Termez ( tər-MEZ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center of early Buddhism, as a site of Muslim pilgrimage, and as a base of Soviet Union military operations in Afghanistan, accessible via the nearby Hairatan border crossing.
Etymology
Some link the name of the city to the Greek word Θέρμος (thermos), meaning "hot", and date the toponym to the rule of Alexander the Great. Others suggest that it came from Sanskrit तर्मतो (tarmato), meaning "on the river bank".
History
Ancient times
One of Central Asia's oldest towns, Old Termez, located a few kilometers west of the modern city along the Amu Darya river, was established sometime before the 3rd century BC. The city may have been known to the Achaemenids (the 10th century Shahnameh purports its existence during the mythological Zoroastrian Kayanian dynasty).
In 329 BC Alexander the Great conquered the surrounding region, known as Sogdia. Most recent scholarship argues that Termez is the site of Alexandria on the Oxus, though some identify this site with Ai-Khanoum. After a period of Seleucid rule, Termez became part of the breakaway Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. The Ionian Greek language persisted in the area through the Tocharian period, being phased out of administrative use during the time of the Kushan Empire, in favor of the Bactrian language.
It was during this period that Termez, named Ta-li-mi (迭里迷) in Chinese sources, became an important center of Mahāsāṃghika Buddhism. Termez was incorporated into the Sassanid Persian Empire in the 3rd century AD, and elements of Zoroastrian-Buddhist religious syncretism appear in the archaeological record, with Buddhist monasteries containing fire altars, and a graffiti inscription referencing "Buddha-Mazda." Most inscriptions of the Kushan and Kushano-Sasanian periods come from Termez, in particular from the Buddhist monasteries of Kara-tepe and Fayaz-tepe.
During the 7th century, Termez played host to the Buddhist monk and traveler Xuanzang, who reported:
There are about ten Sangharamas with about one thousand monks. The stupas and the images of the honoured Buddha are noted for various spiritual manifestations.
In the three decades that followed, as the Umayyads conquered the Persians, Termez found itself across the river from the caliphate.
Islamic Golden Age
In 676 the city was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate.
It again rose to religious significance during the Abbasid and Samanid empires, producing notable scholars such as the renowned hadith scholar al-Tirmidhi and Sufi master and theologian al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi.
Termez passed through the hands of the Ghaznavid, Seljuk, Karakhanid, and Khorezmshah kingdoms from the 11th to 13th centuries.
In 1220 after a two-day siege, the city was destroyed by the troops of Genghis Khan. According to one account, "all the people, both men and women, were driven out onto the plain, and divided in accordance with their [the Mongols'] usual custom, then they were all slain."
Ibn Battuta found the city reconstructed in the early 14th century:
We set out from Samarqand and reached Tirmidh [Termez], a large town with fine buildings and bazaars and traversed by canals. It abounds in grapes and quinces of an exquisite flavour, as well as in flesh-meats and milk. The inhabitants wash their heads in the bath with milk instead of fuller's earth; the proprietor of every bath-house has large jars filled with milk, and each man as he enters takes a cupful to wash his head. It makes the hair fresh and glossy . . . The old town of Tirmidh was built on the bank of the Oxus, and when it was laid in ruins by Tinklz [Chingiz] this new town was built two miles from the river.
— Ibn Battuta Travels in Asia And Africa 1325–1354
The restored Termez soon came under the rule of Tamerlane's Timurid Empire with the backing of the Tirmidh Sayyids, a local religious aristocracy claiming descent from Muhammad through Sayyid Ali Akbar. The Timurids held the territory until it became a part of the independent Emirate of Bukhara in the 16th century.
By the second half of the 18th century the city was again abandoned, and the ruins of the reconstituted Termez laid outside the nearby villages of Salavat and Pattakesar (Pattagissar).
In the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
In 1887, the Russian Empire began to operate a brown water navy on the Amu Darya River.
In December 1894, the Amu Darya Fleet was joined by the 31st Amu Darya Border Brigade. In the coming years troop levels were increased, as the 4th Orenburg Cossack Regiment, the 13th Turkestan Special Battalion, and the 2nd Orenburg Cossack Battery were relocated to the area.
The Emirate of Bukhara acquiesced to increasing demands from the Tsarist government for more lands, until on January 27, 1900, over 9,000 acres were donated to Russia, and the Russian military began a program of Russian resettlement to the area.
In the immediate aftermath of the Russian Revolution, Pattakesar became a part of the Bukharan People's Soviet Republic, and then the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1928, as part of the Soviet Union, Pattakesar was renamed and took the city's ancient name of Termez. In 1929, the village became a town.
During the years of Soviet rule, as Termez became a hub of Russian military activity, many industries were developed, and a pedagogical institute and a theatre were opened. Termez saw a significant increase in industrial development during World War II, as the Soviet Union replaced industrial centers in the western regions that had been disrupted by Nazi attacks.
For many years after the Second World War the 108th Motor Rifle Division, the former 360th Rifle Division, was based in the town. During the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989), Termez became an increasingly important military post, with over 100,000 Soviet troops stationed there. A military airfield and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge, a combined bridge over the Amu Darya, were built. In 1989, Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan via the Termez bridge, bringing the conflict to an end.
21st century Afghan conflicts and aftermath
In 2001, Germany began operating a base in Termez. The military airfield was the main support base for German and Dutch forces operating with the ISAF for transiting goods into Afghanistan. It was closed in 2015.
Following the 2021 Taliban offensive and resultant Fall of Kabul, the Biden administration reached out to Uzbekistan, as well as Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, to ask if they might temporarily accommodate up to 9,000 Afghans who might face reprisals for working with U.S. military forces. By the 5th of July, the state security services had constructed a refugee camp in Termez to brace for an Afghan refugee crisis. Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev reported that 494 Afghans were evacuated through the Termez Airport.
In August 2021, Russia and Uzbekistan held joint military exercises outside of Termez.
Transportation
The river Amu Darya divides the two countries of Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge crosses the river to Hairatan in Afghanistan. Termez is also served by Termez Airport, with flights to Tashkent and Moscow. Termez is connected with Uzbek Railways to other cities of the country and Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. The Tashkent–Termez (no. 379) and Termez–Tashkent (no. 380) trains run every day. Dushanbe–Kanibadam (no. 367) and Kanibadam-Dushanbe (No: 368) trains also pass through Termez.
Plans exist to connect Termez to Peshawar by rail, as a part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, and China's larger Belt and Road Initiative.
There is public transportation in the city, represented by buses and marshrutkas. There are also public and private taxi services. Termez river port (Termiz daryo bandargohi) is located in the south-eastern part of the city.
The city has an international airport "Termez", which has regular air connections with Tashkent, with some other major cities of Uzbekistan, as well as with some Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Termez is the main southern gateway of Uzbekistan. 12 km east of Termez, the Amu Darya River is crossed by the pedestrian, highway and railroad cross-border bridge Hairatan (also known as the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge), which is the only border crossing between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Every day, people, cars, trucks and freight trains pass over the bridge in both directions.
The city is one of the main railroad hubs of southern Uzbekistan. It is from Termez that the international freight railroad leading to the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif begins.
In fact, the railroad goes all the way to Mazar-i-Sharif International Airport, 8 km east of that city. The distance between Termez and Mazar-i-Sharif is about 80 km by road or rail. As of 2024, the Afghan part of this line is not open for passengers.
Demographics
The estimated population of Termez in 2021 was 182,800. Uzbeks and Tajiks are the largest ethnic groups. An undetermined number of Lyuli live in Termez.
A 2014 World Bank report found that the population of Termez grew by 50% in the period between 1990 and 2014. Using satellite data, Termez was classified as a "Type 3" city, having a "Growing Population & Declining Economic Activity." This report was issued, however, before the presidency and economic reforms of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Education
In 1992 the Pedagogical Institute was upgraded to Termez State University. Termez is also served by the Termez Branch of Tashkent Medical Academy, Termez Technical University, and the Termez Branch of Tashkent State Agrarian University.
There are 26 secondary schools in Termez, six of which offer instruction in the Russian language. A presidential school opened in 2021.
Climate
Termez has a cool arid climate (Köppen BWk) bordering upon a hot arid climate (BWh) with long, sweltering summers and short, cool winters.
Entertainment and culture
Sports
Termez hosts the Surkhon Termez football club, which plays in Alpomish Stadium.
Termez also has a kurash training facility, and a hippodrome where kupkari is played.
Various competitions are often held here. At the end of May 2022, Termez now hosted the Uzbekistan kurash championship among juniors born in 2007–2008.
Historical and archaeological sites
- Termez Archaeological Museum opened in 2002 to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of Termez. It exhibits archaeological finds and other historic artefacts from sites across Surxondaryo Region. The modern building has a turquoise domed roof and an attractively tiled facade. It is one of the largest and best museums in Uzbekistan. There are around 27,000 items in the collection.