SUMMARY
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was created in 1929, when it was separated from the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. The Tajik SSR then gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and became the Republic of Tajikistan. Former Communist Party leader Rahmon Nabiyev won the presidency in an election marred by rigging and irregularities in November 1991. The Government of Tajikistan was at the time dominated by elites from the Leninabadi/Khojand clan from the northern parts of the country, and it also received considerable support from its allies in the Kulyabi clan in southwestern Tajikistan, and from the relatively large Uzbek minority. During the first half of 1992, the government began facing increasingly intense street protests organized by the opposition (see UTO) in the capital Dushanbe.
As a result of the extensive protests in Dushanbe in the spring of 1992, President Nabiyev was forced to make far-reaching concessions to the opposition, which included the establishment of the Government of National Reconciliation (GNR), a power-sharing agreement with the UTO. The GNR was dominated by representatives of Gharm and Pamiris from the region Badakhshan, which meant that the UTO gained control over much of the central decision making power. The faction supporting the GNR was mainly centered on the Islamic Renaissance Party (IRP), the Democratic Party of Tajikistan (DPT), the nationalist Rastokhez (“Rebirth”) Movement, and the Lali Badakhshan (“Ruby of Badakhshan”) Movement. After pressure from communist hardliners, President Nabiyev resigned from the presidency in September and was replaced by Akbarsho Iskandrov. As such, in UCDP data, UTO is considered to be the party in power between 7 September and 18 November 1992. The GNR did however prove unable to govern the country, and it gradually lost control over most of the country outside of Dushanbe.
Following Nabiyev’s resignation in September 1992, the IRP, DPT, Rastokhez, and Lali Badakhshan formed Najoti Vatan (“Salvation of the Homeland”, the National Salvation Front), a failed attempt at a unified military and political organization, which tried to form arrangements with government institutions. Iskandrov served as acting president until 10 November 1992 when he and his government resigned. In a coup-like event on 16 November, the presidency was abolished by the Supreme Soviet (Tajikistan’s highest legislative unit) at its 16th meeting in the northern town of Kuhjand. Executive power was transferred from the president to the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Tajikistan’s highest legislative body), a position to which Emomali Rakhmonov was appointed. Rakhmonov, a Kulyabi from Leninabad/Khujand, was at the time the leader of the Kulob Province, a position he had gained after PFT warlord Sangak Safarov had executed his predecessor.
By November 1992, Kulyabi elites had established political control over the anti-UTO forces, the central parts of the capital Dushanbe, and over the agriculturally productive southern parts of the country. Thus, after 18 November 1992, UCDP considers the Kulyabi and Leninabadi/Khujand clans supported by the PFT to constitute the Government of Tajikistan.
After signing a peace agreement with UTO on 27 June 1997, the Government of Tajikistan agreed to allow the opposition to claim 30 percent of the seats in the government, as was stipulated by the power-sharing arrangement included in the agreement. Several UTO members assumed senior government positions. The government did however fail to implement key aspects of the accord; most importantly, it failed to uphold the provision of 30 percent of senior government positions to the UTO.
After the end of the conflict, the Government of Tajikistan has pressed for several rounds of constitutional amendments that has vested power in President Rakhmonov and ensured the dominance of his People’s Democratic Party (PDP). All elections, both presidential and parliamentary, have been highly flawed and marred by irregularities. Rakhmonov has also reduced his dependency on his former power base in the Kulob region since 2000. The Government of Tajikistan has systematically limited free speech, access to information, and the opportunity for effective political opposition. As of 2025, Rakhmonov retains power in Tajikistan, which remains a fundamentally non-democratic state.
As the Government of Tajikistan did not possess a national army at the time of independence, it had to rely on various paramilitary groups from the Kulyabi cland and the Uzbek minority; notable examples were the “National Guard” (sometimes Headquarters of the National Guard, HNG) led by Sangak Safarov, and Safarali Kenjaev’s People’s Front of Tajikistan – Hissor (PFT-H). Likewise, after November 18 1992 the main fighting forces of the government were the Kulyabi and Uzbek militias comprising the PFT, and this group functioned as a de facto government army until April 1993, when many of its fighters were formally transformed into national security forces. When the UTO controlled the government between 7 September and 18 November 1992, it was supported by militias associated with the parties comprising the GNR.
During times of active fighting in the intrastate conflict, the Government of Tajikistan received significant support from Russia and Uzbekistan. The early engagement of Russia in the fall of 1992 was however improvised, and did not include systematic support. For example, Russian Special Forces and officers from the 201st Motor Rifle Division acted on their own behest, without direct orders from Moscow, and partook in attacks against UTO forces. In April 1993, Russia began supplying weapons and training to Tajik forces in order to consolidate the position of the Rakhmonov government. The “Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Aid” signed in May the same year ensured extensive Russian military and economic assistance to Tajikistan. Russia began increasing the pressure on the Government of Tajikistan to reach an agreement with the UTO in 1996.
Uzbekistan, which wanted to ensure the continued dominance of the Leninabadi/Khujand clan, provided crucial armed support to pro-government PFT militias in the Hissor area in November 1992 by training and equipping field commanders, and by extending its air support. PFT forces led by Safarali Kenjaev were supplied via the Uzbek military base at Termez. This support was decisive in the capture of Dushanbe and ousting of the GNR in December 1992. Uzbekistan continued its military support in 1993, but became increasingly hostile to the Government of Tajikistan after its preferred candidate lost the presidential election to Rakhmonov in 1994.
The Government of Tajikistan also received some support from Afghan warlords like the ethnic Uzbek Abdul Rashid Dostum. For example, Dostum prevented the effective recruitment of refugees to UTO in the refugee camp “Sakhi” on his territory near Mazar-i-Sharif. Dostum’s fighters also assisted Nabiyev’s and Rakhmonov’s militias directly in 1992-93 by entering Tajik territory via Uzbekistan; the Afghan fighters fought together with PFT warlords like Sangak Safarov.
