On 15 January 2026, Associate Professor Abdugani Mamadazimov from the Faculty of International Relations at the Tajik National University in Dushanbe presented his monograph dedicated to “gift diplomacy” at a lecture for students and faculty of the Centre for Eastern Languages and Studies of Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski.
Professor Mamadazimov traced the development of diplomatic practices along the silk road from antiquity to the age of discovery; he commented on the commercial and political relations between empires and world religions, as exemplified by gift exchanges; and he examined the various dimensions, stages, and scope of gift diplomacy along the silk road throughout Central Asia as a region linking East and West.
Prof. Dr. Gergana Petkova, Dean of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology, hosted the meeting with the guest lecturer from Tajikistan, alongside the Chair of the Department of Turkic and Altaic Studies, professors, BA and PhD students and post-doctoral staff from the Center on Eastern Languages and Studies. The participants expressed their interest in the mutual exchange of experience in the study of the languages, history and culture of the Central Asian states.
Associate Professor Dr. Abdugani Mamadazimov is a senior researcher at the Institute for Asian and European Countries at the Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan. He is a founder and former chairman (1994-2016) of the National Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan and has headed the Board of the “Silk Road – Way to Consolidation” National Foundation since 1998. He is a graduate of Khujand State University and holds a PhD in Political Science from St Petersburg State University.
Prof. Mamadazimov’s working visit took place under the auspices of the SUMMIT Programme at Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski.