Military ranks of Tajikistan

The Military ranks of Tajikistan are the military insignia used by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan. Being a former member of Soviet Union, Tajikistan shares a rank structure similar to that of Russia. Since 2018, the State Language Committee of Tajikistan operated a working group that sought to replace the Russian military ranks with pure Tajik/Persian terms. An example of this would be the rank of Colonel, which is currently "Полковник/Polkovnik" would be changed to "Сарлашкар/Sarlashkar".^[1] Tajikistan is a landlocked country, and does therefore not possess a navy.

Commissioned officers

The rank insignia for commissioned officers for the ground forces and air force respectively:

Rank group	General / flag officers					Senior officers			Junior officers				Officer cadet
Tajik Ground Forces^[2] v t e
Tajik Ground Forces^[2] v t e		Генерали артиш Generali artish	Генерал-полковник General-polkovnik	Генерал-лейтенант General-leytenant	Генерал-майор General-mayor	Полковник Polkovnik	Подполковник Podpolkovnik	Майор Mayor	Капитан Kapitan	Лейтенанти калон Leytenanti kalon	Лейтенант Leytenant	Лейтенанти хурд Leytenanti xurd	Курсант Kursant
Tajik Air Force^[2] v t e
Tajik Air Force^[2] v t e			Генерал-полковник General-polkovnik	Генерал-лейтенант General-leytenant	Генерал-майор General-mayor	Полковник Polkovnik	Подполковник Podpolkovnik	Майор Mayor	Капитан Kapitan	Лейтенанти калон Leytenanti kalon	Лейтенант Leytenant	Лейтенанти хурд Leytenanti xurd	Курсант Kursant
Rank group	General / flag officers					Senior officers			Junior officers				Officer cadet

Enlisted

The rank insignia for enlisted personnel for the army and air force respectively.

Rank group	Senior NCOs						Junior NCOs		Enlisted
Tajik Ground Forces^[2] v t e
Tajik Ground Forces^[2] v t e	Прапоршики калон Praporshiki kalon	Прапоршик Praporshik	Старшина Starshyna	Сержанти калон Serzhanti kalon	Сержант Serzhant	Сержанти хурд Serzhanti xurd	Ефрейтор Efreytor	Қаторӣ Qatorī
Tajik Air Force^[2] v t e
Tajik Air Force^[2] v t e	Прапоршики калон Praporshiki kalon	Прапоршик Praporshik	Старшина Starshyna	Сержанти калон Serzhanti kalon	Сержант Serzhant	Сержанти хурд Serzhanti xurd	Ефрейтор Efreytor	Қаторӣ Qatorī
Rank group	Senior NCOs						Junior NCOs		Enlisted

Name change

Guided by the principles of historicism, continuity, unification and standardization of military terminology between Persian-speaking states, the Committee on Language and Terminology, in 2018, invited the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Tajikistan to adopt the names of formations from the Iranian Armed Forces and restore the historical names of units as follows^[3]:

names of units:
Units	Currently russian names	Proposed persian names
army corps division brigade regiment battalion company platoon squad fireteam	армия корпус дивизия бригада полк батальон рота взвод отделение звено	артиш (artiš) сипоҳ (sipāh) лашкар (laškar) гунд (gund) ҳанг (hang) гурдон (gordān) вашт (wašt) таҳм (tahm) гурӯҳ (gorūh) рада (rada)

Based on the fact that in the Persian-Tajik language military ranks traditionally come from the names of units and formations, the following military rank system for the Tajik Armed Forces was proposed^[3]:

Officers

Category	Troop ranks	Currently names	Proposed names	NATO equivalent
Supreme officers or general officers
	Army General / General of the Army	Генера́ли артиш (Generáli artish)	Артишсолор (Artishsālār)	OF-9
	Colonel General / General	Генера́л-полко́вник (Generál-polkóvnik)	Сипаҳсолор (Sipahsālār)	OF-8
	Lieutenant General	Генера́л-лейтена́нт (Generál-leytenánt)	Лашкарсолор (Lashkarsālār)	OF-7
	Major General	Генера́л-майо́р (Generál-mayór)	Гундсолор (Gundsālār)	OF-6
Senior officers or field grade officers	Colonel	Полко́вник (Polkóvnik)	Сарҳанг (Sarhang)	OF-5
	Lieutenant Colonel	Подполко́вник (Podpolkóvnik)	Сарҳангёр (Sarhangyār)	OF-4
	Major	Майо́р (Mayór)	Саргурд (Sargord)	OF-3
Junior officers or company grade officers	Captain	Капита́н (Kapitán)	Сарвашт (Sarwasht)	OF-2
	Senior Lieutenant / First Lieutenant	Лейтена́нти калон (Leytenánti kalān)	Таҳмбон (Tahmbān)	OF-1
	Lieutenant / Second Lieutenant	Лейтена́нт (Leytenánt)	Таҳмдор (Tahmdār)	OF-1
	Junior Lieutenant / Lieutenant Junior Grade	Лейтена́нти хурд (Leytenánti khord)	Таҳмовар (Tahmāvar)	Acting Officer
Student officers	Officer cadet	Курсант (Kursant)	Размомӯз (Razmāmůz)	OF-(D)

Non-officer ranks

Category	Troop ranks	Currently names	Proposed names	NATO equivalent
Praporshik	Senior Ensign / Chief Warrant Officer	Пра́поршики калон (Praporshiki kalān)	Размсоз (Razmsāz)	OR-9
Praporshik	Ensign / Warrant Officer	Пра́поршик (Praporshik)	Размовар (Razmāvar)	OR-9
Sergeants	Petty Officer / Sergeant First Class	Старшина́ (Starshina)	Саргурӯҳбон (Sargorūhbān)	OR-8
	Senior Sergeant / Staff Sergeant	Сержа́нти калон) (Serzhánti kalān)	Гурӯҳбон (Gorūhbān)	OR-7
	Sergeant	Сержа́нт (Serzhánt)	Гурӯҳдор (Gorūhdār)	OR-6
	Junior Sergeant / Corporal	Сержа́нти хурд (Serzhánti khord)	Гурӯҳвар (Gorūhvar)	OR-5
Soldiers and yefréytors	Gefreiter / Lance Corporal / Private First Class	Ефре́йтор (Yefréytor)	Радабон (Radabān)	OR-4
Soldiers and yefréytors	Private	Қаторӣ (Qatārī)	Сарбоз (Sarbāz)	OR-1

The proposed system of Tajik military ranks sent to the National Security Council of Tajikistan.^[3]

References

^ https://www.rferl.org/a/tajik-army-sticks-with-russian-terms-for-now/29693185.html
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "ҚОНУНИ ҶУМҲУРИИ ТОҶИКИСТОН ДАР БОРАИ ЎҲДАДОРИИ УМУМИИ ҲАРБӢ ВА ХИЗМАТИ ҲАРБӢ". majmilli.tj (in Tajik). The National Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nadirov, Bahmanyor (10 November 2018). "Умед Джайхани: В национальной армии и терминология должна быть максимально национальной" (in Russian). Retrieved 28 November 2019.

[1] ttps://www.rferl.org/a/tajik-army-sticks-with-russian-terms-for-now/29693185.html

[Tajikistan-2] "ҚОНУНИ ҶУМҲУРИИ ТОҶИКИСТОН ДАР БОРАИ ЎҲДАДОРИИ УМУМИИ ҲАРБӢ ВА ХИЗМАТИ ҲАРБӢ". majmilli.tj (in Tajik). The National Assembly of the Republic of Tajikistan. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2021.

[Джайхани-3] Nadirov, Bahmanyor (10 November 2018). "Умед Джайхани: В национальной армии и терминология должна быть максимально национальной" (in Russian). Retrieved 28 November 2019.

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