Culture of Tajikistan Malika Sobirova won a gold medal in an international ballet competition. Since independence, there has been a pre-Soviet cultural revival in an attempt to foster a sense of national identity. Novelist Taimur Zulfikarov, and professors Rahim Masov and Bozor Sobir being prominent. Culture of Tajikistan The culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Tajik culture can be divided into two areas, Metropolitan and "Kuhiston" (Highland). Modern city centres include Dushanbe (the capital), Khudjand, Kulob, and Panjikent. Zoroastrianism had been adopted by Persian emperors as a state religion, and was practiced in Central Asia as well. It eventually declined
Politics of Tajikistan turmoil Tajikistan declared its independence from Soviet Union, on September 9, 1991 and promptly fell into a civil war from 1992–1997 between old-guard regits, and Islamists loosely organized as the United Tajik Opposition (UTO). Other combatants and armed bands that flourished in this civil chaos simply reflected the breakdown of central authority rather than loyalty to a political faction. The height of hostilities occurred between 1992-93. By 1997, the predominantly Kulyabi-led Tajik government and the UTO successfully negotiated a power-sharing peace accord and implemented it by 2000. Tajikistan is slowly rebuilding itself with an integrated government and continues to permit