Middle Ages in Central Asia - it's not the Middle Ages in Europe. While in Europe, blaming the Inquisition, burned at the stake scholars and their books in the quiet of the Asian palaces worked hundreds of luminaries of science, brought fame to themselves and their rulers.
Abu Ali Husain ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina from Afshan village near Bukhara, known in the West as Avicenna, was one of the founders of modern medicine. In addition to drawing up the medical treatises of Ibn Sina studied philosophy, astronomy, mechanics, chemistry, geology, logic was a good poet. His colleague - Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi - was the founder of algebra, or al-jabr in Arabic. A native of Khiva became one of the greatest scientists of the IX century, he was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer and historian. The flowering of science, literature and art in Central Asia in the Middle Ages, IX-XIII century, scientists called "Muslim Renaissance".
After swept Central Asia Mongolian cavalry history went backwards - to change the boundaries of states, one after another appeared conquerors and liberators, several centuries to develop, and then lost the value of the Great Silk Road. Now many people in the former Soviet Union are aware of the history of Central Asia, mainly in the works of Russian and Soviet scientists, often deliberately humiliating and linking the development of the Central Asian countries with a presence from the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire. The occupation of Central Asia was accompanied by propaganda claiming that "natives" were rescued by Russian, admired the ancient culture remains the lot of researchers. It was written in Soviet textbooks, that all the country, which, in principle, within the current borders do not exist, "voluntarily joined the Russian". Only Memoirs of military leaders spoke as an artillery battery to shoot Samarkand as captured Tashkent is surrounded Khujand.
Undoubtedly, the Russian Empire has invested in Central Asia, suggesting to receive dividends from the colonies - cotton, gold, silver, gemstones and other minerals. Central Asia has always been a coveted area for an expanding empire, which since the time of Peter the Great sent spies disguised as researchers. Next to China, India, access to the Asian markets and Asian wealth, territory, which in the XIX century were occupied by the British-competitors.
The royal administration while not particularly affect the captured people, did not change the culture and languages, did not prohibit religion, while in 1920 there on the shore of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, in the steppes of Kazakhstan and the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, not rushed to the Bolsheviks. They were the most bloodthirsty oppressors, captures not only the territory, but also destroys the ancient culture, languages, Muslim traditions.
After the Bolsheviks themselves left devastated a huge area with traditions and virtually destroyed languages. For example, the ancient Persian language, which was carried out clerical Emirate, was reformed, he moved to Latin, and in 1939, in 1926-1929 - the Cyrillic alphabet. As a result, Persian-speaking population - Tajiks in Central Asia - have lost the opportunity to enjoy its rich literary and scientific heritage. The same thing happened with the Turkic languages ??- Uzbek, Kazakh, Kyrgyz and Turkmen. To understand the tragedy of the Central Asian nations try to imagine the Russian or Ukrainian languages ??suddenly translated into Chinese or Japanese characters, and Pushkin and Shevchenko, now I have to read from top to bottom.
But the main thing, for which fought the Bolsheviks, is the destruction of the mentality of the traditional culture and its replacement by the Soviet ersatz culture to everyone spoke Russian, forget religion ancestors, they began to drink vodka and worship of Lenin's corpse in a mausoleum. All the "charms" of the favorite methods of Soviet power - the repression, intimidation and the imposition of fear for many years - the Central Asian nations have experienced an even greater extent than the Ukrainians. In addition, there was a huge migration, when the trains to Central Asia carried immigrants from Russia and Ukraine, the Volga Germans and Koreans from Sakhalin, the Crimean Tatars, Chechens, Ingush and many other nations, over which mocked the Soviet regime.
People, people stirred, not paying attention to the deaths of millions, repressed, and perished in the camps. In Central Asia, the national liberation movement, the so-called "basmachi" fought until the end of 1930, putting fear in the commissioners. In response, the Bolsheviks blew up the mosque, burned at the stake all the books in Arabic script, destroying together with the Qur'an and Hadith (traditions of the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) a huge amount of poetry and treatises. New Communist nomenclature of the local Bolsheviks preferred to send their children to Russian schools, mostly married Russian women. Household nationalism does not disappear, it flourished, and the Russian-speaking population resettled impersonate saviors "natives", although they had recently lived in villages.
From unwanted people Soviet government got rid exactly the same as everywhere - hundreds of thousands of repressed, shot and exiled to the Gulag, more than a million people squeezed by the Red Army in Afghanistan and Persia. Places repressed intelligentsia occupied by those who had little education, but obey the will of the party and the government. It is not surprising that during the years of Soviet power in Central Asia was built not just a "Soviet man" a new, desired Communists formation, but at the same time ignorant and vile, for the position and privileges ready to betray fellow countrymen and disown their own culture, language and traditions.
This continued all the years of Soviet power - in Moscow approved the first secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the republics from Moscow were orders to sow and harvest cotton, perform and beat the target, dropping "distribution list" - how much should be PhDs, nationality and any age should be taken the Communist Party, who may be given an apartment, and who can not. The collapse of the Soviet Union was a surprise to many, but in Central Asia did not panic, and in the last year before the death of the Soviet empire, the first secretary of the presidents themselves have appointed themselves. At the head of all the Central Asian republics were all of the same Communists who declare themselves Democrats and the builders of the new independent states.
The new ideology was created by Soviet historians, philosophers and Party secretary. In Tajikistan, recalled that in the X century was the state of Samanids, and declared a national hero of its founder Ismail Somoni. In Uzbekistan, its ideology built on the praise of Amir Temur, Tamerlane, who ruled in the XIV century tyrant. Once upon a time lived together in the emirate of Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand Khanate, people do not pay attention to nationality and, as a rule, were bilingual (two major languages ??are Farsi and Turkic). But now they were living in the republics invented by the Bolsheviks, showing each other claims and disputes, who is older and better.
During the Soviet era in the Soviet Central Asian countries we have talked a lot about the "people's democracy" and disgusting "tsarist regime". We spoke including first secretaries, brought up in the party schools. But, having received the power and became president, they forgot immediately what they were taught. Islam Karimov became president of Uzbekistan March 24, 1990. Exactly a month later he was appointed the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. November 30, 1990 the President of Tajikistan called Kahhorov Mahkamova. August 31, 1991, in violation of tradition to appoint the presidents of the supreme head of the Kyrgyz range was the president of the Academy of Sciences, Askar Akayev, but he had recently been elected a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. October 27, 1991 became the president of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov, who has chosen the title "Turkmenbashi," that is, the head of the Circus.
Permanent dictators remain Karimov and Nazarbayev. In all other countries, there was a change: the second head of Turkmenistan became the personal physician of the first, the second President of Tajikistan was the former first secretary of the Communist Party of Rahmon Nabiyev, and the third - the director of the state farm named after Lenin Emomali Rakhmonov. In Kyrgyzstan, after two coups and three presidents of the head of state was the former Soviet nomenklatura middle managers Almazbek Atambayev. Of all these countries, Turkmenistan, to a greater extent, and Uzbekistan - less - to distance themselves from the Kremlin's policies, and the rest are completely dependent on Putin's position, in 2000, declared the need to restore relations between post-Soviet countries. Three countries - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan - are dependent on Russia due to the fact that more than 3 million migrant workers earn a livelihood for their families in the Russian regions. If the Kremlin there are some differences with some of the Central Asian countries, immediately raised the topic "Russian-speaking population", with a hint of their protection.
The future of Central Asia unpromising. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, due to the economic policy of his government have become the poorest in the former Soviet Union. Turkmenistan has sealed himself off from the world, there is a thriving personality cult and dictatorship. In Uzbekistan, a serious social tension due to several crowded areas, especially the Ferghana Valley. Kazakhstan is maneuvering between the West and the Kremlin, but it mostly depends on its northern neighbor, firstly, a considerable part of the "Russian-speaking" population, secondly, poorly controlled border with its northern neighbor. Kyrgyzstan has the same problem, although there is no common border with Russia - but they, as well as Tajikistan, have Russian military base.
Russia, like a boa constrictor wrapped around the Central Asian countries for more than 200 years ago, and still does not allow them to develop their own. How long it will last depends on how much the ruling clans out there will be able to maintain control levers. The Islamic factor, which are so fond of scaring in Russia, not only carries a negative momentum in these countries, as a general ignorance. As it turned out, to be educated, to be able to read and write is now little need for the development of the knowledge economy, but the authorities are still people brought up in the top party schools where they were taught Marxist-Leninist philosophy and planned controlled economy. As a result, these countries have turned into a kind of post-feudalism.
Making predictions about the development of Central Asia is not possible, at least until a new generation of managers will be able not only to wrest their country from the Russian embrace, but also try to integrate them in the geopolitical processes.
You can say quite confidently that the bright future of the Central Asian countries is possible, but without Russia, without the constant standby reprimand from the Kremlin and its quite confusing claims on its leading role. However, given the current situation, most likely, in the coming decades, political and economic life of the Central Asian countries will be in a state of stagnation.
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Source: ТСН.ua, 01.08.2016
