I was able to visit Tajikistan and Dushanbe a few years ago. The tour operator had planned this trip very extensively. We visited not only the west and south of the country but also the highlands in the extreme east, which can be reached via the Pamir Highway. There have only been two trips of this kind and I have been on the second one. This program was then discontinued. I met someone on another trip through the himalaya region, who had found himself in threatening situations on the first trip, including being surrounded by three soldiers with rifles at the ready. I didn't have any experiences like that on my trip. I am convinced that this was the achievement of the Tajik tour guide, who used to be a military officer himself and had his old military ID with him and showed it again and again. Probably bribes or gifts (e.g. a bag of apples) were crucial for the well-being of the trip.
If you decide to only visit Dushanbe or the west, then I am convinced that there are no dangers lurking there like in the highlands. Because after my trip, four German cyclists were stabbed to death on the route we wewre driving along. The fifth escaped the massacre only because he fell behind as the four others went ahead. After that, the tour operator no longer offered this part of the trip and that is still the case, as I have just been able to assure myself. A small part with Dushanbe is still in the program as part of a Central Asian trip, but not east of Dushanbe.
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| One can still see the heritage from the USSR era |
Dushanbe (Tajik Душанбе) [1] is the capital. Dushanbe has been a small town until the 1920s, but it developed into a provincial capital of the USSR and was therefore also called Stalinabad from 1929 until 1961. The city absorbs quite a lot of the rural population and has certainly doubled its population in the past 10-15 years. It is a megapolis.
Tajikistan [2] is the smallest state in Central Asia. The country was already settled long before our era, and figures like Cyrus the Great or King Darius had a direct connection to the culture and history of the country. Old state structures that were previously located in what is now Tajikistan have no direct impact on the country's current structure. Life in Tajikistan is difficult. After leaving the Soviet Union, the country experienced a civil war between 1992 and 1997. This resulted in immense material damage and at least 150,000 human lives were lost. The average salary in the capital is around €120-190 (approx. US$130-200) per month. Hardly any work is available in rural areas outside of subsistence farming or mostly herding. Men of all ages are forced to leave their homeland. Additionally, Tajikistan lies on a seismic fault line, so there are natural disasters every year. This results in floods, rock falls, avalanches, landslides and mudslides, which place even greater strain on the already difficult lives of the population. Tajikistan consists of 93% mountains. The landscape in the highlands of the Pamir Mountains is fantastic. But for the locals it is sobering. They barely survive. There is hardly any fuel. Cow dung or manure from other animals is usually not enough for heating. Winter in the Pamirs is harsh.
The Tajiks profess a Shiite branch of Islam, Ismailism [3], whose supreme religious leader is the Imam Aga Khan. Karim Aga Khan IV [4] is headquartered near Geneva, Switzerland. The Ismailis should not be confused with the Druze [5] or the Parsees [6]. I have already read in the writings of Christian revival communities [7] that the religion of the Ismailis is said to contain Zoroastrian elements - that is incorrect. The Ismailis of Tajikistan belong to the Nizaris, which is the larger branch of the Ismailis. The Nizaris recognize Aga Khan IV as the 49th hereditary Imam. The Nizaris trace their roots back to Abu l-Mansur Nizar ibn al-Mustansir [8], who lived in the 11th century AD.
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| I hope I'll laugh as much during later centuries |
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| I don't recall the age of these petroglyphs, but they show how the area could be settled | |
If you are only traveling in the west of Tajikistan, then of course it makes sense to visit the capital, especially because the important museums and other sights are there. You can already discover a lot there and the Fan Mountains are nearby. Hikes between the turquoise lakes are possible there. Or you can visit Penjikent. That would be a basic program to get to know something about Tajikistan.
While traveling through Turkmenistan I once noticed the height of flagpoles [9]. The flagpole in Ashgabat was for some time the tallest flagpole in the world at 133 m height, but then for some time it was also the pole in Dushanbe at 165 m. According to Wikipedia, it is currently the flagpole in Cairo at just over 200 m [10]. The flagpole In Dushanbe is called Bayrak and can be seen almost exactly between the National Museum and the Palace of Nations.
If you don't have a city tour in your itinerary, choose what interests you, cut it in half and then just let yourself drift around the city.
Links and Annotations:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dushanbe
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tajikistan
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma%27ilism
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_IV
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze The Druze (Tawhid, Muwahhidun) are “an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion whose main tenets are the unity of God and the belief in reincarnation and the eternity of the soul”. They were developed out of Ismailism.
[6] The Parsis however are a group who lives on the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsis. Freddy Mercury of Queen belonged to this group.
[7] Andreas Kufeld: Den Glauben in Zeiten der Verfolgung leben. Das Leben und Dienen der Christen in Tadschikistan.[Living the faith in times of persecution. The Life and Service of Christians in Tajikistan.] In: Missionswerk Friedensbote. MissionsNachrichten, January / February 2024. pp. 6-11.
[8] Abū l-Mansūr Nizār ibn al-Mustansir (1045-1095) was a prince of the Ismaili-Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizar_ibn_al-Mustansir
[9] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/06/fuball-und-flagge_18.html
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_flagpoles_by_height
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