ABSTRACT
This book examines the events in Uzbekistan, the role of nationalism, coalescent around the Uzbek identity and spearheaded by the Uzbek elites, as the bulwark of confrontation with Moscow and the driving force of political action for increased national autonomy. The Uzbeks occupy a commanding position in the politics of Soviet Central Asia. "Uzbekistan", the land of the Uzbeks, emerged from the delimitation as a tract of land almost the size of California. In the wake of the Arabs, an important Islamic civilization flourished on what is now the territory of Uzbekistan, linking it spiritually and intellectually with the entire Muslim world, from North Africa and the Middle East to South Asia and the East Indies. In the Muslim regions, official religious institutions were sanctioned for the first time since the Revolution. A Mufti was named in Tashkent to minister to the spiritual needs of Muslims of "Central Asia and Kazakhstan".
