Tajikistan Gains Independence from the Soviet Union (1991)

Russia first took control of Tajik lands in the 1880s. In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Tajiks rebelled against Russian rule, and the Red Army did not retake control until 1921. Tajikistan was made an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan in 1924 and joined the USSR in 1929. In 1991, at around the time the USSR was being dissolved, the Republic of Tajikistan declared its independence. Members of what religious denomination were banned from the country in 2007? More...