Fergana Valley 334903 221096476 2008-06-23T01:14:01Z Lightbot 7178666 Units/dates/other The '''Fergana Valley''' or ''Farghana Valley'' ({{lang-uz|Farg‘ona vodiysi}}, [[Kyrgyz language|Kyrgyz]]: Фергана өрөөнү, [[Tajik language|Tajik]]: водии Фaрғонa, {{lang-ru|Ферганская долина}}, {{lang-fa| دشت فرغانه}}) is a region in [[Central Asia]] spreading across eastern [[Uzbekistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]] and [[Tajikistan]]. [[Image:The Tomb of Ali at Shakhimardan.JPG|right|thumb|300px]]The Tomb of Ali at [[Shakhimardan]], on the edge of the valley formed the nucleus of an independent [[khanate]], while later under [[Russia]]n rule in the 19th century Ferghana was a province to itself, with large areas of the [[Pamirs]] included. It is the most fertile and most densely-populated region in the whole of [[Central Asia]]. ==Geography and geology== [[Image:Confluence of Naryn and Kara Darya NASA.jpg|thumb|250px|Confluence of Naryn and Kara Darya seen from space (false color). Many irrigated agricultural fields can be seen.]] The most important part of the province is a rich and fertile valley, in an altitude of 1200 to 1500 ft (400 to 500 m), opening towards the southwest. The valley owes its fertility to two rivers, the [[Naryn River|Naryn]] and the [[Kara Darya]], which unite in the valley, near [[Namangan]], to form the [[Syr Darya]]. The streams, and their numerous mountain effluents, not only supply water for irrigation, but also bring down vast quantities of sand, which is deposited alongside their courses, more especially alongside the Syr Darya where it cuts its way through the [[Khojent]]-[[Ajar]] ridge, forming there the [[Karakchikum]]. This expanse of [[moving sands]], covering an area of 750 m², under the influence of south-west winds, encroaches upon the agricultural districts. The central part of the [[geological depression]] that forms the valley is characterized by block [[subsidence]], originally to depths estimated at 6-7 km, largely filled with [[sediments]] that range in age as far as the [[Permian–Triassic extinction event|Permian-Triassic boundary]]. Some of the sediments are marine carbonates and [[clay]]s. The [[Fault (geology)|fault]]s are upthrusts and overthrusts. [[Anticline]]s associated with these faults form traps for [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]], which has been discovered in 52 small [[oil field|fields]] [http://www.geocities.com/internetgeology/L34.html]. ==Climate== The climate of this valley is dry and warm. In March the temperature reaches 20 °C (68 °F), and then rapidly rises to 35 °C (95 °F) in June, July and August. During the five months following April no rain falls, but it begins again in October. Snow and frost, down to -20 °C (-4 °F) occur in December and January. ==History== ===Hellenistic settlement=== [[Image:UrumqiWarrior.jpg|thumb|180px|Probable Greek soldier in the [[Sampul tapestry]], woollen wall hanging, [[3rd century BCE|3rd]]-2nd century BCE, Sampul, [[Urumqi]] [[Xinjiang]] Museum.]] In 329 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] founded a Greek settlement with the city of [[Alexandria Eschate]] "The Furthest", in the southwestern part of the Ferghana valley, on the southern bank of the river [[Syr Darya]] (ancient Jaxartes), at the location of the modern city of [[Khujand]], in the state of [[Tajikistan]]. After 250 BCE, the city probably remained in contact with the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] centered on [[Bactria]], especially when the Greco-Bactrian king [[Euthydemus]] extended his control to Sogdiana. There are indications that from [[Alexandria Eschate]] the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far as [[Kashgar]] and [[Ürümqi]] in [[Xinjiang|Chinese Turkestan]], leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BCE. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the [[Tien Shan]], on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the [[Xinjiang]] museum at [[Urumqi]] (Boardman). Of the Greco-Bactrians, the Greek historian [[Strabo]] too writes that: :''"they extended their empire even as far as the [[Seres]] (Chinese) and the [[Phryni]]"'' ([[Strabo]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1 XI.XI.I]). ===Interaction with China=== In the history of the [[Han Dynasty]], based on the travels of [[Zhang Qian]] about 126 BC, the region of Ferghana is presented as the country of the [[Dayuan]] (Ta-Yuan), possibly descendants of the Greeks colonists (Da Yuan might be a transliteration of "Great Ionians"). Dayuan was renowned for its ''Heavenly Horses'' which the Chinese tried to obtain with little success until they waged war against them in 104 BC. The Dayuan were identified by the Chinese as unusual in features, with a sophisticated urban civilization, similar to that of the [[Bactrians]] and [[Parthians]]: "The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria and Parthia are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China" (''[[Hou Han Shu]]''). Agricultural activities of the Dayuan reported by Zhang Qian included growing of grain and grapes (for wine).<ref>[http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18006 ''Silk Road, North China'', C. Michael Hogan, the Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham]</ref> The area of Ferghana was thus the theater of the first major interaction between an urbanized culture speaking [[Indo-European languages]] and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up the [[Silk Road]] from the 1st century BC. ===Islamic influence=== During the 8th century [[AD]], Ferghana was the location of fierce rivalry between the [[Tang Dynasty]] of China and the expansion of [[Muslim]] power, leading to the [[Battle of Talas]] in 751, which marked the victory of Islam and the disengagement of China from Central Asia. Two antecedent battles in 715 and 717 had seen the Chinese to prevail over Arab forces.<ref>Shouyi Bai et al. (2003). ''A History of Chinese Muslim'' (Vol.2). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 7-101-02890-X.</ref> Being on the [[Northern Silk Road]], this area has had significant trade and culture ties to the rest of the Muslim world in the [[medieval]] era. As a [[hinterland]], it also provided a lot of intellectuals in the areas of learning. Many scholars in various disciplines have [[nisba]] to cities in the Ferghana valley, such as al-Firghani الفرغاني, al-Andijani الأندجاني, al-Namangani النمنگاني, al-Khojandi الخوجندي. Islamic Fergana produced some pesuasive fighters and rulers including [[Babur]], the founder of the [[Mughal Empire]] in [[India]] ===Russian Empire=== [[Image:KokandPalace.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Khan's Palace, Kokand.]] '''Ferghana''', or '''Fergana''' was a province of [[Russian Turkestan]], formed in 1876 out of the former [[khanate of Kokand]] (see [[Kokand]]). It was bounded by the provinces of [[Syr-darya]] on the N. and N.W., [[Samarkand]] on the W., and [[Zhetysu]] on the N.E., by [[Xinjiang|Chinese Turkestan]] ([[Kashgaria]]) on the E., and by [[Bukhara]] and [[Afghanistan]] on the S. Its southern limits, on the [[Pamir Mountains|Pamirs]], were fixed by an Anglo-Russian commission in 1885, from [[Zorkul]] (Victoria Lake) to the Chinese frontier; and [[Khignan]], [[Roshan]] and [[Wakhan]] were assigned to [[Bokhara]] in exchange for part of [[Darvaz]] (on the left bank of the [[Panj]]), which was given to Afghanistan. The area amounted to some 53,000 m², of which 17,600 m² are on the Pamirs. ===The Soviet and post-Soviet periods=== In 1924 the new boundaries separating the [[Uzbek SSR]] and [[Kyrgyz SSR]] cut off the eastern end of the Ferghana Valley, as well as the slopes surrounding it. This was compounded in 1928 when the [[Tajik ASSR]] became a fully-fledged republic, and the area around [[Khujand|Khodjend]] was made a part of it. This blocked the valley's natural outlet and the routes to Samarkand and Bukhara, but none of these borders was of any great significance so long as Soviet rule lasted. The whole region was part of a single economy geared to cotton production on a massive scale and the over-arching political structures meant that crossing borders was not a problem. Since 1991 this has changed, for the worse. Uzbekistan regularly closes its borders with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, causing immense difficulties for trade and for those who live in the region. Travellers from Khodjend to [[Dushanbe]], unable to take the route through Uzbekistan, have to cross a high mountain pass between the two cities instead, along a terrible road. Similarly communications between [[Bishkek]] and [[Osh]] pass through difficult mountainous country and are endangered by the attitude of President [[Islom Karimov]] of Uzbekistan. Ethnic tensions also flared at one stage, most notably in the town of Uzgen, near Osh, where were Uzbek-Kyrgyz riots in 1990. There has been no further ethnic violence, and things appeared to have quietened down. However, the valley is a religiously conservative region which was particularly hard-hit by President Karimov's legislation fighting the taint of Islam in Uzbekistan, together with his decision to close the borders with Kyrgyzstan in 2003. This devastated the local economy by preventing the importation of cheap Chinese consumer goods. The deposition of Askar Akayev in Kyrgyzstan in April 2005, coupled with the arrest of a group of prominent local businessmen brought underlying tensions to the boil in the region around Andijan and [[Qorasuv]] during the [[May 2005 unrest in Uzbekistan]] in which hundreds of protestors were killed by troops. ==Agriculture== In [[Tsarist]] times, out of some 3,000,000 acres (12,000 km²) of cultivated land, about two thirds were under constant irrigation and the remaining third under partial irrigation. The soil was considered by the author of the 1911 ''Britannica'' article to be admirably cultivated, the principal crops having been [[wheat]], [[rice]], [[barley]], [[maize]], [[millet]], [[lucerne]], [[tobacco]], vegetables and fruit. Gardening was conducted with a high degree of skill and success. Large numbers of horses, cattle and sheep were kept, and a good many camels are bred. Over 17,000 acres (69 km²) were planted with [[vine]]s, and some 350,000 acres (1,400 km²) were under [[cotton]]. Nearly 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km²) were covered with forests. The government maintained a forestry farm at [[Marghelan]], from which 120,000 to 200,000 young trees were distributed free every year amongst the inhabitants of the province. [[Silkworm]] breeding, formerly a prosperous industry, had decayed, despite the encouragement of a state farm at New Marghelan. In the Soviet period this picture changed, as the forests were destroyed and opened to irrigation and a cotton monoculture introduced at the expense of the varied food and fodder crops described above. Central Asia's food was imported from [[Siberia]] along the new [[Turkestan-Siberia Railway]], and vast areas, including almost all of Ferghana, turned over exclusively to the production of this lucrative cash-crop. Today a balance is slowly returning to agriculture in Uzbekistan, but the soil is often exhausted by over-use and poisoned by too many chemical fertilisers. While still rich and fertile, it is still uncertain if the Ferghana Valley will ever again attain the degree of prosperity and varied cultivation described above. ==Industry== [[Coal]], [[iron]], [[sulfur]], [[gypsum]], [[rock-salt]], [[lacustrine salt]] and [[naphtha]] are all known to exist, but only the last two have ever been extracted in significant quantities. In the late 19th century there were a few small oil-wells in Ferghana, but these no longer function. In the Tsarist period the only industrial enterprises were some seventy or eighty factories engaged in cotton cleaning. Leather, saddlery, paper and cutlery were the principal products of the domestic or cottage industries. This was not greatly added to in Soviet times, when industrialisation was concentrated in the cities of [[Samarkand]] and [[Bukhara]]. Since 1991 however, the [[Korea]]n firm ''[[Daewoo]]'' has built a large factory producing cars in Andizhan, which has become a crucial component in the local economy. Its products are seen everywhere in Uzbekistan, and it represents some of the most significant foreign investment that country has yet received. ==Trade== Historically the Ferghana Valley was an important staging-post on the so-called [[Silk Road]] for goods and people travelling from China to the Middle East & Europe. After crossing the passes from [[Kashgar]] in [[East Turkestan]] traders would have found welcome relief in the fertile abundance of Ferghana, as well as the possibility of purchasing further high-quality silk manufactured in [[Margilan]]. The most famous export from the region were the 'blood-sweating' ''Heavenly Horses'' which so captured the imagination of the Chinese during the Han dynasty, but in fact these were almost certainly bred on the Steppe, either west of [[Bukhara]] or North of [[Tashkent]], and merely brought to Ferghana for sale. In the 19th century, not surprisingly, a considerable trade carried on with Russia; raw cotton, raw [[silk]], tobacco, hides, sheepskins, fruit and cotton and leather goods were exported, and manufactured wares, textiles, [[tea]] and [[sugar]] were imported and in part re-exported to Kashgaria and Bokhara. The total trade of Ferghana reached an annual value of nearly £3,500,000 in 1911. Nowadays it suffers from the same depression that affects all trade that either originates in or has to pass through Uzbekistan. The only significant international export is cotton, although the Daewoo plant in Andizhan sends cars all over Uzbekistan. ==Transport== Until the late 19th century Ferghana, like everywhere else in Central Asia, was dependent on the camel, horse and donkey for transport, while roads were few and bad. The Russians built a ''trakt'' or post-road linking Andijan, Kokand, Margilan and [[Khujand|Khodjend]] with Samarkand and Tashkent in the early 1870s. A new impulse was given to trade by the extension (1898) of the [[Transcaspian railway]] into Ferghana as far as Andijan, and by the opening of the [[Orenburg]]-[[Tashkent]] or [[Trans-Aral railway]] in (1906). Until [[Soviet]] times and the construction of the [[Pamir Highway]] from [[Osh]] to [[Khorog]] in the 1920s the routes to Kashgaria and the Pamirs were mere bridle-paths over the mountains, crossing them by lofty [[mountain pass|passes]]. For instance, the passes of [[Kara-kazyk]], 4,389 m (14,400 ft) and [[Tenghiz-bai]] 3,413 m (11,200 ft), both passable all the year round, lead from Marghelan to [[Karateghin]] and the Pamirs, while [[Kashgar]] is reached via [[Osh]] and [[Gulcha]], and then over the passes of [[Terek-davan]], 3,720 m (12,205 ft); (open all the year round), [[Taldyk]], 3,505 m (11,500 ft), [[Archat]], 3,536 m (11,600 ft), and [[Shart-davan]], 4,267 m (14,000 ft). Other passes leading out of the valley are the [[Jiptyk]], 3,798 m (12,460 ft), S. of [[Khokand]]; the [[Isfairam]], 3,657 m (12,000 ft), leading to the glen of the [[Surkhab]], and the [[Kavuk]], 3,962 m (13,000 ft), across the Alai Mts. ==Demography== The information contained in the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica is particularly interesting on this point, as it gives the full information from the 1897 census, the only one held in the [[Russian Empire]] before 1917, and helps to illuminate a situation rendered obscure by the vagaries of Soviet Nationalities policy in the 1920s and 30s. The population numbered 1,571,243 in 1897, and of that number 707,132 were women and 286,369 were urban. In 1906 it was estimated at 1,796,500. Two-thirds of the total were [[Sart]]s and [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]]. They lived mostly in the valley, while the mountain slopes above it were occupied by [[Kyrgyz]], partly [[nomad]] and pastoral, partly agricultural and settled. The other nations were [[Tajiks]], [[Kashgarians]], [[Kipchaks]], [[Bukharan Jews]] and [[Roma people|Gypsies]]. The governing classes were of course [[Russians]], who constituted also the merchants and industrial working class, such as it was. But the merchants of [[West Turkestan]] were called all over Central Asia ''Andijanis'', from the town of [[Andijan]] in Ferghana. The great mass of the population are [[Muslim]]s (1,039,115 in 1897). The divisions revealed by the [[1897 census]], between a largely Tajik-speaking area around Khodjend, hill-regions populated by [[Kyrgyz]] and a settled, population in the main body of the valley, roughly reflect the borders as drawn after 1924. One exception is the town of Osh, which has a majority Uzbek population but ended up in [[Kyrgyzstan]]. The one significant element that is missing when looking at modern accounts of the region are the [[Sarts]]. This term was abolished by the Soviets as 'derogatory' after 1920, but in fact there was a clear distinction between long-settled, [[Persianisation|Persianised]] Turkic peoples, speaking a form of [[Qarluq]] Turkic that is very close to [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], and those who called themselves [[Uzbeks]], who were a [[Kipchak]] tribe speaking a Turkic dialect much closer to [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], who arrived in the region with [[Shaibani Khan]] in the mid-sixteenth century. That this difference existed and was felt in Ferghana is attested to in Timur Beisembiev's recent translation of the ''Life of Alimqul'' (London, 2003). There were very few Kipchak-Uzbeks in Ferghana, although they had at various times held political power in the region. In 1924 however, Soviet policy decreed that all settled Turks in Central Asia would henceforth be known as "Uzbeks", (although the language chosen for the new Republic was not Kipchak but Qarluq) and the Ferghana Valley is now seen as an Uzbek 'heartland'. Provinces of Uzbekistan in Ferghana Valley: {| || ||area||pop. |- ||Province of Andijan||4200 km²||1.9 million |- ||Province of Fergana||6800 km²||2.6 million |- ||Province of Namangan||7900 km²||1.86 million |- ||Total in Uzbekistan||18,900 km²||6.36 million |} ==Administrative divisions== In 1911 the province was divided into five districts, the chief towns of which were [[Fergana|New Marghelan]], capital of the province (8,977 inhabitants in 1897), [[Andijan]] (49,682 in 1900), [[Khokand]] (86,704 in 1900), [[Namangan]] (61,906 in 1897), and [[Osh]] (37,397 in 1900); but Old Marghelan (42,855 in 1900) and [[Chust]] (13,686 in 1897) were also towns of importance. The Valley is now divided between [[Uzbekistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]] and [[Tajikistan]]. In Tajikistan it is part of Soghd Province or [[vilayat]], with the capital at [[Khodjend]]. In Uzbekistan it is divided between the Namangan, Andijan and Fergana [[viloyati]], while in Kyrgyzstan it contains parts of [[Batken]], [[Jalalabad]] and [[Osh]] oblasts, with Osh being the main town for the southern part of the country. Cities in the Fergana Valley include: In Uzbekistan: * [[Andijan]] * [[Fergana]] * [[Kokand]] * [[Namangan]] In Kyrgyzstan: * [[Batken]] * [[Osh]] * [[Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan|Jalalabad]] In Tajikistan: * [[Khujand|Khodjend]] ==See also== * [[Meskhetian Turks]] * [[Mount Imeon]] * [[Silk Road]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.ferghana.ru Ferghana.Ru Information Agency] *[http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.687866,71.614380&spn=2.656219,3.746887&t=k&hl=en Satellite picture by Google Maps] *[http://fergart.com Fine arts of Fergana Valley and Uzbekistan] *[http://www.vasa.abo.fi/users/rpalmber/enclaves.htm Enclaves of the World] ==Sources & Further Reading== By Russian [[Turcology|turcologist]] [[Vasily Bartold]]: *"Sart" ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' Vol. IV S-Z (Leiden & London) 1934 *"Фергана" ''Работы по Исторической Географии'' (Moscow) 2002 pp527-539 (Also available in English in Vol. II of the original edition of the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') Other authors: *[[Rahmon Nabiyev]], ''Из История Кокандского Ханства (Феодальное Хозяйство Худояр-Хана)'', [[Tashkent]], 1973 *S. Soodanbekov, ''Общественный и Государственный Строй Кокандского Ханства'', [[Bishkek]], 2000 *Timur Beisembiev, ''The Life of Alimqul'', [[London]], 2003 {{1911}} [[Category:Valleys]] [[Category:Central Asia]] [[Category:Landforms of Kyrgyzstan]] [[Category:Valleys of Tajikistan]] [[Category:Landforms of Uzbekistan]] [[bg:Ферганска долина]] [[ca:Vall de Ferganà]] [[de:Ferghanatal]] [[et:Fergana org]] [[es:Valle de Fergana]] [[fr:Vallée de Ferghana]] [[id:Lembah Fergana]] [[it:Valle di Fergana]] [[lt:Ferganos slėnis]] [[nl:Vallei van Fergana]] [[no:Ferganadalen]] [[pl:Kotlina Fergańska]] [[ru:Ферганская долина]] [[sk:Ferganská kotlina]] [[sv:Ferganadalen]] [[tr:Fergana Vadisi]] [[uk:Ферганська долина]] [[ur:وادئ فرغانہ]] [[zh:费尔干纳盆地]]