Yaghnobi People - 20th Century

20th Century

Until the 20th century Yagnobians lived through their natural economy and some still do, as the area they originally inhabited is still remote from roads and electrical lines. The first contact with Soviet Union in the 1930s during the Great Purge, led to many Yagnobians being exiled, but perhaps the most traumatic events were the forced resettlement in 1957 and 1970, from the Yagnob mountains to the semi-desert lowlands of Tajikistan.

Red Army Helicopters were sent to valleys, ostensibly as there was an avalanche threat, to evacuate the population. Some Yagnobians died of shock in helicopters as they were moved to the plains. They were then forced into hard-labor by Communist officials to work on the cotton plantations on the plains. Some Yagnobians rebelled, with a few groups escaping back to the mountains, but Communists destroyed all kishlaks (villages) in the valleys to prevent any attempts to return. As a means to finally genocide the group, Communists tried to annihilate the ancient Yagnobian culture, by destroying Yagnob religious books, the oldest of which was 600 years old. Pskon, the biggest village on the Yaghnob River, was erased from the maps, and Yagnobian ethnicity was officially abolished by the Soviet State. Through the change in climate and back-breaking work, several hundred Yagnobians died.

Since 1983, families have begun to return to the Yagnob Valley. The majority of those that remain on the plains tend to be assimilated with the Tajiks, as their children study in school in the Tajik language. The returnees keep the Yagnobi culture and language alive, as their children do not speak either Tajik or Russian. The returnees live through the natural economy, and the majority remain without roads and electricity.