International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
Volume 5 | IIAU Conference 5 | 2024
Turkiy xalqlar madaniyati, falsafasi, aloqalari: tarix, bugun va kelajak
October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
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ASPECTS OF A HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMONNESS
OF THE COUNTRIES OF CENTRAL ASIA
Shaislam AKMALOV,
Associated professor of International
Islamic academy of Uzbekistan
e-mail:
shaislamakmalov@gmail.com
Abstract.
The article is devoted to the disclosure of some aspects of the historical
and cultural-educational communities of the Central Asian states. Also considered are
individual features of the relations of the countries of the region after they gained
independence in this area with an emphasis on the disclosure of their desire to use the
common spiritual and cultural heritage.
Key words:
disintegration, national and political development, national self-
eminence, development of science and culture, ethno-cultural elements, inter-
confessional and inter-ethnic tolerance.
Annotatsiya.
Maqola Markaziy Osiyo davlatlarining tarixiy, madaniy va maʼrifiy
umumiligining ayrim jihatlarini ochib berishga bagʻishlangan. Mintaqa mamlakatlari
mustaqillikka erishgandan keyingi bu sohadagi munosabatlarining o‘ziga xos ba`zi
xususiyatlari ham ko‘rib chiqilib, ularning umumiy madaniy- ma’rifiy merosdan
foydalanishga bo`lgan intilishlarining mohiyati ochib berishga alohida e’tibor
qaratilgan.
Tayanch so‘zlar:
parchalanish, milliy-siyosiy taraqqiyot, milliy o‘z-o‘zini
namoyon etish, fan va madaniyatni rivojlantirish, etnik-madaniy elementlar,
konfessiyalararo va millatlararo bag‘rikenglik.
Аннотация.
Статья
посвящена
раскрытию
некоторых
аспектов
исторических и культурных общностей государств Центральной Азии.
Рассматриваются также отдельные особенности взаимоотношений стран региона
после обретения ими независимости в этой сфере с акцентом на раскрытие их
стремления к использованию общего духовного и культурного наследия.
Ключевые
слова:
распад,
национально-политическое
развитие,
национальное самовозвышение, развитие науки и культуры, этнокультурные
элементы, межконфессиональная и межэтническая толерантность.
After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union research interest in several
scientists and experts in the history and culture of Central Asia has increased, from the
first years of independence, a great number of works devoted to various aspects of the
national and political development of the Central Asia republics has been published.
International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
Volume 5 | IIAU Conference 5 | 2024
Turkiy xalqlar madaniyati, falsafasi, aloqalari: tarix, bugun va kelajak
October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
274
Undoubtedly, such sort of research promotes a more objective understanding of many
issues that reveal different milestones in the historical formation of the nations of the
modern countries of the Central Asia region.
However, the research stipulated by the various reasons, depending on the
purposes, which were set up themselves by scientists and experts, have not downsized
the number of questions, it's rather quite the contrary that some of them have led to the
even greater polemic. In this connection, it is worth noting that the researchers have, as
a rule, external and internal estimations, which, to a greater extent form the image of
the nations of Central Asia, their history, and culture. Having said that the trend, which
is a historical science that can be called "mythologization" looks a little bit chaotic,
and therefore not logical. On the one hand. The mythologization of the histories of the
nations has the purpose of national self-eminence, which acts as one of the important
historical and cultural resources of the ideology of the states. Similar phenomena were
observed in American history¹, and also, that is better known by us, in the formation of
the Soviet ideology. On the other hand, "mythologization acted as an ideological tool
of the so-called "great nations" the objects of which were so-called "small nations".
In this connection, the political dimension of the "mythologization phenomenon
is difficult to overestimate, especially in the view of the fact that it, being an important
factor of the relations, plays a powerful role in forming the image of the states,
including the states of Central Asia. To date, characterizing displays "mythologization"
about the countries of the region, we would like to cover in brief some of its aspects.
It is deemed that in many works of Western experts, certain tendentiousness is
observed in estimating and analyzing Central Asia, about which a certain prejudiced
perception of a "barbarity"² has been formed. According to Roland Dannreuter, "the
image of the primitive and barbarous region has been consistently used by the
apologists of the Tsar imperialism to justify the Russian colonial expansion to Central
Asia as the mission of civilization, similar to the British and French headways to
Africa ... The true history of Central Asia is far from this popular image. Indigenous
nations have inherited the culture of great wealth and refinement"³.
Indeed, one can hardly have doubts that Central Asia is one of the most unique
regions of the world with ancient history and rich spiritual and cultural heritage. Since
the most ancient times in the territories of the modern region of Central Asia, dozens
of states have emerged and broken up⁴, and numerous aggressive wars have been
observed. The location of Central Asia between Buddhist, Islamic, Confucian, and
Christian cultures has promoted its becoming a crossroad of various civilizations.
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Volume 5 | IIAU Conference 5 | 2024
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October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
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This unique factor was shown in the architecture and paintings of the region. In
particular, French scientists believe that the ensemble of the wall paintings of the
Ambassador's Hall of the Palace of King Varckhuman, who ruled approximately in
660 Common Era in Afrasiab, modern Samarkand, is good evidence for the above.
According to the Chinese chronicles, "Varckhuman had ordered to decorate the
Reception Hall of his palace with pictures, that depicted the neighboring princedoms,
with which he had maintained political, cultural and commercial relations... Without
any doubt, it is possible to assert that nowhere in the world, except for the given
region, it is possible to find such diverse cultures concentrated in one Hall. This
ensemble of pictures is a bright illustration of the exclusive situation of Central Asia, a
crossroad of the world's "⁵.
At the same time, the given factor, in turn, promoted the formation of favorable
conditions for the development of science and culture, especially during the tenth and
eleventh centuries, which have become known throughout the world as the Muslim
Renaissance. That unique phenomenon was shown during the period of formation and
blossoming of some of the states in this region. According to the President of
Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, "the states prospering in this territory, such as ancient
Tourane, Maverounnackhra and Turkestan have left a bright trace in development of
world culture Timur the Great, who made Samarkand the capital of the state, was
famous of protecting scientists, philosophers, architects, poets and musicians.
Spiritual, cognitive, and aesthetic values had an important place in the way of life and
traditional culture of our people. We honor their history and are proud of these great
ancestors and thinkers of the East: Al Bukhari, At-Termezi, Ahmad Jassavi, Bahoutdin
Nakshband, Al Khorezmi, Beruni, Ibn Sino, Navoi, Ulugkbek, and others that have
made an invaluable contribution to the development of the world's civilization"⁶.
Moreover, it is necessary to note, that some foreign scientists and historians
assumed certain influence over the ethno-cultural elements of the Central Asia nations
on the formation of ethnic groups and cultures in neighboring regions. In particular,
the well-known scientist-sinologist L.S. Vasiliev stated "At present, it is well-
recognized that ancient Chinese is an indigene culture. However, this is still not
enough for resolving the question of ethnogeny of those ancient Chinese tribes that, in
due course, have served as a basis for the formation of Chinese nationality". In this
connection, L.S. Vasiliev specifies that according to the research of German sinologist
W. Eberhard (WEberhard, "Early Chinese cultures and their development", Annual
reports of the Smithsonian institution, 1937), in III-II millennia before common era in
the northwest part of the Huang He River basin the Proto-Turk group prevailed, which
International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
Volume 5 | IIAU Conference 5 | 2024
Turkiy xalqlar madaniyati, falsafasi, aloqalari: tarix, bugun va kelajak
October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
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along with the Pro-Tungus and Tibet-Tangut groups had played "a major role in the
formation of two most significant late Stone Age cultures" in ancient China⁷.
The given hypothesis gives the basis to believe, that the history of the nations of
modern Central Asia in earlier centuries remains insufficiently studied for objective
reasons. However, it is obvious, that the culture of the Central Asia region as one of
the most ancient centers of world civilization, is not only the result of the external
influence of cultural systems, but it by itself had rendered essential influence on the
development of the other large civilizations.
On the other hand, studies about the history of Central Asia, which is many
millennia old, are exposed to political situations, especially among the intellectuals of
the countries of the region⁸, causing doubts among the scientists that are far from
aspirations for engagement. Similar studies, which often ignore the objective laws of
historic developments of civilization have a pseudoscientific character. It is well-
known that attempts at artificial "self-eminence" of the nation tend to turn, to put it
mildly, into paranoiac phenomena. The thesis of R. Rahimov that "Samarkand and
Bukhara are historically the cities that used to belong to Tadjiks, and that they were
given to Uzbekistan as a result of national delimitation"⁹ might be considered as the
above-mentioned phenomena.
In this connection, one can hardly disagree with S. Sharapova's opinion that "the
history of the nations of Central Asia, are interconnected and mutually conditioned,
and cannot be considered separately. In the past in the region, there were no divisions
of the states by ethnic characteristic There were no borders here in the Western
understanding, they were conditional enough, while contacts both inside the region and
beyond it had a universal nature"¹⁰.
As the well-known French expert, Olivier Rua asserts, "the territories, borders,
capitals and even languages, at least in their written form, are the invention or the
fiction of the Soviet regime of 1920-1930¹¹ Studies of the authoritative scientists-
anthropologists L. Oshanina and V. Zezenkova are another evidence of the above.
They stated that "all history of Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan with persuasiveness shows,
that ethnogeny issues of the Uzbeks are closely connected with the ethnogeny of the
Tadjiks. The same point of view is presented in the work of B. Gafurov devoted to the
history of the Tadjik people" ¹². Moreover, in their opinion, the uniform sold-bakery
layer of the population of Central Asia had later on become part of both, Tadjiks and
Uzbeks¹³, which practically undermines the so-called "theory of ethnic superiority" in
the Central Asia.
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Volume 5 | IIAU Conference 5 | 2024
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October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
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The close interlacing of historical destinies of Central Asia nations has
predetermined the present of the modern region, which has kept its uniqueness. As
well as in the last centuries, the societies of Central Asia have been characterized by
bi-linguism and poly-linguism, inter-confessional and inter-ethnic tolerance, which are
almost similar world-view systems. In general, this cultural-civilized factor forms the
common socio-cultural platform, which will promote national development of the
countries of the region, in-depth dialogue, and cooperation between them in various
areas, providing preservation of integrity of the entire Central Asia.
Iranian scientist Bahramjan once rightly said that the "identity of Central Asia
during history has precisely corresponded with the formula: 'unity in many. Today the
nations of the region should follow their ancestors and once again become a herald of
the identity ‘unity in many’¹⁴.
However, to date under the name of Central Asia, various options of geographical
space in the centre of the Eurasian continent are perceived. In particular, French expert
Z.P. Ru noted that under the term Central Asia, he understands the geographical space,
comprised of "Mongolia, south of Siberia, parts of today's Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan,
Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, northern Afghanistan, and the Iranian
Khorasan connected with both Herat and Merv, Tibet, Shintyan, Gansu¹⁵. A practically
similar geographical definition is given in English scientific sources to the region
called "Internal Asia/Inner Asia"¹⁶.
Several other options for the definition of conditional borders of Central Asia
were also offered. In particular in 1978 in Paris, a group of UNESCO experts was
formed which, being based on historical and cultural criteria, should have defined the
geographical space of the region. In the report of the given group, it was mentioned
that to make the document on the history of civilizations of Central Asia it is necessary
to study civilizations of Afghanistan, the northeast of Iran, Pakistan, northern India,
western China, Mongolia, and Soviet Central Asia"¹⁷.
In this connection, as to the historical and cultural identity of Central Asia, it
would be desirable to draw attention to the fact that the given dominant covers the
wider territories including Afghanistan. The above is proved by anthropological
studies of L. Oshanina, and V. Zezenkova, as well as by other scientists that have
studied the region from various points of view¹⁸. Undoubtedly, Afghanistan and the
countries of Central Asia share almost common historical past, at least, before the
region had been conquered by imperial Russia, and then by the Bolsheviks. It is well-
known that many of our ancestors, in particular Alisher Navoi and Mukhammad
Zahiriddin Babur have spent years in the territory of the present Afghanistan, certain
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October, 2024 IIAU.UZ
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parts of which used to be part of Central Asian states. As the President of the Republic
of Uzbekistan 1. A. Karimov said "The nations of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan have
traditionally been connected with a century-old historical generality. There never was
enmity between Uzbeks and Afghans the Amu Darya River throughout many centuries
has only united us"¹⁹.
It is well-known that as of today there are plenty of ethnic Tadjiks, Uzbeks, and
Turkmens in Afghanistan, which, alongside other ethnos make up large national
minorities of the country. Moreover, the fact that state status was granted to Uzbek and
Tadjik languages demonstrates that from historical and cultural points of view,
Afghanistan is a part, if we may say so, of the uniform Central Asia civilized natural
habitat.
Even a similar sort of brief analysis objectively gives the basis to assert the
historical and cultural generality of the countries of Central Asia. Despite various
scientists trying to give geographical characteristics to the Central Asia region, the
ethno-cultural factor continues to play a key role in the preservation of the unity of the
region. A more objective approach to the problem of deepening regional cooperation
in Central Asia becomes obvious that the ethnocultural dominance in particular forms
the base, capable of leading to the active and trust-based dialogue as well as to
deepening cooperation between the states of the region in various areas, including
economic area, transport, communications, and political area. However, because these
issues become the object of study by mainly political scientists and experts in the field
of international relations and security, discussions thus acquire a political character. It
is hardly possible to object that excessive politicization will inevitably lead to
revealing the differences between the countries of the region, focusing attention on
their "advantages" and "disadvantages" as major factors of "regional rivalry". Thus
those basics are ignored, which throughout many centuries have continued to serve as
an integrated force for preserving the region as the inseparable Central Asia historical
and cultural natural habitat.
Similar sorts of estimations and reasoning by Western scientists unintentionally
result in the idea that scientific studies in the area concerned tend to promote in-depth
comprehension of the importance of historical and cultural preconditions of regional
cooperation in Central Asia. In conditions of globalization when the process of
regionalization is unavoidable the objective factors, which as never before can play a
key role in relations between the Central Asia countries, should be given greater
attention.
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It is hardly possible to deny the uniqueness of modern Central Asia and, the
historical and cultural generality of the nations of the region which up to this day
remains to be one of the fundamental bases, alongside their direct geographical
proximity for deepening of regional cooperation. It is deemed that societies of the
Central Asia states today, as never before, tend increasingly to realize the importance
of the process for their future, for the future of the entire Central Asia.
Notes:
1 See: Burstin D. The Americans: National Experience. Moscow. Publishing
group "Progress", 1993. (trans, English).
2 Dannreuther R. Creating New States in Central Asia. Strategic implications of
the collapse 2. of Soviet power in Central Asia. IISS/Brassey's. 1994. P. 7.
3 lbid
4 See Resul Yalcin. The rebirth of Uzbekistan. Politics, economy and society in
the post- Soviet era. Ithaca Press, London. 2002. Page 1.
5 Mohammad-Reza Djalili and Thierry Kellner. "Géopolitique de la nouvelle
Asie centrale. De la fin l'URSS à l'après 11 sepembre". Presses Universitaires de
France. Paris. 2003. WITH 13.
6 Karimov L.A., Our goal: free and prospering motherland. 7. 2.-7.:
"Yzbekiston", 1996.-380 p. P. 45-46.
7 Vasiliev L.S. Agrarian relations and community in Ancient China. Publishing
house of Oriental literature, M.: 1961.-P. 52.
8 See Petrova S. Cultural and historic heritage as a resource of foreign policy of
the Republic of Uzbekistan. "East", 1998. N°3. P. 82; Rachimov R. Die Berge und die
Problem des etnischen Selbstverstaendnisses der Bevoelkerung Tadzikistans //
Berliner Ostereurope Info. 1995, N°5.
9 Rachimov R. Die Berge und die Problem des etnischen Selbstverstaendnisses
der Bevoelkerung Tadzikistans // Berliner Ostereurope Info. 1995, N°5, S. 16;
10 Sharapova S. Foreign policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan: cultural, historical
and social factors. Tashkent. 2000. With. 85-86.
11 Roy, O., La nouvelle Asie centrale ou la fabrication des nations, Paris,
Editions du Seuil, 1997, 326 р.
12 Oshanin L.V., Zezenkova V.I Ethnogeny issues of the nations of Central Asia
in view of the anthropology data. Tashkent. 1953. P. 34..
13 Ibid P. 35.
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14 Bakhramyan. "Peculiarities of formation of independence of the countries of
Central Asia". Materials of the International Conference "Central Asia: yesterday,
today, tomorrow". Bishkek. 2002. P. 170.
15 Roux., J.-P., L'Asie centrale. Histoire et civilizations, Paris, Fayard, 1997,
pp.13-14.
16 See: The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Edited by Denni Sinor,
Cambridge/New York, Cambridge University Press, 1990, 518p. History of
civilizations of Central Asia. Vol., 1, The Dawn of civilization: earliest times to 700
B.C., ed. A.H. Dani, V.M. Masson, Paris, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, 535p. See: The
Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Edited by Denni Sinor, Cambridge/New York,
Cambridge University Press, 1990, 518p.
17 History of civilizations of Central Asia. Vol., 1, The Dawn of civilization:
earliest times to 700 B.C., ed. A.H. Dani, V.M. Masson, Paris, UNESCO Publishing,
1996, 535p. See: The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia. Edited by Denni Sinor,
Cambridge/New York, Cambridge University Press, 1990, 518p.
18 See Resul Yalcin. The rebirth of Uzbekistan. Politics, economy and society in
the post- Soviet era. Ithaca Press. London. 2002; Oshanin L.V., Zezenkova V.I.
Ethnogeny issues of the nations of Central Asia in view of anthropology data.
Tashkent. 1953; Roux., J.-P., L'Asie centrale. Histoire et civilisations, Paris, Fayard,
1997
19 Karimov I.A. Peace and stability: basis for the progress of our region. Our
prime target is independence and prosperity of the motherland, freedom and well-being
of people. V.-8. "Uzbekistan". 2000. P 32.
КAТEГOPИAЛЬНAЯ СУЩНOСТЬ ИМИДЖA ГOСУДAPСТВA И
ПOЛИТOЛOГИЧEСКИE ПOДХOДЫ К EE OПPEДEЛEНИЮ
Бepдиeв Бeктaш Oхнopoвич
Дoцeнт кaфeдpы “Мeждyнapoдныe oтнoшeния”
Мeждyнapoднoй ислaмскoй aкaдeмии Узбeкистaнa
Aннoтaция.
В стaтьe paскpыты сyть и сoдepжaниe имидж гoсyдapствa и
oсoбeннoсти eгo кoнстpyиpoвaния. Извeстнo, чтo пoзитивный имидж любoгo
гoсyдapствa – вaжнaя сoстaвляющaя для пpoвeдeния yспeшнoй пoлитики в
мeждyнapoднoм ypoвнe. Пoэтoмy, мнoгиe гoсyдapствa yдeляют oсoбoe, дaжe
стpaтeгичeскoe внимaниe нa eгo пpимeнeния. Тaк, кaк имидж гoсyдapствa
