Özbekistan’da Tarihyazımı ve Millî Kimlik

Abstract

This article is about the effort of Uzbekistan in forming an understanding of history and national ideology after the independence. The Karimov era can be categorized as the foundational period of independent Uzbekistan, when the national ideology was shaped through legitimization in history, and it also continues on this very foundation. In order to comprehend Uzbekistan’s social mentality and reflexes, the national identity established during the Karimov era with the support of history needs to be understood. One of the most significant subjects of Uzbekistan’s approach in history is the territorial understanding of history. Here, it is stated that one of reasons of the continuity of this understanding from the Soviet period is related with the problems Uzbekistan has faced in its foundation years. Thus, in this study the problems faced by Uzbekistan in its foundation years and solutions will be summarized, as they were represented by Islam Karimov himself in his sort of state nationalism and with references to history. For the purpose of illustrating the effect of the chosen territorial understanding of history onto the historiography in Uzbekistan, it will be exemplified, how the migration of historical Uzbeks to recent Uzbekistan, and the rule of Amir Timur – before the migration of Uzbeks – are being retold in recent Uzbekistan. Because the territorial historiography accepts everything from the dawn of history to contemporary times within the boundaries of Uzbekistan as part of its history, the main practice today is for example evaluating the culture of Uzbekistan as an amalgamation of Persian and Turkic cultures and the era of Amir Timur and Timurids as the golden age but not referring to the migration of historical Uzbeks and their part within historiography. It can be expected that this acceptance will continue in the future.