«It is Our Duty to Preserve and Multiply Our National Values…»

(Review: Emonali Rahmon. (2024). Tajiks in the Mirror of History: From Aryans to Samanids. Kharkiv: Publisher Andriy Paramonov, 688 p.)

Abstract

The review analyzes the originality of the historiographical work of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon “Tajiks in the Mirror of History”, in which he presents the history of the Tajik nation from the time of the first mentions of their ancestors to the establishment of the Samanid dynasty through the lens of their understanding in terms of modern statehood of Tajikistan. The author of the work emphasizes the Tajik roots of ancient states in the territory of historical Khorasan and Transoxiana (Bactria, Sogdiana, the Parthian Kingdom, the Sasanian state, etc.), Zoroastrian religion, and their significance in the formation of modern Tajik culture, state worldview, social legal and customary structure. Emomali Rahmon relies on a thorough analysis of a considerable array of authoritative scientific works by Tajik and foreign scholars, and based on them, he formulates his own reflections on the past, present, and future of the Tajik state, nation, and culture.