The Journal of Central Asian Studies

Central of Central Asian Studies

University of Kashmir

ISSN: 0975-086X

The study of socio-cultural reform movement in the form of Jadid movement in Central Asia throws light upon the history of the national progressive socio-cultural movement in the region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This cultural movement is known as Jadid movement. The word Jadid has been taken from the Arabic language, which means progressive/modern or new method. The history of Jadid movement and its evolution from socio-cultural enlightenment to a powerful political movement would also be highlighted in this study.

This study represents the hydropolitics between Kazakhstan and China over the Lake Balkhash basin. Transboundary watercourses present a challenge in terms of water management as they pass through different territories with different interests as per their national needs and different groups of people in the different states with different needs, which ultimately give way to water conflict among the riparian countries. During the last decade, socioeconomic activities and climate change have severely affected Balkhash hydrological regime. As industry expands to feed China’s booming economy and as China pursues its “Go West Policy” to encourage immigration the Xinjiang area bordering Kazakhstan, demand of water is rising constantly. This paper gives an overview of changes that have been occurred in the Lake Balkhash basin so far, alongwith the focus on geopolitical changes took place in the area. This paper also highlights problems regarding management of water resources in the Lake Balkhash drainage basin with special reference to role of Kazakhstan and China. Both, a conflictive and cooperative behaviour of these two countries have been discussed in terms of their geo-climatic situations, geo-hydrological characteristics of the basin and level of politico-economic development regarding the planned use of available water resources. A critical review of river basin management has been added to the end of the study and recommendations have been given for a better future.

Soviet regime is attributed with a well developed and comprehensive educational system in the entire erstwhile USSR. The mission of literacy was deemed an essential imperative for the socio-economic and cultural transformation. Therefore, for the establishment of socialist state, based on Marxist-Lenin principles, the term “likbez” was developed and a crusade against illiteracy was launched which culminated into the so-called “infallible and invincible” model of Soviet education. Though Soviet model is believed to be a monolithic model, yet coherent educational system was not followed so far as soviet Central Asian Republics were concerned. Moreover, during perestroika and subsequent disintegration, the utter failure of Soviet educational system in former Central Asian Republics exposed the myth of invincibility. The present paper intends to re-analyse and re-approach the Soviet educational policy in the former Central Asian Republics.

Afghanistan has not been a success story for the United States till now; nor has it been an unmitigated disaster. Some national interests have been achieved with hard struggle, but the cost in doing so has been high, and it has taken a very long time. Withdrawal of International Security Assistance Forces from Afghanistan in 2014 does not proclaim the stability in Afghanistan. After the withdrawal of International Security Assistance Forces, Afghanistan again emerged as an arena of instability and chaos. Though United States and other members of Resolute Support Mission are active in Afghanistan but the burden of security finally relies upon Afghan government. In this backdrop, the present paper aims to highlight major achievements in Afghanistan since 2001 and the emerging problems in Afghanistan after 2014.

Modern education for women in Persia would have been nothing more than wishful thinking, had it not been brought, both in terms of thought as well as practice, by some outstanding Qajar women of the 19th century like Bibi Khanom Astarabadi and Tuba Azmoudeh, and eminent Persian thinkers like Mirza Agha and Ruhi . Historically education for women in Persia had been limited to madrassah characterizing a parochial system of education and private tuitions at home until the beginning of the Qajar period. The Qajar era witnessed a path-breaking transformation in terms of a progressive approach that women should be educated on the modern lines because they are the educators of the young generation and that their social standing determines the fate of humanity. This approach initiated a complete break with the traditional past which gradually transformed the standing of Persian women from an insignificant status – za’ifeh (the weak sex); manzel (the home) and moti’eh (those obedient to men’s will), to the status of murabiyyan (educators). It has been only about a century since girls were for the first time formally admitted to schools in 1835 and only about some 75 years since they experienced higher education for the first time. Towards the end of 19th century education for women expanded slowly with female enrollment of over 7200. In this paper at attempt has been made to sequentially highlight the status, work culture, literacy and the role of Qajar women in formal-cum-modern education of women in Persia.

In Central Asia, the Silk Road discourse has increasingly replaced the traditional geopolitical competition between great powers, dubbed as the Great Game. The resurgence of Silk Road as the new trope for defining space relations in Greater Central Asia is attributed to the economic globalization of the Post Cold War era and the consequent shift from geopolitics to geoeconomics, in both discourse and practice. The Silk Road discourse suggests that geopolitics is subsumed under geoeconomic thinking since various visions of Silk Road seek to fuse economic interests with political and security imperatives. The Silk Road states are betting on regional connectivity and economic linkages as new pathways to security. The paper explores three visions of Silk Road coming forth from Washington, Beijing and New Delhi from a geoeconomic perspective.

Neo-liberalism as an international perspective has focused on the concept of complex interdependence among the nation-states to enhance cooperation and ensure peace. Accepting the nation-state centrality, the neo-liberals have concentrated on the international regimes, agreements and norms to enhance cooperation among the actors of international system. With liberalization and privatization as the basic trends of globalization, foreign investments are dominating the global discourse. Thus, investments in foreign nations for building network and communication infrastructure have been accepted as a shifting trend from the tradition of power politics. Thus, any bilateral relation in contemporary world is mainly influenced by the neo-liberal doctrine that has build complex structures to exaggerate interdependence among the nation-state actors. The focus of this paper, thus, is to examine the Indo-Iran relations in different eras and to indentify the possibilities for further strengthening ties and scope for improved regional cooperation.

The sudden demise of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1991 has resulted in the destruction of communist political system that subsequently led to the introduction of liberal democracy in Tajikistan as in any other newly independent countries that sprang out from the ashes of the Soviet Union. Despite the abolition of the communist political system, however, the Soviet legacy of authoritarian rule continues to be very strong while the newly installed democratic values remain largely weak. As such, Tajikistan has neither been able to break with the past practices nor bridge with the newly adopted liberal political system. Thus, its transition process from communism to democracy has proven unsuccessful. This article looks into factors hindering Tajikistan’s transition to democracy which are divided broadly into three major categories. First, the democratic institutions which include the separation of state power among the executive, legislative and judicial branches; the multiparty system; the civil society and the independent media. Secondly, the civil war of 1992-97 that has a far reaching impact on the Tajik society in the aftermath of the civil war period. Thirdly, the role of external actors, particularly,

The most important feature of the history of Central Asia has been the movement of the nomadic races which not only affected the sedentary population of the region but brought about far-reaching changes in the history and cultures of the Persian, Chinese and the Indian empires. Kashmir somewhat secluded in nature and having tough topographical position still fell prey to these nomadic tribes. Kushans (Yu-Chi’s in Chinese literature) were one among these tribes, who’s invasion of Ki-Pin (Kashmir) has been rendered one of the greatest landmarks in the history of the region. Besides Rajatarangini of Kalhana, Kushan conquest of Kashmir has been mentioned by the Chinese historical as well as religious texts. Kalhana has mentioned that three Kushan Kings Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka have founded four towns in Kashmir valley. This literary evidence has been attested by the archaeological and numismatic evidence, which confirms the Kushan presence in Kashmir valley. There are more than sixty Kushan sites in Kashmir but very few sites have been excavated till now. Besides throwing light on the architecture of the Kushan period, these sites have yielded terracotta tiles and sculptures in large number. The hundreds of coins of Kushan Kings were also found from different corners of the Kashmir valley. With this background, this paper makes an attempt to highlight the importance of Kashmir valley during the Kushan period through the archaeological data retrieved from excavations and explorations. Also, an attempt has been made to understand the possible routes of Kushan migration into Kashmir valley.

Uzbekistan is a landlocked country located in the heart of Central Asia. It is bordered to the north and north-east by Kazakhstan, to the west and south-west by Turkmenistan, to the south by Afghanistan and to the east by Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan has an area of 447,400 square kilometers. It has a diverse terrain comprising sandy deserts, intensively irrigated river valleys and high mountain ranges. The climate of Uzbekistan is of continental type, with long hot summers and short mild winters. The Syr Darya is the main source of water for Uzbekistan. Being a multi-ethnic country, it has been estimated that in the year 1996, Uzbek constituted 80 percent population of the country. The other important ethnic groups of the country include Russians (5.5%), Tajiks (5%) Kazakhs (3%), Karakalpaks (2.5%), Tatars 1.5%) and others 2.5%). After the disintegration of former Soviet Union there has been a very significant change in the ethnic composition of Uzbekistan. The Slavic groups of population such as Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians have registered a declining trend in the country. The country has undergone numerous demographic changes since its independence in which the geographical setting and ethnicity has contributed directly / indirectly. An attempt has been made in this paper to highlight these changes which will have long bearings on future developmental planning of this country.

Jammu & Kashmir state, in the context of development, has some inherent economic disadvantages and from past few decades, simultaneously, has been suffering badly due to extremely adverse situations which has not only hampered the size and nature of its developmental scenario, but gave rise to the critical problems like unemployment. Notwithstanding the state is unique tourist destination in the sense as it offers attractions for varied type of tourists, as Jammu being known for pilgrim tourism, Kashmir for scenic and Ladakh for adventurous tourism. This kind of distinctiveness is seen only in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The state has a huge tourist potential while the growth and development of other sectors was restricted due to certain natural limitations. Being a hilly region, the state’s peculiar features did not allow its industrial sector to gain momentum. Agriculture, being the mainstay of the state economy, has its own limitations, like single crop season and small size of holdings. With the growth of population, there has been increase in the work force that needs to be engaged. Given the capacity of other sectors in the state, tourism has been the main sector which offers great scope to the growing able body work force. However, the on-going situation in the state has not only squeezed the space for adjustment but also left already absorbed large chunk jobless and adversely affected macroeconomic variables of the state economy. In this backdrop, the present study tries to evaluate the impact of conflict on the macroeconomic variables and explores that how it affected the physical, social, human and institutional capital of the state. However, the inferences have been drawn on the basis of time series data for 26 years (1990-2016) with the help of Multi Regression Model and Johnsen’s Co-integration Test.

India and Central Asia have maintained a historical relationship through the millennia. It is of significance to note that the Great Silk Road connected our peoples in the days of yore. The interconnectedness was prominent in the Pre-Islamic years, when Buddhism travelled from India to Central Asia and beyond and made its impact widely felt. The caravans carried goods and tradable items from India to Central Asia, brought back with them goods from China via the Taklamakan and Central Asia to India. And this exchange was going on a regular basis for centuries before Islam entered Central Asia and India. There was rapprochement and camaraderie in these interactions and relations flourished on the basis of mutual reciprocity. However, what made an indelible imprint in the minds of the people as sterling contribution of bilateral importance was the exchange of ideas, language, literature, religious sermons, methods of medical treatment, exchange of musical instruments and so on. Middle Ages hastened this cooperation between the two regions and took India’s ties along the Silk Road to new heights when Islam came to India and Islamic culture began rapidly spreading. India was the mother of an ancient civilization, the fountainhead of Hinduism and Buddhism – two of the world religions. It was also a storehouse of knowledge and famous for mathematics, science and medicine. Indian scholarship was held in high esteem and Kautilya’s Arthashastra was already making as much ripples the world over as the medical anthologies of Charaka and Susruta. The world required this knowledge and India was ready to disseminate them. The ancient universities in Nalanda and Taxila were famous in those times where scholars from China, Central Asia and other places came and interned in various disciplines and returned back to their countries armed with knowledge to disseminate it among knowledge seekers. India was alluring one and all from ancient times to the middle ages. With this background, this paper seeks to focus on some important hallmarks of knowledge spread in Middle Ages with specific reference to the Central Asian space and India’s interaction with that area.

Climate determines, to a larger extent, the growth, production and yield level of any crop. Turkmenistan which lies in warm-arid continental climatic zone, extends from north-west to south-east, having some distinguished climatic types. Being a downstream state dependent mainly upon Amu Darya for irrigation, the steps towards neutralizing the impact of climate, especially temperature and rainfall, did not yield too much, so for cereal crop production in the study region is concerned. In this paper an attempt has been made to see how and to what extent the weather variables, particularly, rainfall and temperature, have influenced the production and yield level of cereal crops in Turkmenistan.

In this paper an attempt has been made to make use of a relevant methodology for growth accounting exercise in natural resource abundant economy, Kazakhstan, from 1991-2014. Growth accounting involves breaking down GDP growth into the contribution of labor inputs, capital inputs and multi-factor productivity (MFP) growth. This time period is divided into three phases 1991-1999, 2000-2007 and 2008-2014, in order to understand the progress of transition policies. Kazakhstan’s economy has gone through stages of negative, high economic growth and declining growth after independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. The period from 1990 to 1997 was the period of negative economic growth. It was only from 2000 that Kazakhstan entered the phase of strong and sustained growth. During second phase 2000-2007, the Kazakhstan economy experienced an average growth rate of about 10 per cent. However, from 2008 the growth rate of Kazakhstan is showing declining trend. The paper highlights the fact that it is the technological progress (TFP) which has been the main source of economic growth in either dampening the severity of contraction during the 1990s or fueling the growth thereafter.

There is an intriguing material culture in stoneware i.e. stone bowls and saddle querns that were reported by the author from the early historic sites in a systematic transect survey of north-west Kashmir. This stoneware has previously been reported from only three places in Kashmir and roughly bracketed within a chronological date range of c. 1000 BCE to c. 3rd Century ACE. This stoneware was first reported from Megalithic phase at Gufkral. Till date there is very little work carried on this stoneware, however, similar material culture has been reported from few south Asian sites as well. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyse this intriguing material culture and put this in context with similar material from South Asia to understand its chronological significance.

Within the frontiers of Political Geography, the Locational Benefit Concept (LBC) which is emerging as a cause of disputes, can be converted into a conflict resolution measure as well. Due to the growing awareness of this concept, particularly, after the disintegration of erstwhile Soviet Union, which changed the nature of regional problems from domestic to international issues within Central Asian Republics (C.A.R.s), the Mountainous and Non-mountainous sub-regions have repulsed some ugly developments over resource-sharing, especially, in case of hydrocarbon and water resources. The Mountainous sub-region comprising Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, are water-rich states accounting almost 80 percent of the regional water resources, originating from glaciers mostly located in Tienshan and Pamir mountains as compared to three lower riparian states including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan which are water-deficit but energy-rich states abounding in Hydrocarbons i.e. oil and gas. Although the spatial variation in resources is a natural phenomena, but the nature of resource distribution in the study region is so unequal that the two sub-regions cannot sustain, not to talk of their balanced and sustainable development without regional cooperation for developing a proper resource-sharing mechanism. This strong argument has led to some arbitrations, agreements etc. whereby, the lower riparians receive required water flow at the required times from upper riparians in exchange of Hydrocarbon supply on subsidized rates. But some of the agreements have failed, some are in pipeline and there always remains a threat of such agreements failing any time. So there is an urgent need of developing a proper resource-sharing mechanism between the two sub-regions in order to avoid the potential conflicts on resource-sharing as well as, simultaneously, to have a sustained development for both the sub-regions. The main aim of this paper, therefore, is to analyse the regional resource inequalities leading to high order interdependence in the study region, particularly, between the two sub-physical regions, which has led to almost a water war in the region and to explore the possibilities for converting this potential conflict into regional cooperation by way of devising a viable resource-sharing mechanism.