The Russian-Soviet legacies in reshaping the national territories in Central Asia: A catastrophic case of Tajikistan

Abstract

In every period of history many parts and territories of the world divide and get a new shape. There are lots of such examples. One clear example is the so-called ‘Grate Game’ and division of Central Asia by the British and Russian Empires. In general, Central Asian region has been under Russian influence for more than 150 years. Today in the 21st century Central Asia once again is facing a new ‘Great Game’, but this time with new and non-traditional powers in the region like the U.S. and China, which challenge the influence of region's traditional power – Russia. This paper tries to touch upon the situation and the tragic fate of Tajiks during the Russian-Soviet empires within the different political entities, administrations and territories. It analyzes the impact of Russian and Soviet legacies and territorial policies on Tajiks and Tajikistan. According to the findings of this paper, most of the previous Western and other foreign authors occasionally and briefly opine about this topic, especially about the catastrophic impact of the Russian and Soviet territorial legacies to the Tajik nation, in their work mainly focusing on the history of Central Asia. The paper draws together the main conclusions of relevant literature and tries to fill the gap within the body of existing literature and understandings concerning the topic.