Text: About myself The Changing American family Uzbekistan-Milestonesof its History. Gram: noun: plural form; pronouns: personal,possessive.”To be” in Present Indefinite Grammar: to be
Text: 1.About myself.2.The Changing American family.3.Uzbekistan-Milestonesof its History. Gram: noun: plural form; pronouns:personal,possessive.”To be” in Present Indefinite Grammar: TO be
LESSON 1
About myself
My first name is Rustam. My last (sure) name is Karimov. My middle name (patronymic) is Zokirovich. I am Uzbek. I am 18 years old. I was born in 19 … in Samarkand. I finished school last year. Now I am a first year student at Tashkent State Law Institute. I want to become a lawyer. I can speak Uzbek, Russian, Tajik and English. I am fond of sport. I like swimming, playing chess and football. My hobby is to read detective stories. I like listening to music.
The first relics proving that men lived in Central Asia including the territory of what today is Uzbekistan, date back roughly to the middle of the first millennium BC. Early farming communities organized in a state – like pattern appeared in the fertile oases of Bactria, Chorasmi, Sogdiana and Parthia. In the 6th century BC, Central Asia came under the rule of the Persians; these were defeated in the 4th century by Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia. In the further course of history, the territory of present Uzbekistan was absorbed completely or only in parts by the great states of the classical world: after Alexander the Great, by the Seleucid Kingdom, the Greco – Bactrian Kingdom and the powerful Central Asian – Indian Empire of the Kushans. Vast irrigation systems were constructed in that period, agriculture was improved in fertile oases and cities grew up forming prosperous centers of industry and trade. Architecture and the arts flourished in ancient Central Asia, above all during the time of the Kushans.
Rich local traditions mixed with the traditional arts of the ancient Orient, India and East Turkestan. Central Asia adopted many achievements of the world civilizations of the times and in turn influenced its neighbouring regions and countries. In the 8th century AD, the territory of Uzbekistan was invaded by the Arabs and annexed to the Abbasid Caliphate. This period saw the rise of Islam. At the end of the 9th century, local dynasties took over the power from the Arabs. The Kingdom of the Samanids emerged with Bukhara as the capital. This was a climax of economy and culture, a time which brought forth such outstanding scholars as Muhammed Choresmi, Ahmed Fergani, Abu Ali Ibn –Sina (Avicenna), Abu- Reichan Beruniy and others. From 1219- 1221 Chenghis Khan conquered the territory of Uzbekistan. Cities and oases were looted and a greater part of the population forced into slavery. State power soon passed into the hands of the nomadic warrior aristocracy of mainly Turkic- Mongolian tribes. Brief periods of political centralism alternated with long feudal wars. The time when feudalism was at its height and economy and culture restored with the reign of Amur Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors during the first half of the 14th – 15th century. Timur brought immense treasures, skilled craftsmen, architects and artists to Samarkand which he made his capital. Part of the structures dating from that period have been preserved to this very day. This includes part of the astronomical observatory which was built by one of the greatest scientists of the Middle Ages, Mirso Ulughbek. At the end of the 15th and early 16th centuries, the Kingdom of Timurs’ descendants was conquered by Sheibani- Khan who had rallied several nomadic tribes called collectively the Uzbeks.
These Uzbeks had maintained economic and cultural bonds with the oases in the Central Asian interfluvial land and as they settled down, mixed with the local Turkic population. The name “Uzbeks” was transferred to the Turkic peoples long before the nomadic Uzbeks who spoke almost the same language adopted and settled form of existence. Therefore, the Uzbek nationality is older than its name. For about 4 centuries, starting from the 16th century until Central Asia was annexed to Russia during the second half of the 19th century, the peoples of Uzbekistan lived under the rule of the Khans: the Khanate of Bukhara ( since the mid 18th century an emirate), the Khanate of Khiva and the Khanate of Kokand. As a result of Russia’s expansion in 1860- 1870, a large part of Central Asia including an important part of Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire. The Governor- Generalship Turkestan was formed. But the administration of the previous rulers was preserved albeit under the protectorate of Russia. Between 1922 and 1991, Uzbekistan was one of the 15 member republics of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. The processes of democratization under Soviet rule, the disintegration of the USSR led to Uzbekistan obtaining full independence and sovereignty in 1991. 19In December 1991, Islom Karimov was elected first President of independent Uzbekistan in a direct election by the people.(I.Karimov. Steers Uzbekistan on its own way, p.56)
