Rasht Valley

Vakhsh River

TheRasht Valley(Russian:Раштская долина;Tajik:Водии Рашт) is located inTajikistanand composes a significant portion of theRegion of Republican Subordination,including the five districts ofLakhsh,Rasht,Tavildara now Sangvor,TajikobodandNurabad.Historically the Rasht Valley has been called Karotegin or Karategin. During the 1992-1997Tajikistan Civil War,the region was a stronghold for forces opposed to the government ofEmomalii Rahmonand became the site of numerous battles. Notably, four members of theUnited Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistanwere murdered in the Garm district in 1998.

From the 1920s until 1955 the Rasht Valley was within theGharm Oblast.

History

Karotegin is the historic name of the Rasht Valley and a historic political region in pre-SovietCentral Asiathat is today part ofTajikistan.The Karotegin region was also namedGarm,though Garm is also the name of a city and theGarmiethnic group. Karotegin frequently appears in its alternative spellings, Qaratagin, Qarategin, Qaratigin, Karategin, Karatigin and Karateghin,in literature from the 1990s and earlier. Karategin was an independent region inCentral Asiafor many centuries. The native princes, who claimed to be descended fromAlexander the Great,were independent until 1868, although their allegiance was claimed in an ineffective way byKokand.TheEmirate of Bukharatook advantage of internal political feuds and conquered the region, along withDarvaz,in 1877.

The Karotegin consisted of a highland district bounded on the north bySamarkandandKokand,on the east byFerghana,on the south byDarvazand on the west byHissarand other Bokharian provinces. Traditionally rough woolen cloth and mohair were woven by the natives, who also made excellent firearms and other weapons. Gold was mined in various places and there were salt-pits in the mountains. The chief town,Garm,situated on a hill on the right bank of theVakhsh River,was a place of some 2,000 inhabitants, as of 1911.The population was about 60,000 in 1911; five-sixths were composed ofTajikswhile the remainder wereKyrgyz,who reside in what is today theJirgatol districtof Tajikistan. Historically it was difficult for the people of the Karotegin to communicate with neighboring lands except between the months of May and September.

The1949 Khait earthquakeresulted in theKhait landslide,which killed over 30,000 people.

Karategin-Kyrgyz Confederation

TheKarategin-Kyrgyz Confederationis a Kyrgyz-led tribal alliance established in the Karategin province of Tajikistan. Twelve thousand Kyrgyz families previously living in theKarakurumandKerulenregions ofMongoliahad come to the Karategin region in the 16th century.

Background

On January 12, 1636, a group of twelve Kyrgyzpagan membersof the Karategin biy tribe tried to settle inBalkh,in northAfghanistan.Shortly after, they attempted to return to their lands because the city was shaped deeplyIslamic.TheKhanof theKhanate of Bukhara,Nadr Muhammad Khan,sent the governor ofFergana(Haji Atalik) to the region to seize Karategin. In this way, Karategin became an integral part of the Bukhara Khanate and the Kyrgyz pilgrims were allowed to settle. These Kyrgyz later accepted Islam as their faith. Later on, the Kyrgyz tribal members attacked the city ofKulob.During that timeDormon Uzbekslived in the city, but they lost the war and fled toBalkh,Afghanistan. The Kyrgyzs have expanded their territory far into the northern boundaries of Afghanistan.