Asia: All about Tajikistan Trivia Quiz

Answer: Stalinabad

What is now Dushanbe was known as "Dyushambe" in Russian until 1929, when the city was renamed "Stalinabad" after Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin. The name "Dushanbe" means "Monday" in the Tajik language and was named so because of a popular market that was held every Monday when Dushanbe was a small village, expanding the industry, commerce and population of the area.

Answer: Afghanistan

Tajikistan does border Kyrgyzstan, but Kyrgyzstan lies north. Tajikistan also borders Uzbekistan and China, but Uzbekistan lies north and west and China lies north and east.

The border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan is around 610 miles (985 km) and stretches from the tripoint border around Uzbekistan, to the one with China. The border has been a state of contention between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and clashes along the border (including disputes about water supplies) occurred throughout 2021-2022. The border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan is just over 840 miles in length, (around 1,360 km) and has also been subject to border clashes and international disputes throughout history.

Answer: Ismoil Somoni

Located in the Pamir Mountains which stretch across Central Asia and Pakistan, the Ismoil Somoni Peak (once known as "Stalin Peak" in 1933, and "Communism Peak" by 1962) is around 11,160 feet (3,400 m) and was once the highest point in Russia when Russia was in control of Tajikistan's territory, before Tajikistan gained independence. The peak is notorious for its difficult rock and risk of avalanches.

The first recorded ascent to the summit was Yevgeniy Abalakov and Nikolay Gorbunov, Russian mountaineers, in 1933. It was renamed "Ismoil Somoni Peak" in 1998 after Ismoil Somoni of the Samanid dynasty, and founder of the original Tajik state. Tajikistan is the third-most mountainous country in the world, caused by its location where the Indian tectonic plate clashes against the Eurasian tectonic plate.

Answer: Nurek

Situated in the west of Tajikistan near the country's border with Afghanistan, in a gorge on the Vakhsh River, the Nurek Dam's construction began in 1961 and was completed by 1980. It is around 985 feet (300 m) tall, and about 2,300 feet (700 m) long. The dam has been a key element in the industrialization of Tajikistan, irrigating around 1,600,000 acres (650,000 hectares) of farmland throughout the country. The town of Nurek (or "Norak") was established at the same time of the dam's construction to house the workers building it. Just over ten miles (20 km) south of the dam is the Okno (Window), which is a space surveillance station owned by Russia. Tajikistan has clear skies at night and the station takes advantage of this. It is capable of tracking space objects from around 25,000 miles (40,000 km) away.

The Nurek Dam was surpassed in height in 2013, when China constructed the Jinping-I Dam, which is just over 1,000 feet (305 m) tall.

Answer: Danghara

Emomali Rahmon was born in 1952 in Danghara, Kulob Oblast (a subdivision of Tajikistan during its Soviet period) which is now the Khatlon Region of Tajikistan, to a poor family. He worked in a cheese factory, then became an electrician. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, by 1990 he was elected as a people's deputy of the Tajik parliament. By 1992 he was leader of the Kulob province. He became President of Tajikistan in 1994, and his rule was vehemently opposed by the the United Tajik Opposition, a group of Islamist, democratic nationalists. The civil war was already happening two years before his presidency and worsened when he assumed office. He survived an assassination attempt in 1997, a coup of the same year and another coup the following year. In 2020 he was re-elected again with just over 90% of the vote, leading some to speculate election fraud was at play.

Emomali Rahmon has evoked the ire of Tajikistan's predominantly Muslim population. He purports to be a Sunni Muslim himself, however in 2017 passed a law that Tajiks must wear and adhere to "traditional national clothes and culture." This was seen by many as an effort to cease Tajik women from wearing Islamic items of clothing, with the Tajik headscarf being worn differently to that of an Islamic woman's veil. He also designated the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan a terrorist organisation in 2015. Until then, it had been the only legal Islamist party operating in Central Asia. He also established a law for men to have to cut their beards off. Mosques are heavily regulated.

Rahmon has also been accused of nepotism, with his then 32 year old son, Rustam Emomali, being made head of parliament in 2020. His oldest daughter, Ozoda, oversees the country's presidential administration, and she is also married to the deputy head of the National Bank of Tajikistan. Many people in high positions in Tajikistan are from Rahmon's hometown of Danghara, meaning that tribalism and clan organisation still likely play an important role in the country's politics.

Danghara is the capital of the Danghara District.

Answer: Fedchenko

Located in east-central Tajikistan in the west of the Pamir Mountains, the Fedchenko Glacier is just under 50 miles (or just under 80 km) long and covers about 350 square miles (900 square km). The water that melts from this glacier feeds the rivers of Muksu, Vakhsh, and Amu Darya before flowing into the Aral Sea around 1,200 miles (2,000 km) away.

The long and narrow glacier has shrunk 4,600 feet (1,400 m) since 1933. However, the Global Precipitation Climatology Project asserts that since 1979 there has been an increase in rainfall in the Pamir region, which could help stabilise the glacier.

Answer: Rudaki

Rudaki was an 8th century poet and is often described as "Adam of the poets." Unfortunately, only a small fragment of his work has survived history, but he is still considered the father of classical Persian literature. Other renowned authors on the wall include the poet Mirzo Tursunzoda (1911-1977), the Russian author, Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), the Iranian astronomer and mathematician, Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), Iranian writer Abolqasem Lahouti (1887-1957), Uzbeki author and intellectual Sadriddin Ayni (1878-1954) and the Afghani poet, Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī (1414-1492), as well as others.

The Writers Union Building was constructed in the 1980s by architect E. Salikhov. Although it is purported to be a Tajik writers monument, only two of the writers featured on the wall were Tajik born, including Mirzo Tursunzoda and Rudaki, the latter of whom has a nearby park named after him. However, Sadriddin Ayni was born in the area of what is now Uzbekistan, but was the first to write a complete novel in the Tajik language.

The tomb of Rudaki is located in the Fan mountains, in the north-west of Tajikistan. After Rudaki's grave was found and confirmed to be authentic, the area was turned into a mausoleum in 1958.

Answer: Penjikent

The Penjikent murals are one of the most famous and well-preserved examples of pre-Islamic society in Sogdiana. Sogdiana (also called "Sogdia") was an ancient Iranian society spanning an area of what is now modern-day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The Sogdians were successful traders along the Silk Road between the 5th and 8th centuries.

The murals show Sogdian society was heavily influenced by Indian culture, with depictions of Weshparkar, the Sogdian equivalent of the Hindu god, Shiva. There are also depictions from the Panchatantra, a series of fables from India. There are also depictions of Rostam, a hero in Persian mythology. Many of these murals are displayed in Dushanbe's National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan, and the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Penjikent is located on the river Zeravshan, a river known for its gold deposits (with "Zeravshan" meaning "spreader of gold" in Persian), in Tajikistan's Sughd province.

Answer: Hulbuk

The Hulbuk Fortress was once an important feature on the Silk Road, and Hulbuk was once one of the largest cities in Asia between the 9th and 12th centuries; however when the kingdom collapsed it was taken over by the Mongols and the Turks over time. In the following centuries the nearby market town of Kulob was established.

The city of Hulbuk is the capital of the Vose' District of the Khatlon Region, and the fortress was also used to guard large salt mines, and a large salt mountain, the Khoja Mumin. The area was prosperous also because of the gold and copper in the area. The fortress is located in the south-western portion of Hulbuk, and was once the seat of the Shah of Khatlon. The Hulbuk Museum is situated directly in front of the fortress, and displays some historical relics taken from the site.

Soviet archaeologists excavated Hulbuk Fortress in the 1950s. Depictions of animal gods and dancers showed the part of Tajikistan that was Zoroastrian rather than Islamic, with almost 100% of Tajikistan now following Islam. Some of the relics from the excavations are now displayed in Dushanbe's National Museum of Antiquities. The fortress was refurbished and Islamic inscriptions were included on the walls. It is uncertain as to how accurate to the history of the building that the refurbishments are.

Answer: Ismoil Somoni

The statue of Ismoil Somoni had stood in the middle of Dushanbe since 1999, and honors the 10th century founder of the Samanid dynasty, Ismoil Somoni. Somoni is revered as a national hero by most of Tajikistan, and the statue of the ancient king is adorned with gold against the rest of its darker contours. The arch surrounding the statue is just over 140 feel (43 m) tall. The statue itself is around 42 feet (13 m) tall. The statue holds a sceptre displaying seven stars in its right hand, which also features on the national flag of Tajikistan.

The statue was established on the 1,000th anniversary of the Samanid State, which was in existence between 819 - 999. Somoni used his power as leader of this dynasty to spread Islam throughout the country.

Answer: Haji Yaqub Mosque

Featuring a light blue decor outside, and intricate designs and Islamic inscriptions inside, the Haji Yaqub Mosque is one of the most used mosques of Tajikistan, capable of holding up to 3,000 people. As the Tajiks originated in Persia, the mosque is of Persian design, colourful with a large arch. Underneath the dome in the prayer hall is a large chandelier adorned with intricate patterns.

Haji Yaqub was a Tajik general and religious man who fought a battle against General Zuo Zongtang of China's Qing Dynasty.

Answer: Bokhtar

Bokhtar is located in the southwest of Tajikistan, around 60 miles (100 km) south of the capital, Dushanbe. The city of Kunduz, Afghanistan, is around 90 miles (150 km) south of Bokhtar. Bokhtar is the largest city in the south of Tajikistan and faced Bolshevik invasion and occupation in 1922. The area then became industrialized, with what is now Bokhtar becoming the centre for cotton production in the country. Irrigation canals were established, and the swampy marshes converted into cotton fields. As a result, there was an increase in the area's population. Bokhtar was also once called Kurganteppa (Russian), and Bokhtar International Airport is still often referred to by its Russian name.

After Tajikistan gained independence, a civil war broke out in the country with Bokhtar taking the brunt of the fighting, beginning in 1992. The casualties are estimated between 20,000-150,000.

Answer: Istaravshan

Located atop a staircase of around 300 steps, the bust of Lenin is located just south of the town of Istaravshan, on the edge of a reservoir. Standing since the Soviet era of Tajikistan, the bust is not the tallest statue of Lenin in Tajikstan, with the standing statue of Lenin in Khujand, Tajikistan, being the tallest at 78 feet (12 m) high.

However, the statue of Lenin around Istaravshan is the largest statue of him in the country in the style of a bust. The fingers of the statue measure over 3 feet (1m) in length, and the bust is around 65 feet (20 m) tall.

Answer: Khoja Mashad

The Khoja Mashad Mausoleum is the only carved wooden mausoleum to have survived history in Central Asia. It is a very rare extant example of a pre-Mongolian madrasa. The complex is actually two mausoleums which are joined by a passageway. It consists of baked brick and wood designed in a fir tree pattern. It is located around 130 miles (210 km) southwest of Dushanbe.

Khoja Mashad arrived what is now Tajikistan in the late 9th century, or the early 10th century. He was a wealthy man and used his means to preach Islam in the area. The mausoleum is believed to have been built by him, and the locals decided to bury him there after how much he had put in to it.

Answer: Tursunzoda

Construction began on the Tajik Aluminium Company (TALCO) in 1972, and was fully in use by 1975. The true ownership of the plant has been subject to speculation for many years, with management changes happening frequently and unclear offshore finances. Tajikistan does not mine aluminium of its own, but imports materials via tolling arrangements. In 2008, TALCO provided a third of the country's GDP. The plant was in the papers during the four year case, TALCO v. Abdukadir Ganievich Ermatov, as one of the most expensive court proceeding to ever take place in London High Court. The Tajik government was criticiseds for spending so much money on court proceedings during a cold winter, as thousands of Tajik families were suffering electricity shortages alongside bitter temperatures. The case centred on accusations of corruption and bribery.

Tursunzoda is located in the west of Tajikistan, near the country's border with Uzbekistan, just under 40 miles (60 km) west of Dushanbe.