The Soviet Toponymy Project: How Moscow Renamed Uzbekistan

In this episode of The Story of Uzbekistan, Lucas and Luna explore the Soviet Union's systematic renaming of cities, towns, and streets across Uzbekistan—a project of linguistic and political engineering that sought to erase the region's Persian and Turkic toponyms. Focusing on the 1920s–1950s, they discuss the original names of places like Tashkent (Chachkent), Samarkand (Marakanda), and Bukhara (Numijkat), and how Soviet ideologues replaced them with Russian-derived or ideologically charged names. The conversation touches on the role of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the creation of new towns like Yangiyo'l, and the post-independence restoration of historical names. Lucas explains how the renaming was part of a broader campaign to suppress local identity and Russianize the Uzbek SSR, and how the legacy of Soviet toponymy remains visible today in street names like 'Lenin ko'chasi' and 'Kommunistov'. A nuanced look at how maps become instruments of power.

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