Dushanbe


Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 802,700.
Historically a small village, Dushanbe was made the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as Stalinabad '', after Joseph Stalin.

Etymology

Dushanbe was at a crossroads where a large bazaar occurred on Mondays. This gave rise to the name Dushanbe-Bazar from Dushanbe, which means Monday in the Persian language, literally – the second day after Saturday.

History

Ancient times

Although archaeological remnants of a small citadel dating to the 5th century BC have been discovered 40 kilometres south and Sasanid silver coins and wedge-shaped copper axes have been discovered from the 2nd century BC, there is little to suggest that Dushanbe was more than a small village until the early 20th century. Other small settlements throughout the region's early history include a small Greco-Bactrian settlement from the end of the 3rd century BC and an city on the left bank of the Varzob river from the 7-8th centuries.

Market village

The first time Dushanbe appeared in the historical record was in 1676, called "Kasabai Dushanbe," when the village was under the control of Balkh. This reflected Dushanbe's status as a town, originally taking the name Dushanbe due to the large bazaar in the village that operated on Mondays. Dushanbe's location between the caravan routes heading east-west from the Hissar Valley through Karategin to the Alay Valley, and north-south to the Kafirnigan River and then to Vaksh Valley and Afghanistan through the Anzob Pass from the Fergana and Zeravshan valleys that ultimately led traders to Bukhara, Samarkand, the Pamirs, and Afghanistan incentivized the development of its market. At the time, the town had a population of around 7-8 thousand with around 500-600 households.
By 1826, the town was called Dushanbe Qurghan Russified as Dyushambe. The first map showing Dyushambe was drafted in 1875. It had a caravanserai, a stopping point for travelers to Samarkand, Khujand, Kulob and the Pamirs. It boasted 14 mosques and 2 madrasses at the turn of the century. At that time, the town was a fortress on a steep bank on the left bank of the Varzob River with 10,000 residents. It was also a center for weaving, tanning, and ironsmelting production in the region. Control over it was long exercised by the Beg of Hisor but in 1868, it was given to the Emir of Bokhara by the Tsarist government. The first hospital in the village was constructed in 1890 by the Tsarist government and an early railroad was proposed to connect the market town in 1909, but was abandoned after a review determined the venture would not be profitable.
In 1920, the last Emir of Bukhara briefly took refuge in Dushambe after being overthrown by the Bolshevik revolution. He fled to Afghanistan after the Red Army conquered the area the next year, March 4 1921. In February 1922, the town was taken by Basmachi troops led by Enver Pasha after a siege, but on 14 July 1922 again came under the power of the Bolsheviks soon before the death of Enver Pasha on August 4 1922 outside of Dushanbe and was proclaimed the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as a part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924. The population during the struggle declined from an already meager 3140 in 1920 to only 283 in 1984.

Capital of the Tajik SSR

A Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic separate from the Uzbek SSR was created in 1929, and its capital Dyushambe was renamed Stalinabad for Joseph Stalin on 16 October 1929, which incorporated the nearby villages of Shohmansur, Mavlono, and Sari Osiyo.

Reasons for selection

Dushanbe was chosen instead of larger-populated villages in Tajikistan because of its role as a crossroads of Tajikistan because of its large market that served as a crossroads for much of Tajikistan's population. Along with its market, there was a lively livestock trade as well as trade in fabrics, leather, tin products, and weapons.
Dushanbe also boasted the only Jewish population in the Tajjik SSR, whom were involved in trade and in loaning money, financing much of the Red Army during its conquest of the region.
Dushanbe was also official recognized as the capital of the Emirate of Bukhara during its waning days as it served as the last refuge of the last Emir of Bukhara during its conquest by the Soviet Union, possibly another motivating factor for the decision to establish the new SSR's capital in the village.

Later development

In the years that followed, the city developed at a rapid pace. Several architects played a major role in the city's construction in a group headed by Peter Vaulin. He drew up a piece of legislation called "On the construction of the city of Dushanbe" which the city adopted on April 27 1927. He implemented a constructivist design, learned from his meeting with Le Corbusier in Moscow in 1929. In 1934 and 1935, the Griprogor Institute, based in Leningrad, created a master plan for the contruction of Dushanbe. It was approved on March 3 1938. The city center during the reconstruction shifted to Red Square and Frunze Park, the location of many workers demonstrations and military parades into the forties. High-rise buildings began to be developed in the mid-70s against the wishes of the Tajik Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, which viewed such developments as dangerous in an earthquake.
The Soviets transformed the area into a centre for cotton and silk production, and tens of thousands of people relocated to the city. The population also increased with thousands of Tajiks migrating to Tajikistan following the transfer of Bukhara and Samarkand to the Uzbek SSR as part of national delimitation in Central Asia.
On 10 November 1961, as part of de-Stalinization, Stalinabad was renamed back to Dushanbe, the name it retains to this day.

Riots and unrest

Severe rioting occurred in February 1990, after it was rumored that the Soviet government planned to relocate tens of thousands of Armenian refugees to Tajikistan. The Dushanbe riots were primarily fueled by concerns about housing shortages for the Tajik population, but they coincided with a wave of nationalist unrest that swept Transcaucasia and other Central Asian states during the twilight of Mikhail Gorbachev's rule.

Capital of Tajikistan

Dushanbe became the capital of an independent Tajikistan in 1991.
In January 2017, Rustam Emomali, current President Emomali Rahmon's son, was appointed Mayor of Dushanbe, a move which is seen by some analysts as a step to reaching the top of the government.

Geography

Dushanbe is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Varzob and Kofarnihon, 706 meters above sea level. The north and east of the city is bounded by the Gissar range.

Climate

Dushanbe features a Mediterranean climate, with some continental climate influences due to the nearby glaciers and moutain range. The summers are hot and dry and the winters are chilly, but not very cold. The climate is damper than other Central Asian capitals, with an average annual rainfall over as moist air is funnelled by the surrounding valley during the winter and spring. Winters are not as cold as further north owing to the shielding of the city by mountains from extremely cold air from Siberia. January 2008 was particularly cold, and the temperature dropped to.

Districts

Dushanbe is divided into the following districts:
  1. Avicenna
  2. Ferdowsi
  3. Ismail Samani
  4. Shah Mansur

    Main sights

The population of Dushanbe:
YearPopulation
19266,000
193683,000
1956227,000
1971388,000
1987796,000
1991582,000
2002579,000
2006661,000
2008679,400
2014779,000
2015788,700
2016802,700

Economy and infrastructure

had its head office on the grounds of Dushanbe Airport in Dushanbe. Somon Air has its head office in Dushanbe.

Transport

The city is served by Dushanbe International Airport which, as of April 2015, had regularly scheduled flights to major cities in Russia, Central Asia, Delhi, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Kabul, and Ürümqi amongst others. Tajikistan's principal railways are in the southern region and connect Dushanbe with the industrial areas of the Gissar and Vakhsh valleys and with Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
The Dushanbe trolleybus system operates public buses in the city, and construction of a metro system is due to begin in 2025. Automobiles are the main form of transportation in the country. The Uzbekistan border is about 50 km away and there is a road that links it to the Uzbek town of Denov. Roads to the north link it to the Sughd Region and from there to parts of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The road to the south goes to Afghanistan, accessible via the bridge at Panji Poyon 150 km away.
Many highway and tunnel construction projects are underway or have recently been completed. Major projects include rehabilitation of the Dushanbe – Chanak, Dushanbe – Kulma, Kurgan-Tube – Nizhny Pyanj highways and construction of tunnels under the mountain passes of Anzob, Shakhristan, Shar-Shar and Chormazak.

Education

A number of educational facilities are based in Dushanbe:

Twin towns – Sister cities

Dushanbe is twinned with: