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The Gharm Oblast [a] was an oblast in the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic in the Soviet Union from the 1920s to 1955. Its capital was Gharm. The population of Gharm were known as Gharmis, a term still used in Tajikistan today.
- Overview
- 'We Are Human'
- Pointing Toward China
- The Ties That Bind
A photographer explores life in remote and rugged Tajikistan, the poorest of the former Soviet bloc countries.
“That’s the ‘roof of the world'," says Didorali, my fixer, pointing vigorously toward the majestic Pamir Mountains on the opposite side of the valley.
It's 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I'm spending three weeks traveling across Tajikistan to explore the imprint left on the poorest of the former Soviet bloc countries. Here, I meet some of the hundreds of thousands of Tajiks who are believed to be Russian guest workers and who, because of sanctions in Russia and the downfall of the ruble, are returning to their native country.
On a Saturday morning in mid-May, Didorali and I drive along the Panj River, having just entered the mountainous Gorno-Badakhshon Autonomous Oblast, or GBAO. The river is the only thing dividing Tajikistan and Afghanistan—a stretch of water that we could easily swim across. Once one of the heavily guarded frontiers of the Cold War, the border is now barely defended from armed smugglers, kidnappers, and what Tajikistan’s government says is a looming threat from Islamist insurgents looking for a new front in their global holy war.
I'm visiting a former migrant worker named Falaknoz Nasillobekov and his wife, Jahongul, in the northeast part of Khorugh, the capital of the GBAO. The rural neighborhood is made up of traditional Pamir houses. Sipping tea and sitting on the patio in his modest but lovely garden overlooking the Gunt River, Falaknoz tells me that he, like many Tajik migrant workers, used to travel back and forth from Russia.
“I came back here a few months ago from Moscow, where I have been working since 1997," he says. "In the last ten years I came back home only a couple of times for a few months in the summer to spend some time with my family. This time I will not go back again.”
An ancient, mountainous region, Tajikistan has been occupied by the Russians, Mongols, Turks, Arabs, Persians, and Chinese. At the crossroads of Asian civilizations for more than a thousand years, it now finds itself at a new crossroads as Tajiks shift their focus from Russia to China.
Left:
Rukhshona and Umed Shoziegoev, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Right:
Nazira Jonbekova, Alichur, Tajikistan
Photographs by Davide Monteleone
Driving east from Khorugh to Murghob, we pass desolate villages along the dusty road. I’m speechless contemplating the beauty and magnificence of the landscape around me. Solitary groups of poplar trees appear in the middle of white, sandy islands in the fertile Panj River, and jagged, snowy peaks dominate the valley. On one side of the river, I see men working the field with rudimentary 19th-century plows and rare old Soviet tractors. On the other, I spot Afghan women in colorful clothes doing laundry along the banks.
Left:
The town of Murghob
Right:
A military parade celebrates the Great Patriotic War, a conflict fought between the Soviet Union and its allies against Nazi Germany along the eastern fronts during World War II.
Photographs by Davide Monteleone
Back in Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, I meet with Hu Fang, a Han Chinese businessman, and his Tajik wife. Hu Fang moved to Tajikistan from Urumqi, China, 18 years ago and is involved in various businesses in the country.
He admits that the complex bureaucracy, high level of corruption, and weak economic conditions make it difficult to start a significant business, but he remains optimistic.
“Most of the success will also depend on how the two societies can integrate with each other," he says. "If you would have asked around ten years ago who would have helped Tajikistan, 100 percent would have answered Russia. Now an increasing number of people, especially in the leading class, understand China may be an alternative.” We're talking in the hall of my hotel, where a big mural shows a young and strangely benevolent Emomali Rahmon, the Tajik president, surrounded by an idyllic version of the country's mountains.
Surely the ties between Tajikistan and Russia, culturally and historically, are still strong, but the Lenin statue was pulled down from the main square of the capital years ago. All of the goods available at the market, although of poor quality, come from China, and more and more young people are starting to learn Chinese at the university.
I wonder if, and how soon, the Tajik men and women who once sought their fortune in Moscow will start dreaming of Beijing—looking at their future from the roof of world— or if, maybe, this is the beginning of a new Great Game.
Davide Monteleone is a photographer and visual artist with a particular interest in post-Soviet countries. You can see more of Monteleone's work on his website and follow him on Instagram.
Kulab Region. Kulob Oblast (Tajik: вилояти Кӯлоб; also Kulyab Oblast from Russian spelling) was an administrative subdivision in Tajikistan during the Soviet period (Tajik SSR). [1] It was created in 1939 but was abolished in 1955 along with Gharm Oblast and its territory was ceded to the Districts of Republican Subordination.
Khojand. Gharm, which lies on the banks of the Surkhob river, was an artisan and handicraft oasis but nothing comparable to Khojand. In the Soviet period, many university graduates came from Gharm; Gharm became a hotbed of opposition in the post-Soviet era. Further east was the scarcely populated Pamir highlands. The capital itself had no ...
The term ‘Gharmi Tajiks’ (hereinafter ‘Gharmis’) refers to Tajiks from the now defunct Province of Gharm—a usage that began after the large-scale transfer of Tajiks from Gharm Province to the lowlands of the Vakhsh Valley; however, the term ‘Qaroteginis’ is also used, as Gharm Province included the Qarotegin Valley, as well as the ...
Gharm is a city and jamoat in the Rasht Valley area of central Tajikistan. The population of the town is 9,800. From the 1920s until 1955 there was a Gharm Oblast in Tajikistan, which included the territory of the current Gharm Valley.
Feb 25, 2023 · Gharm is a city located in the Rasht Valley of central Tajikistan. It has a population of approximately 9,800 people. The city was previously known as the Gharm Oblast, and it was a hotbed for the anti-Soviet resistance in Central Asia during the 1920s. During the Tajikistan Civil War from 1992 to 1997, Gharm was a hotbed for the ...
