Dushanbe (Persian: دوشنبه; a city since 1925; known as Dyushambe until 1929, and as Stalinabad from 1929 to 1961) is the capital of Tajikistan and a city of republican significance, as well as the country’s largest scientific, cultural, political, economic, artistic, and administrative center. The highest state institutions of the country are located in Dushanbe. From 1924 to 1929 it was the capital of the Tajik ASSR, from 1929 to 1991 the capital of the Tajik SSR, and from 1991 to the present it has been the capital of the Republic of Tajikistan. Nearly 40 percent of Tajikistan’s industrial capacity is concentrated in the city, and 12 percent of the country’s population (as of July 1, 2023 — 1,228,400 people) lives there. Since January 12, 2017, Rustam Emomali has served as the Mayor of Dushanbe.
Toponymy
The place name “Dushanbe” (Persian: دوشنبه) was first mentioned in Mahmud ibn Wali’s book Bahr al-Asrar fi Manaqib al-Akhyar (written in 1636) and in a letter from the Khan of Balkh, Subhonqul Bahodur, to Tsar Fyodor Alekseyevich of Russia (December 1676). In a surviving document from 1826, the city is referred to as “Dushanbe-Qurghon.” Qurghon is a Turkic word meaning “fortress.” The Dushanbe fortress was located on the left bank of the Varzob River, and a market was held near it every Monday. The present name of the capital of Tajikistan is a reminder of that market. Since this place was called “Dushanbe Bazaar,” the village that gradually emerged on the site of Dushanbebozor came to be known as Dushanbe.
In 1924, Dushanbe was transformed into a city and declared the capital of the Tajik ASSR. Until 1929, it was known as Dyushambe. In 1929, the capital of the Tajik SSR was renamed Stalinabad in honor of Joseph Stalin. In 1961, during the period of de-Stalinization, the city was restored to its original name, but with the corrected spelling Dushanbe.
