistan Civil War_ which would be a far more accurate title. Besides, there's Tajiks in Afghanistan too and that civil war was already ongoing.
When I was a kid in 1980s I saw a printout of GDP per capita. The Latvia where I resided had 2300 rubles, Russia 2100 and Tajikistan 400. I have however been fascinated by the mystery surrounding the Soviet Caucasus and your videos actually shed an actual light on the subject. My dad's mum's father was from there.
Very interesting!
ты немного лоханулся ) в ссср небыло ввп и данных о ввп в ссср был засекресен бюджет страны и доход бюджета и экспортные доходы ссср по тому ты никак не мог видеть данных о ввп в 1980 ых годах глупо троллишь нелепо и глупо
Tajikistan's Jupiter Sa ❤️
Please make Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan videos
13:20 After the Sasanids and arab invasion their was also the Samanids country in 892 AD. At that time tajiks would rule their country themselves as well. The leader of Samanids was Ismoil Somoni.
Crusader Kings?
Did the Soviets devastate the the Tajik environment? was 70% of the forest destroyed?
Dorood o salam to our Tajik Persian brothers from Iran!
درود از تاجیکستان
من از قوم تاجیک اهستم در و از کولاب تاجیکستان در جنگ های داخلی آوار شوده بودم ۶۰ سال گوزشت از فامیل ما در افغانستان هچ ازتی افغانستان افغان ها ندیدم در آوارگی زندگی میکونم در کشور هند دعا کند به من من مسلمان هستم
❤
That thumbnail looks like a Arma 2 screenshot.
Dude what even tf is that video at the end
Informative documentary: An insight, into the lives of ethnic [Farsi-speaking] Tajik people and their daily struggle against the tide of internal ethnic conflicts - In a country which lacks little or no natural/ economic resources and it is, closed in by inhospitable, mountainous landscapes. As an entity, Tajikistan - most probably will be garbled up by the impacts of the next-door neighbour- Kyrghistan's continuous armed attacks against the country, as well as, the raging internal armed conflicts by local Islamist groups, against the government in Dushanbe - And of course, the safeguarding of China's economic investments in that country. That is unless Iran steps in with considerable political & culturally motivated interventionist investments in that country and saves the Farsi-speaking-Tajiks there! Otherwise, as a country - Tajikistan will disappear into a quagmire of ethnic separatism: That is, armed conflicts by local Islamist groups, against the central government in Dushanbe, on one side, and China's forceful, physical presence in the country to protect its economic investments there.
its a documentary or a music video. come on man. we wanted to see about tajikistan not to hear music.
Did you walk by Orthodox Christian crosses?
Khorasan ❤
The collapse of the USSR has led to wars all around the world and today's war in Ukraine is just one of the many examples. Humanity truly lost but wouldn't know until it was too late.
Humanity been lost ever since Adam and Eve disobeyed God.
I am glad the islamists didn't win the war. I am sad they didn't lose it either. I've noticed that a big chunk of Tadjikistan, named Badakhshan, is mistakenly placed in Afghanistan. This border issue is not mentioned in the video. It comes from the British stealing it from the Russians some 150 years ago. Hopefully this will be fixed someday. All that mountainous area used to be the eastern limit of the ancient Oxus Civilization. It's where the Andronovian (proto-iranian), after colliding with that civilization, and after destroying it, became either Indo-Aryans or Iranians.
Grate a day guys im peter araneta manalo
🇹🇯🇹🇯🇹🇯
No police or ambulance no 💩 ask any Afghan GWOT veterans and they’ll tell you we were the police the ambulance the hospital the road department etc etc and I agree we had to get out of there but it’s much more deadly and violent with out us so I felt we were provided the only stability that country had in half century so not a total loss.
Eranshahr will never forget the transgressions of the russians. Even if takes a nuclear war, we will reduce them back to their scythian ancestors' ways of life.
LoL, Russia and China are the only hope for prosperity of Iran heavily sanctioned by the West
What are you talking about?
@@dirckthedork-knight1201 Your murderous rampage will end in a glorious firestorm of righteous vengeance raining down upon you by Verethragna himself.
Fals completely false. Tajiks in Afghanistan have a very long history and they are on of the oldest inhabitants of Afghanistan.
Why you need big brother? In the form of someone unknown you get slightly better opportunity to sort out better with too many views and too many demands and nobody would be shameless like me to say that give the same amount of money be it the incentive for arms or food or work or education. Still you stand a better chance with people educated and well fed in a past generation with your mindset to be able to reduce your demand to a common factor that a third party would understand
Спасибо советским героям Таджикистана за общую победу над фашизмом!
🤭🤮🤮🤮
U forgot to mention that tajiks didnt flee to afghanistan, Tajiks have been in the entire region for thousands of years. We r also called the eastern iranins or aryans . Yes tajiks that were from tajikistan came to afghanistan, no they didnt turn into afghans. They became afghanistanies! Their ethnic group name still remained tajik.
It looks like Asias' Mexico.
Wasn't Turkmenistan poorer than Tajikistan? Also there are no "tajiks" in Iran. Tajik is an exonym in countries and regions where native Persian speakers were a minority or ruled by Non-Persian speaking powers.
These people are in danger of being destroyed by their own culture and religion of violence. They need to focus on families more than territory. They need to learn to forgive. They need conservative values of education and work.
Still the same
I love every country who helps us and support us like Russia 🇷🇺 and Iran🇮🇷, our allies🥰🤝🙏🏻👍
Beautiful country! I missed it ? Did you mention the CCP claiming the Eastern half of the country?
togixton is also tolib
Монголы повсюду распыляют свой яд
Привет монгол
I was born in dushambe Tajikistan in 1987. To make a long story very short it was such a bloody war fought on the streets. My neighbors that resisted to the sharia law islamists opened fire from his attack and an intense fight broke out. Lasted 4 hours. After he was killed they hung him upside down and left him them for days as a show of what will happen. Many family members died and luckily in 1995 my family thankfully was granted refugee status in the United States
The GOG MAGOG wall has been found in Tajikistan.
Central Asian women are beautiful....there I said it!!!!
In comparison to the way American organised it's land and population Russia comes in second best. Imperialism has unintended consequences down the line. Republic all the way. ☘️✊
Tajiks are also Persians. Pars and Tajik are one people. The word Tajik means (the rapist of the crown. The king. Those who have the crown of the kingdom). This word was used by the Persians. And then the word was put over the eastern Persians. the cities of Honze. Gilgite. Wahan. Chatral. Sivat. Kashmir in Pakistan are also Tajiks.. Information about the number of Tajiks in the world. The data provided by the UK special services (UK) in 2019. But in reality and today in 2023 the population and the number of Tajiks in the world. In Afghanistan, twenty -two million Tajik. In Iran, 75 million Tajik. In Uzbekistan, 15 million Tajik. There are six and a half million Tajik in Pakistan. And in other countries, 10 million Tajiks. Tajikistan has 9500000 nine million five hundred thousand Tajik. The total number and population of Tajiks in the world is one hundred and thirty -eight million Tajik. the cities of Honze. Gilgite. Wahan. Chatral. Sivat. Kashmir in Pakistan are also Tajiks.. تاجیک هم پارس هستن . پارس و تاجیک یک مردم است . محنی کلمه تاجیک ( تاجدار ها . پاد شاه ها . کسانی که تاج پادشاهی بر سر دارند ) است . که درقدیم برای پارس ها می گفتن . و بعدأ این کلمه را بالای پارس های شرقی گزاشتن . . مردم شهر هنزه . گلگت . واخان . چترال . سوات . کشمیر در پاکستان هم تاجیک هستن . . معلومات در باره تعداد و شمارش تاجیک ها در جهان . داده ها توسط خدمات ویژه انگلستان در سال 2019 ارائه شده است . اما در واقعیت و امروز در سال ۲۰۲۳ نفوس و تعداد تاجیک ها در افغانستان ۲۲۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ بیست و دو میلیون نفر تاجیک . در ایران ۷۵۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ میلیون نفر تاجیک . در ازبکستان ۱۵۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ پانزده میلیون نفر تاجیک . در پاکستان ۶۵۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ شش و نیم میلیون نفر تاجیک . و در تاجیکستان ۹۵۰۰۰۰۰ نو و نیم میلیون نفر تاجیک .و در دیگر ممالک ۱۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ ده میلیون نفر تاجیک . که در مجموع تعداد و نفوس تاجیک ها ۱۳۸۰۰۰۰۰۰۰۰ یک صد و سی و هشت میلیون نفر تاجیک می شود . Таджики также Это Персы. Парс и Таджик - Это один народ . Слово Таджик означает ( насител Короны. Короля. Те, у кого есть корона королевства). Это слово говарили о персах. А потом слово поставили над восточными персами. Народ городов Хонзе. Гильгет. Вахан. Чатрал. Сиват . Кашмир в Пакистане тоже они Таджики . Информация о количестве Таджиков в мире. Данные, предоставленные спец.служббами Великобританни (UK) в 2019 году. Но в действительности и сегодня в 2023 году население и количество Таджиков в мире . в Афганистане, двадцать два миллиона таджик. В Иране 75 миллионов таджик. В Узбекистане 15 миллионов таджик. В Пакистане шесть с половиной миллиона Таджик. И в других странах 10 миллионов таджиков. В Таджикистане 9500000 девять миллион пять соть тысяч Таджик . Общее количество и население Таджиков в мире составляет сто тридцать восемь миллиона Таджик.
Alex thanks for your work❤🩹
Western beaches are so much better because pretty women can swim there.
Doing an area study on Tajik from a military-political perspective. Learning so much from this. For anyone watching this, take a look at how Russia created a scenario that is causing the Aral Sea to disappear and destroy the environment. Mind blowing.
This video is inaccurate