Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25062
icon reason peop e to ere. I cannot i passes are snowed in. Thirdly, I cannot even travel to the south of the cou and take the train because foreigners are not allowed in Termez. Frustrated, I look at a map of Uzbekistan. It would seem that samarkand is the closest city, d behold, there is even a road leading into Tajikistan. So I head to samarkand. samarkand used to be the cultural capital of Tajikistan but Stalin ht it would be better if he chainsawed off the ancient capital of Timur Lame and dumped it in the middle of a Turkic farming nation. This way the Id be guaranteed to hate the Uzbeks and vice versa. So if you wonder Pearl of Islam, the Jewel of the East, the Mirror of the World and the Ce the Universe is in Uzbekistan, welcome to Russian politics. The Uzbeks are cient northern enemies of the Tajiks. They combine Turkic and Mongol I d comprise 25% of Tajikistan's population. Uzbeks are strong, feisty oe'oo>le lllII o were the third most powerful ethnic minority in Russia. If you don't hpllp'"p llill it, pick an argument with an Uzbek. Just be glad they don't play hockey. Even the last leader of Uzbekistan under the Soviets is a monument Uzbek love of corruption, power and medals. He screwed mother Moscow US$2 billion a year in cotton payments until the Russkies looked a little close those new-fangled satell ite photos and found out that he was getting paid fo nothing but lies. He is dead now, but is sti ll a national hero to the Uzbeks because he screwed the Russians so well. Their other great hero is Timerlane. Timur (Iron) the Lame was the son Genghis Khan. Genghis, whose name is supposed to mean "the leader of all men of felt tents," fits right in here. But it is his son whose brutal Hol" f\M,v"i_c·t"l,o lll It�,p"tri,-c have endeared him to Uzbeks. Timur managed to kill 17 million oeoolel. l, by the time he dropped dead and his exploits probably made Hitler and Stalin misty eyed when they read about his heroic passion for ethnic cleansing and great museum built to honor him. He has been magically transformed into an Uzbek hero even though he is really a Mongol famous for kidnapping architects and artisans from Persia build his great buildings in samarkand and Bukhara in what should ajikistan. I know this is complicated but stick with me. nor remote these days. It has replaced iland and Costa Rica as the new, adventurous, hip place for affluent backpackers and upscale bus tourists. In the bad old days nobody came here because it was just too much of a hassle. Even the old hippie trail went through Afghanistan and Iran because no self-respecting traveler ose days would subject themselves to an Intourist trip. Today you still find most tourists on packages and God is it dreary. Bad greasy peoples with round Turkish-like features and Mongol eyes. The Tajiks are Persian-speaking, long-nosed Muslims who earned their name from e sogdians word tazik, or Arab invader. There are a million Tajiks in Uzbekistan, four million in Afghanistan and they make up about 60 percent of Tajikistan's population. In Central Asia people rarely identify themselves with their country of residence. Tajiks in Uzbekistan do not call themselves Uzbeks, and Uzbeks in Tajikistan do not call themselves Taji ks. People will call emselves "a Tajik from Dushanbe" or "an Uzbek from Afghanistan." For example Rashid Dostum is a Uzbek warlord from Afghanistan. This minor point is important because if you have too much to drink and call ajiks and Uzbeks brothers they might look at you funny. I once asked if Bukhara and samarkand were Tajik cities and my Uzbek host looked at me as if to say watch your mouth. Yet a Tajik will tell you that they are ajik cities stolen by Uzbeks. It is important to understand this basic political and ethnic int between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan likes to think at, along with big brother Russia, it helps to keep Tajikistan in detention for being a bad boy. Unfortunately Tajikistan has a bigger Muslim brother to the south that may one day come up and discuss this ewpoint with Moscow, only 1,000 miles away. If you want the short and sweet version, Uzbeks are farmers the flatland and Tajiks are wild, untamed, mountain peoples. Neither simpl ification is true, but that's what each side would like you believe. I won't even bother to tell you about the sogdians, yet.