The history of Uzbekistan has more than one millennium. Archaeologists testify that the territory of Uzbekistan was inhabited by people long before our era. This is evidenced by the finds of stone tools in the areas of Bukhara and Ferghana in the early Paleolithic.
Mesolithic cave paintings were found in the Zaraut-Sai cave. In these times, man began to use the bow as a tool. The transition of the local people to cattle breeding in the 6th millennium BC is evidenced by the analysis of animal bones found in the shed of Kainar Kamar.
One of the Bronze Age civilizations that existed on the territory of southern Uzbekistan is the Bactrian-Margian culture of the 23-28 century BC, and also in the same era in the 9th-8th centuries BC. according to the history of Uzbekistan, the state of Khorezm arose. In the 6th-9th centuries BC, the Achaemenid (Persian) power flourished here.
In the 4th century BC, the Greek commander A. Macedonian invaded and defeated the Persian troops. A. Macedonian entered Sogdiana and occupied its capital – Marakanda (modern Samarkand) and Hellenistic culture began. Trade and handicrafts begin to develop, new cities are being built and old ones are being restored, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom begins to rule. The field breeding, horticulture and viticulture of the south are growing and improving.
After the death of the Macedonian Empire disintegrates. Sogdiana and Khorezm, Northern India and part of Afghanistan become the Kushan Khanate. At this time, the development of trade begins, which was facilitated by the Great Silk Road. Thanks to the Silk Road, new large cities began to appear on the territory of modern Uzbekistan, such as Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Tashkent, Rishtan, Kokand, and Andijan.
The Kushan Khanate was replaced by a new state called the state of the Ephthalites (White Huns). In the 6th century, the state of the Ephthalites was defeated by the Turks, who formed the Turkic Khaganate.
Since the 670s, the Arabs began to invade the territory lying between the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya and called this land Maverranarch and the inhabitants were forcibly converted to Islam.
In 1219-1221, the whole of Central Asia was invaded by the army of the cruel Mongol ruler Genghis Khan. The state of the Khorezmshahs, who replaced the Samanids, was destroyed, the population of most cities was slaughtered or driven into slavery. Many blooming oases have been completely ruined and desolate. The catastrophe was accompanied by a complete decline of economy and culture.
The Central Asian lands were united by the outstanding conqueror Temur. In 1370, he conquered Samarkand and turned it into the capital of a huge state. Temur was a native of Maverranarch and took care of the prosperity of his native land, restored destroyed fortresses and buildings.
The ethnonym “Uzbek” was introduced to the region under Temur. The poet A. Navoi in his works mentioned the ethnonym “Uzbek” as the name of one of the ethnic groups of Maverranarch. After the death of Temur in 1405, the empire began to disintegrate, his son Shahrukh managed to save Khorasan, Afghanistan, Maverranarch. He handed over Samarkand to his son Ulugbek and moved the capital to Herat. Under Ulugbek, Samarkand became the center of world science.
The Temurids used Turkic and Persian languages. The strengthening of the status of the Turkic language in this era became the basis for the formation of the Uzbek literary language.
In 1500, the Temurids were replaced by the Bukhara Khanate headed by Sheibani Khan. He founded the Uzbek state with its capital in Samarkand.
The territory of modern Uzbekistan has undergone many changes. In the Fergana Valley, the Kokand Khanate ruled (1709-1876), in the Tashkent state, Yunuskhoja ruled (1784-1807).
In 1865-1876, the territories of the Kokand Khanate, the partial Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara became part of the Russian Empire. In 1867, the Turkestan Governor-General (1867-1917) was formed.
After the October Socialist Revolution in 1917, the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic emerged. In March 1918, the Turkestan-General Governorship was transformed into the Turkestan Autonomous SSR as part of the RSFSR.
The lands of the Kokand Khanate (including Tashkent), which became part of the Fergana region of the Turkestan Governor-General back in March 1876, also formally became part of the RSFSR.
In February 1920, the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara were captured by the Red Army and the Khorezm and Bukhara People’s Soviet Republics were formed instead.
After the collapse of the USSR, the independence of Uzbekistan was proclaimed on August 31, 1991. A. Karimov remained the president.
Since December 14, 2016, the President of the Uzbek Republic has been Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
