Russia and its role in the cultural development of the people of the Pamirs

The article examines the specifics of historical and cultural development of the Pamir region and the present and the past influence of Russia on the living conditions of ethnic groups inhabiting the region. In particular, it is shown that there was a peculiar and sometimes contradictory mixture of ethnically and culturally diverse developments, which found their ways into the Soviet Tajikistan in the 1920s. The ethnically heterogeneous composition of the Pamirian people was maintained throughout the 20th century within the general framework of the changes which took place during the Soviet period and are currently underway in the independent Tajikistan. An attempt has been made to determine the preconditions and causes of the socio-political and economic inequality, which prevented the dynamic development of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region and Tajikistan in general, in the light of the past and present developments of the country. Particular attention is paid to the consequences of the protracted economic crisis in the country with its inherent negative sociocultural issues, which have been difficult to overcome for a long period of time. It is also highlighted in the article that the expansion and deepening of relations between the Russian Federation and Tajikistan in the social and cultural spheres are important factors in the development of the GBAO. The paper concludes with the prospects for collaboration and partnership between the two countries and identifies specific conditions, which must be followed in order to achieve this objective.