This silver coin was minted in 2001 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Kurash is a form of upright jacket wrestling native to Uzbekistan, practiced since ancient times. It is a Uzbek wrestling art, It is an event in the Asian Games. There is an effort to include Kurash in the Olympic games.

Turkish güreş, Uzbek kuraş and Tatar köreş are the same word in different Turkish dialects. It originally means martial art. The word exist in all Turkish dailects almost without exception, basically refers to martial arts similar to wrestling.

This Central Asian sport developed thousands of years ago as a form of training for fighting, for both self-defence and war. This is reflected in the rules, where clothing is required which mimics armour or battle-garb, and where grips on the trousers and ground fighting are banned, since bending over low or going to the ground make a fighter vulnerable to weapon thrusts. The emphasis on standing fighting develops strong balance and quick footwork, which help greatly when fighting with weapons.

Upright grappling was an integral part of ancient and medieval warfare because most hand to hand weapons needed several feet of space to be effective to deliver their blows, such as swords and spears. Once within this range, the warriors were obliged to grapple with each other. The first one thrown to the ground would, by falling down, create enough space for the sword or spear of the thrower or another soldier to do its work, and therefore the fallen fighter would be at great risk of death. This is why falling to the ground is considered a decisive loss in almost all traditional wrestling styles around the globe, including Kurash.