Tajikistan

B

Religion

The predominant religion in Tajikistan is Islam. Most Tajiks and Uzbeks, amounting to about 80 percent of the population, are Sunni Muslims. About 5 percent of the population are Shia Muslims. Most of the country’s Shias, notably the peoples of the Pamirs in the Gorno-Badakhshan region, are Ismailis.

Arab conquerors introduced Islam to the region of present-day Tajikistan, along with other parts of southern Central Asia, in the 8th century ad. The peoples of the Pamirs were introduced to the Ismaili religion, a Shia Muslim sect, in the 11th century. During the Soviet period, the officially atheistic Communist regime severely restricted religious practice. Then in the mid-1980s when the Soviet government eased many of its restrictions on religion, a resurgence in Islam began in Tajikistan. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed even more religious freedom, and more Tajiks turned to their Islamic heritage. However, the government of Tajikistan has attempted to suppress Islamic groups, which it perceives as a threat to its hold on power.

C

Education

Most people age 15 and older in Tajikistan can read and write, a result of the Soviet system of free and universal education. Until the 1920s, when the Soviet authorities introduced secular (nonreligious) education, the main education centers were Muslim madrasas (religious schools). In principle, a general education involving the completion of seven grades is compulsory for all children. However, the government has not maintained adequate state funding for schools due to the country’s economic and political instability. Institutions of higher education in Tajikistan include the Tajik State University, the Tajik Agricultural University, and the Tajik Technical University, all located in Dushanbe. The Tajik Academy of Sciences, also located in Dushanbe, is an important research institute.

D

Way of Life

The majority of people in Tajikistan have a rural way of life, and many live in traditional rural villages. Those villages situated near rivers or irrigation canals usually contain several hundred single-family houses, but those located on the steep mountain slopes are much smaller. People in rural areas wear mostly traditional garments, while those in the cities wear Western-style clothing. More than 80 percent of Tajiks live below the poverty line, as defined by the United Nations (UN). Government officials and their close associates constitute a small wealthy elite.

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E

Literature

Tajiks share a literary heritage with other Persian-speaking peoples. Many important contributions to Persian literature emerged from Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan) during the 9th and 10th centuries, when the city was an Islamic center of learning under a Persian dynasty, the Samanids. Several prominent cultural figures lived in Bukhara during the 10th century, including Rudaki, who is venerated as the father of Persian poetry, and the Persian philosopher-scientist Avicenna.

A modern body of literature emerged from Bukhara in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most notably with the works of Abdurauf Fitrat. A dramatist and teacher who also became active in nationalist politics, Fitrat wrote poems, tracts, dramas, and scholarly books in both the Tajik and Uzbek languages. His early work, including Munozira (Dispute, 1909) and Bayonoti sayyohi hindi (Statements of an Indian Traveler, 1911-1912), was concerned with Islam in the modern world and social and political reforms. During the Soviet period, Tajik novelist Sadriddin Ayni and poet Mirzo Tursunzoda gained widespread recognition. Tursunzoda won the Lenin Prize in 1960 for his poem Sadoi Osiyo (The Voice of Asia; 1956).

In a tradition that is common throughout Central Asia, the epos (a partly historical and partly legendary poem) is performed to a melody by a minstrel. This tradition, which dates from prehistoric times, has preserved an ancient oral literature. Because the poems and stories are delivered orally rather than in written form, they were accessible to what used to be a largely illiterate population.

F

Theaters and Museums

The Tajik National Theater, consisting of nine different theaters, was founded in Dushanbe in 1929 for musical comedy, ballet, opera, and puppetry. Tajikistan’s largest museum is the Tajik Historical State Museum, located in Dushanbe. Also in Dushanbe are the Behzod Museum of History, Regional Studies, and Art; the Ethnographic Museum of the Tajik Academy of Sciences; and the Firdavsi Library, the oldest national library, housing a collection of historic manuscripts.

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