Editing Dushanbe (section)

==== 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" />