Andijan

The origin of the name of the city is uncertain. Arab geographers of the 10th century referred to Andijan as "Andukan," "Andugan," or "Andigan."[6] The traditional explanation links the name of the city to the Turkic tribal names Andi and Adoq/Azoq.[7]

Andijan is one of the oldest cities in the Fergana Valley. Marhamat city of Andijan The ruins of Ershi, the capital of the Davan (Parkana) state, with more than 70 cities with a rich and dense population of the V - IV and IV centuries BC. In some parts of the city, archeologists have found items dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries.[7] Historically, Andijan was an important city on the Silk Road.[8]

The city is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Babur who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor.[9]

After the formation of the Khanate of Kokand in the 18th century, the capital was moved from Andijan to Kokand. In the mid-19th century, the Russian Empire began occupying the area of present-day Central Asia. In 1876, the Russians conquered the Khanate of Kokand and the city of Andijan along with it.

Andijan was the center and flashpoint of the Andijan Uprising of 1898 in which the followers of Sufi leader Madali Ishan attacked the Russian barracks in the city, killing 22 and injuring 16-20 more. In retaliation, 18 of the participants were hanged and 360 exiled.[10]

On 16 December 1902, much of the city was leveled by a severe earthquake which destroyed up to 30,000 homes in the region and killed as many as 4,500 residents.[8][11] After Soviet rule was established in Andijan in 1917, the city quickly became an important industrial city in the Uzbek SSR.

Muslim commoners from Andijan (安集延). Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769

During the Soviet demarcation of Central Asia, Andijan was separated from its historical hinterland as the Ferghana Valley was divided among three separate Soviet republics. Andijan itself became part of the Uzbek SSR.

During World War II, many Soviet citizens were evacuated to Andijan and the surrounding towns. Of the Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Poland and banished by the Soviets to Siberia and Central Asia, some relocated to Andijan starting in 1941.

In the 1990s, Andijan and the surrounding region became politically unstable. Poverty and an upsurge in Islamic fundamentalism produced tensions in the region. The town, and the region as a whole, suffered a severe economic decline following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Repeated border closures badly damaged the local economy, worsening the already widespread poverty of Andijan's inhabitants.

On 13 May 2005, Uzbekistan's military opened fire on a mass of people who were protesting against poor living conditions and corrupt government.[12][13][14] The estimates of those killed on 13 May range from 187, the official count of the government, to several hundred.[12][15] A defector from the SNB alleged that 1,500 were killed.[16] The bodies of many of those who died were allegedly hidden in mass graves following the massacre.[17]

The Uzbek government at first stated that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan organized the unrest and that the protesters were members of Hizb ut-Tahrir.[18] Critics have argued that the radical Islamist label has been just a pretext for maintaining a repressive regime in the country.

Whether troops fired indiscriminately to prevent a colour revolution or acted legitimately to quell a prison break is also disputed.[19][20][21][22] Another theory is that the dispute was really an inter-clan struggle for state power.[14] The Uzbek government eventually acknowledged that poor economic conditions in the region and popular resentment played a role in the uprising.[23]

Panorama of Navoi Square where the 2005 massacre took place