Not many Indians would have heard of Uzbekistan. Some may know that it was in Tashkent, its capital, where Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri died in 1966. Even those who might have heard of it may not know where it is.
From Delhi it takes less than two and half hours to reach Uzbekistan. Since hotels, transportation and food are reasonably less expensive, Indians in large numbers have started to visit Uzbekistan.
What is now Uzbekistan, was in ancient times (8th century BC) part of the Persian speaking region of Transoxiana. First it was part of Persian Empire. The Greek empire of Alexander the great ruled it for a brief period. Again it came under the Persian Empire till 7th century when Muslim conquest took it over. During this period, cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva began to grow rich from the Silk Road. Uzbekistan is a modern country created by the colonial empire Russia in 1924 by combining Khanate of Khiva, Khanate of Kokand and Emirate of Samarkand. When Soviet Union collapsed, Uzbekistan became an independent country in 1991.
When communists created Uzbekistan, they closed down hundreds of mosques, madrasahs and mausoleums all over the country. However once the country became independent, most of them opened. Most of them were house shops selling crafts, art work, garments, etc. Very few are active mosques and madrasahs. Most famous mausoleums have been restored to their past glory.
BABAR WAS BORN IN SAMARKAND…
Tashkent was full of beautiful parks and avenue trees. India’s Mughal ruler Babar, was born in Samarkand. He is the great grandson of Amir Timur who ruled with his capital in Samarkand. After Alexander and Genghis Khan, he had the largest empire extending over many countries. Uzbeks consider Babar as their own king and their history book has chapters of Mughal rule in India. If India’s old history provides link to Uzbekistan from Amir Timur’s grandson Babar,
Bollywood now has created bond between our two countries. We were greeted everywhere with ‘Namaste’ by strangers and conversation started with old time actors like Raj Kapoor and ended with the current crop of Aishwarya Rai, Amir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan etc.
A Personal Connect with Uzbekistan
I had been to Uzbekistan in 1997 as a USAID consultant to advise the government on bringing regulatory, economic and legal reform in the oil sector. When I went recently in 2018 it was an entirely different and developed country. Extreme poverty has been totally eliminated.
When I went first, I did not dare to walk freely on the street. Now it is completely safe. We were told by Uzbeks that there is no fear of terrorism. This was because of the stern steps the first president, Islam Karimov, took to put down the Islamic movement in Andijan, easternmost part of Uzbekistan. Karimov took the extreme step of shooting down the protesters. The world community criticised him for having taken such violent steps to put down the protest. We were told by our guide that he gave money to the protest leaders and forced them to leave the country.
Uzbekistan Today…
Today there are no protests of any kind. Uzbekistan ranks 175 out of 179 countries on human rights table. But in terms of development, though it may not rank high, its citizens are happy and all the people we talked to expressed great admiration for their first President who died in 2016.
The biggest crisis faced by Uzbekistan is water scarcity due to the mismanagement of its colonial masters. Russia exploited Aral Sea (fourth largest inland sea in the world) to grow cotton, a water-intensive crop. As a result currently just 8 per cent of Aral Sea is remaining. Uzbek government has already reduced cotton crop by 40 per cent though it earns huge earnings through its export.
Old monuments of 15th to 18th century in Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand are so beautiful and attractive, it is only fitting that UNESCO has declared many of them as world heritage sites. While one went through different trading centres in these cities which are converted into shops now, one could feel how traders came on camels along the famous Silk Road centuries back. To appreciate the strategic significance of China’s new Belt and Road initiative along that same old Silk Road, it is worth visiting Uzbekistan besides having an opportunity to admire mosques, madarasas and mausoleums of breath taking beauty.
