The ancient town of Khavakend occupied the site from at least the 10th century and was situated on the caravan route from India and China. In the 13th century it was destroyed by the Mongols. The present city developed from a fort that was constructed in 1732, and in 1740 it became the capital of the khanate of Kokand. The khanate, centred on the Fergana Valley, enjoyed its greatest power in the first half of the 19th century, when it extended northward into present-day Kazakhstan. Under the khans Kokand was an important centre of trade and handicrafts as well as the religious centre of the valley, with more than 300 mosques.
From the 1840s, however, the khanate was increasingly torn by internal strife and weakened by its rivalry with Bukhara. The Russian advance southward toward Kokand began in 1853, and the rivalry between the Bukhara and Kokand khanates prevented their uniting to resist the invaders. By 1866 the Russians had captured all the main cities of Kokand outside the Fergana Valley, including Tashkent. They finally annexed the khanate in 1876. In 1917 a Muslim government was established in Kokand in opposition to the Soviet colonial government in Tashkent, but it was suppressed by force in 1918.
Kokand now has textile, food, engineering, and chemical plants and is the main transport junction in the Fergana Valley. It also has a teacher-training institute and a theatre. Pop. (2014 est.) 233,500.
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