¹ See Bosworth, C. E. and Asimov, M. S., History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol. 4, Part 2 (Delhi, 2003), 28–30, 61–90.Google Scholar Also see James Thrower, The Religious History of Central Asia from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (Lewiston, Queenstown and Lampeter, 2004).

² See Lapidus, Ira M., A History of Islamic Societies (Cambridge, 1989), 414–37.Google Scholar

³ On Bolshovization of culture see Clark, Katerina, Dobrenko, Evgenii Aleksandrovich, Artizov, Andrei and Nuamov, Oleg V., Soviet Culture and Power: a History in Documents, 1917–1953 (New Haven, CT, 2007), 3–7.Google Scholar On organization of proletarian art see ibid., 50–76.

⁴ While the Uzbek government claims the size of the Tajik population to be around 5 percent of the total population of Uzbekistan, the real figure is closer to 25–30 percent. A study in 1996 at Samarkand State University placed the figure at 6–7 million. That is double the Tajik population in Tajikistan. See Everett-Heath, Tom, “Instability and Identity in A Post-Soviet World,” Central Asia; Aspects of Transition, ed. Everett-Heath, Tom (London, 2003), 191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Today, of the 27.7 million population of Uzbekistan, around 7.5 million are believed to be Tajik.

⁵ A. K. Mirbabaev, “The Islamic Lands and their Culture,” in Bosworth and Asimov (eds), History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 31–43.

⁶ See Frye, Richard N., The Heritage of Central Asia from Antiquity to the Turkish Expansion (Princeton, NJ, 2001).Google Scholar

⁷ Dani, Ahmad Hasan, Adle, Chahryar, Habib, Irfan and Baipakov, Karl M., History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in Contrast: From the Sixteenth to the Mid-nineteenth Century (Turin, 2003), 33–71.Google Scholar

⁸ Dani et al., History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 33–53.

⁹ Dani et al., History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 71–82.

¹⁰ For more on the development of socialist norms during this period see Hoffmann, David Lloyd, Stalinist Values; Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity 1917–1941 (New York, 2003), 15–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹¹ Mohammad Jon Shakouri, member of Soviet/Tajikistan Academy, personal interview, Dushanbe, 4 November 1993.

¹² Hoffmann, Stalinist Values, 3–15.

¹³ Askar Hakim, head of the Writers Union of Tajikistan, personal interview, Dushanbe, 8 November 1993.

¹⁴ M. Alpiev, Deputy Minister of Culture of Kazakhstan, personal interview, Almaty, 8 June 1994; Osman Aqan Ibrahimov, Deputy Minister of Culture of Kyrghyzstan, personal interview, Bishkek, 12 June 1994.

¹⁵ Leyla Beketova, Head of the State Radio and Television in the Republic of Kazakhstan, personal interview, Almaty, 8 June 1994.

¹⁶ M. Zalleqbek, director of the House of Culture in Tukmuk, Kyrghyzstan, personal interview, Bishkek, 11 June 1994.

¹⁷ Sadriddin Ayni (1878–1954) is regarded as Tajikistan's national poet and one of the most important writers of the country's history.

¹⁸ Abul Qasem Lahuti (1887–1957) was an Iranian poet and writer who fled to Tajikistan in the 1920s and became a close associate of Stalin.

¹⁹ Rawshan Rahman, member of Folklore department at the University of Tajikistan and editor of Mardom Giyah, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 November 1993.

²⁰ A. Toleb, deputy minister of culture of Tajikistan, personal interview, Dushanbe, 8 November 1993.

²¹ Azizmorad Rajabov, head of the center for peoples' productions, personal interview, Dushanbe, 3 November 1993.

²² Ebrohim Osmanov, first deputy director of state radio and television of Tajikistan, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 November 1993.

²³ Osmanov, interview.

²⁴ Shirinmah Naholova, artistic director of Ziba dance group, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 November 1993.

²⁵ Sherofat Rashid, artistic director of Jahanara dance group, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 November 1993.

²⁶ Askar Ali Rajabzodeh, member of Tajikistan State Filarmoni, personal interview, Dushanbe, 4 November 1993; Zafar Nozem, director of Ganjina Folk Group, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 November 1993.

²⁹ He was an accomplished opera singer, and played the leading role in the first Tajik opera Kava-i Ahangar.

³⁰ They were Uzbek.

²⁷ Based on the life story of the Persian mythical hero Kava-i Ahangar.

²⁸ Rajabzodeh, interview.

³¹ Rajabzodeh, interview.

³² A. Hamzeh, director of Cultural Foundation of Tajikistan, personal interview, Dushanbe, 8 June 1994.

³³ Farrokh Qosem, founder and director of Aharoun Theater Group, personal interview, Dushanbe, 5 and 10 November 1993, and Tehran 12 November 1996.

³⁴ Abu Abdullah Jafar ibn Mohammad Rudaki of Samarkand (858–ca. 941), is regarded as the first great literary genius of Persian language.

³⁵ Ardeshir Karimov and Rouzi Amidov, professors of Pahlavi languages and folklore studies at the University of Tajikistan, personal interview, Dushanbe, 10 November 1993.