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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).
Pamir mountain range lies mainly in Tajikistan
Known as the "roof of the world"
Highest point is Ismoili Somoni, formerly "Communism Peak"
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.
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.
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.
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 investment.
RAHMON 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.
2003 June - Shamsiddin Shamsiddinov, deputy leader of the opposition Islamic
Rebirth Party, arrested and charged with murder. Party leader...