P rominent t ajik f igures of the

Olimov, Muzaffar

Tajik historian Muzaffar Olimov was born in Isfara in northern Taji-

kistan in 1954.

Olimov graduated from the Tajikistan State University with a degree

in history in 1976. From 1976 to 1984, and again from 1986 to 1993, he

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Prominent Tajik Figures of the Twentieth Century

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

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was a research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Acad-

emy of Sciences. He was a postgraduate student and later a candidate of

science in the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences

of the Soviet Union. He defended his dissertation and received a doctor-

ate degree from that institution in 1994. From 1993 to 1998, he was the

Head of the Department, Deputy Director of Science, and Senior Re-

search Fellow of the Institute of World Economy and International Re-

lations at the Academy. In 1995, he became a professor of history and

the Chair of the Department of World History at Tajikistan State Uni-

versity. At the same time, he was the Director of the Sharq Information

and Analytical Center as well.

Olimov's research deals with the history of Sind from the 17th to the

early 19th centuries, emphasizing the impact of the era on the ethno-po-

litical and religious makeup of present-day Tajikistan.