”The Tajiks in the Mirror of History. Volume One: From the Aryans to the
Samanids” is a book attributed to Tajikistan´s president Emomali Rahmonov (today
known as Emomali Rahmon). Curiously, it has no publication date, but was
probably printed around the year 2000. The book is bilingual. One
language is English. The other is presumably Tajik, but written in Persian (or Arabic)
script. This is curious, since Tajik is usually written using the Cyrillic
alphabet. Perhaps the book was intended for a wider Persian audience?
Tajikistan is an ex-Soviet republic which became independent after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Communist Party morphed into
secular nationalists and managed to stay in power after fighting a bloody civil
war with Sunni Muslim fundamentalists. Tajikistan is clearly in the Russian
geopolitical orbit, while also cultivating good relations with China. Indeed,
Rahmon looks like a typical boring Communist apparatchik circa 1975 and could
very well pass for Brezhnev´s next cousin or something to that effect. His
administration is widely seen as an authoritarian de facto one party state
(like most other governments in the post-Soviet near abroad).
I found Rahmon´s book on Tajik history interesting, at least as an exercise
in political propaganda. Most Tajiks are Sunni Muslims, but Rahmon´s secular
administration obviously cannot use Islam for its political ends. Nor can it
use Communism, except to a very limited extent. For instance, the national
anthem is actually the old anthem of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic. The
solution is to make copious use of nationalism. The Tajiks speak Persian, the
same language as in Iran, so Rahmon´s strategy is to claim as much as possible
of the Persian legacy. Indeed, he seems to be claiming virtually all of it! Apparently,
Tajik nationalists have long harked back to the Samanid Empire, a Sunni Muslim
and ethnically Persian empire of the Early Middle Ages. The Samanids were
centered on Central Asia, while also controlling large parts of Persia. Rahmon
argues that Tajik history goes back much further, indeed all the way to the
Indo-European migrations and perhaps even earlier.
Rahmon doesn´t deny that the Indo-Europeans came from somewhere else in
Eurasia, presumably much further north than Central Asia. When the “Aryans”
arrived in Central Asia, they split into three groups: Indo-Aryans,
Irano-Aryans and the original Aryans. The latter group stayed behind in Central
Asia when the two former moved east and west, respectively. This latter group
is the ancestor of the Tajiks, who are thus the original Aryan culture. In
historical times, the original Aryans inhabited the areas today known as
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Rahmon uses the Persian epic Shahnameh to
prove his theories, including the sections usually regarded as mythological
(the stories of the Pishdodid and Kayanid dynasties). He argues that these
stories took place in “Eastern Iran” rather than “Western Iran”. Since the
Tajik language, really a dialect of Persian, is classified as a “Western
Iranian” language, “Eastern Iran” is here used as a geographical designation
referring to the Eastern part of the Persian cultural area. It seems the Tajiks
were not only the original Aryans, but also very specifically the original
Persians. Just to be on the safe side, Rahmon also claims the legacy of the
Scythians, whose language is classified as “Eastern Iranian” and hence distinct
from Persian!
The most intriguing part of “The Tajiks in the Mirror of History” is
Rahmon´s use of Zoroastrianism. This was the religion of the Persians before
their conversion to Islam. Today, the number of Zoroastrians in Tajikistan must
be about zero, yet Rahmon comes across as a kind of pseudo-Zoroastrian,
constantly paying homage to this great ancient Persian prophet. He even claims
to have secretly studied his writings when he was the head of a collective farm
during the Soviet period! Naturally, Rahmon supports the theory that Zoroaster
was very early and that he came from Bactria (northern Afghanistan) which would
place him in “Eastern Iran”. As a secularist, however, Rahmon can´t really support
Zoroaster´s religious ideas, and they are indeed hardly mentioned in the book.
Instead, he paints Zoroaster as an advanced ethical teacher, and also as a firm
supporter of farming and animal husbandry. According to one theory, Zoroaster
called upon the previously nomadic tribes of the area to settle down and become
farmers, thereby civilizing them. Rahmon also paints Zoroaster as the first
Tajik nation-builder, uniting previously disparate tribes into one kingdom.
Rahmon paints the Tajiks as constant victims of foreign aggressors. He singles out two for special mention. One is Alexander the
Great, who destroyed the Persian Empire and did much damage to Zoroastrianism. The
other is the Arab conquest, which (of course) *also* destroyed a later Persian
Empire and Zoroastrianism. However, Rahmon doesn´t paint the Scythian invasions
of Central Asia as equally destructive. As already noted, he rather tries to
claim the “Saka” as a kind of honorary Tajiks.
The photos in the book, with a few exceptions, have little to do with
archeology or history, but rather show President Rahmonov at various summits, often
together with other Central Asian presidents, and sometimes with Vladimir Putin
and Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. The purpose is obviously to picture Rahmon as
an international dignitary of some standing. At one photo, he addresses the UN
General Assembly. There are also pics of Rahmon as he is inspecting various
building projects in Tajikistan. No photos show him together with Zoroastrians,
but there is one where he is conferring with Aga Khan, the leader of the Shia
Muslim branch known as Nizari Ismailites. Apparently, some ethnic minority
groups in Tajikistan follow this form of Islam.
I´m not sure if even the most avid readers of this blog care about
Tajikistani government propaganda, but in case you do, I just indulged some of
your curiosity…
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