History of Turkmenistan

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History of Turkmenistan
"Turkmens at the gates of the ancient city of Merv, 1914"
Antiquity
Middle Ages
Early modern history
Modern history
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The history of

Indus Valley civilization
.

The region's

Mongol invasions devastated the region during the late Middle Ages, but their hold upon the area was transitional as Timur Leng and Uzbeks
later contested the land.

Modern Turkmenistan was radically transformed by the invasion of the

political dynasty
.

Ancient history

Female figurine of the "Bactrian princess" type, 2500-1500 BCE, chlorite (dress and hat) and limestone (head, hands and a leg), height: 13.33 cm, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (USA).

Scant remains point to early human settlements east of the

Neanderthals, although the archaeology of the region as a whole is underresearched.[1]
Gonur Tepe.[2][3]

By 2000 BCE, Indo-European peoples had settled throughout the region. Most of the present-day Turkmenistan was occupied by BMAC-related societies and the Dahae (also known as the Daae, Dahā, Daoi and similar names) – a tribal confederation located immediately east of the Caspian. The Massagetae and Scythians were also present, immediately north of BMAC and the Dahae.

The Parthian Empire in 94 BC at its greatest extent, during the reign of Mithridates II (r. 124–91 BC)

Seleucids before the satrap of Parthia declared independence. The Parthians – fierce, nomadic warriors from the north of Iran – then established the kingdom of Parthia, which covered present-day Turkmenistan and Iran. The Parthian kings ruled their domain from the city of Nisa – an area now located near the modern-day capital of Ashgabat – founded by Arsaces
I (reigned c. 250–211 BC), and was reputedly the royal necropolis of the Parthian kings, although it has neither been established that the fortress at Nisa was a royal residence nor a mausoleum.

Excavations at Nisa have revealed substantial buildings, mausoleums and shrines, many inscribed documents, and a looted treasury. Many Hellenistic art works have been uncovered, as well as a large number of ivory rhytons, the outer rims decorated with Iranian subjects or classical mythological scenes.

During the 4th to early 7th century CE, much of the population was already in settlements around the fertile river valleys along the Amu Darya, and Merv and Nisa became centers of sericulture (the raising of silkworms). A busy caravan route, connecting Tang dynasty China and the city of Baghdad (in modern Iraq), passed through Merv. Thus, the city of Merv constituted an important prize for any conqueror.

Arab conquests and Islamization

Central Asia came under Arab control after a series of invasions in the late 7th and early 8th centuries and was incorporated into Islamic

Kashgaria, and penetrated into China as far as the province of Gansu
early in the 8th century.

Merv achieved some political spotlight in February 748 when

Abbasid
dynasty at Merv, and set out from the city to conquer Iran and Iraq and establish a new capital at Baghdad. Abu Muslim was famously challenged by the goldsmith of Merv to do the right thing and not make war on fellow Muslims. The goldsmith was put to death.

In the latter part of the 8th century Merv became obnoxious to Islam as the centre of heretical propaganda preached by al-Muqanna "The Veiled Prophet of Khorasan". Present Turkmenistan was ruled by

Seljuks
, newcomers from north. Seljuks' decisive victory against them, present Turkmenistan was passed to them in 1041.

Oghuz tribes

The origins of the

Oghuz confederation of nomadic pastoral tribes of the early Middle Ages, who lived in present-day Mongolia and around Lake Baikal in present-day southern Siberia. This confederation was composed of Turkic-speaking peoples who formed the basis of powerful steppe empires in Inner Asia. In the second half of the 8th century, Oghuz components migrated through Jungaria into Central Asia, and Arabic sources located them under the term Guzz in the area of the middle and lower Syrdariya in the 8th century. By the 10th century, the Oghuz had expanded west and north of the Aral Sea and into the steppe of present-day Kazakhstan, absorbing not only Iranians but also Turks from the Kipchak and Karluk ethnolinguistic groups. In the 11th century, the renowned Muslim Turk scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari described the language of the Oghuz and Turkmen as distinct from that of other Turks and identified twenty-two Oghuz clans or sub-tribes, some of which appear in later Turkmen genealogies and legends as the core of the early Turkmen.[4]

Oghuz Yabgu State, 750–1055

In

Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in his Jami' al-tawarikh mentions Karluks as of the Oghuz (Turkmen) tribes.[12]

Oghuz expansion by means of military campaigns went at least as far as the

Volga River and Ural Mountains, but the geographic limits of their dominance fluctuated in the steppe areas extending north and west from the Aral Sea. Accounts of Arab geographers and travelers portray the Oghuz ethnic group as lacking centralized authority and being governed by a number of "kings" and "chieftains." Because of their disparate nature as a polity and the vastness of their domains, Oghuz tribes rarely acted in concert. Hence, by the late 10th century, the bonds of their confederation began to loosen. At that time, a clan leader named Seljuk founded a dynasty and the empire that bore his name on the basis of those Oghuz elements that had migrated southward into present-day Turkmenistan and Iran. The Seljuk Empire was centered in Persia, from which Oghuz groups spread into Azerbaijan and Anatolia.[4]

After the fall of Göktürk kingdom, Oghuz tribes migrated to the area of

Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun (813–833), the name Oghuz starts to appear in the Islamic historiography. By 780 AD, the eastern parts of the Syr Darya were ruled by the Karluk Turks and the western region (Oghuz steppe) was ruled by the Oghuz Turks
.

The name Turkmen first appears in written sources of the 10th century to distinguish those Oghuz groups who migrated south into the Seljuk domains and accepted Islam from those that had remained in the steppe. Gradually, the term took on the properties of an ethnonym and was used exclusively to designate Muslim Oghuz, especially those who migrated away from the

Syrdariya Basin. By the 13th century, the term Turkmen supplanted the designation Oghuz altogether. The origin of the word Turkmen remains unclear. According to popular etymologies as old as the 11th century, the word derives from Turk plus the Iranian element manand, and means "resembling a Turk." Modern scholars, on the other hand, have proposed that the element man /men acts as an intensifier and have translated the word as "pure Turk" or "most Turk-like of the Turks."[4]

Seljuks

Malik Shah I
.

In the 11th century,

Turkmen
.

The Seljuk empire broke down in the second half of the 12th century, and the Turkmen became independent tribal federation.

Mongols and Timurids

In 1157, the rule of Seljuks dynasty came to an end in the province of

Mongol
warriors who swept across the region from their base in eastern Asia.

Map of the Timurid Empire

Under their commander,

Khwarezm and burned the city of Merv to the ground. The Mongol leader ordered the massacre of Merv's inhabitants as well as the destruction of the province's farms and irrigation works which effectively ended the Iranian dominance in urban areas and agricultural communities of khwarezm. These areas were soon repopulated by the Turkmen who survived the invasion and had retreated northward to the plains of Kazakhstan or westward to the shores of the Caspian Sea. After the division of the Mongol Empire, present Turkmenistan was passed to Chagatai Khanate except southernmost part was belonged to Ilkhanate
.

Small, semi-independent states arose under the rule of the region's tribal chiefs later in the 14th century. In the 1370s, Amir Timur (also known as Tamerlane), one of the greatest conquerors in human history, captured Turkmen states once more and established the short lived Timurid Empire, which collapsed after Timur's death in 1405, when Turkmens became independent once again.

New political arrangements

As a whole, the 14th to 16th centuries was a period in which the Turkmen's dislocation due to the Mongol invasions gave way to new political groupings which became tribal groupings which have continued to modern day.[4]

In addition to the new political arrangements, historical sources suggest that a large tribal union called the

Murghab River basin. Other Salor tribes moved into the region near the Amu Darya delta and into other parts of modern-day southeast Turkmenistan. Salor groups also live in Turkey, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and China.[4]

Turkmenistan in the 16th and 17th centuries

Detail of a Salor Turkmen ceremonial carpet, dating from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s

The history of Turkmenistan from the 16th until the 19th century is mostly known by the relations with the states of

Kalmyks, and migrated to Astrakhan and Stavropol
in the northern Caucasus.

Popular epics such as Koroglu, and other oral traditions, took shape during this period which could be taken as a beginning of Turkmen nation. The poets and thinkers of the time such as Devlet Mehmed Azadi and

Teke Turkmen
, then living on the Tejen River, were forced by the Persians to migrate northward. Khiva contested the advance of the Tekes, but ultimately, about 1856, the latter became the sovereign power of southern and southeastern parts of present Turkmenistan.

Russian colonization and Great Game

In the 18th century

Geok Depe, near modern Ashgabat; another 8,000 were killed trying to flee across the desert. In September of that year, Qajar Iran signed the treaty of Akhal with Imperial Russia which officially recognized the territory that today incorporates modern Turkmenistan as part of the Russian Empire.[14]

By 1894, Imperial Russia had taken control of almost all of Turkmenistan except around part of

Charju was in Emirate of Bukhara
.

The

Pandjeh oasis, to the south of Merv, on a territory of modern Afghanistan, which nearly led to war with Britain.[15] as it was thought that the Russians were planning to march on to Herat in Afghanistan. Until 1898 Transcaspia was part of the Governor-Generalship of the Caucasus and administered from Tiflis, but in that year it was made an Oblast of Russian Turkestan and governed from Tashkent. Nevertheless, Turkestan remained an isolated colonial outpost, with an administration that preserved many distinctive features from the previous Islamic regimes, including Qadis' courts and a 'native' administration that devolved much power to local 'Aksakals' (Elders). In 1897 the Transcaspian Railway reached Tashkent, and finally in 1906 a direct rail link with European Russia was opened across the steppe from Orenburg to Tashkent. This led to much larger numbers of Slavic settlers flowing into Turkestan than had hitherto been the case, and their settlement was overseen by a specially created Migration Department in St. Petersburg (Переселенческое Управление). This caused considerable discontent amongst the local Turkmen population, as mainly Russian-populated cities such as Ashgabat
appeared.

The best-known Military Governor to have ruled the region from Ashkhabad was probably General Kuropatkin, whose authoritarian methods and personal style of governance made the province very difficult for his successors to control and led to a revolt in 1916. Consequently, the administration of Transcaspia became a byword for corruption and brutality within Russian Turkestan, as Russian administrators turned their districts into petty fiefdoms and extorted money from the local population. In 1908 Count Konstantin Konstantinovich Pahlen led a reforming commission to Turkestan which produced a monumental report detailing these abuses of power, administrative corruption and inefficiency.

Revolution and civil war

Hoisting the Red Banner in Tashkent 1917

Following the

Bolshevik
rule, with the last of the rebellious Turkoman fleeing across the border to Afghanistan and Iran in 1922–23.

Soviet Union

On 27 October 1924, the Turkestan ASSR was dissolved. In accordance with the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the

Turkmen SSR, it became one of the republics of the Soviet Union. At this time the modern borders of Turkmenistan were formed. The Turkmen Government renamed Ashgabat into Poltoratsk after a local revolutionary, however the name "Ashgabat" was restored in 1927. In February 1925, the Turkmenistan Communist Party held its first Congress in Ashkhabad. From this period onward the city experienced rapid growth and industrialisation, although it was severely disrupted by the October 1948 Ashgabat earthquake
. With an estimated surface wave magnitude of 7.3, the earthquake killed 10,000–110,000. According to other local sources, two-thirds of a population of 176,000 inhabitants perished.

In the 1950s, the 1,375 kilometre long

Amu-Darya river, it enabled huge areas to be opened for cotton production. It also greatly diminished the inflow of water to the Aral Sea
, resulting in an ecological catastrophe.

Turkmenistan was not among the most economically developed Soviet republics, with a largely agrarian economy. This is despite exploration and exploitation of enormous oil and gas resources – discovery of 62

gas field
find in the world outside Russia and Middle East.

Soviet soldiers returning from Afghanistan. 20 October 1986, Kushka, Turkmenia.

Independence and Turkmenbashi

Turkmenistan became independent on October 27, 1991, amidst the dissolution of the Soviet Union (commemorated annually). The former head of Turkmenistan's Communist Party at the time of independence, Saparmurat Niyazov, was elected president of the newly independent nation in an uncontested election. At the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan in the autumn of 1991, the party decided to dissolve itself, a process that continued into 1992. In its place, the Turkmenistan Democratic Party (TDP) was organized, and on December 16, 1991, Saparmurat Niyazov, who was elected President of Turkmenistan in October 1990, signed a decree officially conferring TDP membership on former TCP members.

The authoritarian Niyazov, who has assumed the title of "Turkmenbashi", or "Leader of all Turkmen", was accused of developing a totalitarian cult of personality. His opus, the Ruhnama, was made a mandatory reading in Turkmenistan's schools and months of the calendar were renamed after members of his family. Opposition parties are banned in Turkmenistan and the government controls all sources of information. In December 1999, Turkmenistan's constitution was amended to allow Niyazov to serve as president for life.

Niyazov was the main proponent of Turkmenistan's constitutional neutrality. Under this policy, Turkmenistan does not participate in any military alliance and does not contribute to United Nations monitoring forces. This in fact means an internal isolation of Turkmenistan from world politics.

In late 2004, Niyazov met with former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien to discuss an oil contract in Turkmenistan for a Canadian corporation. In March 2005, news of this meeting caused an uproar amongst opposition circles in Canada, who claimed the affair could damage Chrétien's legacy.

In 2005, Niyazov announced that his country would downgrade its links with the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of post-Soviet states. He furthermore promised free and fair elections by 2010 in a move that surprised many Western observers.

Death of Niyazov

Niyazov acknowledged having heart disease in November 2006. On December 21, 2006, Niyazov died unexpectedly, leaving no heir-apparent and an unclear line of succession. A former deputy prime minister rumored to be the illegitimate son of Niyazov,[1] Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, became acting president. Under the constitution the Chairman of the People's Council, Öwezgeldi Ataýew, should have succeeded to the post. Ataýew was accused of crimes and removed from office.

Since 2006

In an election on February 11, 2007, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow was elected president with 89% of the vote and 95% turnout, although the election was condemned by outside observers.[2]

Following his election, Berdimuhamedow moved to reduce foreign isolation and reversed some of Niyazov's more egocentric and damaging policies. Internet cafes offering free and uncensored Web access opened in Ashgabat,[16] compulsory education was extended from nine to ten years and classes in sports and foreign languages were re-introduced into the curriculum, and the government announced plans to open several specialized schools for the arts.[17] President Berdimuhamedow has called for reform of education, health care and pension systems, and government officials of non-Turkmen ethnic origin who had been sacked by Niyazov have returned to work.[18]

President Berdimuhamedow began to reduce the personality cult surrounding Niyazov and the office of the president. He called for an end to the elaborate pageants of music and dancing that formerly greeted the president on his arrival anywhere, and said that the Turkmen "sacred oath", part of which states that the speaker's tongue should shrivel if he ever speaks ill of Turkmenistan or its president, should not be recited multiple times a day but reserved for "special occasions." Previously the oath was recited at the beginning and end of TV news reports, by students at the beginning of the school day, and at the beginning of virtually all meetings of any official nature that took place in the country.[19]

However, Berdimuhamedow is criticized for building a personality cult of his own (albeit a modest one compared to his predecessor's). For example, he is the only person whose first name is used in government press releases; other officials always have their first names abbreviated to a single letter. He is also sometimes called the "Turkmen leader" by his country's press. Additionally, while his regime is somewhat less heavy-handed than Niyazov's, it is still rigidly authoritarian.

On March 19, 2007, Berdimuhamedow reversed one of Niyazov's most unpopular decrees by giving pensions back to 100,000 elderly people whose pensions Niyazov had slashed in the face of an unspecified budget crisis.[20]

On March 20, in a decision of significant symbolic weight in the ongoing rejection of Niyazov's personality cult, he abolished the power of the president to rename any landmarks, institutions, or cities.[21]

On March 31, 2007, the 20th Congress of the Halk Maslahaty began in the city of Mary. New laws relating to agricultural efficiency were passed, and it was decreed that school teachers' wages would soon rise by 40%.[22]

On May 12, Russia and Turkmenistan announced that they had reached an agreement to build a new natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Russia, via Kazakhstan. This has led to speculation that the European Union will become more energy-dependent on Russia, which buys Turkmen gas at below-market prices, and that as a result Russia's political influence in Eastern Europe may increase.[23]

On May 16, in what was described as one of his boldest moves up to that time, Berdimuhamedow sacked a high-ranking security official who had been instrumental in building and maintaining the late president Niyazov's extensive cult of personality. According to official Turkmen news media, Akmyrat Rejepow, the head of the presidential security service, was removed from office by presidential decree and transferred to "another job." The nature of this job was not specified.[24]

On June 14, Berdimuhamedow re-opened the Turkmen Academy of Sciences, which had been shut down by his predecessor.[25] According to reports, as of June 25 Berdimuhamedow had also ordered the closure of the International Fund of Saparmurat Niyazov, the former Turkmenbashi's personal private fund, and stated his intent to begin a series of reforms in the military.[26]

Berdimuhamedow celebrated his 50th birthday on June 29, 2007. He was awarded the Watan Order (Order of the Motherland) for his "outstanding achievements" – a gold and diamond pendant weighing about 1 kilogram. The President also published his biography and held a gala birthday celebration. The government also issued 400 gold and silver coins decorated with the president's portrait.[27]

In 2008, Berdimuhamedow restored the Latin-based names of the months and traditional Persian and Turkic days of the week (Niyazov had renamed them after himself and his mother, among other things),[28] and announced plans to move the infamous gold rotating statue of Niyazov from Ashgabat's central square.[29] He has not, however, moved toward Western-style democracy.[30]

In September 2008, a new constitution was accepted by the People's Council.[20] Parliamentary elections under this new constitution were held on December 14, 2008.[31]

In December 2008, Berdimuhamedow announced changes to the national anthem, which involved removing the repeated references to former President Niyazov. The new version was to take effect on December 21, the second anniversary of Niyazov's death.[32]

In February 2017, president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was

strongman.[33]

On 19 March 2022, Serdar Berdimuhamedov was sworn in as Turkmenistan's new president to succeed his father. He was declared the winner of the March 12 presidential election.[34]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Stone Age:: Central Asia – Britannica Online Encyclopedia". britannica.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv"" (PDF). whc.unesco.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2006. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "History & Culture". turkmenistanembassy.org. Archived from the original on November 10, 2001. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Curtis, Glen E., ed. (1996). Turkmenistan: A Country Study. Federal Research Division.
  5. ^ Gumilyov, L.N. "Ancient Turks". ch. 5 Archived July 8, 2020, at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  6. ^ a b Golden, Peter B. (2015) The Turkic Word in Mahmud al-Kashgari Archived December 23, 2019, at the Wayback Machine, p. 507-511
  7. ^ Golden, Peter B. (1972) "The Migrations of the Oğuz" Archived October 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine in Archivum Ottomanicum 4, p. 48
  8. ^ Golden, Peter B. (1992). An Introduction to the History of the Turkic People. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. p. 197-198
  9. ^ Golden (1992) p. 206-207
  10. ISBN 975-16-0405-2, book: 1, page: 473. quote: "Karluks is a division of nomadic Turks. They are separate from Oghuz, but they are Turkmens
    like Oghuz."
  11. ^ Kafesoğlu, İbrahim. (1958) "Türkmen Adı, Manası ve Mahiyeti," in Jean Deny Armağanı: Mélanges Jean Deny, eds., János Eckmann, Agâh Sırrı Levend and Mecdut Mansuroğlu (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi) p. 131
  12. ^ Hamadani, Rashid-al-Din (1952). "Джами ат-Таварих (Jami' al-Tawarikh)". USSR Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on July 23, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2020. Over time, these peoples were divided into numerous clans, [and indeed] in every era [new] subdivisions arose from each division, and each for a specific reason and occasion received its name and nickname, like the Oghuz, who are now generally called the Turkmens [Turkman], they are also divided into Kipchaks, Kalach, Kangly, Karluk and other tribes related to them...
  13. ^ Barisitz, S. (2017). Central Asia and the Silk Road: Economic Rise and Decline Over Several Millennia. Tyskland: Springer International Publishing., p. 223
  14. ISBN 9789231039850. Archived
    from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  15. ^ Peter Hopkirk, "Great Game", pp 332
  16. ^ "A crack in the isolation of Turkmenistan: Internet cafes". USA Today. Associated Press. February 16, 2007. Archived from the original on February 27, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  17. ^ "1 апреля в Туркмении откроются школы искусства" (in Russian). Gündogar. February 21, 2007. Archived from the original on April 3, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  18. ^ Leila (February 20, 2007). "Internet in Turkmenistan: A sign of hope?". New Eurasia. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  19. ^ "Turkmenistan moves to reduce cult". MWC News. March 10, 2007. Archived from the original on March 13, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
  20. ^ a b "Breaking News, World News & Multimedia". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  21. ^ "Turkmenistan Restricts Presidential Prerogatives". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. February 2, 2012. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  22. ^ "School teachers' wages to rise by 40%". www.turkmenistan.ru. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  23. ^ "Russia clinches gas pipeline deal". BBC News. May 12, 2007. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  24. ^ http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/pp051607.shtml Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine "Turkmenistan: New President Sacks Long-Serving Security Chief" from EurasiaNet.org
  25. ^ "Гундогар:: NEWS". www.gundogar.org. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  26. ^ "Thaw Comes to Turkmenistan – Kommersant Moscow". kommersant.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  27. ^ "Turkmenistan: New President Shows Shades Of 'Turkmenbashi'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. July 3, 2007. Archived from the original on December 26, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
  28. ^ "Turkmen go back to old calendar". BBC News. April 24, 2008. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  29. ^ "Ex-Turkmen leader's statue moved". BBC News. May 3, 2008. Archived from the original on March 31, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  30. ^ "Fresh optimism in Turkmenistan". BBC News. December 21, 2007. Archived from the original on June 10, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
  31. ^ "Turkmenistan Publishes List Of Election Winners". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  32. ^ "Turkmen anthem set for makeover" Archived December 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, BBC, December 9, 2008.
  33. ^ "Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov re-elected as Turkmen president | DW | 13.02.2017". Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  34. ^ "Serdar Berdimuhamedov sworn in as Turkmenistan's new president". www.aa.com.tr. Archived from the original on April 22, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2022.

Further reading

Further information: Bibliography of the history of Central Asia
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