The Rasht Valley (russian: Раштская долина; tg, Водии Рашт) is located in Tajikistan and composes a significant portion of the Region of Republican Subordination, including the six districts of

Lakhsh Lakhsh ( tg, Лахш, fa, لَخش ) is a jamoat in Tajikistan. It is located in Lakhsh District in Districts of Republican Subordination region. The jamoat has a total population of 4,938 (2015).Rasht, Roghun, Tavildara, Tajikobod and Nurabad. Historically the Rasht Valley has been called Karotegin or Karategin. During the 1992-1997

Tajikistan Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

, the region was a stronghold for forces opposed to the government of Emomalii Rahmon and became the site of numerous battles. Notably, four members of the United Nations Mission of Observers in Tajikistan were murdered in the Garm district in 1998. From the 1920s until 1955 the Rasht Valley was within the Gharm Oblast.

History

Karotegin is the historic name of the Rasht Valley and a historic political region in pre- Soviet Central Asia that is today part of Tajikistan. The Karotegin region was also named Garm, though Garm is also the name of a city and the Garmi ethnic 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 in Central Asia for many centuries. The native princes, who claimed to be descended from Alexander the Great, were independent until 1868, although their allegiance was claimed in an ineffective way by

Kokand Kokand ( uz, Qo‘qon/Қўқон/قوقان, ; russian: Кока́нд; fa, خوقند, Xuqand; Chagatai: خوقند, ''Xuqand''; ky, Кокон, Kokon; tg, Хӯқанд, Xöqand) is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the sou ...

. The

Emirate of Bukhara The Emirate of Bukhara ( fa, , Amārat-e Bokhārā, chg, , Bukhārā Amirligi) was a Muslim polity in Central Asia that existed from 1785 to 1920 in what is modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. It occupied the lan ...

took advantage of internal political feuds and conquered the region, along with Darvaz, in 1877. The Karotegin consisted of a highland district bounded on the north by

Samarkand fa, سمرقند , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...

and

, on the east by

Ferghana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

, on the south by Darvaz and on the west by Hissar and 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 the

Vakhsh River The Vakhsh (Russian and Tajik: Вахш - ''Vaxsh'', fa, وخش), also known as the Surkhob (Сурхоб, سرخاب), in north-central Tajikistan, and the Kyzyl-Suu ( ky, Кызыл-Суу), in Kyrgyzstan, is a Central Asian river, and one of ...

, was a place of some 2,000 inhabitants, . The population was about 60,000 in 1911; five-sixths were composed of Tajiks while the remainder were

Kyrgyz Kyrgyz, Kirghiz or Kyrgyzstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kyrgyzstan *Kyrgyz people *Kyrgyz national games *Kyrgyz language *Kyrgyz culture *Kyrgyz cuisine *Yenisei Kirghiz *The Fuyü Gïrgïs language in Northeastern China ...

, who reside in what is today the

Jirgatol district , nickname = , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_seal = , seal_size = , ima ...

of Tajikistan. Historically it was difficult for the people of the Karotegin to communicate with neighboring lands except between the months of May and September. The

1949 Khait earthquake The 1949 Khait (Hoit) earthquake (russian: Хаитское землетрясение 1949 года; tg, Заминларзаи Ҳоит 1949) occurred at 09:45 local time (03:53 UTC) on 10 July in the Gharm Oblast region of the Tajik SSR of t ...

resulted in the

Khait landslide The Khait or Hoit landslide occurred on July 10, 1949 in the Hoit district in the Gharm Oblast in the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, then part of the Soviet Union. 'Khait' is a transliteration from russian: Хаит; the local modern spelling is ...

, which killed over 30,000 people.

Karategin-Kyrgyz Confederation

The Karategin-Kyrgyz Confederation is a Kyrgyz-led tribal alliance established in the Karategin province of Tajikistan. Twelve thousand Kyrgyz families previously living in the Karakurum and

Kerulen Kherlen River (also known as Kern or Kerülen; ; ) is a 1,254 km river in Mongolia and China. Course The river originates in the south slopes of the Khentii mountains, near the Burkhan Khaldun mountain in the Khan Khentii Strictly Protecte ...

regions of Mongolia had come to the Karategin region in the 16th century.

Background

On January 12, 1636, a group of twelve Kyrgyz pagan members of the Karategin biy tribe tried to settle in

Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...

, in north Afghanistan. Shortly after, they attempted to return to their lands because the city was shaped deeply

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

. The

Khan Khan may refer to: *Khan (inn), from Persian, a caravanserai or resting-place for a travelling caravan *Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name *Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by ...

of the

Khanate of Bukhara The Khanate of Bukhara (or Khanate of Bukhoro) ( fa, , Khānāt-e Bokhārā; ) was an Uzbek state in Central Asia from 1500 to 1785, founded by the Abu'l-Khayrid dynasty, a branch of the Shaybanids. From 1533 to 1540, Bukhara briefly became its ...

, Nadr Muhammad Khan, sent the governor of

Fergana Fergana ( uz, Fargʻona/Фарғона, ), or Ferghana, is a district-level city and the capital of Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan. Fergana is about 420 km east of Tashkent, about 75 km west of Andijan, and less than 20 km fr ...

(

Haji Atalik Hajji ( ar, الحجّي; sometimes spelled Hadji, Haji, Alhaji, Al-Hadj, Al-Haj or El-Hajj) is an honorific title which is given to a Muslim who has successfully completed the Hajj to Mecca. It is also often used to refer to an elder, since it ...

) 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 of Kulob. During that time Dormon Uzbeks lived in the city, but they lost the war and fled to

, Afghanistan. The Kyrgyzs have expanded their territory far into the northern boundaries of Afghanistan.Кыргыздардын жана Кыргызстандын тарыхый булактары. II т. Бишкек istorical sources of the Kyrgyz and Kyrgyzstan. Vol. 2, Bishkek 2003. – 229-231-б.

References

Valleys of Tajikistan Pamir Mountains {{Tajikistan-geo-stub