ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some issues pertaining to the political, linguistic, cultural and religious identities of the Tajiks of the Pamirs, with a focus on their historical transformations and state policies towards them. It is useful to consider the transformation of the people of the Pamirs and their culture through the prism of geography and history in order to understand how their culture has survived despite severe environmental and historical constraints. The Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast of the Republic of Tajikistan, known commonly as the Pamirs, is an ethnically diverse region with a manifold cultural heritage. During the period of the Great Game, the territories between British India and the Russian protectorates in Central Asia, such as Afghanistan and the Pamiri kingdoms, became a primary focus of contention. Compared to the rulers of Bukhara and the Afghans, the Russians displayed a much more humane attitude in their treatment of the local people, especially the Ismailis.
