Historiography and National Identity in Uzbekistan

Year 2019, Volume: 19 Issue: 2, 277 - 301, 20.12.2019

Yunus Emre Gürbüz

Abstract

This article is about the effort of Uzbekistan
in forming an understanding of history and national ideology after the
independence. The Karimov era can be categorized as the foundational period of
independent Uzbekistan, when the national ideology was shaped through
legitimization in history, and it also continues on this very foundation. In
order to comprehend Uzbekistan’s social mentality and reflexes, the national
identity established during the Karimov era with the support of history needs
to be understood. One of the most significant subjects of Uzbekistan’s approach
in history is the territorial understanding of history. Here, it is stated that
one of reasons of the continuity of this understanding from the Soviet period
is related with the problems Uzbekistan has faced in its foundation years.
Thus, in this study the problems faced by Uzbekistan in its foundation years
and solutions will be summarized, as they were represented by Islam Karimov
himself in his sort of state nationalism and with references to history. For
the purpose of illustrating the effect of the chosen territorial understanding
of history onto the historiography in Uzbekistan, it will be exemplified, how
the migration of historical Uzbeks to recent Uzbekistan, and the rule of Amir
Timur – before the migration of Uzbeks – are being retold in recent Uzbekistan.
Because the territorial historiography accepts everything from the dawn of
history to contemporary times within the boundaries of Uzbekistan as part of
its history, the main practice today is for example evaluating the culture of
Uzbekistan as an amalgamation of Persian and Turkic cultures and the era of Amir
Timur and Timurids as the golden age but not referring to the migration of
historical Uzbeks and their part within historiography. It can be expected that
this acceptance will continue in the future. 

Keywords

Amir Timur, History Education, Identity, State Nationalism, Tribalism

Özbekistan’da Tarihyazımı ve Millî Kimlik

Abstract

Bu çalışmada Özbekistan’ın bağımsızlık sonrasında kurmaya
giriştiği tarih anlayışı ve millî ideoloji üstünde durulacaktır. Bağımsız
Özbekistan’ın kuruluş dönemi olarak adlandırılabilecek Kerimov yılları
Özbekistan’ın meşruiyetini tarihten alan millî ideolojisinin şekillendiği
dönemdir ve bugün bu temel üstünden devam edilmektedir. Özbekistan’ın toplumsal
zihniyetinin ve reflekslerinin kavranması için Kerimov döneminde tarih
yardımıyla oluşan millî kimliğin anlaşılması gereklidir. Özbekistan’da
tarihçilik yaklaşımının en temel unsurlarından biri teritoryal (toprak) tarih
anlayışıdır. Burada SSCB döneminde başlayan bu yaklaşımın süreklilik
kazanmasında Özbekistan’ın kuruluş yıllarında karşılaştığı sorunların da etkisi
olduğu iddia edilmektedir. Bu nedenle çalışmada Kerimov’un kendi
değerlendirmelerine dayanarak, Özbekistan’ın bağımsızlık sonrasında karşılaştığı
sorunlar ve bunlara çözüm olarak ortaya koyduğu devlet milliyetçiliği, tarih
ile bağı çerçevesinde incelenecektir. Söz konusu teritoryal tarih anlayışının
Özbekistan’daki tarihyazımına etkisini örneklemek için tarihteki Özbeklerin
günümüz Özbekistan’ına göçlerinin ve göç öncesinde bölgede hâkimiyet kuran Emir
Timur’un günümüzde nasıl ele alındığı gösterilecektir. Teritoryal tarihyazımı,
tarihin başlangıcından günümüze Özbekistan sınırları içinde yaşanmış olanları
Özbekistan tarihinin parçası kabul ettiğinden, bugün Özbekistan kültürü Türk ve
Fars kültürünün bileşimi, Emir Timur ve Timurîler devrinin altın çağ olarak benimsendiği,
16. yüzyıl başında Özbekistan’a göç eden Özbekler ve geçmişlerinin ise önemsiz
kabul edildiği bir yaklaşıma sahiptir. Bunun önümüzdeki yıllarda da bu şekilde
devam etmesi beklenebilir.

Keywords

Emir Timur, Devlet Milliyetçiliği, Kavmiyetçilik, Kimlik, Tarih Eğitimi

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