Uzbekisation or Uzbekization is the process of something or someone culturally non-Uzbek becoming, or being forced to become, Uzbek. The term is often used to describe the process by which the autonomous republic

Tajik ASSR The Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik ASSR) (russian: Таджикская Автономная Социалистическая Советская Республика) was an autonomous republic within the Uzbek SSR in the Sovi ...

was incorporated within the

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...

between 1924 and 1929, and the attendant assimilation of

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...

. Because of assimilation pressures that began in 1924 with the creation of

Uzbek SSR Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...

, ethnic Tajiks often chose to identify themselves as Uzbeks in population census forms and preferred to be registered as Uzbek in their passports to avoid leaving the republic for the less developed agricultural and mountainous Tajikistan. While official Uzbek statistics place the total Tajik population in Uzbekistan at about 5%,CIA World Factbook: Uzbekistan
(1996 est.) subjective expert estimates suggest that the Tajiks may account for as much as 25%-30% of the total population of the country.

Richard Foltz Richard Foltz is a Canadian scholar of American origin. He is a specialist in the history of Iranian civilization—what is sometimes referred to as "Greater Iran". He has also been active in the areas of environmental ethics and animal rights. ...

, "The Tajiks of Uzbekistan", ''Central Asian Survey'', 15(2), 213-216 (1996). After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the term "Uzbekization" has been applied to the processes in

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

that reverse the results of

Sovietization Sovietization (russian: Советизация) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modelled after the Soviet Union. This often included ...

and Russification. Among these are restoring the importance of

Uzbek language Uzbek (''Oʻzbekcha, Oʻzbek tili or Ўзбекча, Ўзбек тили''), formerly known as ''Turki'' or ''Western Turki'', is a Turkic language spoken by Uzbeks. It is the official, and national language of Uzbekistan. Uzbek is spoken as ...

, which replaced the Russian language in obligatory education, promotion of Uzbek tradition and culture.

References

Cultural assimilation Uzbekistani culture Ethnic Tajik people {{cultural-studies-stub

See also

References