Editing Tashkent (section)

==History==
{{For timeline}}

===Etymology===
During its long history, Tashkent has undergone various changes in names and political and religious affiliations. [[Al-Biruni|Abu Rayhan Biruni]] wrote that the city's name Tashkent comes from the turkic ''tash'' and persian ''kent'', literally translated as "Stone City" or "City of Stones".<ref>Sachau, Edward C. Alberuni's India: an Account of the Religion. Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about AD 1030, vol. 1 London: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRtJBNBR & CO. 1910. p.298.</ref>

[[Ilya Gershevitch]] (1974:55, 72) (apud Livshits, 2007:179) traces the city's old name Chach back to [[Iranian languages#Old Iranian|Old Iranian]] *''čāiča-'' "area of water, lake" (cf. ''Čaēčista'', the [[Aral Sea]]'s name in the [[Avesta]]) (whence [[Middle Chinese]] transcription *''źiäk'' > [[standard Chinese]] ''Shí'' with [[Chinese character]] 石 for "stone"<ref>{{iranica|Čāč|Čāč}}</ref><ref>{{iranica|personal-names-sogdian-1-in-chinese-sources|Personal Names, Sogdian i. in Chinese sources}}</ref>), and *''Čačkand'' ~ ''Čačkanθ'' was the basis for [[Turkic language|Turkic]] adaptation Tashkent, popularly etymologized as "stone city".<ref name = "livshits2007">Livshits, Vladimir (2007). "The Leader of the People of Chach in Sogdian Inscriptions" in Macuch, Maggi, & Sundermann (eds.) ''Iranian Languages and Texts from Iran and Turan. Ronald E. Emmerick Memorial Volume''. p. 179</ref> Livshits proposes that ''Čač'' originally designated only the [[Aral Sea]] before being used for the Tashkent oasis.<ref name = "livshits2007"/>

Ünal (2022) critiques Gershevitch's and Livshits's etymology as being "based on too many assumptions". He instead derives the name ''Čač'' from Late [[Proto-Turkic]] *''t<sub>1</sub>iāt<sub>2</sub>(ă)'' "stone", which he proposes to be seemingly another translation, besides the apparent Chinese translation 石 ''shí'' "stone", of *''kaŋk-'' (whence Chinese transcription 康居 [[Eastern Han Chinese|EHC]] *''kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ'' > [[standard Chinese]] ''[[Kangju|Kāngjū]]''), which possibly meant "stone". Against [[Harold Walter Bailey]]'s and [[Edwin G. Pulleyblank]]'s suggested [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]] origin for *''kaŋk-'', Ünal proposes that it was instead an [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] word and compares it to [[Pashto]] ''kā́ṇay'' "stone".<ref>Ünal, Orçun (2022). [https://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp325_proto_Turkic_consonants.pdf "On *p- and Other Proto-Turkic Consonants"] ''[[Sino-Platonic Papers]]'', '''325''', pp. 45-46</ref>

===Early history===
Tashkent was first settled between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC as an [[oasis]] on the [[Chirchik River]], near the foothills of the West [[Tian Shan]] Mountains. In ancient times, this area contained Beitian, probably the summer "capital" of the [[Kangju]] confederacy.<ref>Pulleyblank, Edwin G. "The Consonantal System of Old Chinese," ''Asia Major 9'' (1963), p. 94.</ref> Some scholars believe that a "[[Stone Tower (Ptolemy)|Stone Tower]]" mentioned by [[Ptolemy]] in his famous treatise [[Geography (Ptolemy)|''Geography'']], and by other early accounts of travel on the old [[Silk Road]], referred to this settlement (due to its etymology). This tower is said to have marked the midway point between [[Europe]] and [[China]]. Other scholars, however, disagree with this identification, though it remains one of four most probable sites for the Stone Tower.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dean |first=Riaz |title=The Stone Tower: Ptolemy, the Silk Road, and a 2,000-Year-Old Riddle |publisher=Penguin Viking |year=2022 |isbn=978-0670093625 |location=Delhi |pages=134 (Map 4), 170 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dean |first=Riaz |date=2015 |title=The Location of Ptolemy's Stone Tower: the Case for Sulaiman-Too in Osh |journal=The Silk Road |volume=13 |pages=76}}</ref>

===History as Chach===
[[File:Chach. Uncertain ruler. Circa AD 625-725.jpg|thumb|left|Coinage of Chach circa 625-725 CE]]
In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, the town and the province were known as ''Chach''.  The [[Shahnameh]] of [[Ferdowsi]] also refers to the city as Chach.

[[File:Ambassadors from Chaganian (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern Tashkent) to king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab, Samarkand.jpg|thumb|Ambassadors from [[Chaganian]] (central figure, inscription of the neck), and Chach (modern Tashkent) to king [[Varkhuman]] of [[Samarkand]]. 648-651 CE, [[Afrasiyab (Samarkand)|Afrasiyab murals]], Samarkand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baumer |first1=Christoph |title=History of Central Asia, The: 4-volume set |date=18 April 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-83860-868-2 |page=243 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhiWDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA243 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="SW">{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Susan |author-link=Susan Whitfield |title=The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith |year=2004 |publisher=British Library. Serindia Publications, Inc. |isbn=978-1-932476-13-2 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ArWLD4Qop38C&pg=PA110 |language=en}}</ref>]]
The principality of Chach had a [[Square (geometry)|square]] citadel built around the 5th to 3rd centuries BC, some {{cvt|8|km}} south of the [[Syr Darya]] River. By the 7th century AD, Chach had more than 30 towns and a network of over 50 canals, forming a trade center between the [[Sogdiana|Sogdians]] and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] nomads. The [[Buddhist]] monk [[Xuanzang]] (602/603? – 664 AD), who travelled from China to India through Central Asia, mentioned the name of the city as {{transliteration|zh|Zhěshí}} ({{lang|zh|赭時}}). The Chinese chronicles ''[[History of Northern Dynasties]]'', ''[[Book of Sui]]'', and ''[[Old Book of Tang]]'' mention a possession called {{transliteration|zh|Shí}} {{lang|zh|石}} ("stone") or {{transliteration|zh|Zhěshí}} {{lang|zh|赭時}} with a capital of the same name since the fifth century AD.<ref>Bichurin, 1950. v. II</ref>

In 558–603, Chach was part of the [[First Turkic Khaganate|Turkic Khaganate]]. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Turkic Khaganate, as a result of internecine wars and wars with its neighbors, disintegrated into the [[Western Turkic Khaganate|Western]] and [[Eastern Turkic Khaganate|Eastern Khaganate]]s. The Western Turkic ruler [[Tong Yabghu Qaghan]] (618-630) set up his headquarters in the Ming-bulak area to the north of Chach. Here he received embassies from the emperors of the [[Tang dynasty|Tang Empire]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]].<ref>Golden, P.B. ''An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples''. Series: Turcologica. Wiesbaden: Otto-Harrassowitz. 1992</ref> In 626, the Indian Buddhist preacher [[Prabhakāramitra]] arrived with ten companions to the Khagan. In 628, Xuanzang arrived in Ming-bulak.

The Turkic rulers of Chach minted their coins with the inscription on the obverse side of the "lord of the Khakan money" (mid-8th century); with an inscription in the ruler Turk (7th century), in Nudjket in the middle of the 8th century, coins were issued with the obverse inscription “Nanchu (Banchu) Ertegin sovereign".<ref>Baratova L. S. Drevnetyurkskiye monety Sredney Azii VI—IKH vv. (tipologiya, ikonografiya, istoricheskaya interpretatsiya). Avtoreferat diss. kand. ist. nauk. — T., 1995, s.12</ref>

===Islamic Caliphate===
{{Further|Umayyad Caliphate|Abbasid Caliphate}}
Chach (Arabic: Shash) was [[Muslim conquest of Transoxiana|conquered]] by the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] at the beginning of the 8th century.<ref>O. G. Bol'shakov. Istoriya Khalifata, t. 4: apogey i padeniye. — Moskva: «Vostochnaya literatura» RAN, 2010</ref>

According to the descriptions of the authors of the 10th century, Shash was structurally divided into a [[citadel]], an inner city (madina) and two suburbs - an inner (rabad-dahil) and an outer (rabad-harij). The citadel, surrounded by a special wall with two gates, contained the ruler's palace and the prison.<ref>[[Margarita Ivanovna Filanovich|Filanovich, M.I.]] Tashkent (zarozhdeniye i razvitiye goroda i gorodskoy kul'tury). Tashkent, 1983, p.188</ref>
[[File:M10 Abassides AH190 (8011579793).jpg|thumb|200px|Silver [[Dirham]] of [[Abbasid]] caliph [[Harun al-Rashid]] minted in Tashkent (Mad'an al-Shash) in 190 [[Islamic calendar|AH]] (805/806 [[Common Era|CE]])]]

===Post Caliphate rule===
{{Further|Anarchy at Samarra|Samanid Empire}}
Under the [[Samanid Empire]], whose founder [[Ismail Samani]] was a descendant of [[Persian people|Persian]] [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] convert to [[Islam]], the city came to be known as ''Binkath''. However, the Arabs retained the old name of ''Chach'' for the surrounding region, pronouncing it ''ash-Shāsh'' ({{lang|ar|الشاش}}) instead. 
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ash-Shashi, known as al-Kaffal ash-Shashi (904-975), was born in Tashkent. He was an Islamic theologian, scholar, jurist of the [[Shafi'i]] ''madhhab'', hadith scholar and linguist.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

After the 11th century, the name evolved from Chachkand/Chashkand to Tashkand. The modern spelling of "Tashkent" reflects [[Russian language|Russian]] orthography and 20th-century Soviet influence.

At the end of the 10th century, Tashkent became part of the possessions of the Turkic state of the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate|Karakhanids]]. In 998/99 the Tashkent oasis went to the Karakhanid Ahmad ibn Ali, who ruled the north-eastern regions of [[Transoxiana|Mavarannahr]]. In 1177/78, a separate khanate was formed in the Tashkent oasis. Its center was Banakat, where dirhams of Mu'izz ad-dunya wa-d-din Qilich-khan were minted, in 1195–1197; and of Jalal ad-dunya wa-d-din Tafgach-khakan, in 1197–1206.<ref>Kochnev B. D., Numizmaticheskaya istoriya Karakhanidskogo kaganata (991—1209 gg.). Moskva «Sofiya», 2006, p.157,234</ref>

===Mongol conquest===
{{main|Mongol Empire|Chagatai Khanate}}
The city was destroyed by [[Genghis Khan]] in 1219 and lost much of its population as a result of the [[Mongols]]' destruction of the [[Khwarazmian dynasty|Khwarezmid Empire]] in 1220.

===Timurid period===
{{Further|Timurid Empire}}
Under the [[Timurid dynasty|Timurid]] and subsequent [[Shaybanid]] dynasties, the city's population and culture gradually revived as a prominent strategic center of scholarship, commerce and trade along the [[Silk Road]].
During the reign of [[Timur|Amir Timur]] (1336-1405), Tashkent was restored and in the 14th-15th centuries Tashkent was part of Timur's empire. For Timur, Tashkent was considered a strategic city. In 1391 Timur set out in the spring from Tashkent to Desht-i-Kipchak to fight the Khan of the [[Golden Horde]] [[Tokhtamysh|Tokhtamysh Khan]]. Timur returned from this victorious campaign through Tashkent.<ref>Fasikh Akhmad ibn Dzhalal ad-Din Mukhammad al-Khavafi. Fasikhov svod. Tashkent: Fan. 1980, p.114</ref>
[[File:Mausoleum Zangiata 15-12.JPG|thumb|left|Zangi ata shrine]]
The most famous saint Sufi of Tashkent was Sheikh Khovendi at-Takhur (13th to the first half of the 14th century). According to legend, Amir Timur, who was treating his wounded leg in Tashkent with the healing water of the Zem-Zem spring, ordered to build a mausoleum for the saint. By order of Timur, the Zangiata mausoleum was built.

===Uzbek Shaybanid's dynasty period===
In the 16th century, Tashkent was ruled by the [[Shaybanids|Shaybanid dynasty]].<ref>Dobromyslov A. I., Tashkent v proshlom i nastoyashchem. Tashkent, 1912, p.9</ref><ref>Istoriya Tashkenta. Tashkent: Fan, 1988, p.70</ref>
[[File:Barakhan Madrasah Tashkent.jpg|thumb|Barak khan madrasa, Shaybanids, 16th century]]
Shaybanid Suyunchkhoja Khan was an enlightened Uzbek ruler; following the traditions of his ancestors Mirzo [[Ulugbek]] and [[Abul Khair Khan]], he gathered famous scientists, writers and poets at his court, among them: Vasifi, Abdullah Nasrullahi, Masud bin Osmani Kuhistani. Since 1518 Vasifi was the educator of the son of Suyunchhoja Khan Keldi Muhammad, with whom, after the death of his father in 1525, he moved to Tashkent. After the death of his former pupil, he became the educator of his son, Abu-l-Muzaffar Hasan-Sultan.<ref>Yudin V. P. Materialy po istorii kazakhskikh khanstv XV-XVIII vekov. (Izvlecheniya iz persidskikh i tyurkskikh sochineniy). — Alma-Ata : Nauka, 1969, p.174.</ref>

Later the city was subordinated to Shaybanid [[Abdullah Khan II]] (the ruler actually from 1557, officially in 1583–1598), who issued his coins here.<ref>Ye. A. Davidovich, Korpus zolotykh i serebryanykh monet Sheybanidov. XVI vek. M., 1992</ref> From 1598 to 1604 Tashkent was ruled by the Shaybanid Keldi Muhammad, who issued silver and copper coins on his behalf.<ref>Burnasheva R. Z., Nekotoryye svedeniya o chekanke mednykh monet v Tashkente v XVI—XIX vv. Izvestiya Natsional'noy akademii nauk Kazakhstana, № 1, 2007, p.153</ref>

===Kazakh ruled period===
In 1598, Kazakh Tauekel Khan was at war with the [[Khanate of Bukhara]]. The Bukhara troops sent against him were defeated by Kazakhs in the battle between Tashkent and Samarkand. During the reign of Yesim-Khan,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331682741 |title=Yesim-Khan |website=www.researchgate.net}}</ref> a peace treaty was concluded between Bukhara and Kazakhs, according to which Kazakhs abandoned Samarkand, but left behind Tashkent, Turkestan and a number of Syr Darya cities.

Yesim-Khan ruled the [[Kazakh Khanate]] from 1598 to 1628, his main merit was that he managed to unite the Kazakh khanate. The city was part of Kazakh Khanate between 1598 and 1723.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia,Volume V, UNESCO Publishing, page 97 |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000130205/PDF/130205eng.pdf.multi |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=unesdoc.unesco.org}}</ref>

===Tashkent state===
In 1784, [[Yunus Khoja]], the ruler of the dakha (district) Shayhantahur, united the entire city under his rule and created an independent [[Tashkent (state)|Tashkent state]] (1784-1807), which by the beginning of the 19th century seized vast lands.<ref>Istoriya Tashkenta (s drevneyshikh vremon do pobedy Fevral'skoy burzhuazno-demokraticheskoy revolyutsii) / Ziyayev KH. Z., Buryakov YU. V.  Tashkent: «Fan», 1988</ref>

===Kokand Khanate===
In 1809, Tashkent was annexed to the [[Khanate of Kokand]]. At the time, Tashkent had a population of around 100,000 and was considered the richest city in [[Central Asia]].

Under the Kokand domination, Tashkent was surrounded by a moat and an adobe battlement (about 20 kilometers long) with 12 gates.<ref>Istoriya Tashkenta (s drevneyshikh vremyon do pobedy Fevralskoy burzhuazno-demokraticheskoy revolyutsii) / Ziyayev Kh. Z., Buryakov Y.F. Tashkent: «Fan», 1988</ref> It prospered greatly through trade with Russia but chafed under Kokand's high taxes. The Tashkent clergy also favored the clergy of [[Bukhara]] over that of Kokand. However, before the [[Emir]] of Bukhara could capitalize on this discontent, the Russian army arrived.

===Colonial period===
{{more citations needed|section|date=June 2019}}
[[File:Храм Александра Невского (Ташкент).png|thumb|Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built by the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] in Tashkent.]] 
In May 1865, [[Mikhail Grigorevich Chernyayev]] (Cherniaev), acting against the direct orders of the [[Tsar]] and outnumbered at least 15–1, staged a daring night attack against a city with a wall {{cvt|25|km|mi}} long with 11 gates and 30,000 defenders. While a small contingent staged a diversionary attack, the main force penetrated the walls, led by a [[Russian Orthodox]] priest. Although the defense was stiff, the Russians captured the city after two days of heavy fighting and the loss of only 25 dead as opposed to several thousand of the defenders (including [[Alimqul]], the ruler of the Kokand Khanate). Chernyayev, dubbed the "Lion of Tashkent" by city elders, staged a hearts-and-minds campaign to win the population over. He abolished taxes for a year, rode unarmed through the streets and bazaars meeting common people, and appointed himself "Military Governor of Tashkent", recommending to [[Tsar Alexander II]] that the city become an independent [[khanate]] under Russian protection.
[[File:Taskent city coat 1909.gif|thumb|left|upright|Coats of arms of Tashkent, 1909]]
The Tsar liberally rewarded Chernyayev and his men with medals and bonuses, but regarded the impulsive general as a loose cannon, and soon replaced him with General [[Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman]]. Far from being granted independence, Tashkent became the capital of the new territory of [[Russian Turkistan]], with Kaufman as first Governor-General. A [[cantonment]] and Russian settlement were built across the Ankhor Canal from the old city, and Russian settlers and merchants poured in. Tashkent was a center of espionage in the [[Great Game]] rivalry between Russia and the United Kingdom over Central Asia. The [[Turkestan Military District]] was established as part of the military reforms of 1874. The [[Trans-Caspian Railway]] arrived in 1889, and the railway workers who built it settled in Tashkent as well, bringing with them the seeds of [[Bolshevik Revolution]].

===Effect of the Russian Revolution===
[[File:Ташкент пассаж Ариф-Ходжи.jpg|thumb|Tashkent c. 1910]]
With the fall of the [[Russian Empire]], the [[Russian Provisional Government]] removed all civil restrictions based on religion and nationality, contributing to local enthusiasm for the [[February Revolution]]. The [[Tashkent Soviet]] of Soldiers' and Workers' Deputies was soon set up, but primarily represented Russian residents, who made up about a fifth of the Tashkent population. Muslim leaders quickly set up the Tashkent Muslim Council (''Tashkand Shura-yi-Islamiya'') based in the old city. On 10 March 1917, there was a parade with Russian workers marching with red flags, Russian soldiers singing ''[[La Marseillaise]]'' and thousands of local Central Asians. Following various speeches, Governor-General [[Aleksey Kuropatkin]] closed the events with words "Long Live a great free Russia".<ref>Jeff Sahadeo, ''Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent,'' Indiana University Press, 2007, p188</ref>

The First Turkestan Muslim Conference was held in Tashkent 16–20 April 1917. Like the Muslim Council, it was dominated by the [[Jadid]], Muslim reformers. A more conservative faction emerged in Tashkent centered around the [[Ulema]]. This faction proved more successful during the local elections of July 1917. They formed an alliance with Russian conservatives, while the Soviet became more radical. The Soviet attempt to seize power in September 1917 proved unsuccessful.<ref>Rex A. Wade, ''The Russian Revolution, 1917,'' Cambridge University Press, 2005</ref>

In April 1918, Tashkent became the capital of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ([[Turkestan ASSR]]). The new regime was threatened by White forces, ''[[basmachi]];'' revolts from within, and purges ordered from Moscow.

===Soviet period===
[[File:Tashkent the building of town council 02.jpg|thumb|Tashkent, 1917]]
[[File:Tashkent. Courage monument. USSR stamp. 1979.jpg|thumb|The Courage Monument (Jasorat) in Tashkent on a 1979 Soviet stamp. In the background: the Friendship of the Peoples Museum building (since 1996—[[Museum of Olympic Glory]])]]
The city began to industrialize in the 1920s and 1930s.

Violating the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]], Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. The government worked to relocate factories from western Russia and Ukraine to Tashkent to preserve the Soviet industrial capacity. This led to great increase in industry during World War II.

It also evacuated most of the German communist emigres to Tashkent.<ref name="shirer">{{Cite journal |last=Shirer |first=Robert |date=2000-09-07 |title=Johannes R. Becher 1891–1958 |url=https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/modlanggerman/3/ |journal=German Language and Literature Papers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907164118/http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/modlanggerman/3/ |archive-date=7 September 2016}}</ref> The Russian population increased dramatically; evacuees from the war zones increased the total population of Tashkent to well over a million. Russians and [[Ukrainians]] eventually comprised more than half of the total residents of Tashkent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allworth |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X2XpddVB0l0C&pg=PA102 |title=Central Asia, 130 Years of Russian Dominance: A Historical Overview |date=1994 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-1521-6 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130081451/https://books.google.com/books?id=X2XpddVB0l0C&pg=PA102&dq&hl=en |archive-date=30 November 2022}}</ref> Many of the former refugees stayed in Tashkent to live after the war, rather than return to former homes.

During the postwar period, the [[Soviet Union]] established numerous scientific and engineering facilities in Tashkent.

On 10 January 1966, then [[Prime Minister of India|Indian Prime Minister]] [[Lal Bahadur Shastri]] and [[President of Pakistan|Pakistan President]] [[Ayub Khan (general)|Ayub Khan]] signed a [[Tashkent Declaration|pact in Tashkent]] with [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Soviet Premier]] [[Alexei Kosygin]] as the mediator to resolve the terms of peace after the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965]]. On the next day, Shastri died suddenly, reportedly due to a heart attack. It is widely speculated that Shastri was killed by poisoning the water he drank.{{citation needed|date=May 2019}}

Much of Tashkent's old city was destroyed by a powerful [[1966 Tashkent earthquake|earthquake on 26 April 1966]]. More than 300,000 residents were left homeless, and some 78,000 [[Earthquake engineering|poorly engineered]] homes were destroyed,<ref name="tga">{{cite book |last=Sadikov |first=A C |author2=Akramob Z. M. |author3=Bazarbaev, A. |author4=Mirzlaev T.M. |author5=Adilov S. R. |author6=Baimukhamedov X. N. |display-authors=etal |title=Geographical Atlas of Tashkent (Ташкент Географический Атлас) |year=1984 |edition=2 |location=Moscow |language=ru |pages=60, 64}}</ref> mainly in the densely populated areas of the old city where traditional [[adobe]] housing predominated.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://iisee.kenken.go.jp/net/hara/uzbekistan/DamageForBuildings.htm |title=Damage for buildings of different type |access-date=7 November 2008 |author=Nurtaev Bakhtiar |year=1998 |publisher=Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan}}</ref> The Soviet republics, and some other countries, such as Finland, sent "battalions of fraternal peoples" and urban planners to help rebuild devastated Tashkent.

Tashkent was rebuilt as a model Soviet city with wide streets planted with shade trees, parks, immense plazas for parades, fountains, monuments, and acres of apartment blocks. The [[Tashkent Metro]] was also built during this time. About 100,000 new homes were built by 1970,<ref name="tga" /> but the builders occupied many, rather than the homeless residents of Tashkent.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}} Further development in the following years increased the size of the city with major new developments in the Chilonzor area, north-east and south-east of the city.<ref name="tga" />

At the time of the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]] in 1991, Tashkent was the fourth-largest city in the USSR and a center of learning in the fields of science and engineering. Due to the [[1966 Tashkent earthquake|1966 earthquake]] and the Soviet redevelopment, little architectural heritage has survived of Tashkent's ancient history. Few structures mark its significance as a trading point on the historic [[Silk Road]]. Such countries of the Soviet Union as [[Azerbaijan]] and [[Armenia]], [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Belarus]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Turkmenistan]] and [[Tajikistan]], [[Latvia]], [[Moldova]], [[Estonia]] helped restore the city after the earthquake and erected many modern buildings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Сидорчик |first=Андрей |date=2021-04-26 |title=Сила миллионов сердец. Как советские люди возродили разрушенный Ташкент |trans-title=The Power of Millions of Hearts: How Soviet People Rebuilt the Destroyed Tashkent |url=https://aif.ru/society/history/sila_millionov_serdec_kak_sovetskie_lyudi_vozrodili_razrushennyy_tashkent |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=AiF |language=ru}}</ref>

===Capital of Uzbekistan===
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan, noted for its tree-lined streets, fountains and parks. In 2009, the local government initiated a controversial tree-cutting campaign.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://enews.fergananews.com/article.php?id=2590 |title=Good bye the Tashkent Public Garden! |publisher=Ferghana.Ru |date=23 November 2009 |access-date=30 September 2012 |archive-date=11 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611092449/http://enews.fergananews.com/article.php?id=2590 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre, Tashkent.jpg|left|thumb|Alisher Navoi Opera and Ballet Theatre]]
Since 1991, the city has changed economically, culturally, and architecturally. New development has superseded or replaced icons of the Soviet era. The largest statue ever erected for Lenin was replaced with a globe, featuring a geographic map of Uzbekistan. Buildings from the Soviet era have been replaced with new modern buildings. The "Downtown Tashkent" district includes the 22-story [[National Bank of Uzbekistan|NBU Bank]] building, international hotels, the International Business Center, and the Plaza Building.

[[File:Tashkent Japanese Gardens, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.jpg|thumb|Japanese Gardens in Tashkent]]
The Tashkent Business district is a special district, established for the development of small, medium and large businesses in Uzbekistan. In 2018, construction began on a new Downtown which would include a business district with skyscrapers of local and foreign companies, world hotels such as [[Hilton Hotels & Resorts|Hilton Tashkent Hotel]], apartments, malls, shops and other entertainment. The construction of the International Business Center is planned to be completed by the end of 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tcibc.uz/about.html?tab=aim |title=Tashkent city |access-date=4 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221165249/http://www.tcibc.uz/about.html?tab=aim |archive-date=21 December 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Fitch assigns “BB−” rating to Tashkent city, “Stable” forecast.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fitch присвоило городу Ташкенту рейтинг "BB-", прогноз "Стабильный" |trans-title=Fitch assigned the city of Tashkent a "BB-" rating with a "Stable" outlook. |url=https://www.fitchratings.com/research/ru/international-public-finance/fitch-prisvoilo-gorodu-tashkentu-rejting-bb-prognoz-stabil-nyj-17-06-2019 |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=www.fitchratings.com |language=uk}}</ref>

In 2007, Tashkent was named a "cultural capital of the Islamic world" by ''[[Moscow News]]'', as the city has numerous historic mosques and significant Islamic sites, including the Islamic University.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mnweekly.ru/world/20070524/55252222.html |title=Moscow News – World – Tashkent Touts Islamic University |publisher=Mnweekly.ru |date=21 June 2007 |access-date=6 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415014911/http://mnweekly.ru/world/20070524/55252222.html |archive-date=15 April 2008}}</ref> Tashkent holds the [[Samarkand Kufic Quran]], one of the earliest written copies of the [[Quran]], which has been located in the city since 1924.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4581684.stm |title=Tashkent's hidden Islamic relic |publisher=BBC |date=5 January 2006 |access-date=16 April 2011}}</ref>

Tashkent is the most visited city in the country,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://brussels-express.eu/uzbekistan-doubles-the-number-of-tourists-in-2018/ |title=Uzbekistan doubles the number of tourists in 2018 |publisher=Brussels Express |date=23 November 2018 |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref> and has greatly benefited from increasing [[tourism]] as a result of reforms under president [[Shavkat Mirziyoyev]] and opening up by abolishing visas for visitors from the [[European Union]] and other developing countries or making visas easier for foreigners.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/central-asia/news/uzbekistan-announces-ambition-to-become-a-major-tourist-destination/ |title=Uzbekistan announces ambition to become major tourist destination |publisher=Euractiv |date=19 November 2018 |access-date=30 October 2019}}</ref>

===Tashkent over the years===
<gallery caption="Development of Tashkent">
File:Tashkent History 1860.jpg|c. 1865
File:Tashkent History 1913.jpg|1913
File:Tashkent History 1940.jpg|1940
File:Tashkent History 1965.jpg|1965
File:Tashkent History 1967.jpg|1966: [[1966 Tashkent earthquake|earthquake]] and subsequent redevelopment
File:Tashkent History 1981.jpg|1981
File:Tashkent History 2000.jpg|2000
</gallery>

===The invention of television===
In the summer of 1928, the first fully electronic TV set was presented to the public in Tashkent. [[Boris Grabovsky]]'s method, patented in [[Saratov]] in 1925, proposed a new model of TV imaging based on the vertical and horizontal electron beam sweeping under high voltage. Nowadays this principle of the TV imaging is used practically in all modern cathode-ray tubes. Historian and ethnographer Boris Golender (Борис Голендер in Russian), in a video lecture, described this event.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Видеолекторий «Ферганы»: Изобретение телевидения и Борис Грабовский |trans-title=Video lecture series "Fergana": The invention of television and Boris Grabovsky |url=https://www.fergananews.com/articles/8089 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Фергана.Ру}}</ref> This date of demonstration of the fully electronic TV set is the earliest known so far. Despite this fact, most modern historians disputably consider [[Vladimir Zworykin]] and [[Philo Farnsworth]]<ref>K. Krull, The boy who invented TV: The story of Philo Farnsworth, 2014</ref> as inventors of the first fully electronic TV set. In 1964, the contribution made to the development of early television by Grabovsky was officially acknowledged by the Uzbek government and he was awarded the prestigious degree "Honorable Inventor of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic".

[[File:Tashkent, Uzbekistan, city and vicinities, satellite image LandSat-5,2010-06-30.jpg|thumb|150px|Tashkent and vicinity, satellite image [[Landsat 5]], 2010-06-30]]