Tajikistan Life & Culture - The Times Of Central Asia

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Sportsmanship

Kazakhstan’s MMA Gold Medalist Comforts Tajik Opponent at Asian Games

A mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter from Kazakhstan embraced and comforted his distressed Tajik opponent after defeating him to win gold at the Asian Games in Japan. It was one of the more striking scenes so far at the Games, which began on September 19 and run until October 4. China was at the top of the medal standings with 78 medals, including 48 golds, on Wednesday. Japan and South Korea were in second and third place, respectively. Kazakhstan was fourth with 19 medals, including seven golds. Kadyrbek Shynbayev, a 22-year-old MMA fighter from Kazakhstan, won Tuesday’s final in the up-to-71-kilogram weight category, beating 25-year-old Behruz Khurshedzoda of Tajikistan by a 3-0 judges’ decision. The fighters were competing in the “modern” variant of the combat sport, in which they wear shorts and a rash guard, or tight athletic shirt, instead of the traditional gi, which consists of a jacket, pants, and a belt. Shynbayev let out a roar of triumph after the result was announced, and his team celebrated on the sidelines. He paraded for a moment with a national flag wrapped around his shoulders, but then noticed Khurshedzoda on his knees on the competition mat, visibly overcome by his loss. Shynbayev, in blue, approached his red-clad adversary and embraced him. Still wearing their bulky gloves, the two men talked. Khurshedzoda tapped his own head with his glove. Then the pair stood up together and hugged one more time as videographers and photographers recorded the scene at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center. The Sports.kz news portal described Shynbayev’s actions as a “beautiful gesture” and posted a video of the scene on Instagram. Kazakhstan’s Jibek Joly TV showed Shynbayev and other medal winners being welcomed at Almaty airport after returning from the Asian Games. Shynbayev also won the Asian MMA Championship title in January. At that time, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Defense identified him as a military private. Tajik media, including the state-run Khovar news agency, reported on Khurshedzoda’s contested road to the final in Japan. In the semifinal, judges awarded victory to his opponent, Yryskeldi Duisheev of Kyrgyzstan, but Tajikistan’s delegation appealed, and the decision was reversed in Khurshedzoda’s favor. Duisheev received a bronze medal. MMA includes striking, grappling, throwing, and submission techniques. The sport made its debut at the 2026 Asian Games, which are being held across Aichi Prefecture, including Nagoya. The Asian Games are held every four years.

Education

New OECD Assessment Reveals Central Asia’s Student Performance

International student assessments help governments identify where students are succeeding, where they are falling behind and how learning outcomes are changing over time. The Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, tests how well 15-year-olds can apply what they have learned in science, mathematics and reading to real-world problems. Run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the assessment is intended to identify weaknesses and track whether learning improves over time. The results released on September 8 show improvement in some areas, declines in others and significant gaps in the regional data. PISA 2025 placed particular emphasis on science and introduced a new assessment of computational problem-solving, part of its broader work on learning in the digital world. What the Results Show Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan participated nationally. Tajikistan was represented by Dushanbe rather than a national sample, while Turkmenistan did not participate. Participant Science Math Reading Comp. ProblemSolving Kazakhstan 420 414 385 449 Kyrgyzstan 363 364 344 388 Dushanbe, TJK 334 382 368 — Uzbekistan 438 N/A N/A 402 OECD average 482 463 461 500 Kazakhstan recorded the highest published regional scores in mathematics, reading and computational problem-solving, while Uzbekistan recorded the highest score in science. Uzbekistan’s mathematics and reading results were not published, preventing a complete comparison across the three core subjects. Central Asia remained below OECD averages, but Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan scored higher than several EU member states in some subjects. Across OECD countries, average mathematics and reading performance fell to the lowest levels yet recorded by PISA. Science was comparatively stable. What Changed The latest scores and the longer-term trends do not always point in the same direction. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan both participated in PISA in 2022, while Kyrgyzstan’s previous participation was in 2009. Country ComparisonPeriod Science Math Reading Kazakhstan 2022–2025 −4 −12 −1 Kyrgyzstan 2009–2025 +33 +33 +30 Uzbekistan 2022–2025 +83 N/A N/A Kazakhstan’s mathematics score fell by about 12 points from 2022, a statistically significant decline for the country. Its smaller declines in science and reading were not statistically significant. Kyrgyzstan improved in mathematics, reading and science compared with its previous participation. The gains cover 16 years rather than a single PISA cycle. Uzbekistan recorded the largest movement in the regional results. Its science score rose from 355 in 2022 to 438 in 2025, an increase of 83 points. That was also the largest science gain among education systems with comparable results worldwide and more than twice the next-largest increase of 38 points. What Other Assessments Show Other international assessments help put the larger changes in context. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan were the only Central Asian countries to participate in the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS. The assessment tests younger students and uses a different methodology from PISA. Among eighth-graders, Kazakhstan scored 443 in science and Uzbekistan 396. Two years later, PISA recorded science scores of 420 for Kazakhstan and 438 for Uzbekistan. The assessments cover different students and testing methods, so the scores cannot be compared directly....

World Nomad Games

World Nomad Games Return Home as Kyrgyzstan Welcomes World Leaders

Few periods since independence have put Kyrgyzstan so squarely in the international spotlight. On August 31, the country marked 35 years of independence, opened the sixth World Nomad Games, and prepared to host a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit that has brought more than a dozen foreign leaders to Bishkek. The Games themselves were back where they began. Kyrgyzstan launched the World Nomad Games in 2014 and staged the first three editions at Cholpon Ata before the event moved to Turkey in 2022 and Kazakhstan in 2024. This year's Games run through September 6, with The Times of Central Asia reporting from Bishkek and Issyk-Kul throughout the week in our special coverage. The opening took place at the new Bishkek Arena, rising out of the dust on the southwestern edge of the capital near the foothills of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range. Around 30,000 spectators attended the ceremony. The stadium will eventually hold more than 51,000, but it is not formally due to open until October 5. The Games opened while work on the arena was still underway, with parts of the building still looking unfinished. In the weeks before the ceremony, horses had circled the arena floor during rehearsals while drilling continued around them. By the time the spectators arrived, the construction site had become the biggest show in town. Before the politics and pageantry, there was pop. Kyrgyzstan put many of its best-known performers on stage in a concert that at times had a distinctly Eurovision feel. Energetic hosts introduced a succession of singers and rappers while tightly choreographed dancers moved between traditional dress and contemporary styling. The lineup included Bayastan, Malika Dina, Erlan Andashev, Begish, and others, but veteran singer Baktiyar Toktorov received the loudest reaction. When he launched into "Yza," known almost universally by its "Bui-Bui" refrain, spectators rose from their seats and sang with him. Even some of the security guards joined in. The refrain does not demand many words, but almost everybody in the arena seemed to know them. The new stadium also showed some early teething problems, with concession stands running out of bottled water and food as crowds built. After the concert, the momentum disappeared. The audience waited for around 90 minutes while footage of arriving dignitaries played on the giant screens. The reason for the pause soon became clear, as one motorcade after another delivered guests for the formal ceremony. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were among those in the stands. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan also attended, along with leaders and senior officials from elsewhere in Asia, the Caucasus, and Africa. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was among the international guests. One expected heavyweight was missing. Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Bishkek for a state visit and the SCO summit, had been due to attend the opening. Presidential spokesman Askat Alagozov said Xi had stayed away because of the deadly flooding and landslides in...

Archaeology

Ancient Royal Seal Discovered in Tajikistan

Archaeologists from Tajikistan’s National Museum say they have made a significant discovery, a royal seal made of fired clay from the Kushan period, which began about 2,000 years ago and lasted for several centuries. The circular, pea-green seal has a perforation for threading a cord and was found in very good condition in the Abdurahmoni Jomi district of Khatlon region in southwest Tajikistan, the museum said on August 14. “This discovery may mark a new stage in the study of the Kushan period in the region, providing a solid scholarly basis for reassessing certain existing theories and interpretations concerning its history,” the museum said in a statement. The Kushan Empire extended across a vast area at the height of its power, including swaths of present-day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan and northern India. It emerged from the Yuezhi, a nomadic people who had migrated from what is today northwestern China and established themselves in Bactria, an ancient Central Asian region. The decorated surface of the newly discovered seal, engraved within a circular field measuring six centimeters in diameter, features what the museum’s archaeologists describe as significant political, cultural and artistic elements of the Kushan period. “The composition includes a Bactrian inscription, geometric ornamentation, a bust of a king wearing a crenellated crown, depictions of mountain goats, symbols associated with the royal authority and statehood of the Kushan rulers, as well as motifs associated with the authority of local rulers and other symbolic elements,” the Tajik museum said. Specialists from the Department of Archaeology and Numismatics at the National Museum are analyzing the seal and, once finalized, their findings will be shared with a wider circle of researchers. Arkeonews, an archaeology news platform, said the Bactrian inscription on the seal could be especially important because it might “help determine whether the seal belonged to a royal official, a local ruler or another figure operating within the Kushan political system.” The platform said “the seal may ultimately provide evidence for the relationship between Kushan rulers and regional elites in what is now southern Tajikistan.” Arkeonews said that until the museum’s analysis is complete, some of the “most important questions -- who used the seal, what it was intended to authenticate, and how it functioned within Kushan administration -- remain unanswered.”

Cultural Heritage

Rome to Host Exhibition of Ancient Artifacts from Tajikistan

The National Museum of Tajikistan will present an exhibition in Rome later this year, displaying cultural and archaeological heritage spanning about 2,500 years. The exhibition, titled Tajikistan – The Land of Unique Heritage, will open in Rome on October 20 and mark the 35th anniversary of Tajikistan’s independence from the Soviet Union, according to the National Museum. Tajikistan declared independence on September 9, 1991. The show includes artifacts from Takht-i Sangin, an archaeological site in southern Tajikistan; the Ajina-Teppa Buddhist monastery, a seventh- to eighth-century site in the south where a large reclining Buddha statue was discovered; and Panjakent, the ruins of an ancient Sogdian city that was part of the Silk Road trade network and lies in northwestern Tajikistan. “The exhibited artifacts span a chronological period from the 6th century BCE to the 20th century CE, illustrating the major stages in the formation and development of the civilization of the Tajik people,” the National Museum said. Heritage from Tajikistan has previously gone on display in Europe. From October 2021 to January 2022, the show Tajikistan: The Land of Golden Rivers was held at the Musée Guimet. It featured heritage spanning the period from prehistory to the arrival of Islam in Central Asia in the early eighth century. Rome recently hosted another exhibition of artifacts from Central Asia. From October 2025 to April this year, the Capitoline Museums presented Ancient Civilizations of Turkmenistan. On display were “masterpieces from prehistoric Margiana, corresponding to the present-day Murghab River valley in southeastern Turkmenistan, and from ancient Parthia, in particular from Nisa,” a site in south-central Turkmenistan that is more than 2,000 years old, Italy’s foreign ministry said.

Central Asian Music

Central Asian Music Takes the Stage in Berlin

Young Central Asian musicians have featured at the ongoing Young Euro Classic festival in Berlin. Since its beginnings in 2000, the festival has brought youth orchestras from around the world to the German capital, while the later addition of the Future Now series as a “festival within the festival” opened it to smaller experimental ensembles. It was not the first time that orchestras and smaller groups from Central Asia had performed at Young Euro Classic. Kazakh musicians had appeared before, including at the 2024 festival. Turkmen musicians also performed in Berlin later that year as part of the separate FUTURE NOW – Central Asia festival. However, this year’s performances introduced two new groups to Young Euro Classic audiences. On August 1, Mohiron from Dushanbe opened the Future Now series. The six Tajik musicians played traditional Tajik melodies, their own compositions, and arrangements of Western music at their sold-out concert. Their interpretations of Vivaldi’s “Escala Palladio” and Zequinha de Abreu’s “Tico-Tico” drew particularly enthusiastic responses from the audience. On August 9, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan made its Young Euro Classic debut in Berlin. The orchestra traces its roots to a chamber ensemble founded by conductor Rasul Klychev in 2007, which had previously performed elsewhere in Germany. Klychev and his musicians introduced the audience to Turkmen orchestral classics alongside contemporary works by American composer Aidan Gold and French composer Pierre Thilloy, both receiving German premieres. Highlights included the demanding piano concerto by Turkmen composer Chary Nurymov, performed by the young pianist Shaislam Komildjanov, and the final “Danzón No. 2” by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez. The audience gave the performance a standing ovation. As much of Central Asia remains relatively unfamiliar to many German audiences, the concerts offered a chance to introduce the region and its musical traditions. The appearances may also create further opportunities for the musicians to represent their countries elsewhere in Germany and Europe.