Tajikistan

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Tajikistan fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. Alexander's Macedonian Empire329 BC to 327 BC

   Alexander the Great meets fierce resistance in Sogdiana. He storms Cyropolis near Khujand, fights the Sogdian leader Spitamenes until his death in 328 BC, and takes the Sogdian Rock in 327 BC.

2. Umayyad Caliphate705 to 739

   Arab armies under Qutayba ibn Muslim conquer Sogdiana from 705. Local princes, among them Dewashtich of Panjakent, revolt with help from the Turgesh Turks, and fighting continues into the 730s.

3. Kara-Khanid Khanate992 to 999

   The Turkic Kara-Khanids take Bukhara in 999 and end the Samanid state, the last great Persian dynasty of Central Asia, opening centuries of Turkic rule over the region.

4. 🇲🇳 Mongol Empire1220 to 1221

   Mongol armies take Khujand in 1220 after a famous defence by its governor, Timur Malik, and lay waste to the towns of the Zeravshan and Fergana valleys.

5. 🇷🇺 Russian Empire1866 to 1917

   Russia storms Khujand and Ura-Tyube in 1866 and turns the Emir of Bukhara into a protected ruler in 1868. Its officers and Britain's agree the Pamir border in 1895.

6. 🇷🇺 Soviet Russia1920 to 1931

   After the Red Army ends the Emirate of Bukhara in 1920, Basmachi rebels fight Soviet rule in the eastern mountains. Their most famous commander, Enver Pasha, is killed in 1922, and the revolt is crushed by the early 1930s.

7. 🇨🇳 People's Republic of China1991 to 2011

   China inherits a Qing claim to much of the Pamirs. Under a 2002 agreement, ratified by Tajikistan in 2011, it receives about 1,100 square kilometres, a small part of its original claim.

8. 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan1991 to 2025

   Disputed stretches of the Fergana valley border, with enclaves and shared water, lead to deadly clashes in 2021 and 2022. A border treaty signed in March 2025 finally settles the line.

9. 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan1992 to 2018

   After independence relations with Uzbekistan turn hostile: stretches of the border are mined, flights stop, and the two quarrel over Tajikistan's Rogun dam. They thaw after Shavkat Mirziyoyev takes power in Uzbekistan in 2016.

10. United Tajik Opposition1992 to 1997

    An alliance of Islamist and democratic groups fights the government in a civil war that kills tens of thousands and drives hundreds of thousands from their homes, until a peace accord in June 1997.

Today

Tajikistan now

The Tajik people came under Russian imperial rule in the 1860s and 1870s, but Russia's hold on Central Asia weakened following the Revolution of 1917. At that time, bands of indigenous guerrillas (known as "basmachi") fiercely contested Bolshevik control of the area, which was not fully reestablished until 1925.

Capital

Dushanbe

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Kokhir Rasulzoda

Head of state

Emomali Rahmon

Languages

Tajik

Area

141,379 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population10.4 million2023 · 1.5 million in 1950
• Life expectancy71.8 years2023 · 49.3 years in 1950
• GDP per person$5,5072022
• Living in cities26%2025 · 26% in 1950
• Literacy100%2009
• Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
• Military alliancesCSTO2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending1.5% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 24 October 2026.