Editing Dushanbe (section)

=== Market town ===
The first time Dushanbe appeared in the historical record was in 1676, in a letter sent from the [[Balkh]] khan Subhonquli Bahodur to [[Fyodor Alekseyevich|Fyodor III]], the [[Tzar of Russia|Tsar of Russia]]. However, the Balkh historian Mahmud ibn Wali mentioned the area in the 1630s in the book ''Sea of Secrets Regarding the Values of the Noble''.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-04-19|title=АҶАБ ШАҲРИ ДИЛОРОЙӢ|trans-title=The Wonderful City of Dushanbe|url=http://sadoimardum.tj/minta-a-o/dushanbe/a-ab-sha-ri-diloroj/|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Садои мардум|language=tg-cyrl}}</ref><ref name="Abdullaev-2018a">{{Cite book|last=Abdullaev, Kamoludin|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0252-7|pages=130–131|chapter=Dushanbe|oclc=1049912411}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Душанбе (столица Таджикистана)|url=https://geosfera.org/aziya/tadzhikistan/835-dushanbe-stolica-tadzhikistana.html|access-date=2020-09-18|website=Планета Земля|language=ru}}</ref> At first, the town was called "Kasabai Dushanbe" ({{langx|fa|قصبه دوشنبه}} қасабаи Душанбе), when it was under the control of [[Balkh#16th to 19th centuries|Balkh]]. This name reflected both Dushanbe's status as a town, with Kasaba meaning town, and the influence of trade, as the name Dushanbe, which means Monday in Persian, was due to the large [[bazaar]] in the village that operated on Mondays. Dushanbe's location between the [[Trade route|caravan routes]] heading east–west from the [[Gissar Valley]] through [[Karategin]] to the [[Alay Valley]], and north–south to the [[Kafirnigan River]] and then to [[Vakash Valley|Vaksh Valley]] and [[Durrani Empire|Afghanistan]] through the [[Anzob Pass]] from the [[Fergana Valley|Fergana]] and [[Zarafshan Range#Geography and Geology|Zeravshan valleys]] that ultimately led traders to [[Bukhara]], [[Samarkand]], [[Pamir Mountains|the Pamirs]], and [[Afghanistan]] incentivized the development of its market.<ref name="Dushanbe twinning" /><ref name="CICA Summit-2019" /><ref name="Rusu-2016">{{Cite book|last1=Rusu|first1=Stefan|url=https://issuu.com/suhebator/docs/spaces_on_the_run_dag_tj_2015|title=Spaces on the Run|last2=Dubovitskiy|first2=Victor|publisher=Dushanbe Art Ground|year=2016|isbn=978-99947-892-7-6|location=Turkey. Istanbul|page=31}}</ref> At the time, the town had a population of around 7,000–8,000 with around 500–600 households.<ref name="tiroz-2019" />

[[File:Alim Khan (1880–1944), Emir of Bukhara, photographed by S.M. Prokudin-Gorskiy in 1911.jpg|thumb|1911 color photograph of the last Emir of [[Emirate of Bukhara|Bukhara]], [[Mohammed Alim Khan|Alim Khan]]]]
By 1826, the town was called ''Dushanbe Qurghan'' ({{langx|tg|Душанбе Қурғон}}, ''Dushanbe Qurghon'', with the suffix ''qurƣon'' from [[Turkic languages|Turkic]] ''qurğan'', meaning "fortress"). It was first Russified as ''Dyushambe'' ({{lang|ru|Дюшамбе}}) in 1875. It had a [[caravanserai]], a stopping point for travelers to [[Samarkand]], [[Khujand]], [[Kulob]] and [[the Pamirs]]. It boasted 14 [[mosque]]s with [[Kuttab|maktabs]], 2 [[Madrasa|madrassas]], and 14 teahouses at the turn of the 19th century. At that time, the town was a citadel on a steep bank on the left bank of the [[Varzob River]] with 10,000 residents.<ref name="Ceroi-2008">{{Cite web|date=2008-12-01|title=Краткая историческая справка|url=http://www.ceroi.net/reports/dushanbe/Rus/history.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201150219/http://www.ceroi.net/reports/dushanbe/Rus/history.htm|archive-date=1 December 2008|access-date=2020-08-02|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|date=2004|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|chapter=Urban Planning and Architecture|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}</ref><ref name="tiroz-2019">{{Cite web|date=2019-07-19|title=Аҷаб шаҳри дилороӣ, Душанбе…|url=http://tiroz.org/a-ab-sha-ri-diloro-dushanbe/|access-date=2020-07-31|website=tiroz.org|language=ru}}</ref> It was a center for [[weaving]], [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]], and [[iron smelting]] production in the region. Various states, including [[Hisor]], exercised control over the city during the 18th and early 19th century despite Bukharan claims of sovereignty. In 1868, the [[Russian Empire|Tsarist government]] established suzerainty over Bukhara. In the unstable environment of Russian intervention and local revolts, Bukhara took over the Dushanbe region, control over which the Emirate was able to sustain through the gradual establishment of a Russian-influenced centralized state.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Becker|first=Seymour.|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/004408983|title=Russia's protectorates in Central Asia: Bukhara and Khiva, 1865-1924.|date=1968|publisher=Harvard University Press|series=Russian Research Center studies|location=Cambridge|pages=48–50}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Morrison|first=Alexander|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1224354503|title=The Russian conquest of Central Asia : a study in imperial expansion, 1814-1914|date=2020|isbn=978-1-139-34338-1|location=Cambridge, UK|page=255|oclc=1224354503}}</ref> The first hospital in the village was constructed in 1915 by Russian investment<ref name="Shermatov-2020">{{Cite web|title="Русский дом", "Заразка" и "Детский садик" - истории инфекционных больниц Душанбе {{!}} Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus|url=https://asiaplustj.info/ru/news/tajikistan/society/20200603/russkii-dom-zarazka-i-detskii-sadik-istorii-infektsionnih-bolnits-dushanbe|access-date=2020-08-02|website=asiaplustj.info|language=ru}}</ref> and an early railroad was proposed to connect the market town with the Russian railway system in 1909, but was abandoned after a review determined the venture would not be profitable, although the town did have a functioning railroad to [[Kogon, Uzbekistan|Kagan]].<ref name="Вечёрка-2019">{{Cite web|last=Вечёрка|date=2019-07-09|title=Душанбе - столица края|url=https://vecherka.tj/archives/39028|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Вечёрка|language=ru}}</ref>

In 1920, the [[Mohammed Alim Khan|last Emir of Bukhara]] briefly took refuge in Dushanbe after being overthrown by the [[Bolshevik Revolution|Bolshevik revolution]]. After the [[Red Army]] conquered the area the next year, he fled to Afghanistan on 4 March 1921.<ref name="Ruttig-2018">{{Cite web|date=2018-12-27|title=A Tomb in Kabul: The Fate of the Last Amir of Bukhara and his country's relations with Afghanistan|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/regional-relations/a-garden-and-a-tomb-in-kabul-2-the-fate-of-the-last-amir-of-bukhara-and-his-countrys-relations-with-afghanistan/|access-date=2020-07-31|website=Afghanistan Analysts Network - English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bleuer, Christian|title=Tajkistan: A Political and Social History.|date=2013|publisher=ANU Press|isbn=978-1-925021-15-8|page=56|oclc=1076650077}}</ref><ref name="Davidzon-1983b">{{Cite book|last=M.|first=Davidzon|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/11399951|title=Dushanbe, a guide|date=1983|publisher=Raduga|pages=13–14|oclc=11399951}}</ref> In February 1922, the town was taken by [[Basmachi]] troops led by [[Enver Pasha]] after a siege,<ref name="Ruttig-2018"/> but on 14 July 1922 again came under the power of the [[Bolsheviks]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Projorov, A. M.|title=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]|date=1973–1982|publisher=Macmillan|chapter=Dushanbe|oclc=435381348}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=History|url=http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/history.htm|access-date=2020-08-03|website=www.dushanbehotels.ru|archive-date=1 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401065609/http://www.dushanbehotels.ru/eng/dushanbe/history.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> soon before the death of Enver Pasha on 4 August 1922 outside of Dushanbe.<ref name="Ruttig-2018" /><ref name="Lonely Planet-2016" /> It was a part of the [[Bukharan People's Soviet Republic|Bukharan PSR]] until the formation of the [[Tajik ASSR]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Бухарская Народная Советская Республика - это... Что такое Бухарская Народная Советская Республика?|url=https://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/bse/72017/%D0%91%D1%83%D1%85%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F|access-date=2020-08-03|website=Словари и энциклопедии на Академике|language=ru}}</ref>

==== Capital of the Tajik ASSR ====
[[File:Map of the national state delimitation of the republics of Central Asia (1924-1925) - not so busy.svg|alt=|thumb|National delimitation of Central Asia; the [[Tajik ASSR]] is in light purple]]

Dushanbe was proclaimed the capital of the [[Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] as a part of the [[Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic]] in October 1924, and the government started to function formally on 15 March 1925.<ref name="Atkin-2020">{{Cite web|last=Atkin|first=Muriel|title=Dushanbe|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dushanbe|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica|publisher=Encyclopedia Iranica Foundation, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bleuer, Christian|title=Tajkistan: A Political and Social History|date=2013|publisher=Australian National University|page=41|oclc=940754059}}</ref><ref name="Abdullaev-2018b">{{Cite book|last=Abdullaev, Kamoludin|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|date=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-0252-7|pages=xxviii–xxxvi|chapter=Chronology|oclc=1049912411}}</ref>

Dushanbe was chosen instead of larger-populated villages in [[Tajikistan]] because of its role as a crossroads of Tajikistan for its large market served as a meeting place for much of Tajikistan's population. Along with its market, there was a lively [[livestock]] trade as well as trade in [[fabrics]], [[leather]], [[Tin|tin products]], and [[weapon]]s.<ref name="Фергана-2020" /> The mild [[Mediterranean climate]] was another reason Soviet authorities chose the city as the capital.<ref name="Вечёрка-2019" />

Before the Emir's relocation to the city, Dushanbe had the only [[History of the Jews in Tajikistan|Jewish population in Eastern Bukhara]] (of about 600) whom were involved in trade and tailoring. When the Emir moved to the city in 1920, however, the Jewish population's property was plundered and the Jews were relocated to [[Hisor]]. They were only let back into Dushanbe with its conquest by the Red Army, and in the 1920s and 1930s their population gradually increased with [[Bukharan Jews|Bukharan]] immigrants.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Редакция|title=Душанбе|url=https://eleven.co.il/diaspora/communities/11494/|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Электронная еврейская энциклопедия ОРТ|language=ru}}</ref><ref name="Вечёрка-2019" /> Dushanbe was also officially recognized as the capital of the [[Emirate of Bukhara]] during its waning days as it served as the last refuge of the last Emir of Bukhara during its conquest by the Soviet Union, possibly another motivating factor for the decision to establish the new [[Tajik ASSR|ASSR's]] capital in the village.<ref name="Фергана-2020">{{Cite web|title=Чтобы помнили. Русский Душанбе|url=http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9099|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804044937/http://www.fergananews.com//articles/9099|archive-date=2020-08-04|access-date=2020-08-01|website=Фергана.Ру|language=ru}}</ref> The population during Soviet conquest and [[Basmachi movement|Basmachi revolts]] declined from an already meager 3,140 in 1920 to only 283 in 1924 with only 40 houses still standing.<ref name="Atkin-2020" /><ref name="Вечёрка-2019" /><ref name="Hughes-2017">{{Cite journal|last=Hughes|first=Katherine|date=2017-05-22|title=From the Achaemenids to Somoni: national identity and iconicity in the landscape of Dushanbe's capitol complex|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2017.1319796|journal=Central Asian Survey|volume=36|issue=4|pages=511–533|doi=10.1080/02634937.2017.1319796|s2cid=149039948|issn=0263-4937|url-access=subscription}}</ref> To aid in the recovery, the Soviet authorities temporarily exempted much of the population from having to pay taxes. In 1923, the Soviets created Dushanbe's first telegraph link to [[Bukhara]], initiated its first railroad to [[Termez]],<ref name="Atkin-2020" /> and set up a telephone switchboard in 1924.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/65068362|title=Dushanbe : ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡|publisher=Glavnai︠a︡ nauchnai︠a︡ redakt︠s︡ii︠a︡ Tadzhikskoĭ nat︠s︡ionalʹnoĭ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii|others=Dinorshoev, Muso.|year=2004|isbn=5-89870-071-4|location=Dushanbe|language=ru|chapter=Communication|oclc=65068362|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028115236/http://dushanbe.tj/img/ENS.doc|archive-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> On 12 August 1924, the first [[newspaper]] of the town, ''Voice of the East'' (Russian: ''Овози Шарк''), was published in Arabic and soon after a [[Russian language|Russian]]-language paper, ''Red Tajikistan'' (Russian: ''Красный Таджикистан''), began publication. [[Power station|Power plants]] and [[electricity]] were introduced to Dushanbe during this time. By the end of 1924, the first regular plane routes from Dushanbe came into operation, with one connection to [[Bukhara]] and later one to [[Tashkent]]. The [[post office]] was also set up that year.<ref name="Вечёрка-2019" /> Construction on the railroad commenced on 24 June 1926, and it was completed in November 1929, connecting Dushanbe with the [[Trans-Caspian railway|Trans-Caspian railroad]] and kickstarting economic growth.<ref name="Abdullaev-2018a" /> In 1925, the first boy's boarding school was constructed in the capital.<ref name="Вечёрка-2019" /> On 1 September 1927, the first [[Pedagogy|pedagogical]] college opened in Dushanbe and in November the motor road from Dushanbe to [[Kulob]] was completed.<ref name="Abdullaev-2018b" /> Tajiks from the countryside were given assistance and free land plots in the capital to increase its population and development.<ref name="Вечёрка-2019" />