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MORE >Last Updated: Tuesday, 1 March, 2005, 14:18 GMT
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Timeline: Tajikistan
A chronology of key events:
8th century - Tajiks emerge as distinct ethnic group; Arab invaders
conquer Central Asia, including what is now Tajikistan, and
introduce Islam.
9th/10th century - Persian Samanid dynasty gains control of Central
Asia and, in alliance with the caliph of Baghdad, develops Bukhara
as centre of Muslim culture.
DUSHANBE
Planned city was built in Soviet times
Lies on River Dushanbinka
Former capital of Soviet Tajikistan
Population: 576,000
13th century - Genghis Khan conquers Tajikistan and the rest of
Central Asia, which becomes part of the Mongol Empire.
14th century - Tajikistan becomes part of Turkic ruler Tamerlane's
empire.
1860-1900 - Tajikistan divided, with the north coming under Tsarist
Russian rule while the south is annexed by the Emirate of Bukhara.
1917-18 - Armed Central Asian groups exploit the upheaval in Russia
following the Bolshevik revolution to mount an insurrection, but
eventually fail.
Soviet rule
1921 - Northern Tajikistan becomes part of the Bolshevik-designated
Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), which also
included Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, part of northern Turkmenistan and
southern Kazakhstan.
1924 - Tajik ASSR set up by Soviets and becomes part of the Uzbek
Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR).
THE PAMIRS
Mountain range lies mainly in Tajikistan
Known as the "roof of the world"
Highest point is Ismoili Somoni, formerly "Communism Peak"
2005: Pamirs adapt to life without Russia
1929 - Tajik ASSR upgraded to the status of an SSR and becomes
distinct from the Uzbek SSR; acquires territory of Khujand from
Uzbek SSR.
1930s - The collectivisation of agriculture completed despite
widespread resistance.
1960s - Tajikistan becomes the third largest cotton-producing
republic in the Soviet Union; heavy industries, notably aluminium,
introduced.
1970s - Increased Islamic influence, violence towards non-indigenous
nationalities.
1978 - Some 13,000 people take part in anti-Russian riots.
Late 1980s - Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of glasnost,
or openness, leads to the formation of unofficial political groups
and a renewed interest in Tajik culture.
1989 - Tajik Supreme Soviet (legislature) declares Tajik to be
official state language; Rastokhez People's Front established.
Independence and civil war
1990 - State of emergency declared and some 5,000 Soviet troops sent
to the capital, Dushanbe, to suppress pro-democracy protests, which
are also fuelled by rumours that Armenian refugees are to be settled
in Dushanbe; Supreme Soviet declares state sovereignty.
Mountain home: A family in the Pamirs
1991 - Tajik Communist leader Qahhor Makhkamov forced to resign
after supporting the failed anti-Gorbachev coup in Moscow.
Supreme Soviet declares Tajikistan independent from the Soviet
Union; Rahmon Nabiyev, Communist leader during 1982-85, wins
Tajikistan's first direct presidential election with 57% of the
vote; Tajikistan joins Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December.
1992 - Anti-government demonstrations in Dushanbe escalate into
civil war between pro-government forces and Islamist and
pro-democracy groups which eventually claims 20,000 lives, displaces
600,000 and devastates the economy.
Violent demonstrations force Nabiyev to resign in September; Emomali
Rahmonov, a pro-Nabiyev communist, takes over as head of state in
November.
1993 - Government re-establishes control, suppresses political
opposition and imposes strict media controls; Supreme Court bans all
opposition parties, leaving the Communist Party of Tajikistan as the
only legal party; CIS peacekeeping force deployed on Tajik-Afghan
border to prevent Islamist guerrilla groups infiltrating from bases
in Afghanistan.
Fleeing Afghan conflict: Refugees in Tajikistan
1994 - Ceasefire between government and rebels agreed; Rahmonov
announces willingness to negotiate with opposition; referendum
approves draft constitution reinstituting presidential system;
Rahmonov elected president in ballot deemed by international
observers as neither free nor fair.
1995 - Rahmonov supporters win parliamentary elections; fighting on
Afghan border erupts.
1996 - Islamist rebels capture towns in southwestern Tajikistan;
UN-sponsored cease-fire between government and rebels comes into
effect.
Peace accord
1997 - Government and rebel United Tajik Opposition (UTO) sign peace
accord; National Reconciliation Commission, comprising government
and opposition members, created to supervise implementation of
accord; Rahmonov injured in grenade attack.
ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
A state of emergency was declared in the capital
1990: 5,000 Soviet troops sent to Dushanbe to suppress
pro-democracy protests
1991: Supreme Soviet declares Tajikistan independent from
Soviet Union
1998 - Rahmonov pardons all opposition leaders in exile and agrees
to appoint one of the Islamist opposition's leaders as first deputy
prime minister. Rebel uprising in north is crushed with the help of
former opposition groups.
Tajikistan joins CIS Customs Union.
1999 - Rahmonov re-elected for second term with 96 % of the vote;
UTO armed forces integrated into state army; Rahmonov awarded order
of Hero of Tajikistan.
2000 - Last meeting of the National Reconciliation Commission held
and a new bicameral parliament set up in March; a new national
currency, the somoni, introduced; visas introduced for travel
between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
2001 January - Minimum wage tripled to equivalent of just over one
US dollar.
2001 April - Deputy Interior Minister Habib Sanginov assassinated in
Dushanbe.
2001 June - Leaders of China, Russia and four Central Asian states
launch the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and agree to
fight ethnic and religious militancy while promoting trade and
RAHMON investment.
NABIYEV
Communist leader won first direct presidential election
Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Head of Tajik Communist government - 1982-85 & 1991-92
Forced to resign in 1992
2001 August - Renegade warlord and former opposition commander
Rahmon Sanginov, regarded by the government as one of its most
wanted criminals, is killed in a gun battle with security forces.
19,000 prisoners amnestied to mark 10th anniversary of independence.
2001 September - Culture Minister Abdurakhim Rakhimov is shot dead
by an unidentified gunman, the third senior official to be
assassinated in a year.
Tajikistan is quick to offer support to the US-led anti-terror
coalition, set up after the September 11 attacks on the US.
2002 July - Tajikistan doubles the number of border guards along its
1,300-km frontier with Afghanistan to prevent al-Qaeda members from
entering the country to escape US forces.
2003 February - Eleven Islamic militants sentenced to death and
dozens to lengthy jail sentences for murder and kidnapping during
and after the civil war of the 1990s.
2003 April - Russian President Vladimir Putin visits and announces
plans to boost Russian military presence.
Lake Pairon: Tajikistan has tourist potential
2003 June - Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, deputy leader of the opposition
Islamic Rebirth Party, arrested and charged with murder. Party
leadership asserts that the arrest is politically motivated.
Referendum vote goes in favour of allowing President Rahmonov to run
for a further two consecutive seven-year terms when his current one
ends in 2006. The opposition describes the referendum as a travesty
of democracy.
2003 July - Parliament approves a draft law abolishing the death
penalty for women and reducing the number of crimes for which men
can face punishment.
Supreme Court sentences Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, deputy leader of
opposition Islamic Rebirth Party, to 16 years in jail.
2004 July - Parliament approves moratorium on death penalty.
2004 October - Russia formally opens military base and takes back
control over former Soviet space monitoring centre.
2004 December - Leader of opposition Democratic Party, Mahmadruzi
Iskandarov, arrested in Moscow at request of Tajik prosecutor's
office. Tajik authorities seek his extradition, alleging involvement
in terrorism and arms offences as well as corruption. His supporters
declare the move to be politically motivated.
2005 January - Car blows up near government building in Dushanbe,
killing at least one person. Official says it was a "terrorist
attack". Fire at Security Ministry on same day blamed on electrical
fault.
2005 February - Ruling party wins overwhelming victory in
parliamentary elections. International observers say poll fails to
meet acceptable standards.
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