Spotlight on Uzbekistan
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as a founder of Uzbekistan.
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The remnants of the Timurid Empire were conquered in turn by the
Shaybanids, who also took the name Ozbeg (Uzbek) in honour of a senior leader of the Mongol
Golden Horde from which they descended, establishing smaller kingdoms in the region. Russia
attempted to push south into the region as part of its imperial expansion with the failed Khivan
expedition in 1717 under the rule of Peter the Great. This was followed a century and a half later by
the Russian capture of Tashkent in 1865, the annexation of Samarkand from the Emirate of Bukhara
in 1868, and the annexation of the Khanate of Kokand in 1876, with the full and final absorption of
the remnants of the Emirate of Bukhara and Khanate of Khiva in 1920. Until 1924 the Soviet regions
somewhat mirrored their predecessor states with the Khorezm People's Soviet Socialist Republic
(SSR) replacing the Khanate of Khiva, the Bukharan People's SSR covering the former Emirate of
Bukhara, and the Turkestan Autonomous SSR (ASSR) covering everything else. This was dissolved in
1924 with the creation of the Uzbek SSR, which, after the departure of the Tajik ASSR to form its own
republic in 1929, comprises the territory that makes up Uzbekistan today, with Tashkent replacing
Samarkand as its capital in 1930.
Islam Karimov ascended to the position of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan in
1989, becoming the first and only President of the Uzbek SSR a year later and at its independence in
September 1991 became the first President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a post subsequently
ratified in a controversial December 1991 election. He would rule with an increasingly iron fist, with
notable crackdowns following a mysterious series of car bombs in 1999 and the massacre of
hundreds of people following unrest in Andijan in 2005, until his death, announced on September 2
nd
2016. For the last 13 years of Karimov’s rule Shavkat Mirziyoyev served as his Prime Minister (PM).
Karimov now lies in a purpose built mausoleum complex overlooking the old city of Samarkand,
where citizens go to pray and pay their respects. Islam Karimov Avenue runs from his resting place to
a large statue near the historic Registan, with shops on the route selling his photo. While his
successor may be seeking to move beyond his legacy he is not taking active measures to quell the
Karimov cult of personality, instead letting it slowly tick downwards, as shown by fewer examples of
pictures of the first President being displayed in public buildings and publically contrasting the
actions of the new President with past.
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