evidence: Until the Soviet period, the territory of what is now Tajikistan was part of the Emirate of Boukhara. In the latter part of the 19th century, because of its geographical location at the confines of the Russian Empire and contiguous to China and British India, the territory of Tajikistan – especially the Pamir region of Gorno-Badakhshan – had considerable strategic importance. [...] See also the interesting story of the Sumantash stone: here and The Tajik Pamirs: historical connections to China – Paper presented to the University of Fudan, Shanghai 24 May 2013 – here. [...] The Pamir region (Gorno-Badakhshan) was incorporated into the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1925. Prior to this it had been de jure under the Emirate of Boukhara but – since the end of the 19th century – de facto under direct Russian rule.