Andijan Region

Landscape and nature

Andijan Region covers the eastern part of the Fergana Valley and is Uzbekistan's easternmost region. It borders Kyrgyzstan's Osh and Jalal-Abad regions as well as the Fergana and Namangan regions. At about 4,300 km² it takes up less than one per cent of the country, yet more than 9 per cent of all Uzbeks live here, over 800 people per square kilometre.

The main river is the Kara Darya, which flows west for almost 150 km from the Andijan Reservoir in the east and joins the Naryn to form the Syr Darya. The Shahrikhansoy, Great Andijan, Great Fergana and South Fergana canals water the fields. The west is a raised plain, while the east climbs into the foothills of the Alay and Fergana ranges. The mountains shield the valley from cold winds, so winters are relatively mild, usually around −3.5°C, and summers hot, up to 37°C.

History

People have lived here since deep antiquity: the Dalvarzin settlement in Jalaquduq District dates from the 12th–7th centuries BC. In the 2nd and 1st centuries BC the valley was home to Dayuan, a state whose 'heavenly horses' dazzled the Chinese; many archaeologists identify its capital, Ershi, with the Mingtepa site near Marhamat, though the question is still debated.

Andijan appears in written sources from the 9th century as Andukan. It lived through the Qarakhanid, Mongol and Timurid eras; under the Timurids it was the capital of the Fergana domain, and in 1483 Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur was born here. The area later passed to the Kokand Khanate, whose ruler Umar Khan founded the town and canal of Shahrikhan in 1817. The valley became part of the Russian Empire in 1876; Andijan saw Dukchi Ishan's uprising in 1898, the railway arrived in 1899, and the 1902 earthquake levelled the old city. The region was separated from Fergana Region on 6 March 1941, and in 1960–1967 it temporarily absorbed the territory of Namangan Region.

What to see

In Andijan a single walk takes in the late 19th-century Jome complex with its 32-metre minaret, the Babur House Museum in the Ark-ichi madrasa and the regional Museum of History and Culture. On the Bogishamol hills south-east of the city, Babur National Park holds a statue of the emperor, the Babur and World Culture museum and the poet's symbolic tomb.

Mingtepa at Marhamat is one of the valley's largest ancient city sites and part of a serial nomination on UNESCO's Tentative List. In the east, near Khanabad, lie the Andijan Reservoir on the Kara Darya and the Khanabad sanatorium with its thermal springs. For pilgrimage tourism there are the shrines of Qutayba ibn Muslim in Jalaquduq, Imom Ota in Khojaobod and Fozilmon Ota in Khanabad, as well as the Otaquzi madrasa in Pakhtaobod. The foothill districts of Buloqboshi, Khojaobod and Marhamat are lovely for spring walks among springs, loess hills and orchards.

Famous natives

Andijan has long been one of the valley's cultural centres. Besides Babur, it produced major figures of 20th-century Uzbek literature: the poet and playwright Abdulhamid Cholpon (1897–1938), a victim of the Stalinist purges, is remembered in a memorial museum in Andijan. The house museum of the People's Poet Zokirjon Habibiy is in Pakhtaobod, and the much-loved poet Muhammad Yusuf (1954–2001) was born in Marhamat District. The Andijan theatre began in 1919 as a troupe led by Hamza Hakimzoda Niyoziy and is one of the oldest professional Uzbek theatres; Cholpon's drama Yorqinoy was among the plays staged there.

Economy, crafts and food

The warm climate suits cotton, grain, orchards, vineyards, silk farming and melons. The region has several oil and gas fields, among them Andijan, Palvantash, South Alamyshik and Khartum, and since 1996 Asaka has been home to Uzbekistan's first car factory, today's UzAuto Motors. Carpets and suzani, pottery and wood and metal carving by Andijan craftspeople fill the regional museum, and the crafts quarter by the old bazaar is on the national heritage register. The Fergana Valley table, with plov, samsa, tandoor bread and fruit, is best sampled at the bazaars.

Getting there

Andijan airport has flights to Tashkent and abroad. From Tashkent, the railway and highway enter the valley over the Kamchik pass, with trains running beneath it through a tunnel more than 19 km long. Getting around the region is easy, as distances are short: Mingtepa is about 30 km from Andijan and Khanabad around an hour's drive. A border crossing near Andijan leads to Osh in Kyrgyzstan. In 2025 a newly built town in the region was named Bobur.