Bibliography | History of Tajikistan

500,000 BCE – 701 BCE

Prehistory & Bronze Age

Sarazm near Panjakent was a proto-urban settlement occupied from the fourth to the late third millennium BCE, with radiocarbon dates of 3900 to 2100 BCE. The Bactria-Margiana complex followed on the upper Amu Darya around 2200 to 1700 BCE.

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c. 70,000 BCE (undated; Middle Palaeolithic) Neanderthal child at Teshik-Tash Cave In Teshik-Tash Cave in the Baysuntau mountains of southern Uzbekistan, west of the Tajik highlands, a child aged roughly eight to eleven died and was left among the cave deposits.
c. 6000–3000 BCE Mountain Neolithic of the Hissar culture From about the sixth to the third millennium BCE, communities of the so-called Mountain Neolithic of the Hissar culture lived in the hills and valleys of southern Tajikistan and neighbouring Badakhshan.
c. 2800–2400 BCE Bishkent culture cemeteries in southern Tajikistan The Bishkent culture, dated by recent work to about 2800–2400 BCE, is known mainly from its cemeteries in southern Tajikistan.
c. 2000–1150 BCE Andronovo-related pastoralists enter the Pamirs Between about 2000 and 1150 BCE, the Andronovo cultural horizon spread across the steppe from the southern Urals to the upper Yenisei.
c. 1000 BCE (range c. 1500–500 BCE, disputed) Zoroaster and the Avesta in eastern Iran Zoroastrian tradition places the prophet Zoroaster in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE, but most modern scholars argue for a much earlier date, with about 1000 BCE often considered most likely and proposals ranging from roughly 1500 to 500 BCE. His hymns, the Gathas, are composed in Old Avestan and form the oldest layer of the Avesta.

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700 BCE – 324 BCE

Achaemenids & Alexander

Cyrus annexed Bactria for the Achaemenid Empire, which reached about 5,500,000 square kilometres under Darius, with Bactria a satrapy and Sogdiana a province. Alexander took Khujand in 329 BCE, renamed it Alexandria Eschate, and annexed Sogdiana by 328 BCE.

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6th century BCE (exact date unknown) Cyropolis founded on the Achaemenid frontier Cyropolis, whose name means City of Cyrus, was founded by Cyrus the Great to mark the north-eastern border of the Achaemenid Empire.
c. 515 BCE Sogdian lapis lazuli and carnelian for Darius's Susa A building inscription from Susa, cited in Wikipedia's article on Sogdia, credits Sogdiana as the source of lapis lazuli and carnelian used in Darius's work.
1 October 331 BCE Bactrians and Sogdians at Gaugamela On 1 October 331 BCE, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army near Gaugamela, north of Arbela in what is now Iraqi Kurdistan.
329 BCE Alexander founds Alexandria Eschate at Khujand In August 329 BCE Alexander the Great founded Alexandria Eschate, meaning Furthest Alexandria, on the south bank of the Jaxartes at or near modern Khujand in Tajikistan's Sughd Region.
324 BCE Susa weddings and Apama, daughter of Spitamenes In 324 BCE Alexander the Great and his officers held a mass wedding at Susa in which they married Persian noblewomen.

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323 BCE – 250

Greco-Bactrians & Kushans

The Seleucid governor Diodotus broke away around 245 BCE, and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom reached about 2,500,000 square kilometres in 184 BCE. Nomads ended it around 120 BCE, and the Kushan Empire, formed around 30 CE, held parts of present Tajikistan.

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305–303 BCE Seleucid Settlement Keeps Bactria and Sogdiana Between about 305 and 303 BCE the Seleucid king led an army east to recover the Indian provinces once held by Alexander, and confronted the new Mauryan emperor on the Indus.
208–206 BCE Siege of Bactra and the Peace with Antiochus III Around 208 BCE the Seleucid king Antiochus III marched against the Greco-Bactrian kingdom.
c. 140–130 BCE Yuezhi Settle on the Oxus Between roughly 140 and 130 BCE the Greater Yuezhi, a nomadic confederation, moved through Fergana and settled north of the Oxus, then occupied Bactria.
1st century BCE Kangju Confederation Controls Sogdiana and Fergana In the first century BCE the Kangju, a mixed farming and herding confederation with a winter capital near modern Tashkent, held the middle Syr Darya and extended its influence over Sogdiana and the Fergana valley.
c. 225–240 CE Sasanians Take Bactria and Sogdiana from the Kushans After the death of the last strong Kushan emperor, around 225 CE, the new Sasanian dynasty of Persia took the empire's western provinces, including Bactria, Sogdiana and Gandhara.

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251 – 650

Sogdians, Hephthalites & Turks

The Sasanians took Sogdiana and Bactria in the third century, the Kidarites and Hephthalites followed, and Khuttal stayed a Hephthalite principality after 560. The First Turkic Khaganate, founded in 552, and its western successor, about 3,500,000 square kilometres in 630, controlled the Sogdian cities.

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c. 360 CE Kidarites Take Bactria Around 360 CE a group of nomadic invaders known as the Kidarites, or Kidarite Huns, took Bactria from the Kushano-Sasanian rulers.
5th–6th century CE Panjakent Becomes a Sogdian City Panjakent, in the Zarafshan valley of northern Tajikistan, grew into a flourishing Sogdian town during the fifth century CE. It stood about 90 kilometres from Samarkand and acted as a vassal of that city while keeping its own prosperity.
c. 557–560 CE Turks and Persians Destroy the Hephthalites Around 557 the Turkic khagan of the west allied with the Sasanian king Khosrow I and destroyed the Hephthalite state.
603 CE Western Turkic Khaganate Becomes Independent In 603 the First Turkic Khaganate divided into eastern and western halves after a failed bid for independence by its western ruler and revolts supported by the Chinese Sui dynasty.
629–645 CE Xuanzang Travels Through Central Asia Most sources say the Buddhist monk Xuanzang left China in 629 CE; some Chinese and Japanese texts give 627.

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651 – 999

Arab Conquest & Samanids

Arab armies reached the Oxus in 651, and Qutayba ibn Muslim conquered most of Transoxiana between 705 and 715, ending Divashtich's Panjakent in 722. The Samanids ruled from 819 to 999, reached about 2,850,000 square kilometres in 928, and fostered Persian poetry, including Rudaki.

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651 CE Death of Yazdegerd III at Merv In 651 the last Sasanian king, Yazdegerd III, was killed near Merv after years of retreat.
c. 724–729 CE Hyecho Crosses Central Asia The Korean monk Hyecho left China about 724 by sea, toured the Buddhist sites of India and then travelled north through Kashmir, Gilgit, Kapisa, Bamiyan and Tokharistan.
819 CE Sons of Saman Receive Governorships in Transoxiana In 819 the governor of Khorasan, Ghassan ibn Abbad, gave the four grandsons of Saman Khuda, a local landowner from Balkh, the cities of Samarkand (Nuh), Fergana (Ahmad), Tashkent (Yahya) and Herat (Ilyas).
945–947 CE Muhtajid Revolt in Chaghaniyan Chaghaniyan was a medieval principality on the right bank of the Oxus, south of Samarkand, between Denov and Termez.
999 CE Karakhanids Take Bukhara and End Samanid Rule In 999 the Karakhanid Nasr, son of Ali, took Chach, Samarkand and Bukhara and occupied Bukhara permanently, ending the Samanid state.

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1000 – 1219

Ghaznavids & Karakhanids

After 999 the Oxus divided the Ghaznavids from the Karakhanids, and the Seljuks took Ghaznavid lands in Central Asia after 1040. Qara Khitai defeated the Western Karakhanids at Khujand in 1137, the Ghurids reached about 2,000,000 square kilometres in 1200, and Khwarazm ended Western Karakhanid rule in 1212.

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8 March 1010 Ferdowsi completes the Shahnameh On 8 March 1010, by the date usually given, Ferdowsi completed the Shahnameh, a Persian verse epic of roughly 50,000 couplets.
June 1037 Death of Avicenna at Hamadan In 1037 Ibn Sina, the philosopher and physician known as Avicenna, died at Hamadan after being struck by colic while accompanying the ruler of Isfahan on a campaign.
1089 Seljuks take Samarkand and the Western Karakhanids become vassals In 1089 the Seljuks captured Samarkand and the domains of the Western Karakhanid khanate, placing Transoxiana under Seljuk overlordship.
1204 Battle of Andkhud In 1204 the Ghurid army of Muhammad of Ghor was routed on the Oxus near Andkhoy by the Khwarazmshah Muhammad II, who had Qara Khitai and Karakhanid contingents on his side.
1218 Otrar incident and siege of Otrar In winter 1218–19 the governor of Otrar on the Syr Darya seized the goods of a Mongol merchant caravan of about 450 men and had them killed, accusing them of espionage.

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1220 – 1506

Mongols & Timurids

The Mongols laid Khujand waste in 1220, and the Mongol Empire reached 13,500,000 square kilometres by 1227. Transoxiana passed to the Chagatai Khanate and then to Timur, whose empire covered about 4,400,000 square kilometres in 1405 before the Shaybanids took Samarkand in 1501.

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1219–1220 Timur Malik defends Khujand against the Mongols In 1219–1220 Timur Malik, the Khwarazmian governor of Khujand on the Syr Darya, led the defence of the city when the Mongols arrived.
c. 1331–1334 Tarmashirin adopts Islam and the Chagatai Khanate turns Muslim Around 1331, the Chagatai khan Tarmashirin converted to Islam and took the name Ala ad-Din.
1400 Death of the poet Kamal Khujandi Around 1400 (807 AH) Kamal Khujandi, a poet and Sufi from Khujand, died in Tabriz, where his tomb stands in the Tomb of the Two Kamals.
1490 Sultan Mahmud of Hisar marches on Balkh In 1490 Sultan Mahmud, a Timurid prince ruling in Hisar, moved against Balkh, where Sultan Husayn Bayqara's son Ibrahim resided.
4 or 5 May 1506 Death of Sultan Husayn Bayqara Sultan Husayn Bayqara died in 1506, on 4 May according to the lead of his Wikipedia article and 5 May according to other accounts, just after setting out to meet the Uzbeks.

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1507 – 1867

Bukharan Emirate & Khanates

The Khanate of Bukhara held the Tajik lands from 1501, Kokand split away in 1709, and Bukhara subjugated Hisor in 1753 and Khujand in 1754. Manghit rule became the Emirate of Bukhara in 1785, while Kokand took Khujand in 1802 and Russia took it in 1866.

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2 December 1510 Death of Muhammad Shaybani at Merv On 2 December 1510 the Uzbek leader Muhammad Shaybani was killed near Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan.
c. 1636 Bukhara Takes Karategin According to Wikipedia's account of Karategin, in 1636 Nadr Muhammad Khan of Bukhara sent the governor of Fergana, Haji Atalik, to take the mountainous country of Karategin along the upper Vakhsh River.
May 1768 Durrani Invasion of Badakhshan In May 1768 an Afghan force led by Shah Wali Khan invaded Badakhshan and seized its capital, Fayzabad.
1839 Madali Khan's Brief Conquest of Darvaz In 1839 the ruler of Kokand, Madali Khan, briefly conquered Darvaz, the mountain principality on the upper Panj centred on Qal'ai Khumb.
July 1867 Turkestan Governorate-General Established In July 1867 Russia formally created the Turkestan Governorate-General, with its capital at Tashkent.

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1868 – 1916

Russian Turkestan

Russia annexed Samarkand and the Zeravshan in 1868, made Bukhara a protectorate, and abolished Kokand in 1876. Bukhara took Karategin and Darvaz in 1877, and the 1895 Pamir settlement fixed the Panj frontier and the Wakhan Corridor, with Russian posts at Murghab and Khorog.

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5 July 1868 Russian-Bukharan Treaty after Zerabulak On 5 July 1868 Bukhara signed a peace treaty with Russia after defeats that spring.
15 April 1878 Birth of Sadriddin Ayni Sadriddin Ayni was born on 15 April 1878 in Sāktare, in the Emirate of Bukhara, now Gʻijduvon District in Uzbekistan.
10 September 1895 Pamir Boundary Protocols On 10 September 1895 the Pamir Boundary Commission protocols were signed, fixing the Amu Darya (Panj) as the Afghan-Russian border and making Afghanistan a buffer state.
1911 Fitrat's Munozara In 1911 the Bukharan writer Abdurauf Fitrat published Munozara, a dialogue between a Bukharan teacher and a European.
8 July 1916 (25 June Old Style) Khujand Riot of 1916 In Khujand on 3–4 July 1916 in the Old Style, or 16–17 July in the New Style, the first casualties of the Central Asian revolt occurred when an angry mob attacked Russian officials.

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1917 – 1945

Revolution & Early Soviet

The Basmachi revolt and the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic of 1920 preceded the Tajik ASSR, created on 14 October 1924 inside the Uzbek SSR. It became the Tajik SSR on 5 December 1929 with Khujand and the Gorno-Badakhshan oblast, and the 1939 census counted 1,485,091 people.

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27 November 1917 Kokand Autonomy Declared in Turkestan On 27 November 1917 a congress of roughly 250 Muslim delegates meeting in Kokand declared an autonomous government for Turkestan, usually called the Kokand Autonomy.
4 August 1922 Enver Pasha Killed Near Baldzhuan On 4 August 1922, while his men celebrated Eid al-Adha, a Red Army Bashkir cavalry brigade under Yakov Melkumov attacked the headquarters of Enver Pasha near the village of Ab-i-Derya in eastern Bukhara.
April 1929 Dushanbe Renamed Stalinabad as Railway Arrives On 19 October 1929 the city of Dushanbe was renamed Stalinabad after the Soviet leader.
c. 1934–1937 Pamir Highway Built Through Gorno-Badakhshan The Pamir Highway was built mostly in the 1930s.
c. 1945 201st Division Moves to Stalinabad In October 1945 a Soviet division, formed in August 1941 at Gorokhovets as the 201st Latvian Rifle Division, moved to Dushanbe, then called Stalinabad.

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1946 – 1990

Late Soviet Tajikistan

The republic grew from 1,979,897 people in 1959 to 5,092,603 in 1989, and Dushanbe passed 500,000 on 2 August 1979. The Tajik share rose from 53.1 percent to 62.3 percent, and sovereignty was declared on 24 August 1990.

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August 1946 Bobojon Ghafurov Becomes First Secretary In August 1946 Bobojon Ghafurov became First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan, a post he held until 24 May 1956.
1961–1980 Construction of the Nurek Dam Begins Construction of the Nurek Dam on the Vakhsh River began in 1961.
1977 Excavations Begin at Sarazm Sarazm was first identified through surface finds uncovered by agricultural work, and excavation began in 1977 under Abdullah Isakov of the Tajik Academy of Sciences during the Soviet period.
1989 Pamir Dushanbe Reaches the Soviet Top League In 1989 FC Pamir Dushanbe entered the Soviet Top League, the only Tajik club ever promoted to it.
1990 Tajik SSR Declares State Sovereignty On 24 August 1990 the Tajik SSR proclaimed state sovereignty, asserting precedence of its own laws over those of the Soviet centre.

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1991 – 1997

Independence & Civil War

Independence was declared on 9 September 1991, and fighting began on 5 May 1992. Estimates of the dead range from 20,000 to 150,000, about 1.2 million people were refugees inside and outside the country, and the General Agreement was signed on 27 June 1997.

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9 September 1991 Declaration of State Independence On 9 September 1991 the Supreme Soviet of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic adopted a resolution and a declaration on the state independence of the Republic of Tajikistan.
1992 Tashkent Collective Security Treaty On 15 May 1992 Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan signed the Collective Security Treaty in Tashkent, also called the Tashkent Pact.
1992 Government Forces Retake Dushanbe In December 1992 forces loyal to the government retook Dushanbe.
26 May 1994 Tehran Talks and the 1994 Ceasefire In September 1994 a round of talks between the Tajik government and the United Tajik Opposition was held in Tehran.
9–11 May 1997 General Agreement on Peace and National Accord On 27 June 1997 Emomali Rahmon, opposition leader Sayid Abdulloh Nuri and the UN special representative signed the General Agreement on the Establishment of Peace and National Accord, with the Moscow Protocol, in Moscow.

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1998 – present

Rahmon Era

Tajikistan ratified border treaties ceding territory to China in 2011, and clashes with Kyrgyzstan in 2021 and 2022 preceded a March 2025 agreement that still awaited ratification in the source consulted. Sarazm, Tajik National Park and Ancient Khuttal are World Heritage Sites.

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1998 Communism Peak Renamed Ismoil Somoni Peak In 1998 the highest mountain in Tajikistan, a 7,495-metre summit in the Pamirs of northwestern Gorno-Badakhshan, was officially renamed Ismoil Somoni Peak.
March 2007 President Rakhmonov Becomes Rahmon In March 2007 the Tajik president, born in Danghara in 1952, changed his surname from Rakhmonov to Rahmon, dropping the Russian-style ending in favour of a form in Tajik.
2015 Beard and Clothing Campaign In 2015 police in Tajikistan reportedly forcibly shaved about 13,000 men's beards and shut 160 shops selling Islamic clothing, according to accounts summarised by Wikipedia.
17 April 2020 First COVID-19 Cases Confirmed On 30 April 2020 Tajikistan confirmed its first cases of COVID-19.
21 February – 13 March 2025 India's Presence at Ayni Air Base Ends By October 2025 India had completed its withdrawal from Ayni Air Base, also known as Gissar, near Dushanbe, according to Wikipedia.

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