Tajikistan is a mountainous country in central Asia.  The Alay and Tian Shan mountain ranges The Amu Darya flows along part of Tajikistan's southern border.  Earthquakes often occur throughout the region.  Summers in the valleys are typically long, hot, and dry. Winters in the highlands are long and cold. Cotton is Tajikistan's chief agricultural product. Farmers raise a variety of livestock, including cattle, chickens, horses, Karakul sheep, and yaks.
 
 

         Various Turkic peoples from eastern Persia and central Asia ruled what is now Tajikistan from about 900 to 1200.  Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi was born here in 1207.  In 1212, Rumi and his family escaped Mongol invasion and moved to Konya, Anatolia, which was then part of the Seljuk empire.   The time when Rumi fled Tajikistan, the Mongols were  invading and destroying everything.  The inhabitants were fleeing from Ghengis Khan as he was trying to take over Tajikistan for the Russian empire.  When they moved, Rumi and his family performed a pilgrimage to Mecca before settling in Konya.