ISSN 2181-8592

BULLETIN
OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE
FOR CENTRAL ASIAN
STUDIES

35

PUBLISHED TWICE A YEAR

Founded in 2005

SAMARKAND
2023

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IICAS
International Institute
for Central Asian Studies (IICAS)
by the UNESCO Silk Road Programme

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD

Chairman Dmitry Voyakin, PhD in archaeology, Director of IICAS; Bakhtiyar Babajanov, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), The Abu
Rayhan Biruni Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Jian Ma, professor
of the School of Cultural Heritage at Northwest University, Xi’an, China; Julio Bendezu-Sarmiento, PhD in prehistory,
ethnology and anthropology, University of Paris 1 Sorbonne Pantheon, French National Centre for Scientific Research
(CNRS-ENS); Michael Frachetti, professor, Department of Anthropology Washington University in St. Louis, USA; Ye-
gor Kitov, PhD Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archeology of
the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Bulat Khusainov, Dr. Sci. (Economics), Associate
Professor, Kazakh-German University, Almaty; Roland Lin Chih-Hung, PhD in Art History and Archaeology, Professor,
Paris-Sorbonne University; Pavel Lurje, PhD in philology, Oriental Department of the State Hermitage Museum, St.
Petersburg; Simone Mantellini, Ph.D. in archaeology, University of Bologna; Shahin Mustafayev, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Ac-
ademician, President of the International Turkic Academy (TWESCO); Claude Rapin, Dr (HDR), National Centre for
Scientific Research (CNRS-ENS), Paris; Ayrat Sitdikov, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Institute of Archeology named after A.Khalikov,
Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan; Michael Shenkar, Associate Professor of Pre-Islamic Iranian Studies,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Rafael Valeev, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Professor of Kazan Federal University, Vice-President
of National Committee ICOMOS Russia; Ona Vileikis, PhD in engineering science, the UCL Institute of Archaeology;
Kazuya Yamauchi, Professor of Archaeology, Teikyo University, Tokyo.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief Ruslan G. Muradov, Professor of the International Academy of Architecture, Moscow branch (IAAM);
Bakyt Amanbaeva, PhD in archaeology, Professor, Institute of History and Cultural Heritage of the National Academy
of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic; Farda Asadov, Dr. Sci. (Philology), Professor, Institute of Oriental Studies of the
National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Enkhbat Avirmed, the School of Business Administration
and Humanities, Mongolian University of Science and Technology; Naranbaatar Baasansuren, PhD student, School of
Business Administration and Humanity, MUST, Mongolia; Bauyrzhan Baitanayev, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Academician, Insti-
tute of Archaeology of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Larisa Dodhudoeva, Dr.
Sci. (Hist.), Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan;
Steven Gilbert, PhD in historical and ethnographic and theological studies, the Lanier Center for Archaeology at Lip-
scomb University, USA; Svetlana Gorshenina, Dr (HDR), University of Geneva - National Centre for Scientific Research
(CNRS-ENS), Paris; Elmira Gul, Dr. Sci. (Art), Professor, Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences of the Re-
public of Uzbekistan; Alexander Jumaev, PhD in art studies, Director of the Research Group ‘Makam’ of the International
Council for Traditional Music, Tashkent; Saeid Khatibzadeh, Professor, Institute for Political and International Studies
(IPIS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran; Hee Soo Lee, Professor of the Department of Cultural Anthropology, Hanyang
University, Seoul; Philipp Meuser, Prof. h.c. Dr.-Ing., architect, publisher, Visiting Professor for Public Humnaties, Brown
University, Providence/Rhode Island; Tigran Mkrtychev, Dr. Sci. (Art studies), Director of the State Museum of Arts
named after I. V. Savitsky, Nukus; Shakirjan Pidaev, PhD in archaeology, Fine Arts Research Institute of the Academy of
Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Dilshod Rahimi, Research Institute of Culture and Information of the Ministry
of Culture of the Republic of Tajikistan; Ghani-ur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; Evren Rutbil, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA); Khalil
Shirgholami, Dr. Institute for Political and International Studies, acting Vice-President, Iran; Tim Williams, Associate
Professor in Silk Roads Archeology, the UCL Institute of Archaeology.

Editorial Office: Anastasia Stepanova

The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this edition and for the opinions
expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of IICAS and do not oblige the organization in way, nor do they represent
the expression of any opinions as the part of IICAS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or of its authorities,
or concerning the delimitation of its frontier or boundaries.

© International Institute for Central Asian Studies, 2023

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 CONTENTS

CULTURAL STUDIES

Vladimir Ruzanov
Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Central Asian Interfluve ..............................................................................7

Bakhtiyor Abdullaev
On the Problem of the Eilatan Culture in Ancient Fergana ......................................................................18

Rustam Suleymanov, Akmal Muhammadiev, Kholiyor Oynazarov

New sites of the early Iron Age in the upper reaches of the Sherabad-Darya ........................................35

Mark Dickens, Valerii Kolchenko

Medieval Christian Gravestones from Krasnaya Rechka ..........................................................................41

Mark Dickens
Where was the Christian metropolitan bishop of Nawākath located? .....................................................50

Dmitry Miloserdov
Arms decoration features in Khanates of Central Asia .........................................................................66

Elmira Gyul
The Embroidered Carpets of Uzbekistan ..............................................................................................97

HISTORIOGRAPHY ISSUES

Elizaveta Nekrasova
Bukhara: Three Centuries from the Architectural History of the Blessed City .................................111

Dilnoza Rajabova
From the history of Shiite-Sunni conflicts in the Emirate of Bukhara ..............................................128

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 CHRONICLE

Elena Nerazik
Brief Autobiographical Note .................................................................................................................137

Victor Pilipko
To the 100th anniversary of Boris Anatolyevich Litvinsky .................................................................143

Tigran Mkrtychev
Father And Son Falk at the Nukus Museum ...........................................................................................147

Irina Kantarbaeva-Bill
Post-Colonial Perspective on Turkestan Photography ........................................................................153

Addresses of Authors ..................................................................................................................................155

Abbreviations ...............................................................................................................................................155

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CULTURAL
STUDIES

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ВЕСТНИК МИЦАИ 29/2020

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 VLADIMIR RUZANOV

BRONZE AGE METALLURGY

IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN INTERFLUVE
Abstract: The metallurgical centers of Tazabagyab, Dasht-i-Kumsay, Kairakkum, Dalverzin-Chust-
Burgulyuk and North Bactria were identified based on data produced by spectral and morphological-
typological studies of tools, weapons, designs, and dress articles. The original impulses have been determined
to emanate from ancient copper industries on today’s Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Russia. The external
and internal connections of these metallurgical centers have been studied and the chemical analysis of alloys
was established (i.e. the use of such materials as tin, lead, arsenic, tin-lead, lead-arsenic bronzes, complex
multicomponent tin-antimony-arsenic, and tin-lead-antimony-arsenic alloys, as well as pure copper and tin),
which were used by local craftsmen to produce tools and accessories. Research has identified ore mines (i.e.
deposits at “Vozrozhdennoe,” Naukat, Varzik, Karnab, and Gaurdak ore fields, etc.) located in the mountain
areas of the Kyzylkum, Zirabulak-Ziaetda, Zarafshan, South Chatkal, and Qurama. The chronology and
dating for metallurgical forges have been subject to analysis. The Turan metallurgical province, formed in the
late 2nd millennium BCE had been was identified at sites in present day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and southern
Kyrgyzstan.

Key words: forge, metallurgy, alloys, deposits, Bronze Age.

Citation: Ruzanov, V. D. (2023). Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Central Asian Interfluve, Bulletin of the
IICAS 35, 7-17.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.001

I
N THE STEPPE ZONES of Eurasia during the geological data regarding the central and northern
2nd millennium BCE, complex ethnic process- zones of the Central Asian Interfluve, local mining ar-
es occurred associated with migration of cattle eas are rich in copper, tin, and polymetals. Judging by
breeding tribes. These processes also covered Cen- the similarity in chemical analysis of many products
tral Asia. Thus, steppe cultures territory expanded from ancient sites with ores from local fields, one can
southward. Tribal groups including the Catacomb, speak of their development during the Bronze Age,
Petrovo, Andronovo (Alakulians and Fedorovans) which made local production economically indepen-
and Srubnaya (or “Timber-grave”) cultures, as well dent of remote or foreign metallurgical centers.
as the Multiroller ceramics culture, participated in In the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE,
these relocations (Avanesova 2013). While agricul- a breakthrough occurred technologically in metal-
tural tribes of the East that migrated north from their lurgical development in northern Central Asia. The
ancient southern regions are traceable, they were not result was no significant lag between the northern
as significant as the relocations of the steppe peoples. and southern industries, as is traceable for previous
At approximately the same time, cultures identified periods. From the end of the 2nd to the first half of
by their painted, molded ceramics formed in Central the 1st millennium BCE, local metallurgical centers
Asian “Mesopotamia,” which formed special seden- were equal in terms of their technological develop-
tary agricultural zones in areas inhabited mainly by ment. Apparently, this is why in Central Asian, the
steppe tribes. Metallurgists and foundry workers Bronze Age ended simultaneously, specifically the 7th
from these cultures encountered each other, which century BCE, although there is a significant chrono-
led to the exchange of technological and cultural logical variation in the initial dates of the Bronze
achievements. Age onset from one various historical and cultural
Metallurgical production normally occurs in ar- area to another. For example, in the eastern half of
eas with access to ore and, even more importantly, southern Turkmenistan, the Bronze Age began in the
places favorable for ore field development. Based on 22nd century BCE. – much earlier than in Uzbekistan

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and Tajikistan, where the early Bronze Age dates to from the steppe tribe sites that existed in the second
the 18th–17th centuries BCE. (Ruzanov 2013: 237). half of the 2nd millennium BCE in the Akcha-Darya
Therefore, in the cultural and historical areas of the delta, the lower reaches of the Zarafshan River, in the
territory under consideration, the Bronze Age peri- Kyzylkum and Zirabulak-Ziaetda mining and metal-
ods differ from each other in duration and exist with- lurgical regions of western Uzbekistan. The following
in the limits of 7–15 centuries. facts speak for the autonomous nature of this forge.
In previous studies pertaining to the most ancient First, is evidence for the existence of this area’s own
metallurgical industries in the northern regions of metallurgical industry (e.g. droplets of smelted cop-
Central Asia, researchers mainly considered histori- per, clay smelting ladles, fragments of ceramic cru-
cal and chronological issues, which were most often cibles, vessels, and slag) and metalworking (stone
solved by morphological and typological analysis. In casting molds). Second, the artifacts’ forms and their
chemical and metallurgical terms, metals were un- modifications are characteristic of this forge. Third,
derstudied at that time. At present, more than 600 are the traces of ancient copper and tin deposit devel-
copper-bronze items from northern Bronze Age cul- opment located near Tazabagyab culture settlements.
tures have undergone spectral analysis. Analyses for The forge masters mainly used copper from near-
some of these items have been published (Bogdano- by ore deposits located in the Kyzylkum and Ziaetda
va-Berezovskaya 1962; 1968; Kuzmina 1966; Ruzanov mountains, as well as imported metal from the north,
1980; 1982; 2000; 2010; 2016). Artifacts were studied specifically, the Andronovo and Srubnaya cultures.
obtained during archaeological surveys of mines and Judging by the saturation from the collection of the
sites with traces of copper smelting, as well as geo- binary tin bronzes (more than 80% of these items
chemical characteristics from large copper, tin, and were made from this alloy), local casters, obviously,
polymetal deposits (Klunnikov 1933; Shcherbakov knew no lack of tin. This metal, scarce at that time,
1935; Golubin 1955; Ismailov 1975; Baimukhamedov, was mined in Zirabulak-Karatyube-Zarafshan and,
Efimenko 1976; Buryakov 1974; Vinogradov, Mamedov possibly, in the Bukan-Tamdy-Auminzatau mining
1975; Uzbekistan Geology 1998; Ionin 1935; Litvinskii and metallurgical regions, with knwn cassiterite de-
1950; Litvinenko et al. 1994; Nasledov1961; Pruger posits. Yet, at an early stage of their activity, the Taz-
1986; Rusakov, Korolev 1935; Cierny 2002; Carner abagyab masters borrowed tin and tin bronzes from
2013; Parzinger, Boroffka 2002). Geochemical data west Kazakhstan population. In addition to tin alloys,
comparison with the chemical composition of these the forge casters used tin-lead alloys, lead, and pure
artifacts made it possible to identify the original ore copper.
sources and to identify potential mining and metal- Under the influence of the Andronovo impulse
lurgical areas for copper mining. All this information originating from western Kazakhstan and the south-
has enhanced knowledge in the field of Central Asian ern Urals, this forge maintained close metallurgical
ancient metallurgy. Thus, it became possible to adjust ties with the craftsmen from the Parkhai-Sumba-
the previous viewpoints describing the development ra metallurgical center and the Murghab-Kopetdag
of the region’s copper-and-bronze industry in the ear- metalworking center which functioned in southern
ly metal era. Briefly, they boil down to the following: Turkmenistan during the 2nd millennium BCE. Facts
A rich copper-tin ore base in this Central Asian indicate that local metallurgists supplied copper and
“Mesopotamia” contributed to the formation and tin mined in the Kyzylkum and Zirabulak-Ziaetda
successful development of its own metallurgical in- mountains as well as alloys containing tin made from
dustries during the Bronze Age. It is characterized these metals to the south of Turkmenistan and Iran.
by the materials from five forges: four metallurgical In addition to these southern connections, the center
centers – Tazabagyabsky, Dasht-i-Kumsay, Kairak- maintained contacts with the northern steppe, spe-
kum, Dalverzino-Chust-Burgulyuk, and one North cifically in Kazakhstan and to the east in the middle
Bactrian metalworking center. The centers used met- Zarafshan River basin.
al geologically related to deposits located in the Kyz- The collection from the Tazabagyab center in-
ylkum, Zirabulak-Ziaetda, Zarafshan, and Kurama cluded tools, weapons, and their decorations (Fig.
mountains and the southwestern spurs of the Chat- 1). Many items find comparison to sites among the
kal mountains. The southern metalworking center, steppe tribes of Kazakhstan and Eurasia, dating from
which existed in ancient northern Bactria, worked the third quarter of the 2nd millennium BCE. To-
with imported raw materials, the sources of which gether with objects with steppe forms, decorations
were Afghanistan, southeastern Turkmenistan, and of the ancient oriental type were made in the forge.
the northern regions of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan These included pins (a stone casting matrix for cast-
(Ruzanov 2013: 270). ing of bi-spiral finials) and wire pendants with relief
Tazabagyab metallurgical center. Production knobs at their base (the Khak complex, Sumbar I
activity of this center was characterized by materials burial ground) of the Late Bronze Age.

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 V. RUZANOV

Dasht-i-Kumsai metallurgical center. The burial The second feature involved the use of various
grounds of Dasht-i-Kozy, Muminabad, Kumsay, and tin-containing bronzes by Dasht-i-Kumsai masters
Tuyun — certain burials of the steppe tribes — con- such as tin, tin-lead, complex tin-antimony-arsenic,
centrated in the upper basin of the Zarafshan River in and tin-lead-antimony-arsenic alloys (and rarely
western Uzbekistan and central Tajikistan belong to used arsenic bronzes and pure copper). It should be
this center, as well as in the Tursunzade and Khovalin noted that the share of tin-containing alloys in this
regions in southwestern Tajikistan. Researchers asso- forge accounts for 97% of the items in the collection,
ciate their emergence with the migration waves of the which is the highest indicator in the metalworking of
Andronovo tribes from the late 2nd to early 1st mil- other steppe-type forges in Central Asia.
lennium BCE from Kazakhstan, first to the basin of The third feature is that for the first time within
the Zarafshan River and further down south to south- this region the metallurgists of the Dasht-i-Kumsai
western Tajikistan (Pyankova 1989: 138; Vinogradova forge started to use tin-based alloys (tin 74% or more)
2004: 104). for casting jewelry (beads), which, in fact, can be at-
As compared to other centers in this region, this tributed as pure tin.
one has several unique features. First, the grave goods The ore base of the Dashty-Kumsai focus was
from local burial grounds are only jewelry and groom- polymetallic deposits enriched in tin, antimony, arse-
ing artifacts. Tools and weapons were not found in nic, and lead, located in the Jilau-Taror, Koninukrin-
the burials. In this regard, it is difficult to establish sky-Mushiston, Semichsky and Iskander-Kul mining
the real specie-related and typological composition regions. The similarity of the geochemistry from the
of metal artifacts that could be produced in this met- ores in these deposits with chemical characteristics of
allurgical center. This situation makes it difficult to metal from the Dashty-Kumsai chamber indirectly
make a true assessment of the morphological similar- indicates their development during the Bronze Age.
ity of the inventory as compared with the metal from Some of them bear traces of ancient developments
other cultures and sites. Yet, the simultaneous nature and remains from metallurgical production (Lit-
of the sites for this center with the Shamshi, Sukuluk, vinenko et al. 1994: 64–67).
Issyk-Kul, Dalverzino and other northern hoards of The presence in these artifact collections from
Central Asia—which, like the burial grounds, existed these culturally diverse northern and southern sites
in the late Alakul, Fedorovo and Alekseevo-Sargari- in Central Asian “Mesopotamia,” made of tin-anti-
no times— allows one to make an assumption about mony-arsenic and tin-lead-antimony-arsenic alloys,
their possible cultural unity and similarities morpho- were characteristic of the Dasht-i-Kumsai forge and
logically and typologically of their metal inventory. In indicates its versatile metallurgical connections. Thus,
this regard, based on the species and typological com- the masters of this forge maintained contacts with the
position of the cultural material, it can be assumed cultures who made steppe bronze and stucco paint-
that the Dasht-i-Kumsai craftsmen made socketed ed ceramics, as well as the ancient Eastern tribes that
axes with a comb, knives and daggers, adzes, chisels, lived in the Fergana and Gissar valleys and the Tash-
hammers, wedges, sickles, fishing hooks, and arrows kent and Surkhandarya regions. By exporting metal,
(Fig. 2). By the way, such an idea was brought up in the center influenced production development in the
one of T. M. Potemkina’s articles, who conducted a Kairakkum metallurgy centers (at the end of the 2nd
detailed analysis of the grave goods from the Dasht- millennium BCE) and Dalverzino-Chust-Burgulyuk
i-Kozy burial ground. The lack of tools and weapons (early Dalverzino stage and early phase Burgulyuk I),
in this and other contemporary burial grounds from as well as in the North Bactrian metalworking cen-
the steppe Bronze Age in the Central Asian Interfluve ter (late phase Sapalli culture development – Molalin
area, this author connects with the scarcity of met- and Bustan periods). At the same time, on can ob-
al caused by the these sites’ remoteness and isolation serve influences in the opposite direction on the forge
raw material sources and metallurgical centers of from northern and southern cultures, which mani-
central, eastern and southern Kazakhstan of the Late fested both in the artifact morphology (mirrors with
Bronze Age (Potemkina 2001: 67–68)1. a side handle) and in metal chemical composition.

1
It is believed that the reason for the lack of tools and weapons copper’s technical properties I that they made it soft. Such
in the Dasht-i-Kumsai tribal burial grounds from the steppe copper has good casting and is an excellent source material
bronze period could be due to a metal shortage containing for making jewelry and grooming artifacts (i.e. mirrors),
increased hardness necessary for this product. As for the widely represented in the burials of the above sites. therefore,
alloys used in the Dasht-i-Kumsay forge, they were smelted obviously the craftsmen took care and did not include both
from predominantly polymetallic ore deposits enriched by a whole tools and weapons in the grave inventory, which could
number of elements, in particular tin (15% or more). Such be re-used in producing various products used in economic
a high impurity content, passing from ore to metal, reduced activities.

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Fig.1. Types of metal products, stone casting molds for casting spearheads, and pinheads from the Tazabagyab
metallurgical center (Tazabagyab culture). Bracelets and stone molds according to M. A. Itina (1977)

The steppe population of Kazakhstan bronze age The presence of imported goods in the Kairakkum
took an active part in the formation of the Dasht-i- culture testifies to the close relationship of their mas-
Kumsai focus. ters with the eastern Kazakhstan and northern Kyr-
Kairakkum metallurgical center. This center gyzstan steppe culture populations. Kairakkum metal
united the sites of the Kairakkum culture, located casters maintained contacts with the steppe tribes,
in the Kairak-Kum region in northern Tajikistan. who left burials near the village Iskander and in the
Production was located in the Supe-Tau mountain Aurakhmat lead-silver mine in the Tashkent region.
range on the right bank of the Syr-Darya River in the The connections of this forge also extend southward
Kuraminsky mountains (Litvinsky et al. 1962: 172). to the steppe tribes of the Bronze Age, who lived in
In those settlements and their nearby camps, many the upper basin of the river Zarafshan River.
discovered copper smelting points were left by the The Kairakkum metallurgical center had a typo-
Kairakkum tribes as determined by the slag fields.
The center functioned during the last centuries of the
the chamber’s ore base making it possible propose that the main
2nd to the early 1st millennium BCE during the Late source for ore deposits were cuprous sandstones localized in the
Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.2 Kuraminsky mountains. In this regard, one can refer to only one
metallurgical center from this culture which existed within the
limits of the Supe-Tau ridge. In addition, it is noted that new dates
2
B. A. Litvinsky believed that "... on the territory of Kayrak- are proposed by researchers for the early developmental stage of
Kum there was only one metallurgical center Kayrak-Kum." The the Kairakkum culture. Thus, according to G.P. Ivanov, this stage
functional area of metallurgical production for the entire culture, should not be dated to the second half of the 2nd millennium BC,
according to Litvinsky, was much larger. In his opinion, its centers as suggested by B. A. Litvinsky (Litvinsky et al. 1962: 231, 258),
were based around ore, including copper and polymetallic or the last third of the 2nd millennium BC (Ivanov 1999: 17).
deposits in the south Chatkal and Kuraminsky mountains, as Based on chemical-metallurgical and typological comparisons,
well as copper deposits in the Nurata mountains (Litvinsky et this author proposes that the beginning date of Kairakkum
al. 1962: 195). Comparisons of the chemical composition from metallurgy should be recalculated from the 8th to possibly 12th
artifacts with geochemical data narrowed down geographically centuries BC.

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 V. RUZANOV

Fig. 2. Types of metal products from the Dasht-i-Kumsai metallurgical center (burials of Dasht-i-Kozy,
Muminabad, Kumsai) and their contemporary steppe tribe hoard items from Central Asia. I - Dasht-i-Kozy burial
ground, II - Muminabad burial ground, III - Kumsai burial ground, IV - Sukuluk hoard, V - Shamshi hoard.
Sukuluk hoard items according to E. E. Kuzmina (1966), from the Kumsai burial ground according to N. M.
Vinogradova (2004)

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Fig. 3. Types of metal products, stone molds for casting axes and rock picks (mattocks) from the Kairakkum
metallurgical center (the Kairakkum culture). Single-edged knives, arrowheads, a bracelet, a mirror, beads,
and stone molds for casting socketed axes and mattocks according to B. A. Litvinsky (Litvinsky et al. 1962)

logical impact on metalworking from the tribes of Judging from the typological composition of met-
the Chust and Burgulyuk cultures. This influenced al tools and ornaments (Fig. 3), the impulse leading
the production of the steppe population in this area, to the emergence of the Kairakkum focus came from
which existed in the Zaravshan middle river basin, production centers that functioned in today’s Ka-
where this author asserts to be metal originating from zakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan.
Kairakkum. Dalverzino-Chust-Burgulyuk metallurgicall
This center’s craftsmen used a variety of artificial center. This forge connects the Chust and Burgulyuk
alloys including tin, lead, tin-lead bronzes, as well as culture sites based on stucco painted ceramics com-
imported multi-component tin-antimony-arsenic, mon in the northeastern Ferghana Valley and the
and tin-lead-antimony-arsenic alloys. In addition to eastern Tashkent region. It was characterized by in-
these, pure copper was often used. dustries that functioned in the Chust culture and the
The base for ore deposits were located in the Ku- Burgulyuk culture (the early period of Burgulyuk I)
raminsky mountains. Among them were the Naukat in 14th–7th centuries BCE.
deposit of cuprous sandstones, near the of the Kairak- The goods produced by the early phase Dalverzi-
kum culture sites. Copper from Naukat was used only no and Burgulyuk masters (14th–9th centuries BCE)
by Kairakkum craftsmen and did not enter other cul- reflected features inherent in their metalworking by
tures. Obviously, it was local in nature. In the forge, the various schools. Here one can identify these item’s
copper was often used and mined from the Varzik shapes created under the southern influence emanat-
copper deposit. In addition, Kairakkum craftsmen ing from ancient Eastern tribes, and the influences
used imported metal, apparently of Kyzylkum origin. coming from the steppe bronze cultures. All this was
However, it played a secondary role in the local pop- reflected in their heritage’s typological compositions
ulation’s development. In the Kairakkumk culture, tin and gave the Dalverzino-Burgulyuk metal a mixed
alloys were used less frequently than in other Central character with elements of metalworking from the
Asian steppe cultures. Judging by the chemical indi- Iranian-Afghan and Eurasian metallurgical indus-
cators, they came mainly from the Dasht-i-Kumsai tries (Fig. 4).
metallurgical center. Imports of tin bronzes from the In this study, forge metallurgy during the late
Semirechensk metalworking center were located here phase of its development (8th–7th centuries BCE)
in a small amounts. was characterized by metal artifacts from the Chust

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 V. RUZANOV

Fig. 4. Types of metal products, stone casting molds for casting spearheads (?), mirrors, jewelry, and cheek-pieces
of the Dalverzino-Chust-Burgulyuk metallurgical center (Chust and Burgulyuk cultures). Late-phase arrowheads
and stone casting molds according to Yu. A. Zadneprovsky (1962); late-phase single-edged
knives according to E. E. Kuzmina (1966)

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settlement. During that period, the production vol- second raw material source widely used in the late
ume and typological product variability were reduced, developmental phase was Varzik copper sandstone
the production of adzes, chisels, and double-bladed deposits located near the Chust settlement. The exact
knives stopped. The forge maintained close ties with location of the third ore source, whose metal was also
the Kairakkum metallurgists and the Kuchuk culture found in the Kairakkum forge and other Ferghana
tribes. Valley and Taskent region steppe cultures has not yet
The forge casters were familiar with tin, lead, been established. Perhaps it was also located in the
arsenic, tin-lead, lead-arsenic, and tin-antimony-ar- Ferghana-Tashkent region. Craftsmen used imported
senic bronzes. Also, in foundry practice, local crafts- metal from northern and central Tajikistan and west-
men used pure copper, billon, and lead. ern Uzbekistan.
Forge production was based on raw material Metullrugy origins in the Dalverzino-Chust-Bur-
sources located in the Chatkal (specifically the south- gulyuk metallurgical center probably should be
ern spurs) and Kuraminsky mountains. In the ear- sought among the ancient Eastern tribes, such as the
ly period, metal was mined in the Vozrozhdennoye Sarazm culture.
deposit in the Chatkal-Koksu metal-bearing zone, North Bactrian metalworking center. This
which played an important role in forge production. forge’s production was characterized as coming from
Most likely this deposit was discovered by the Petrine the ancient eastern Sappalli culture tribes of southern
culture tribes. The mine was also exploited by the Uzbekistan and southwestern Tajikistan (Ruzanov
Andronovites during the Alakul and Fedorov periods 2013). Two distinct phases can be established in its
and possibly by Burgulyuk culture metallurgists. The development. In the early phase (17th-15th centu-

Fig. 5. Types of metal products from the North Bactrian metalworking center (Sapalli culture). Vessel, grooved
bracelet with horns and pendants with late-phase bell according to N. A. Avanesova (2010)

14
 V. RUZANOV

Fig. 6. Metallurgical provinces in Central Asia in the second half of the II-beginning of the I millennium BC

ries BCE), the forge was part of the Iranian-Afghan gion. During the late developmental metalworking
metallurgical province. At that time, it maintained phase of the forge, binary tin bronzes predominated,
close ties with the Seistan Metallurgical Center, the while the proportion of pure copper decreased. Lead,
Murgabo-Kopetdag metalworking center, and the arsenic, and lead-arsenic bronzes were rarely used.
miners-metallurgists who obtained copper from Yet, complex tin-antimony-arsenic alloys appeared
the Kyzylkum mountains. In the late phase (14th – coming from the Dasht-i-Kumsai metallurgical cen-
mid 10th centuries BCE) connections reoriented. At ter.
present, it is believed that influences from the south The changes observed in the second production
Turkmenistan and Afghan metallurgical centers was phase at the north Bactrian location occurred be-
weakening and contacts with the cultural and histor- cause of the cultural and trade relation reorientation
ical community of the Andronovo steppe cultures— from south to north. This resulted in an increased
who used metal mined in the deposits of cuprous flow of metal associated with the Ferghana-Tashkent
sandstones in the Kyzylkum mining and metallurgi- and Kyzylkum ore sources. Yet, blister copper deliver-
cal region— were becoming more frequent. Yet, ties ies from the southwest were falling, specifically from
with the Dalverzino-Chust-Burgulyuk metallurgical southeast Turkmenistan and Northern Afghanistan.
center was strengthening. Probably, in connection with strengthening ties of
Metal from Afghan sources dominated forge met- Central Asian steppe culture tribes — who intensively
alworking during the early phase of its development. developed cassiterite deposits in the late 2nd millen-
Northern copper – particularly Kyzylkum deposits – nium BCE — during the late phase, one can observe
were rarely used at this time. One metal was associ- an increase in items made from bronzes containing
ated with deposits of cuprous sandstones located in tin.
southeastern Turkmenistan (Gaurdak ore basin) and Two impulses played an important role in the
the Ferghana-Tashkent mining and metallurgical re- forming this concentration. One came from the west

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

and was associated with the metalworking by the nections extended to the Ancient East (Iran, Af-
Murghab tribes of southern Turkmenistan function- ghanistan), Eurasia (Kazakhstan, Russia), and east-
ing during the 2nd millennium BCE where a signif- ern Turkestan (Northwest China). They played an
icant predominance of pure copper over other types important formative role for the Turan metallurgical
of alloys, including tin bronzes, is recorded. The sec- province, which existed during the late 2nd millenni-
ond impulse came from a metallurgical center locat- um BCE in today’s Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and south-
ed somewhere in Seistan in Afghanistan. It was this ern Kyrgyzstan (Fig. 6).
second impulse greatly influenced the technology Yet, the Parkhay-Sumbar center of metallurgy
using the alloy formulation in the forge, in particular (late 5th-2nd century BCE) and the Murgab-Kop-
tin bronzes. The main flow of tin ligature to the Sapa- etdag metalworking center (late 3rd century BCE)
lli culture masters in the early developmental phase functioned in Southern Turkmenistan during the
came from this location. 10th century BCE of the ancient Eastern type, which
In the late 2nd millennium BCE, the north Bac- were part of the Iranian-Afghan metallurgical prov-
trian metalworking center left the Iranian-Afghan ince (Ruzanov 2013: 284), as well as the Semirechensk
metallurgical province and became the southeastern metalworking forge, which operated in 12th-9th cen-
outpost for the Turan metallurgical province. This is turies BCE in Northern Kyrgyzstan and southeastern
signified by changes that occurred both in the typo- Kazakhstan (Kuzmina 1966: 98; Degtyareva 1985:
logical composition (Fig. 5) and in the chemical and 24). The last forge, together with the Eurasian steppe
metallurgical forge production indicators. culture metallurgical, constituted the Eurasian metal-
All these centers under consideration actively lurgical province of the Late Bronze Age (Chernykh,
interacted with each other and their external con- Kuzminykh 1989: 267).

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(Chemical composition of metal products of Fergana stana (Geology and minerals of Uzbekistan). Taškent
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Bogdanova-Berezovskaja, I. V. (1968). Khimicheskij sostav mye, gidrogeologija i inzhenernaja geologija. Geologija
metallicheskikh predmetov iz mogil’nikov ehpokhi SSSR. Kirgizskaja SSR (Fossils, hydrogeology and engi-
bronzy v Bishkentskoj doline (Chemical composition neering geology (Geology of the USSR. The Kirghiz Sovi-
of metal items from burial grounds of the bronze age et Socialist Republic). Vol. XXV. Part II. Мoscow: State
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v Juzhnom Tadzhikistane (Sites of the Bronze Age in geology and protection of mineral resources. P. 567–
Southern Tajikistan). MIA. No. 145 Leningrad: Nauka 575 (in Russian).
Publ. P. 163–168 (in Russian). Ionin, N. V. (1935). Olovo v Srednej Azii (Tin in the Central
Burjakov, Ju. F. (1974). Gornoe delo i metallurgija sredneve- Asia), in: Mineral’nye bogatstva Srednej Azii (Mineral
kovogo Ilaka (Mining and metallurgy of medieval Ilak). riches of Central Asia). Proceedings of the Tadjik-Pamir
Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In Russian). Expedition. Leningrad: ONTI-Himteoret. P. 130–135
Chernykh, E. N., Kuz‘minykh V. (1989). Drevnjaja metal- (in Russian).

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Ivanov, H. P. (1999). Arheologicheskie kulturi Fergani (Ar- Pjankova, L. T. (1989). Drevnie skotovody Juzhnogo
heological culture of Fergana). PhD dissertation ab- Tadzhikistana (Аncient cattle-breeders in the South of
stract. Samarkand (in Russian). Tajikistan). Dushanbe: Donish Publ. (In Russian).
Ismailov M. I. (1975). Kassiterit (Kassiterit), in: Mineraly Ruzanov, V. D. (1980) K voprosu o metalloobrabotke u ple-
Uzbekistana (Minerals of Uzbekistan). Vol. I. Taškent: men chustskoj kul’tury (More on the question of metal
Branch of the Academy of Sciences. 45 (in Russian). working of the tribes of the Chust culture), in: SA. No.
Klunnikov I. (1933). V gorakh Kara-Tjube (In the moun- 4. P. 55–64 (in Russian).
tains of Kara-Tyube), in: Tadzhikskaja kompleksnaja Ruzanov, V. D. (1982). Istorija drevnej metallurgii i gornogo
ehkspedicija 1932 g. (The Tadjik complex expedition of dela Uzbekistana v ehpokhu bronzy i rannego zheleza
1932). Leningrad: Goskhimtekhizdat. P. 244–246 (in (History of ancient metallurgy and mining of Uzbeki-
Russian). stan during the bronze and early iron ages). PhD dis-
Kuz’mina, E. E. (1966). Metallicheskie izdelija ehneolita i sertation abstract. The Moscow State University (in
bronzovogo veka v Srednej Azii (Metal products of the Russian).
Eneolithic and Bronze Age in Central Asia (Svod Ar- Ruzanov, V. D. (2000) Karnabskoe kassiteritovoe
heologicheswkih Istochnikov (Collection of archaeo- mestorozhdenie – istochnik olova ehpokhi bronzy
logical sources). Issue 4-9. Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In (Karnab cassiterite deposit –source of tin of the bronze
Russian). epoch), in: IMKU. Issue 31. Samarkand: Sugdion. P.
Litvinenko, K. I., Radililovskij V.V., Jakubov Ju. Ja. (1994) 54–57 (in Russian).
Drevnee gornorudnoe proizvodstvo bassejna reki Ruzanov, V. D. (2010). Novye dannye k istorii dobychi olo-
Zaravshan (Ancient mining manufacture of river basin va v Uzbekistane (New data to history of extraction
Zaravshan), in: Istorija i perspektivy razvitija gornorud- the tin in Uzbekistan), in: Arheologya Uzbekistana (Ar-
noj promyshlennosti Srednej Azii (History and prospects cheology of Uzbekistan). Issue 1. Samarkand: Sugdion
of development of the mining industry of Central Asia). Publ. P. 49–64 (in Russian).
Khujand: Donish Publ. P. 64–67 (in Russian). Ruzanov, V. D. (2013). Metalloobrabotka na juge Srednej
Litvinskij, B. A. (1950). K istorii dobychi olova v Uzbekis- Azii v ehpokhu bronzy (Metallworking in the south of
tane (More on history of extraction of tin in Uzbeki- Central Asia in the bronze epoch). Samarkand (in Rus-
stan), in: Trudy Sredneaziatskogo Gosudarstvennogo sian).
Universiteta (Transactions of the Central Asian State Ruzanov, V. D. (2016). More on the question of ore base of
University). A new series. Issue 11. Taškent: Branch of the metallurgy in the Fergana-Tashkent areas during
Academy of Sciences. P. 51–68 (in Russian). the bronze age, in: Bulletin of IICAS, 23. P. 62–87.
Litvinskij, B. A., Okladnikov, A. P., Ranov V. A. (1962). Rusakov, M. P., Korolev A. V. (1935). Mednye rudy Srednej
Drevnosti Kajrak-Kumov. Drevnejshaja istorija Sever- Azii i problema Almalykstroja (Copper ores of Cen-
nogo Tadzhikistana (Antiquities of Kajrak-godfathers. tral Asia and problem Almalykstroy), in: Mineral’nye
The most ancient history of Northern Tajikistan]. Du- bogatstva Srednej Azii (Mineral riches of Central Asia).
shanbe: Akademija nauk Tadzhikskoj SSR Publ. (In Trudy Tadzhiksko-Pamirskoj ehkspedicii (Works of
Russian). Tadjik-Pamir expedition). Leningrad: ONTI-Khimte-
Nasledov, B. N. (1961). Kara-Mazar (Kara-Mazar). Lenin- oret. P. 11–60 (in Russian).
grad: Akademija nauk SSSR Publ. (In Russian). Sherbakov, D. I. (1935). Mysh’jak, redkie i malye ehlemen-
Рarzinger, H., Boroffka, N. (2002). New results on pre- ty Srednej Azii (Arsenic, rare and small elements of
historic tin-and bronze metallurgy in Central Asia, Central Asia), in: Mineral’nye bogatstva Srednej Azii
in: Kagaly International Field Symposium 2002: Earli- (Mineral riches of Central Asia). Trudy Tadzhiks-
est stages of mining and metallurgy in northen part of ko-Pamirskoj ehkspedicii (Works of Tadjik-Pamir expe-
Eurasia: Kargaly complex. Proceedings of Symposium. dition). Leningrad: ONTI-Khimteoret. P. 107–129 (in
Мoscow: Nox. P. 71–75. Russian).
Potemkina, T. M. (2001). Ukrashenija iz mogil’nika eh- Vinogradov, A. V., Mamedov Eh. D. (1975). Pervobytnyj
pokhi bronzy Dasht-i-Kozy (Jewellery from the burial Ljavljakan. Ehtapy drevnejshego zaselenija i osvoenija
ground of bronze age the Dasht-i-Kozy), in: Vestnik Vnutrennikh Kyzylkumov (Primitive Lyavlyakan. Stag-
Arkheologii, antropologii i ehtnografii (Bulletin of ar- es of the most ancient settling and development of the
chaeology, anthropology and ethnography). No. 3. Mos- Inner Kyzylkum Miuntains Region). Proceedings of the
cow. P. 62–72 (in Russian). KhAEE. Issue X. Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In Russian).
Pruger, E. B. (1986). Gornyj promysel Juzhnogo Sogda – Ke- Vinogradova, N. M. (2004). Jugo-Zapadnyj Tadzhikistan v
sha (Mining industry of Southern Sogd – Kesh). Learn- ehpokhu pozdnej bronzy (South-West Tajikistan during
er’s Book. Taškent: Tashkentskij gosudarstvennyj uni- the late bronze epoch). Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In Rus-
versitet (in Russian). sian).

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 BAKHTIYOR ABDULLAEV

ON THE PROBLEM OF THE EILATAN CULTURE

IN ANCIENT FERGANA
Abstract: This article presents scientific developments and conclusions obtained as a result of studies conducted
by previous researchers to unwit the problems of the early Iron Century of the Fergana Valley, as well as
a comparative analysis of the archaeological artifacts of the region accumulated in the twentieth century
and identified in the process of new field research (Koshtepa-2, Khanabad-1 and others) allow the following
conclusions: from the era of the Late Bronze and the Early Iron Age in the valley in parallel there were nomadic
(Kairakkum and Eilatan, 11th-3rd century BC) and sedental (Chust and Shurabashat, 14th-1st centuries BC)
cultures. The difference between them is traced not only in craft products associated with these cultures, but
also in the traditions of urban planning. Also, to determine the discrepancies in the concept of the sequence of
the ancient cultures of Fergana, there is an analysis of ceramic vessels of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age, as
well as some of the stone products. According to the results of the analysis, economic property and the tools of
labor of nomadic and agricultural crops corresponded to their lifestyle. Despite the mutual cultural ties of these
crops were observed from the Age of Late Bronze, the strengthening of the synthesis or assimilation processes
between the nomadic and agricultural crops of the region occur only from the middle of the first thousand BC.

Key words: Eastern Fergana, Early Iron Age, nomads, sedentary, handicrafts, irrigation, urbanization.
Citation: Abdullaev, B. (2023). On the Problem of the Eilatan Culture in Ancient Fergana, Bulletin of the
IICAS 35, 18-34.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.002

T
HE EARLY Iron Age is one of the most prob- ly Iron Age’s initial stage. In the later period, only the
lematic aspects for ancient history in the agricultural culture is studied comprehensively, while
Fergana Valley. The main reason involves re- nomadic cultures are presented as peripheral, frag-
ferring to the Eilatan culture as sedentary, as well mentary, and subordinate to the former. At the same
as uncertainty as to its place and significance to the time, historical processes both in the world and par-
Shurabashat culture within the consistent develop- ticularly in Fergana point to the decisive role nomadic
mental system of ancient cultures in this historical cultures played in the formation and development of
and cultural region. The latter problem was covered the ancient society’s spheres such as agriculture, ur-
in a previous article (Abdullaev 2018a); therefore, the ban planning, and centralized statehood formation.
results of critical and comparative analysis from a The article’s objectives include an analysis of ac-
wide range of literary sources and ceramic collections ademic and theoretical conclusions by previous re-
related Eilatan cultural formation and developmental searchers in revealing the essence of ancient cultures
stages will be discussed in this article. during the early Iron Age; a comparative analysis of
This article’s central focus is the definition of no- archaeological artifacts (handicrafts and architecture)
madic culture in Fergana, which greatly changed the identified at the archaeological sites from this period;
historical, political, and socio-economic nature of specifics as to the role and place from representatives
events during the period under examination. The re- of early Iron Age cultures related to the formation and
sults of most studies conducted in the 20th century development of the early centralized state of Fergana;
in the region clearly indicate the presence of culture and an analysis the ancient Ferganian (Davan) state’s
bearers, both farmers and nomads, who were part of goals and results from their internal policy aimed at
the overall process of evolutionary development for the economic and socio-political development of the
Fergana’s ancient society. However, the scholarly lit- region.
erature covers only the early stage of ancient Fergana’s I. Initially, the idea that the Eilatan site belonged
history; specifically, the Late Bronze Age and the Ear- to an agrarian culture was proposed in the 1930s

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 B. ABDULLAEV

by B.A. Latynin. During that period, archaeological the search for settlements and cities from this culture
studies of the early handmade painted ceramics in continued through the 1950s to 1970s. A number of
the Fergana Valley were not yet at a sufficient level field studies were undertaken to support the hypoth-
with the main reason for confusion being a similarity esis “that the Eilatan culture is an agricultural one.”
between the Eilatan finds and the handmade painted In the valley’s east, expeditions were headed by Yu.A.
pottery of the Anau culture (Turkmenistan) which Zadneprovsky, and in the region’s west and southwest
was more well-known at the time (Latynin 1956: 90- by N.G. Gorbunova. However, only burial grounds
92). Later, from resulting archaeological excavations from this culture and only settlements from the ag-
in the western part of the valley, patterns character- ricultural Shurabashat culture were discovered to
istic of the Chust culture were identified in the orna- the east (Zadneprovsky 1960: 169), while in the west
mentation of some pottery vessels belonging to the and southwest only Eilatan burial mounds with no
Eilatan culture. This allowed researchers not only to settlements were discovered (Gorbunova 1979: 23).
confirm Latynin’s conclusions about the agricultur- For this reason, and supported by the results of this
al origin of the Eilatan culture, but also to conclude author’s research (Abdullaev 2020a: 43-44; Abdullaev
the existence of a genetic relationship between these 2021: 3-11), it would be more accurate to classify the
cultures (Hamburg, Gorbunova 1957: 87; Gorbunova Eilatan culture as nomadic or that of nomads gradu-
1962: 42-43; Gorbunova 1961a: 190, Fig. 6, 10-11). To ally transitioning to a sedentary lifestyle. Researchers
some extent, the discovery of a handmade painted also assert that similar socio-economic changes in
bowl—characteristic of pottery from the Aktam buri- nomadic societies occurred not only in Fergana, but
al ground attributed to the Eilatan culture—obtained also among nomadic cultures in Central Asia during
from the upper layer of the Ashkaltepa site from the the 4th-3rd centuries BCE (Chernikov 1975: 282; Iva-
Chust culture in eastern Fergana also contributed to nov 1996: 122).
the consolidation of this idea (Zadneprovsky 1962: 44, Undoubtedly, the inclusion of this culture among
Fig. 17). However, these studies’ results over the next the settling nomadic cultures is more likely, which is
40 years suggested the inconsistency or, more likely, also supported by the results literary source analysis
the fallacy of B. A. Latynin’s conclusion. In a similar from several Eurasian nomadic archaeological sites.
regard were the results from Yu. A. Zadneprovsky’s The latter demonstrates that demographic growth
1962 monograph that analyzed the scientific literature along with insufficiently stable grazing lands for all
and revealed, at first glance, an almost imperceptible the nomadic cultures led to a gradual transition by
error. Zadneprovsky’s article, published after almost a certain part of their population to a sedentary life-
three decades after Latynin’s, maintained that the Ei- style. The peak of this process in the Fergana Valley
latan vessel found at Ashkaltepa did not emerge from occurred in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE.
the Chust cultural layer, but from a poorly preserved Nevertheless, during the 1960s, some researchers
undercut grave dated to the subsequent Eilatan cul- did question the conclusion that the tribes of the Ei-
ture (Zadneprovsky 1990: 88). Nevertheless, N. G. latan culture were sedentary and agrarian. Based on
Gorbunova, even in the late 1990s, claimed that the the results of a comparative study from most archae-
Ashkaltepa burial belonged to “purely agricultural” ological and written sources available at that time, the
settlers of the Eilatan culture (Gorbunova 1996: 140). conclusion that the Eilatan sites belonged to the Saka
Research results conducted over the last 90 years nomadic tribes was substantiated (Litvinsky 1960: 92,
show that the overwhelming majority of archae- 94; Litvinsky 1976: 53, 54). This is also reflected in a
ological sites dated to the Eilatan culture are burial separate chart developed by B. A. Litvinsky who, un-
grounds, with the only exceptions being the Eilatan like other contemporary archaeologists, dated the se-
archaeological site in the lower layers at Symtepa in quential development of these ancient Early Iron Age
Fergana and Sarvantepa in the Andijan region. This is cultures in Fergana, including the Eilatan culture, “as
in addition to the individual pottery fragments from representing yet another known agricultural (?) cul-
this culture obtained from the lower layers of 20 sites ture” (author’s italics) (Ivanov 1999a: 168, 188, Fig. 1,
dated to various periods in the ancient history of Fer- 22). Research data on the Ancient East, as well as the
gana (Zadneprovsky 1960: 29, 30, 33, 38, 40-44; Zad- Fergana Valley (Chust and Kairkum cultures) largely
neprovsky 1962: 151, 153, 162; Zadneprovsky 1993: 20; suggests the coexistence of nomadic and sedentary
Gorbunova, Kozenkova 1974: 98, 102-103; Gorbunova cultures (Briant 1982: 408). This allows one to assume
1979: 23; Matbabaev, Gritsina 2000: 106; Ivanov 2006: that the place of the “unknown culture” in Litvinsky’s
124; Anarbayev, Maksudov, Kubaev 2015: 33, 34-36; periodic system must be occupied by the Shurabashat
Matbabaev, Khoshimov 2021:119). Thus, it is probable agrarian culture since no other similar agricultural
that the arguments supporting the Eilatan culture’s cultures have been found in Fergana!
agricultural origins were rather tenuous and required The results of the above study indicate the need
more weighty confirmations from researchers since to make some changes regarding the concept of the

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consistent development of the ancient cultures in to a time almost 500 years later does not correspond
Fergana. Probably, for this reason N.G. Gorbunova in to reality” (Zadneprovsky 1993: 21). Since, according
some articles expresses an opinion corresponding to to the results of his field research, the Shurabashat site
the idea of B.A. Litvinsky (Gorbunova 1976: 29). Nev- was dated to the 5th (4th)-1st centuries BCE (Zad-
ertheless, she did not exclude Eilatan from the sed- neprovsky 1962: 169). It should be noted that when
entary argrarian cultures; moreover, she published summarizing the conclusions of most of the field
another critical article denying the coexistence of the studies conducted by Zadneprovsky in Fergana’s east
Shurabashat culture, for a certain time, with the Ei- at Early Iron Age sites, he had no other option but
latan, which was supported by Yu.A. Zadneprovsky to use the phrase with an axiomatic meaning in the
and P.P. Gavryushenko, a young researcher at that understanding of N.G. Gorbunova (author’s italics) as
time (Gorbunova 1977: 54-55). In her opinion, the “Eilatan-shurabashat” (Zadneprovsky 1960a: 50, 169).
Shurabashat culture appeared in the last centuries of Nevertheless, the problem of dating Shurabashat
the 1st millennium BCE and existed until the first cen- culture to the Early Iron Age, as well as questions
turies of the 1st millennium AD, although the studies about the entire concept’s revision concerning the
criticized by her show earlier periods of the existence continuity of ancient cultures in Fergana, remained
of the Shurabashat culture. closed until the late 1990s.
Thus, in 1962-1968, P. P. Gavryushenko fully In 1999, G. P. Ivanov gave a theoretical conclusion
studied the Kulunchak fortified settlement in the east to the dispute related to the Eilatan and Shurabashat
of the valley with an area of 0.5 hectares, substanti- cultures, which by then had lasted more than half a
ating that it belonged to the Shurabashat agrarian century. Specifically, new directions concerning the
culture. According to a comparative analysis of the sequence of Fergana’s ancient cultures were devel-
finds, the settlement dated from the 5th to the 2nd oped around a generalization of all field studies con-
centuries BCE. Also, based on the results of the com- ducted during that time and through the results of
parative analysis, it was revealed that several items comparative analyses of material finds. According to
(ceramics, stone tools, etc.) from Kulunchak farms Ivanov, the Shurabashat culture succeeded the Chust
were somewhat like those in the Chust culture. At the culture, and the former existed simultaneously with
same time, it is noted that pottery vessels belonging the Eilatan culture (Ivanov, 1999: 19). This, in this au-
to the Eilatan culture were found at Kulunchaktepa thor’s opinion, suggests an earlier date for the forma-
and, according to their analysis, representatives of the tive stages of these cultures, which is the task of the
Shurabashat and Eilatan cultures coexisted for a cer- latest research. Nevertheless, accounting for Eilatan’s
tain period (Gavryushenko 1970: 16-17, 19). nomadic culture as formed during the final stages of
Ideas similar to the second question were indi- the Chust agrarian culture; it is necessary to date it to
rectly supported by the results of extensive analy- at least to the 7th-3rd centuries BCE, which would
ses of the pottery from the Shurabashat monument, be closer to reality. This last suggestion is also indi-
where, almost from the first stages of the develop- rectly confirmed through comparative analyses of
ment of the site, a collection of handmade vessels pottery fragments found at sites in the Fergana and
characteristic of the Eilatan culture and the so-called Sogdiana historical and cultural regions dated to the
“Eilatan wheel-thrown tableware” was revealed, in Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Thus, this requires
which this tableware was much more dominant (in a revision when dating the Eilatan culture (Barartov
a ratio of 60/2) than the red-slip wheel-thrown ta- 2001: 175, 177, Table. 2; Isamiddinav 2002: 187, fig.
bleware (Zadneprovsky 1962: 137-138; Gavryushenko 159, 195). Secondly, the Eilatan culture actively main-
1970: 16-17). The first of the above researchers, who tained relations with representatives from the agri-
introduced the term “Eilatan culture,” specially con- cultural Shurabashat culture. As a result, the paint-
ducted numerous archaeological excavations in the ed ornaments on ceramic dishes from these cultures
Osh region (Kyrgyzstan) at the Early Iron Age sites, were mutually influenced with each of them featuring
hoping to identify any site or settlement associated combinations of elements and styles from both (Zad-
with this culture. However, the conducted research neprovsky 1962: 137-138; Gavryushenko 1970: 16-17,
resulted only in burial grounds belonging to the Ei- 18; Ivanov 1999: 19; Abdullaev 2018a).
latan culture, and all discovered settlements belonged Historically, active communication between no-
to the Shurabashat culture, which was the basis for mads and highly developed agrarian cultures were
admission that these cultures had co-existed (Zad- initiated by the former. Of particular interest is the
neprovsky 1960a: 169; Zadneprovsky 1962: 154-162). opinion of N.G. Gorbunova: “... it is the livestock
Also, according to Zadneprovsky, who worked on the breeders (author’s italics) that launched permanent
monument for many years and gave the name to the contacts with the tribes surrounding Fergana, similar
second agricultural culture, N.G. Gorbunova’s con- to some extent in the type of economy they practiced”
clusions on “the dating of the Shurabashat complex (Gorbunova 1996: 138). Additionally, as shown above,

20
 B. ABDULLAEV

research by her other contemporaries indicated that ed to modern technological analyses. Undoubtedly,
nomads initiated close relationships with sedentary these results will contribute to clarifying the absolute
cultures as well. For Central Asia, vivid examples are dating of ancient cultures as well as solve a number of
the migratory patterns of the Andronovo nomadic problems pertaining to newly studied sites.
cultures in Eurasia during the 2nd millennium BCE II. The main incentive for most researchers in re-
to the southern borders of Central Asia and their ferring to the Eilatan culture as agricultural, in this
assimilation with (or absorption by) the population author’s opinion, is the presence of “unusual” hand-
of the Sapalli culture. The penetration of northern made painted pottery for everyday use. However, this
pastoral tribes into the territory of ancient Bactria can be explained by several indirect realities arising
(southern Uzbekistan, southwestern Tajikistan and from their nomadic lifestyle. The latter is very clear-
northern Afghanistan) and their influence on indige- ly illustrated in the work of German art historian
nous sedentary tribes were noted based on the results Karl Einstein, published in 1931.1 He concludes that
from several studies (Sarianidi 1977; Francfort 1989; “[nomads] were too little taken into account by re-
Vinogradova 2004; Avanesova 2010). The last of these searchers... because they were outside the already de-
abovementioned researchers summarized the con- veloped, so-called, classical zone.” According to Ein-
clusions of previous scholars, emphasizing that the stein, nomads had a high status among the creators of
influence of these settlers on the local cultures was new art forms. The origin of eclecticism in nomadic
multifunctional and extremely effective. According art was not defined by K. Einstein as a type of aesthet-
to her conclusion, the formed relational systems were ic relativism. Rather, he associated it with the need for
based on the following: 1) direct interaction between magical order of replacing the former “spirits” with
cultures with a simultaneous transition to a seden- new, “alien spirits” which they had assimilated during
tary lifestyle; 2) migration of individual groups from migrations, while “their own,” former spirits lost their
the west and north (Ural-Kazakhstan region) to the power and could no longer effectively perform their
south as a consequence of trade and exchange rela- functions. Thus, K. Einstein placed the art of nomads
tions dictated by available raw materials on different into a double time dimension in which “the acrobat
territories; and, 3) possible occupation as a result of of temporary states acted as a carrier of future forms,
desertification. Most of the intercultural relations which simultaneously rejected the already known
included regular contacts for the exchange of goods and appealed to the well-forgotten past, extracted by
(Avanesova 2013: 28). them from the depths of memory. The nomad was
It should be noted that similar processes took the carrier of displacement, rupture, and separation;
place in Fergana because of nomadic migrations in but at the same time restored the continuity of time.
the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (Litvinsky This indicated that the nomads were, thus, agents of
1960: 287; Baratov 2001: 161). However, due to the transmission for other people’s memories. The abil-
lack of new approaches in classifying artifacts and up- ity of reincarnation inherent in the nomadic art, as
dated research conclusions concerning the chronol- associated by K. Einstein, was with the proximity of
ogy of ancient cultures based on these approaches, the latter to the world of animals and nature. Such a
these theoretical developments are not tenable for the close connection allowed one to transform constantly
Fergana region. Consequently, the old approaches to and endlessly into another and within it” (Kalinowski
the region’s study are still present and, as a result, a 2013: 196-199).
number of problems arise regarding the absolute dat- This information indicates that nomads, based
ing of these ancient cultures. on their lifestyle, were innovators for their time and
In the last eight years, comparative results of always were on the path toward updating their worl-
handmade painted pottery from Koshtepa-2 (2014- dview. Consequently, the art of nomads is a style that
2019), Khanabad-1, and Khanabad-2 (2020-2021) formed only in the process of migrations. The latter
along with similar artifacts from other sites in Fer- was directly reflected in the adoption and ornamen-
gana, also show that the Eilatan and Shurabashat cul- tation of handmade painted pottery, where “old” and
tures began at least from the middle of the 1st mil- “new” symbols intertwined, dissolving into each oth-
lennium BCE and lived in close contact (Abdullaev er. These concepts was also revealed in this current
2016a: 11; Abdullaev 2016b: 5; Abdullaev, Kambarov author’s research even before being acquainted with
2021. B. 237, 247). In this regard, the common use the work of K. Einstein (Abdullaev 2018a: 10-11).
of results from the natural sciences along with mod- In the 1960s, researchers, when discussing forms
ern technological analyses practiced by world and and ornamentation for cooking, dining, and ceremo-
Uzbek archaeology is of particular importance. This nial items, observed that—unlike large vessels from
will strengthen the research results, since, along with
pottery, samples of paleoanthropology, paleozoology,
paleobotany, paleo-metallurgy etc., can be subject- 1
This article uses an annotated translation (Kalinowski 2013).

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

the Chust and Shurabashat cultures— pottery in The continuity between the Chust and Eilatan
the Eilatan culture was mainly represented by small, cultures also fails to correspond chronologically. Of
compact handmade bowls and jugs (Zadneprovsky note is the status of a so-called “sedentary people” as
1960b: 40-41; Gorbunova 1961b: 43, Fig. 1; Gavry- representatives of the Eilatan culture based on the
ushenko 1970: 16-18). These observations also indi- discovery in some burials from Aktam and Kungai,
rectly showed that the bearers of the Eilatan culture previously mentioned, which contained individu-
led a nomadic lifestyle. Ivanov, a scholar who came al examples of handmade painted pottery with de-
much later than the abovementioned researchers, signs that are not traditional for this culture. While
engaged in a theoretical analysis of this problem and the design color and background pottery items re-
concluded that a distinct difference existed between mained the same, the patterns corresponded to the
the ornamentation of almost all the handmade paint- painted motifs on the handmade vessels from Chust
ed ceramics in the Eilatan in contrast to the pre-ex- and Dalverzin. This latter example, in turn, allowed
isting Chust cultures, which completely negated their researchers to conclude that there is a genetic link
sequence and, more so, the continuity between them between the Chust and Eilatan cultures. However,
(Ivanov 1999: 14). Simultaneously, a comparative in this author’s opinion, the situation was associated
analysis of pottery examples from the nomadic cul- with criteria other than these cultures’ genetic kin-
ture of Kayrakkum (11th-7th centuries BCE) with ship, and this, most of all, corresponded to the spe-
other cultures in Fergana from the Late Bronze and cial worldview of these nomadic cultures as presented
Early Iron Ages, led Ivanov to the following conclu- above by K. Einstein.
sion: First, it is more likely that nomads were more in-
terested in establishing active relationships with the
“... in these Eilatan (author’s italics) ceramics Chust culture farmers – initially the Kayrakkum peo-
are a significant number of elements that make ple (Litvinsky 1962: 255, 256-257, 288-289; Litvinsky
it similar to the late Kayrakkum collection. In 1963: 127); and then, the people of the Eilatan culture
all four types of Eilatan pottery (using the clas- since the second largest agrarian economic output
sification by Yu.A. Zadneprovsky),2 the forms was the sedentary and developed craft of livestock
characteristic of this collection are evident. Espe- breeding which allowed the Chust and then Shu-
cially striking are the coincidences with pottery rabashat cultures to always have a steady supply of
of the first and fourth types, which are the most food reserves in the event of bad harvest or extreme
numerous in the composition of Eilatan pottery. winter. Meanwhile, the main source of rapid econom-
They provide massive coincidental similarities ic development among nomads was free range live-
with groups III and V from our classification of stock breeding which involves constant summer and
Kayrakkum pottery. In many cases, the matter winter migrations. However, such extensive farming
is not in vessel similarity, but rather identity of was limited by the size of pastureland on the one hand
form, manufacturing technique, and ornamenta- and the inability to feed huge herds during harsh
tion” (Litvinsky 1962: 256). winters on the other. Thus, there were always special
neighborly relations between agricultural and pas-
Therefore, considering such a conclusion, it is more toral cultures which allowed mutually strengthened
appropriate to discuss the genetic connection of the Ei- trade relations recorded in Fergana and Central Asia,
latan culture as not associated with the Chust agrarian as well as around the world. This idea is demonstrat-
culture, but rather with the nomadic Kayrakkum cul- ed by handicraft examples handicrafts from one cul-
ture. In this regard, the opinion of Ivanov concerning ture to that of another. For Fergana, similar facts are
the formation of the Eilatan culture is worth noting: known in the relationship between Kayrakkum and
Chust cultures (Litvinsky 1962: 256-257; 289). Such
“By the 7th century BCE, new pastoral tribes relationships between the Eilatan and Chust cultures
that had previous experience with the people were only a continuation of the previous ones (the
from northern Bactria penetrated into the valley. Kayrakkum-Chust people), which indicates that they
These tribes mixed with representatives of the partially coexisted for a specific time. In this case, it
local Kayrakkum culture, creating a new Eila- is surmised that this raises the necessity to push back
tan-Aktam culture, in many respects the culture the date of the formative period for the Eilatan cul-
of the Saka circle. Apparently, representatives of ture. Considering that this process corresponds to the
the new culture controlled the whole of Fergana” late stages in Chust culture, it would be more real-
(Ivanov 2017: 11). istic to date the Eilatan culture strictly between the
7th-3rd centuries BCE, and not approximately to the
7th(6th)-3rd centuries BCE.
2
Zadneprovsky 1960b: 33-40, fig. 4-11. Second, the Eilatans actively maintained the con-

22
 B. ABDULLAEV

sels. These are recorded in the lower cultural layers at

Koshtepa-2 in Andijan’s Kurgantepa district. The pot-
sherd’s designs consisted of a rhombus filled with an
oblique checkered pattern. Such patterns, according
to researchers, had a specific meaning and represent-
ed a schematic symbol for the “tree of life,” developed
during the initial emergence of polities from the an-
cient East. This pottery collection analysis is present-
ed in the current author’s earlier article (Abdullaev
2018a), in which potsherds from both Shurabashat
and Eilatan cultures were discovered among the pot-
tery collection from an excavated room’s floor and an
associated household storage pit. This example prob-
ably indicates much closer ties between these cultures
Fig. 1. Easel bowl than just cultural or trade relations.
Due to field research during 2020-2021, a large
tinuation of these mutual cultural and economic re- handmade painted pottery collection was gathered at
lations with the Shurabashat culture, whose lifestyle the Khanabad-1, in which each traditional diamond
had a direct connection to agriculture. Thus, along design was decorated on the inside with specific ele-
with other related economic spheres, these relations ments (fig. 2) belonging to both the Shurabashat and
were especially manifested in pottery production in Eilatan cultures. This site belongs to burial grounds
east Fergana where painted patterns on dishes from categorized from the Eilatan culture whose cultural
these cultures led to mutual influence and the transi- material consisted of bowls and basins with charac-
tion of design elements from one to another, as well as teristic shapes and bright painting, mostly made on a
the use of each other’s pottery (Gavryushenko 1970: “cloth stencil” with the subsequent discovery and re-
16-17, 18; Ivanov 1999: 19; Abdullaev 2018a). moval of cloth traces. The first group of vessels mea-
It should also be emphasized that during archae- sured 6-8 cm with a mouth diameter between 16-21
ological excavations on the sites from the Andijan cm. The second group’s height ranged from 9-11 cm
region near the western foothills of the Tien Shan with a rim diameter of 22-26 cm. Also, during field
(Honobod-1 and Honobod-2) in 2020-2021, vessels excavations at the Khanabad-1 cemetery in 2021, two
were discovered with handmade painted pottery and handmade painted cups, including one with a verti-
hemispherical wheel-thrown bowls. Some of the lat- cal, flat handle with a through hole for hanging the
ter examples had vertical and pointed rims on a flat vessel with a thread (made from horsehair) (fig. 3).
base made of light-yellow clay containing variegated, Both had the aforementioned design motif. They also
fine sand. In the vessel’s lower quarter, the yellow slip possessed a hemispherical shape and are 4.5-5 cm
was preserved (fig. 1). The products’ uniqueness is high, with the widest part of the body measuring 5-6
that these vessels were recorded in the Aktam burial cm in diameter.
ground for the first time and identified as pots by re- The pottery ornamentation from the Khanabad-1
searchers (Ginzburg, Gorbunova 1957: 85-86, fig. 30, is painted with dark brown or dark red slip on a light
23a-23b). A comparative analysis of these finds shows
that vessels with a similar shape were also recorded
on the Shurabashat site (Zadneprovsky 1960: 23, 24,
Fig. 8, 2; Zadneprovsky 1962: 124, 129, Fig. 27). How-
ever, in this case, while having an external similarity
in form, the vessels were painted with a red slip and
handmade ones identified as bowls. One bowl from
this collection had a cruciform tamga with rounded
ends at the base. The historiography of Central Asia,
records several studies on this engraved sign, defined
as a tamga, to denote private property of nomads (Ab-
dullaev 2019. 108-109). For Fergana, the earliest such
signs on vessels come from the archaeological site of
Eilatan (Oboldueva 1981: 188-189, Fig. 2, 8).
In terms of the mutual influence of cultures, com-
parative analysis provides results from pottery frag- Fig. 2. Hand-made painted bowl, ornamented
ments of Shurabashat-type handmade painted ves- with the symbol "tree of life"

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 3. Hand-made painted cups: a – without a handle; b - with handle

or light red background. The pattern covers the en- also found on petroglyphs in Uzbekistan, specifi-
tire body’s surface except for the vessels’ bases. The cally, the Nurata mountain range in the Samarkand
painted design’s main motif consisted of horizontally region (Khizhanazarov, Kholmatov 2012: 53) as well
joined rhombuses with occasional triangles (usual- as Siypantash in Kashkadarya. In the Chinese chroni-
ly 3 or 4) located in the body’s center and filled with cles, women in the Davan state were depicted as hav-
various geometric and floral patterns. In Fergana, this ing a privileged position. Thus, this data appears to
tradition for such vessel ornamentation continued substantiate one hypothesis that the region’s ancient
into Late Antiquity and appeared on the outer sur- inhabitants worshipped a female image representing
face of red-slip wheel-thrown pottery with inscribed the fertility goddess (Gorbunova 1986: 181).
geometric patterns and enhanced by several techno- Another variation in Khanabad-1 pottery design
logical developments and innovations which were is a from similar to sites in the western and south-
especially popular in the last centuries of the 1st mil- western parts of the valley. The design on top of hor-
lennium BCE and in the first centuries AD (Baruzdin izontal rhombuses or triangles located in the vessel’s
1961: Table III, 1, 3, 5. Table VI, 3. Table XI, 1-3, 5-6, center which are filled with variously applied geo-
8, 10. Table XI, 1-2, 4-10. Table XIV, 1, 4, 7; Litvinsky metric patterns and interconnected lines which curve
1972: Table 12. 14; Gorbunova 1979b: 140, Fig. 7; Gor- downward (fig. 3, a; fig. 5). However, the interpreta-
bunova 1990: 186-187, Fig. 4-5; Abdulgazieva 1997: tion of such lines remains unclear.
16, Fig. 3;Abdullaev 2018a: 7; Abdullaev 2020: 94, Fig. The design study of handmade painted pottery
2, 1-2). from the Khanabad collection shows that another
As mentioned above, the diamond-shaped design consistent feature involved the pattern on the vessel’s
was a schematic representation of fertility with his- rim which is depicted predominately on the outside
torical roots in the Middle East and somewhat later and partially on the inside. This pattern, like other el-
spread among Chust culture. However, one research- ements of ceramic painting, tended to increase over
er has discussed that the image of the “rhombus” was time, but currently is divided into five types:
also a symbol for female embodiment of nature – the The first type consisted of interconnected trian-
goddess of fertility – since the Palaeolithic (Fettich gles placed in a horizontal row with the triangles’
1958: 122). Similar diamond-shaped images were base along the vessel’s base (fig. 3, b; fig. 5; fig. 9) and

24
 B. ABDULLAEV

cup found within a special stone structure which had

been lowered to a grave-chamber’s level, one meter
east of the interred body’s head (grave M-2) at the
Khanabad-1 mound.
Another distinctive pattern from Khanabad is the
appearance of an eight-pointed “star” (fig. 9), which
has comparisons with pottery from the Shurabashat
culture. This is specifically in the form of depicted
twigs (Zadneprovsky 1962: Table XLVII, 7, 16, 28;
Table LVIII, 14, 17; Table LXI, 8, 12; Table LXXVIII,
1). There is no specific literature concerning the in-
terpretation of this symbolic motif, therefore, this
Fig. 4. Hand-made painted bowl with a crown-shaped author suggests a working theory which can make a
decoration unique and rather indirect clarifying contribution.
In the 18th century, German scholar G. K. Lichten-
is characteristic on Eilatan-type pottery (Hamburg, berg noted an effect of an electrical discharge on solid
Gorbunova 1959: 12, 14; Gorbunova 1961a: 178, Fig. objects resulted in star-shaped and branched images
6, 1-3, 5-7, 9; Gorbunova 1961b: 43, fig. 8-10; Gorbun- appearing on their surface (Koltovoy 2017: 10, Fig. 1).
ova 1962: 99. fig. 2, 13). However, this smaller pattern The research into the so-called “Lichtenberg figure,”
is also found on Chust culture handmade painted named after this scholar, has endured to the present.
pottery (Zadneprovsky 1962: 264, Table. XVII, 10-15, Of course, an electrical charge with the highest volt-
48; p. 265, table XVIII, 2-3, 20) since it symbolized age in nature exists in lightning, which for ancient
the earth’s surface both for nomadic and agricultural people was considered a manifestation of divine pow-
cultures (Ambrose 1965: 14). er. When observing people struck by lightning, simi-
The second decorative type is represented by a lar figures appeared on their bodies (Troitsyna 2021).
horizontal row of triangles connected by a crown- From the beginning of human history until re-
shaped decor 5 cm wide (fig. 4). A comparison of this cently, people have deified natural phenomena which
painting style shows this specific pattern is not found were often repeated in nature (i.e. floods, storms,
in the pottery collections uncovered at Aktam, Kun- fires, thunderstorms, etc.). The most frequent phe-
gai and Sufan in west and southwest Fergana, indicat- nomenon is the lightning strike with its resulting
ing that it originated in the eastern region. The first fires. Undoubtedly, people who observed this phe-
and second design groups as a whole favor the ap- nomenon considered them the gods’ supernatural
pearance of a crown, but in the second case the crown weapons, both in Central Asia and throughout the
comprised a combination of crowns, which perhaps world. Perhaps because of this, the region’s ancient
indicated a dividing line between eastern and west- cultures depicted these star and branch symbols on
ern tribes of the Eilatan culture, or the result of the the pottery’s surface.
synthesis between nomadic and sedentary cultures in One rare example of ceremonial pottery from
the valley’s east. Khanabad is a design element forming a circle at
The third type of rim ornamentation as inscribed
by the ancient designer involved placing two paral-
lel lines connected by vertical dashes (fig. 2; fig. 6).
A comparison of this design also shows it belonged
directly to Fergana’s eastern regions, since design
variations were discovered on pottery collections
from both the Shurabashat and Eilatan cultures (Zad-
neprovsky 1962: Table LVIII, 15; Table LXXVIII, 2).
The fourth type is represented by a ribbon formed
by two parallel lines, 2-7 cm apart from each other
infilled with an oblique grid (Fig. 7). This design ele-
ment has its roots in the Late Bronze Age, in which a
similar “ribbon” extended from the rim to the vessel’s
base (Zadneprovsky 1962: Table XII, 13; Table XVII,
7-8; Matbabaev 1999: 43-46, Table I-IV, G13-17).
The fifth type is represented by patterns which Fig. 5. Hand-made painted bowl. A pattern of
form horizontal lines in three rows along the ves- downwardly curved interlocking lines over horizontal
sel’s edge (fig. 3, a; fig. 8). This was identified on a diamonds or triangles

25
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

cases, date to cultural material from the late Bronze

Age (Chust culture) and was extensively used by
the Shurabashat culture (Zadneprovsky 1962: Table.
XXV-XXVI. Gavryushenko 1970: 9). However, such
tools are not mentioned in any of the examined Eila-
tan sites. One exception is the first discovery recorded
at the Khanabad-1 burial mound, with the probable
reason being the nomadic Eilatan people’s direct and
close contact with farmers of the Shurabashat.
III. Urbanization and urban planning involves a
significant difference between agricultural and no-
madic cultures (fig. 11). The Eilatan site provides a
good example with no settlement layout identified,
which, according to many researchers, appeared
Fig. 6. Hand-made painted bowl. Pattern under the rim during the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. This city
in the form of two parallel lines connected of nomads differed significantly from both the previ-
by vertical lines ous large and medium-sized cities of the Chust agrar-
ian culture (Dalverzin 24 ha, Ashkaltepa 13 ha, Chust
the base of a bowl (fig. 10). Comparisons reveal that 4.5 ha) and the subsequent Shurabashat (Shurabashat
this design, like the abovementioned main section, 70 ha, Ooz-depe, Toton-depe 20 ha, Karadarya 10 ha,
is unique only to the local Eilatan culture variant etc.). In this regard, the cities of nomads and farmers
and is absent from Chust and Shurabashat sites. Al- are distinct via another detail – the presence of many
though the Shurabashat agricultural culture at these farm pits in the latter and their absence in the former
sites did have a design element with a horizontal row (Ivanov 2013: 3).
of interconnected rings decorating the vessels’ rims According to studies completed since the 1960s
(Zadneprovsky 1962: 304, Table LVII, 8), they had no up to the present, one remarkable fact related to the
identified ring motif, logically completing the vessel’s valley’s Bronze Age history occurred during the later
entire ornamental composition. The element’s design (and possibly the middle) stages of the Chust culture’s
interpretation has not been studied in the literature, transition from constructing large cities into mostly
yet, it can be indirectly explained also as a “Lichten- small (~ 0.5 ha) and even very small (~ 0.005-0.25 ha)
berg figure.” Research reveals that when an electric settlements. (Zadneprovsky 1962: 84; Zadneprovsky
charge strikes a solid object, lines appear on its front 1981: 25). This conclusion, in the author’s opinion,
and back sides, forming different shapes. It can be as- is based upon the period’s economic and political
sumed that ancient people would observe similar pat- context and characterized as follows: 1). Since Chust
terns on objects or the human body and subsequently culture farmers did not perfect groundwater removal
introduced them as a pottery ornamental feature. methods, this led to salinization of agricultural fields.
No doubt artifacts used by ancient people in ev- Therefore, it is probable that this culture was forced to
eryday life also directly or indirectly indicate the relocate every 50-100 years. Consequently, the large
way of life found in various cultures. Characteristics urban construction did not justify itself economical-
from pottery typical of nomadic and sedentary cul-
tures have been provided. Yet, a distinctive feature of
handmade painted ceramics from ancient Khanabad
combines design elements from Chust, Eilatan and
Shurabashat cultures. Thus, it is possible to suggest
that active contacts occurred among them with such
a relationship creating a synthesis between the latter
two. Such socio-cultural processes were also cited in
conclusions by previous researchers (Abdullaev 2017:
114), though probably not emphasized.
Other household implements include stone heels
characteristic of the agricultural Chust and Shu-
rabashat cultures but not found in either in the Eila-
tan site or the lower layers of the sites in Symtepa and
Sarvantepa, or in the burial mounds (Aktepa, Kungai, Fig. 7. Hand-made painted bowl. Pattern in the form
Sufan) belonging to the Eilatan culture. The same is of a strip filled with oblique mesh under
true concerning stone sickles whose origin, in most the rim of the bowl

26
 B. ABDULLAEV

ples of material culture (handicrafts and architec-

tural remains) from various periods which indicate
regular, consistent, and evolutionary development of
the agricultural settlements (with occasional stages
of decline) for more than a millennia. Consequent-
ly, during this period, the ancient settled population
across a very long chronological period intensively
developed agriculture without fear of forced relo-
cation in search of fertile lands. Although the Shu-
rabashat culture also featured some relatively large
cities-Shurabashat (70 hectares), Ooz-depe, Toton-
depe (20 hectares respectively) Karadarya (10 hect-
ares) and others-they could not change the general
appearance of the settled populations’ ancient urban
planning. Such a situation may signal the restoration
of the former exalted status among representatives of
Fig. 8. Hand-made painted bowl with a pattern under the “aristocratic” class from the Shurabashat culture.
the rim in the form of three parallel lines
While all this is a working hypothesis, substanti-
ating it would involve conducting new, comprehen-
ly; 2). In most cases, the Chust culture did not need sive archaeological excavations with comparatively
products from nomads, because they, along with their analysing materials from previous field and theoret-
agriculture and handicrafts, developed stable live- ical studies. Nevertheless, since the second quarter of
stock breeding – the second most important factor in the 1st millennium BCE, most agricultural settlement
“food security.” All this clearly indicates that Fergana’s areas did not exceed 0.5-1 ha. This, in turn, shows the
first farmers had sufficient experience in far-sighted, problematic and groundless claim that “Eilatan is the
“multi-vectored,” and planned agriculture.3 successor of the Chust culture.”
This state of affairs suggests that the nomads Yet, due to the main construction criteria (i.e.
needed to be proactive themselves in establishing so- shape and area) and socio-economic reasons (i.e. de-
cio-economic, and at times, political relations with mographic development, as well as partial dependence
farmers. First, they were aimed at developing mutu- on agricultural products and crafts from the settled
ally beneficial trade based on an equal exchange of communities); Eilatan culture corresponded more
goods. Second, the nomads-relying on the presence to the cities built by the nomadic cultures of Eurasia
of their fast and mobile cavalry-initially sought to es- from ancient times up to the medieval period. Due
tablish relative suzerainty (within the framework of to demographic growth, the Eurasian nomadic pas-
tributary status) in relation to Chust culture farmers. toralist population was regularly replenished within
However, later, Shurabashat culture, as successors of
the Chust culture, probably fell into complete polit-
ical subordination to the Eilatan people. Thus, the
farmers’ status from the last stages of the Chust cul-
ture-Early Iron Age (8th-7th centuries BCE) up to
the early stages of Antiquity (4th-3rd centuries BCE)
during the Shurabashat culture-forced them to build
small settlements.
From the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, at
least in the eastern part of the region, methods to fight
against arable land salinity were apparently already
invented. Examine sites located along the ancient
agricultural man-made “waterways,” specifically, the
Shahrikhansai and Andijansai canals, provide exam-

3
Certainly, several artifacts have been discovered in the Fergana
Valley from the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age (i.e. "Khak" and
"Aflatun" treasures of precious metals, stone weights or amulets),
but not a single agricultural site has been found from those eras. Fig. 9. Hand-made painted bowl. Pattern in the form of
Therefore, the Chust culture is conventionally considered the first an eight-pointed star above the junction
agricultural one. of horizontal diamonds

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Fig. 10. Hand-made painted bowl. Pattern in the form of a circle at the bottom of the vessel

the category of their impoverished compatriots, who consequence led to strengthening comprehensive ties
were consistently placed in special settlements creat- between these cultures, enriching their economic tra-
ed within the framework of nomadic society, on lands ditions as well as creating common urban planning
suitable for agriculture or, at least gardening (Pletneva methods. This process probably resulted in large-scale
1967: 181-182; Perle 1974: 271-274; Davydova 1978: as opposed to partial relocation of the nomadic nobil-
55-59; Hayashi 1984: 51-92; Kradin 2007: 126-127). ity and workers to the large and central cities of the
Most of the population from such cities engaged in settled tribes. This, as a consequence, led to a rather
agriculture, stable livestock breeding, fishing, as well rapid desolation of the Eilatan settlement, unlike sev-
as hunting, as confirmed by archaeological evidence eral of the historically close central nomadic cities in
(Davydova 1985: 68-80). Of note is the small num- Central Asia such as Kanka and Kalai Zohaki Maron,
ber of residential buildings that remained only in the which had a longer history (Suleymanov 2000: 26-28).
inner city of Eilatan within a 20-hectare area, while Due to research results conducted in the valley,
the outer city with a 200 hectare area was a waste- the mutual influence and synthesis of the Eilatan and
land. Thus, it is likely that this city was built along Shurabashat cultures was also reflected in the region’s
the traditional nomadic migration routes with the architecture from Early Antiquity. In particular, the
accompanying conditions for producing additional Mingtepa site, 100 km southeast of Eilatan, also had
agricultural and handicraft products by the “settled” a double defensive wall framing the inner and outer
population. This fulfilled the function of organizing a cities. However, until the late 20th century, Mingte-
stopover for large livestock herds for specific periods pa, unlike Eilatan, was thought to be rectangular in
and protecting them from theft. shape (Bernstam 1952: 25-28, Fig. 89); the result of
In contrast to Eilatan culture forced urban plan- a bad-quality topographic survey of the settlement.
ning, more than 50 cities and settlements in the The corrected result was due to new topographic
Shurabashat culture were identified archaeological- measurements taken in 2012 by an Uzbek-Chinese
ly as far back as the 1980s (Zadneprovsky 1994: 42). joint expedition revealing that the city was shaped as
However, according to current data, that number is a parallelogram, similar in plan to Eilatan (Matbobo-
much larger. Yet, most of the Shurabashat sites as well ev et al. 2013: 94, Fig. 1; Abdullaev 2020: 94). At the
as those attributed to the agricultural Chust culture same time, unlike Eilatan, a citadel was discovered in
incorporated an area of up to 0.5-1 ha, with a higher the center of Mingtepa’s inner city, which served as an
number of large and medium-sized cities. This situa- administrative center and a religious structure which
tion, as previously noted, arose when the polity of the included a temple, as well as the remains of 14 large
nomadic aristocracy from its possible original central buildings, which, in this author’s opinion, were the
city of Eilatan consistently penetrated into the cities residences for representatives of the “Council of the
directly located on Shurabashat culture’s fertile lands Elders” (Abdullaev 2018b: 68; Abdullaev 2020: 89).
for optimal leadership, pursuing an internal policy All these facts indicate that changes to the archi-
aimed at developing new irrigated arable lands via tecture from the Early Iron Age and Early Antiquity
the construction of irrigation channels. This policy’s in the region brought together the socio-economic

28
 B. ABDULLAEV

Fig. 11. Settlements of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age (compiled according to Yu. A. Zadneprovsky):
a – Eilatan site; b – site of ancient settlement Dalverzin; c – Shorabashat settlement; d – settlement of Karadarya

and cultural relations of the Eilatan and Shurabashat united the world of nomadic and sedentary cultures.
cultures under the leadership of the nomadic aristoc- Researchers identified this as a fierce struggle by the
racy, while strengthening the latter’s role in the state. settled and nomadic peoples in the region against the
IV. The conclusions presented above concern- Achaemenid and later Greek-Macedonian invaders.
ing the Early Iron Age in Fergana are directly relat- (Suleymanov 2000: 52). Another scholar suggests this
ed to historical reality in Central Asia. According was the period symbiosis which occurred between
to historians, the second half of the 1st millennium the settled agricultural and semi-nomadic (pastoral)
BCE-during the emergence of class society and the communities. However, it is impossible to discuss
state - a kind of “unified political and economic or- a single culture and give it a binomial name (Zad-
ganism” was created throughout Central Asia which neprovsky 1993: 22). Yet, textual and archaeological

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sources indicate that the Davan state was first in al- processes in the Late Bronze Age were among the in-
liance with the semi-nomadic Kangju state followed tegral parts for the foundation on which the Ancient
by the Kushans (Litvinsky 1976: 55; Koshelenko 1979: Fergana (Davan) state was formed, first mentioned
184). Also, according to several researchers’ theoreti- in Chinese chronicles in the late 2nd century BCE.
cal conclusions, the relationship between such settled However, according to some modern studies, this
and nomadic tribes formed during the Bronze Age statehood developed during the middle of the first
and developed until the Late Middle Ages (Litvinsky century BCE, which has also been confirmed by new
1962: 231; Kuzmina 1966: 93, 94; Saltovskaya 1978: field studies (Abdullaev 2017: 116). The main lines of
96; Gorbunova 1984: 101; Askarov, Albaum 1979: 72- urban planning in the region, developing from east-
74, Fig. 1, 5-6, 8-9; Askarov 2015: 185-189). to-west in the valley, are archaeologically recorded
The results of this author’s research indicate that dating to that time. This situation, first, related to the
not only cultural, but also kinship ties were formed progressive internal policy of the Ancient Fergana
between the agricultural and nomadic cultures in centralized state, aimed at large-scale artificial facility
Early Iron Age Fergana. Such processes, despite their irrigation construction. These political and econom-
apparent mutual benefits, were initiated, as men- ic processes were based on developing new arable
tioned above, by the Eilatan culture’s aristocratic elite. land for forming and expanding acreage for agricul-
Both previous and modern researchers on Fergana tural purposes, which led to the emergence of new
agree, united by the idea that “the nomads retained settlements around state fortresses built along canals
control over the formation and development of the such as Andijansai and Shakhrikhansai. This process
first centralized statehood in the valley” (Gorbunova strengthened the handcraft production and, conse-
1984: 102; Ivanov 2013: 3-4). quently, domestic and foreign trade.
Undoubtedly, such conclusions are based on the According to geologists specializing in the Qua-
knowledge that nomads, by virtue of their lifestyle, ternary period, canal construction in the valley’s
were quite mobile and travelled long distances in upper reaches began 3,000 years ago (Zadneprovsky
a short time. Due to constant migrations through 1962: 74), but most of these huge artificial irriga-
mountains, steppes, and lowlands, they were well tion structures were introduced gradually. The first
aware of almost all short cuts and fords in rivers. stage (5th-1st centuries BCE) include Andijansai
Their natural strategic thinking concerning the ter- and part of Shakhrikhansai. The second stage (1st-
rain, as well as mobile cavalry, gave the nomad rulers 4th centuries AD) incorporated the second half of
great military power. In this regard, the capabilities Shakhrikhansai. It is known that the early irrigation
of the ancient agrarian populations were much low- structures in the Late Bronze Age (Chust culture)
er. Farmers made several discoveries aimed at the took the form of small ditches (canals) extending up
intensive improvement of labor and productivity in to several hundred meters long, which were created
agriculture, but these processes were introduced only by connecting several ancient springs and small sea-
in various settlements and, at most, at a micro-oasis sonal streams in the foothills. Only when the central-
level. ized state in Fergana developed did canals dozens of
All these factors had a direct impact on the re- kilometers long begin to be built. Most of the ancient
gion’s socio-political and economic processes during canals were built first in the eastern part of the valley
the Early Iron Age through Early Antiquity. These on the territory where most Shurabashat culture sites
presented realities from Fergana’s past allow for the were located and only by the second half of Antiqui-
following conclusion: The ruling elite from the agri- ty was the western part developed. (Berenaliev 1975:
cultural tribes were in a “vassal” position in relation 150-154; Abdullaev 2017: 116-117).
to the nomadic aristocracy, who were in the position Such sites as Koshtepa-2 and Khanabad-2 ap-
of “suzerain.” However, more details are yet to be dis- peared at least by the middle of the 1st millennium
covered for this question which awaits subsequent BCE, most likely, while constructing large artificial
studies. irrigation systems, such as Andijansai, Shakhrikhan-
V. The first elements of statehood in the region sai, Savayaryk, Uzgenaryk, Karasuv among others.
formed during the Chust culture period. Some re- According O. B. Berenaliev’s research, mass con-
searchers desired to see a mature structure of state- struction of irrigation canals occurred in the valley’s
hood during the Chust culture, with its “central cap- eastern regions where Shurabashat settlements were
ital” (Dalverzin). However, in this matter, nothing mainly documented and it was during the develop-
more acceptable has been revealed so far than the ment of the Ancient Fergana state under the nomadic
statement of the scholar who introduced this cul- aristocratic leadership from the Eilatan culture. The
ture into research when he identified factors such as construction of various canals and ditches by means
“social stratification” and “emerging urban centers.” of interconnected springs coming from deep rivers
(Zadneprovsky 1973: 18). There is no doubt that these (the Karadarya) to irrigated lands was an invention

30
 B. ABDULLAEV

by ancient farmers. However, large artificial hydraulic construction. All the above, according to this hypoth-
structures on a massive scale were only possible by a esis, led to the introduction of a collegiality-based no-
centralized state. All this data leads to the conclusion madic system integrated into the state administration
that, the working, human, and material resources of which was governed by the supremacy of decisions
nomadic and agricultural cultures were purposeful- by the “Council of Elders” and limited the ruler’s ab-
ly mobilized according to a specific state plan and solute power.
controlled by state officials for whom fortresses were
erected along the newly constructed canals. Although the Shurabashat culture had many in-
Thus, based on this data, the Eilatan culture had novations in the handicraft sphere, artificial hydraulic
a genetic relationship with the nomadic Kayrakkum structures for agricultural development, as well as the
culture rather than with the previous farmers. They settlement and urban construction, their broad ap-
first established economic and cultural ties with the plication came under nomadic leadership. The main
Chust culture, and then with its successors, or the motivating reason was that if farmers had a sufficient
Shurabashat culture, and these relations were much supply to meet their needs, then the aristocracy of
closer with this second one, resulting in the foun- the Ancient Fergana (Davan) state used the excess
dation of the Ancient Fergana state (Davan). This resources to make more profit, possibly through tax
mixture of the Eilatan and Shurabashat cultures was increases. However, this policy led to further prog-
encouraged and managed by the former. Yet, the Eila- ress through the radical development of agriculture
tan nobility ruled the state not from their central (?) via the creation of large canals such as Shahrikhansai
city of Eilatan, but rather built their headquarters in and Andijansai. This development led not only to the
the eastern part of the valley on the immediate ter- cultivation of new virgin lands, but also to rapid ur-
ritory of the farmers, specifically Mingtepa (Andijan banization, domestic and foreign trade development,
region). This allowed the Eilatan leadership to be at and various socio-economic production infrastruc-
the center of socio-economic and political events tures. Thus, the synthesis of nomadic and agricultural
to conduct the necessary work developing the new cultures is indicative of human development in the
state’s economic power through large irrigation canal Fergana Valley.

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atičeskaâ morfologiâ. Častʹ 5. Moskow – Smolensk (in Matbabaev, B. H. and H. B. Hošimov (2021). Èjlatanskaâ
Russian). kulʹtura i voprosy izučeniâ ranneželeznogo veka Fer-
Komoroci, G. (1981). K simvolike dereva v iskusstve drev- gany (Eilatan culture and issues of studying the Early
nego Dvurečʹâ (About the Symbolism of the tree in Iron Age of Fergana), in: Kulʹtury aziatskoj časti Evra-
the Art of Ancient Mesopotamia), in: Drevnij Vostok zii v drevnosti i srednevekovʹe. Samarkand. P. 119-122
i mirovaâ kulʹtura. Moscow: Nauka Publ. P. 142-154 (in Russian).
(in Russian). Oboldueva, T. G. (1962). Raskopki 1960 goda na gorodiŝe
Košelenko, G. A. (1979). Grečeskij polis na èllinističeskom Èjlatan (Excavations in 1960 at the site of Eilatan), in:
Vostoke (Greek polis in the Hellenistic East). Moscow: KSIA, 91. P. 38-47 (in Russian).
Nauka Publ. (In Russian). Oboldueva, T. G. (1981). O datirovke sten Èjlatana (On the
Kozenkova, V. I. (1959). Arheologičeskie raboty v dating of the walls of Eilatan), in: SA. No 4. P. 186-195
Andižanskoj oblasti v 1956 godu (Archaeological work (in Russian).
in the Andijan region in 1956), in: KSIIMK, 76. P. 56- Pèrlèè, H. (1974). K voprosu o drevnej osedlosti v Mon-
62 (in Russian). golʹskoj Narodnoj Respublike (On the question of an-
Kradin, N. N. (2007). Kočevniki Evrazii (Nomads of Eur- cient settlement in the Mongolian People’s Republic),
asia). Moscow: Nauka Publ. (in Russian). in: Bronzovyj i rannij železnyj vek Sibiri. Novosibirsk. P.
Kuzmina, E. E. (1966). Metalličeskie izdeliâ èneolita i bron- 271-274 (in Russian).
zovogo veka v Srednej Azii (Metal products of the Eneo- Saltovskaâ, E. D. (1978). O pogrebeniâh skotovodov v
lithic and Bronze Age in Central Asia). Moscow: Nauka severo-zapadnoj Ferpgane (On the burials of pasto-
Publ. (In Russian). ralists in northwestern Fergana), in: KSIA. No 154. P.
Latynin, B. A. (1956). Èjlatanskaâ raspisnaâ čaša (Eilatan 91-99 (in Russian).
painted bowl), in: KSIIMK, 80. P. 90-92 (in Russian). Sarianidi, V. I. (1977). Drevnie zemledelʹcy Afganistana
Latynin, B. A. (1961). Nekotorye itogi raboty Ferganskoj (Ancient farmers of Afghanistan). Moscow: Nauka
èkspedicii 1934 g. (Some results of the work of the Fer- Publ. (In Russian).
gana expedition in 1934), in: Archaeological collection Sulejmanov, R. H. (2000). Drevnij Nahšab (Ancient
of the State Hermitage, 3. Leningrad. P. 126-150 (in Nahšab). Taškent: Fan Publ. (In Russian).
Russian). Troicyna, M. (2021). Molniâ risuet uzory na tele (Lightning
Litvinskij, B. A. (1960a). Saki, kotorye za Sogdom (Saks draws patterns on the body), in: https://www.yoki.ru/
who are beyond Sogd), in: Trudy AN Tadžikskoj SSR. anomalous/unreal/17-03-2012/400229-keranograf-0/
Vol. CXX. Dušanbe. P. 91-96 (in Russian). (in Russian).
Litvinskij, B. A. (1960b). Pamâtniki èpohi bronzy i ranne- Vinogradova, N. M. (2004). Ûgo-zapadnyj Tadžikistan v
go železa Kajrak-Kumov (Sites of the Bronze and Early èpohu pozdnej bronzy (Southwestern Tajikistan in the
Iron Age of Kayrak-Kum), in: Drevnosti Kajrak-Ku- Late Bronze Age). Moscow: Institut vostokovedeniâ
mov / Trudy AN Tadžikskoj SSR. Tom. XXXIII. Dušan- RAN Publ. (In Russian).
be, 1960b. S. 90-403 (in Russian). Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1954). Drevnââ Fergana (Ancient
Litvinskij, B. A. (1973). Keramika iz mogilʹnikov Zapadnoj Fergana). PhD dissertation abstract Leningrad (in
Fergany (Pottery from the burial grounds of Western Russian).

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Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1960a). Arheologičeskie pamâtniki Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1990). Pogrebalʹnye pamâtniki èjla-

ûžnyh rajonov Ošskoj oblasti (Archaeological monu- tanskoj kulʹtury Fergany (Funeral monuments of the
ments of the southern regions of Osh region). Frunze: Eilatian culture of Fergana), in: KSIA, 209. P. 87-95 (in
AN Kirgizskoy SSR Publ. (in Russian). Russian).
Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1960b). Gorodiŝe Èjlatan (Èjlatan Zadneprovskij Û. A. (1993). Spornye voprosy istorii kulʹtu-
site), in: SA. No 3. P. 29-45. (in Russian). ry drevnej Fergany (Controversial issues of cultural
Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1962). Drevnezemledelʹčeskaâ kulʹtu- history of ancient Fergana), in: KSIA, 199. P. 17-23 (in
ra Fergany (Ancient agricultural culture of Ferghana). Russian).
Moscow – Leningrad: AN USSR Publ. (in Russian). Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1997). Ošskoe poselenie. K istorii Fer-
Zadneprovskij, Û. A. (1981). K istorii oazisnogo rasseleniâ gany v èpohu pozdnej bronzy (Osh settlement. On the
v pervobytnoj Srednej Azii (On the history of oasis history of Fergana in the Late Bronze Age). Biškek (in
settlement in primitive Central Asia), in: KSIA, 167. P. Russian).
23-27 (in Russian).

34
 RUSTAM SULEYMANOV,
AKMAL MUHAMMADIEV, KHOLIYOR OYNAZAROV

NEW SITES OF THE EARLY IRON AGE

IN THE UPPER REACHES OF THE SHERABAD-DARYA
Abstract: The article presents the results of the reconnaissance work and preliminary studies carried out in
2022 in the Sherabad region. Preliminary short-term visits showed that the area was very promising for the
study and discovery of Stone Age monuments. Here, on the territory of the foothills and mountainous areas in
the gorges, many caves and grottoes had been formed, which in ancient times could serve as a refuge for people
of the Stone Age. Exploration work was carried out from Kurukkulchasai in the southeast, through Panjab in
the north, and through Tangidara and Bagli Dara, to Khamkan in the northwest. The researched territory is a
single foothill and mid-mountain area. Several grottoes and caves were discovered in this area, such as Bagli-
Dara 1, Tashli, Kerishimli, and Tal-Bulak. All the sites are within the radius of 10 km from each other. As a
result of the reconnaissance work, several sites belonging to different periods of the Stone Age, as well as layers
of the early Iron Age, were discovered. Only at one site, single items of the Paleolithic era were found. Among
the archaeological finds, the main role is played by fragments and shards of ceramics, as well as animal bones.
The results of the work showed that the area was intensively used by inhabitants not only in the Stone Age, but
also in the Early Iron Age, and then up to the Middle Ages.

Key words: Southern Uzbekistan, Surkhandarya, Early Iron Age, pseudo-biface, molded ceramics.
Citation: Suleimanov R. H., Muhammadiev A. G., Oynazarov Kh. G. (2023). New sites of the early Iron Age
in the upper reaches of the Sherabad-Darya, Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 35-40.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.003

I
N MAY-JUNE 2022, field archaeological research toes and sheds were discovered in the valley of the
was carried out in the Sherabad district of the Khatak-darya river. In some of them, which had loose
Surkhandarya region. The studied territory is a deposits, small exploratory trenches were laid.
geographically unified area and has its own ecological Two rocky sheds in the Bagli-Dara valley were
and natural characteristics. This area is the extreme located along the left steep rocky slope of the Bag-
northeastern slope of the Kuhitang Range. It is sep- li-Dara sai. Bagli-Dara 1 was a wide light shed with a
arated from the Baysun Range by the Sayroba Basin. platform of loose deposits, where there were all con-
The system of streams and rivers flowing through ditions for the ancient people to live. The second ob-
the territory of the region occupies a special place in ject - a deep cave cavity with a small round entrance
the formation of a unified natural-geographical and on a flat vertical rocky surface - located to the right of
natural-ecological environment. These streams and the Bagli-Dara 1 grotto, was not explored due to its
rivers are the right tributaries of the Sherabaddarya. inaccessibility.
The largest of these tributaries, the Lailagansay, flows Bagli-Dara 1 is a typical rock shed. As a result of
through the Tangidara Gorge and exits to a widening geological and natural factors in this region, many
valley near the village of Khatak. Further, supplying similar canopies were formed in the upper reaches of
the Lailagan village with water, it flows into the Sher- the Surkhandarya. The width of the shed of Bagli-Da-
abaddarya. The middle course of the Khatak river is ra 1 is about 40 m, while the depth is up to 5–7 m
called Bagli-Dara. The mountain range in the study from the edge of the shed (Fig. 1). The area of loose
area stretches for about 15 km. from west to east and deposits under the shed is flat, consists of loose dry
is cut by narrow gorges located in parallel. sandy loam with many stones that have fallen from
Works on the grottoes and caves of the Kha- the roof. The surface of the site is covered with sparse
tak-Darya valley. As a result of the study, many grot- grass in some places. Two stratigraphic trenches were

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 1. Grotto of Bagli-Dara 1. View from the southwest

laid here. The first in the western half of the site is an was lower. Here, the thickness of the aforementioned
excavation 1.3 × 1.5 m, the second is in the eastern cultural layer reaches 2 m. Under this cultural layer,
half of the site 2.5 × 1 m, excavation 2. Both trenches at the very bottom of the trench, lies a sterile sandy
are extended along the line from the depth to the exit layer with stones without finds. Below, at a depth of
of the shed. 2–2.15 m from the modern day surface, the R-2 rocky
On P-1, it was revealed that loose deposits here bottom was exposed.
are shallow. The rocky bottom is located in the north- Thus, the shed of Bagli-Dara 1 settled down only
western corner of the excavation at a depth of 95 cm in the era of the early Iron Age. From the excavations
from the present day surface, and in the southwestern at Bagli-Dara, a certain amount of ceramics of the
corner at a depth of 155 cm. The stratigraphy of loose Early Iron Age was obtained, in shape these are frag-
deposits is simple. Above, under a sparse discontin- ments of large spherical pots with a rim thickened in
uous sod cover, layer 1 occurs in the form of carbo- cross section more often than triangular in cross sec-
naceous-ash deposits in sand up to 60 cm thick. In tion (Table 2: 1, 2, 3). One of them has a miniature
some places there are lenses of dense, yellowish-white semicircular horizontal eye along the outer edge of
ash. It occasionally contains small animal bones and the rim (Tab. 2: 3).
fragments of ceramics. Below, at a depth of up to 1.5 These vessels mainly have an imprint of textile
m, there is a homogeneous light gray yellowish sandy fabric on the inside. Two fragments of small, short,
loam with fragments of stone that fell from the roof wide spouts and plums have been preserved, which
of the grotto. It contains fragments of animal bones were usually placed along the upper edge of a round-
and fragments of pottery from the Early Iron Age. In ed pot and cauldron (Fig. 2). They are typical for the
some places there are spots of ash and small coals. cauldrons of this burrow (Askarov 1989: 98). As usu-
As already noted, the second exploration trench, al, in the break of these molded vessels, an admix-
P-2, was laid on the eastern half of the grotto site. ture of chamotte and gruss is visible. Some of them
Here, the stratigraphy of unconsolidated sediments is are dark gray when broken, although they are fired to
of the same type as on R-1. Above, under the stunted cream on the outside. This is the result of fire firing
turf, there are 15–20 cm of ash deposits - layer 1. Be- of pottery.
low lies loose yellowish sandy loam with fragments of Excavations of the Tashli shed. The Tashli grotto
pottery and animal bones. There are spots and lenses is located in the upper reaches of the Tashli-yurt sai.
of ash. P-2 was laid in the lower part of the platform The shed of the grotto is formed in horizontal layers
of the Bagli-Dara 1 shed. Therefore, the rocky bottom of a towering limestone massif (Fig. 3). The size of

36
 R. SULEYMANOV, A. MUHAMMADIEV, K. OYNAZAROV

the grotto is 65 × 15 m. The height of the ceiling is

15–20 m. The area above the shed is covered with a
horizon of loose, dry, silty humus loam and dotted
with large and small stones that have fallen from the
ceiling of the grotto. The surface of the grotto plat-
form from east to west decreases by 5 m. Outside the
grotto platform, the surface of the slope, descending
at an angle of 450 down to the bottom of the gorge,
consists of limestone talus. The slopes are mostly cov-
ered with shrubs and woody vegetation. During the
first inspection of the grotto in November 2021, here,
among the stones, a pseudo-axe was raised (Fig. 4).
On the eastern half of the site of the grotto, during
its inspection in 2021, a small stratigraphic pit 1 x 1 m,
up to 1.5 m deep was laid, in which fragments of an-
imal bones and fragments of ceramics from the Early
Iron Age were found. In 2022, this pit was expanded
and turned into a 3×1 m trench, oriented along the
meridian from the depth of the grotto to the outside
- R-1. The stratigraphy of the trench is complex. In
total, four layers are distinguished, differing in color Fig. 2. Fragments of spouts and plums of a rounded pot
and cauldron
and composition.
Layer 1. Loose humus sandy loam of gray color
with stones, covered with discontinuous thin turf. bottom of the cave comes out. Rare shards of medi-
Layer 2. Yellowish loose sandy loam with stones. eval ceramics with fragments of animal bones are
There are fragments of pottery from the early Iron found in the material of the cave. When cleaning up
Age and small bones of domestic animals. There are soft loamy deposits in the depths of the cave, where
individual corners. Its thickness is 0.5–1 m. the loam lay in even layers, no ash, no coals, no finds
Layer 3. Dense greyish-brown cave layer with of split stone were found. Based on the results of this
sand and gravel. This is a layer of the Paleolithic time, preliminary acquaintance, it can be assumed that the
it is sterile; as early as 2021, a flint flake was found on cave was not inhabited by people in the Pleistocene
it at a depth of 140 cm. epoch. Rare fragments of animal bones that were
Layer 4. Dense cave loess without finds at the found during the cleaning could be the remains of
southern end of the trench. The rocky bottom of the animal prey.
grotto here appeared at a depth of 2 m. The Talbulak grotto is located on the rock of the
Of the very rare finds of the upper layer, a frag- northern side of the valley of the Tangi Dara gorge,
ment of a handle with an incised ornament from a at a height of 60–70 m above the bed of the river,
medieval jug should be noted (Tab. 3: 1). which flowed at the bottom of the gorge from west
As in the other sheds, a small number of early to east. The grotto is facing southeast and has a width
Iron Age pottery fragments have been recovered here. of 33.2m, a depth of no more than 7–8 m, and a shed
Among them, it is worth noting a fragment of a large arch height of up to 10 m from the floor level. The
deep molded bowl of rounded shape with a vertical cavity of the grotto is well heated by the sun and is
edge (Tab. 3: 2). protected from northern winds and precipitation. On
The Kerishimli Cave is located in the upper the eastern, most lowered half of the platform of loose
reaches of Kapkaksai at the very end of a narrow gorge deposits of the grotto, a trench 4×2 m was laid, ex-
on its left side. Above, the gorge turns sharply to the tended from the depths to the outside of the grotto.
left and its bottom goes up. The cave has two entranc- The stratigraphy of the loose deposits is typical,
es. The main one is on the right. The cave is a narrow as in the grottoes described above. Under the thin
karst cavity with a total length of up to 40 m, 2–5 m horizon of the turf lies a loose, dark humus layer with
wide and 3–4 m high. She goes deep into the cliff with stones 25–30 cm thick. It lies horizontally. No finds
the rise up. The cavity of the cave is extended paral- were found in it. And the underlying second layer is
lel to the gorge of the sai. The cave in the depths has separated from the upper layer by a thin light hori-
a hole upwards, from where melt water periodically zon. It contains separate stones and a thin layer con-
flowed down and washed away the loose soil. sisting of white fine grits, degraded limestone rock in
The floor of the cave is covered with gray loose the form of lenses, up to 5–6 cm thick. The underly-
loam, from under which, in some places, the rocky ing second layer is represented by a light gray san-

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 3. Grotto of Tashli. View from the southeast

dy loam horizon with stones and pottery fragments, cal rim was found from the same layer. The edge of
as well as animal bones. He is uneven. In the south the bowl in the section has a rectangular shape and is
of the trench, its thickness is about 1 m, and in the slightly thickened. A small admixture of chamotte is
northeastern corner of the trench it almost wedges visible in the break of the bowl dough. In some cas-
out, reaching a thickness of 5–10 cm. es, gruss and even more rarely crushed shell rock are
The underlying third layer, on the contrary, thick- found. Outside, the vessel is well smoothed and cov-
ens more than 1 m in the northeastern corner, form- ered with an engobe of the same color as the fractured
ing a mound here. To the south of the excavation, it shard. One of the boilers has a rim in the form of a
thins to 30–40 cm. This layer consists of gray, brown- double roller, divided by a horizontal hollow (Tab. 1:
ish sandy loam with many fragments of stones falling 8).
from above. The third layer also contained fragments Few pottery fragments have been recovered from
of pottery, ash stains and individual small corners, as the underlying third layer. Among them, fragments
well as animal bones. of two vessels made on a potter’s wheel stand out. One
The underlying layer lay horizontally, it consists of them is a fragment of a conical bottom of a bowl
of coarse-grained sand with an admixture of thin, with a small but massive base (Tab. 1: 11).
fine gray gravel. This layer contained rare finds, small The second vessel is a fragment of a small thin-
coals, and isolated animal bones that were not fos- walled and flat-bottomed wall or jar (Tab. 1: 12). Both
silized. The nature of these finds indicates that they of these vessel fragments, made on a potter’s wheel,
are associated with the upper layers and their age also also find the closest analogies among the products
corresponds to the Early Iron Age. of Kuchuk-tepe potters (Sarianidi, Koshelenko 1985:
In total, several dozen fragments of ceramics of 357).
the early Iron Age were found at the excavation of the Thus, single finds of stone products near the
cultural layers of Tal-Bulak. Most of the finds come Tashli shed, where a pseudo-axe was raised on a
from the mentioned layer 2. Of the finds, about a doz- rocky slope in front of the entrance, and a flint flake
en are represented by pot rims typical of the famous was found in a trench, indicate that some of the ex-
Kuchuk-tepe site in the Surkhandarya valley. The vast amined canopies already existed when people settled
majority are made in molded and are spherical pots in the Middle Paleolithic and could serve as a tempo-
with a rim bent outwards (Tab. 1: 1-12). In addition, rary shelter for them. And the Khatak cave itself then
a fragment of a large thick-walled bowl with a verti- served as a base camp for members of a small family

38
 R. SULEYMANOV, A. MUHAMMADIEV, K. OYNAZAROV

Tabl 1.

Tabl 2.

Tabl 3.

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 4. Pseudobiphas

or tribal team, along with children, the main place of time of the composition of the most ancient hymns of
residence. It was the safest and most extensive refuge, the Avesta and the Rigveda.
facing south, dry and well heated by the sun in bad The archaeological complex of Kuchuk-Tepa and
weather. the finds of molded ceramics from the sheds of the
Particular attention should be paid to the era of tributaries of the Khataksai date back to this time, the
the early Iron Age of the end of the 2nd – early 1st population of which in the summer seasons drove
millennium BCE. It was the time of the so-called livestock to the mountainous regions, abundant in
small cooling, when a cold and dry climate was es- moisture and greenery. This is how one could com-
tablished globally. At the same time, apparently, the ment on the active use by settlers of the sheds and
cooling and drying up of the steppes began from the grottoes of Khataksai in the Early Iron Age.
northern latitudes, when from the 16th century BCE
inhabitants of the Andronovo and Srubnaya cultures
from the steppe belt of Eurasia migrated southwards.
Thereafter, the Andronovo culture disappeared from
the steppes of Kazakhstan; its traces were found in the REFERENCES
regions of the ancient civilizations of southern Eur-
asia and even Egypt (the time of the Hyksos). Some
experts believe that this could be the time of the Ary- Аskarov, А. and L. Al’baum (1989). Poselenie Kučuk-Tepa
an movement to India and the Middle East. The tim- (The Settlement of Kuchuktepa). Taškent: Fan Publ. (In
ing of this migration corresponds archaeologically to Russian).
the emergence of the next wave of migrants and the Sarianidi, V. I. and G. A. Koshekenko (1985). Severnaya
Baktriya (Northern Bactria), in: Drevnejšie gosudarst-
culture of geometric, painted hand-made ceramics in va Kavkaza i Srednej Azii (The Oldest States of the Cau-
Central Asia, which is been recorded in Turkmeni- casus and Central Asia), Arheologiya SSSR (Archae-
stan since the 14th century BCE and from the 12th ology of the U.S.S.R). Moscow: Nauka Publ. 187–192,
century BCE in the northern part thereof. It was the Taf. LXIX (in Russian).

40
 MARK DICKENS, VALERII KOLCHENKO

MEDIEVAL CHRISTIAN GRAVESTONES

FROM KRASNAYA RECHKA
Abstract: This article discusses a number of medieval Christian gravestones, several with inscriptions in
Syriac script, found at a medieval settlement near the village of Krasnaya Rechka, located in the Chu River
valley in the northern part of Kyrgyzstan. The archaeological context is described, including other Christian
artefacts discovered in the vicinity, after which the discovery of the gravestones is narrated. Each of the six
stones is described, including inscriptions on three of them, after which conclusions are drawn.

Key words: Christianity, Church of the East, Sogdian, Chuy river valley, Kashghar.
Citation: Dickens, M., Kolchenko V. (2023). Medieval Christian Gravestones from Krasnaya Rechka,
Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 41-49/
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.004

T
HIS ARTICLE addresses a number of medie- Lake Issyk-kül. Having gone around the lake, the pil-
val Christian gravestones, several with inscrip- grim arrived at the city of Suyab,3 where he met the
tions in Syriac script,1 found at a medieval set- Turkic Kaghan” (Baipakov 2000: 2214; Barthold 1956:
tlement near the village of Krasnaya Rechka, located 83-84). Xuanzang’s route thus took him through the
in the Chuy River valley in the northern part of Kyr- Chuy valley5. This route continued to be important
gyzstan, very close to the border with Kazakhstan.2 throughout the following centuries:
The Chuy valley is located to the west of the large
lake Issyk-Köl, along the northern slopes of the Tien «In the sixth to the seventh century, the most
Shan. The Chuy River originates in the Tien Shan intensely used road was the one that led from
mountain range, behind the ridge to the south-east of China to the West through Semirechye (the
Bishkek, flows east towards the Issyk-Köl basin (but ‘Land of the Seven Rivers’)… in the sixth to the
does not actually enter the lake) and then, bending eighth century, the major highway was Syria –
around the ridge, flows to the west and north-west, Iran – Transoxania – southern Kazakhstan – the
forming more than 200 km of the modern border valley of the Talas – the valley of the Chuy – the
between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, after which Issyk-kül basin-East Turkistan» (Baipakov 2000:
it passes into the territory of the latter. It is the last 222)6.
section of its course after turning to the west that is
called the Chuy valley. Krasnaya Rechka
The Chuy valley was an important artery in the and its Christian Archaeological Context
network of routes that we call the Silk Road, connect-
ing the Tarim Basin in China to the east with the steppe About 20 large medieval settlements have been
to the north of the Tien Shan, via the area around Is- recorded in the Chuy Valley, with several small set-
syk-Köl. Departing from Chang’an (Xi’an) in 629, the
Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang) and his 3
For more on Suyab, the reader is referred again to the compan-
companions travelled “along the northern slopes of ion article on Nawākath.
the T’ien Shan, and across the ice mountains… [to] 4
So in the printed version. In the electronic version posted on the
UNESCO website, this is p. 226. See: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/
ark:/48223/pf0000120455.
1
On the Syriac script, see: (Healey 2011). 5
See the map of Xuanzang’s route in (Hansen 2012: 86).
2
See for maps showing the location of Krasnaya Rechka, near 6
See also the itinerary of the Northern Branch of the Silk Road
both Aq-Beshim and Burana: (Goryacheva & Peregudova 1994: given in (Buryakov et al 1999: 84. Van Donzel & Schmidt 2010:
85; Bregel 2003: 5). Bregel accepts the identification of Krasnaya 236-238) suggests that Sallam the Interpreter (842-844) travelled
Rechka with “Nevaket” (i.e. Nawākath). the same route as Xuanzang.

41
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

tlements located around each of them (Kozhemyako items with images of crosses (Kolchenko 2018: 76, 77,
1959). The largest settlement in the Chuy Valley is 92, 93, 96, 99, 100); a large earthen jar (xum) with an
Krasnaya Rechka, situated approximately 35 km east inscription dedicated to yrwγtkyn mlp’ny, “Yaruq-te-
of Bishkek and 30 km north-west of Tokmak (the lat- gin, the teacher” (Livshic 2006; Lurje 2010: № 1517,
ter also located in the Chuy River valley). The first № 938; Livshits et al 2015: 271; Kolchenko 2018: 56,
Christian gravestones in Central Asia were found 91, 96, 100)9; a fired brick inscribed with the words
near these cities (Bishkek and Tokmok) as early as giwargis temurchi, “George the Blacksmith” (Borisov
1885-1886, and the vast majority of medieval Chris- 1963; Kolchenko 2018: 53, 76, 100). Most of these ar-
tian gravestones in Central Asia come from these two tefacts were found by chance, on the surface of the
places7. settlement. Only four or five of them have any archae-
The settlement of Krasnaya Rechka can be divid- ological context, which is not always clearly stated in
ed into two parts: the central ruins and the surround- primary publications10.
ing area. The central ruins (comprising five structural The crosses and images found on many of these
components, including a citadel and two shāhristans) items clearly indicate their Christian origin. Addi-
consist of continuous buildings located within the pe- tionally, the inscriptions on the gravestones, brick
rimeter fortress walls, an area of roughly 1200 × 800 and xum (whether in Syriac script or utilizing Syr-
m with a complex layout and cultural layers that are iac loan-words) testify to their connection with
5-6 m thick. The surrounding area (often called the the Syriac Christian world, particularly the Church
rabat) is encompassed by a long wall and has a radi- of the East, which established a network of Christian
us of 2-5 km; it contains castles, temples, residential Churches throughout Central Asia during Late An-
estates, craft workshops, gardens and fields; these are tiquity and the Middle Ages11. Based on current dat-
located more densely near the central ruins and less ing of these artefacts, there was a Christian presence
densely on the periphery (Kozhemyako 1959: 65-71). in the area during at least the 10th and 12th centuries,
Archaeological excavations have uncovered the when the region was ruled by the Qarakhanids and
upper layers of the citadel and individual castles, resi- the Qarakhitai (the gravestone evidence discussed
dential estates, three Buddhist temples (monasteries), below can specifically be dated from the time of the
a necropolis and a number of other features of the set- latter dynasty). In fact, although we do not know
tlement; most of these features were located outside when Christianity was first introduced to the area, it
the fortress walls, near the central ruins. must have been no later than under the Qarlulqs, who
The site was previously dated from the 5th/6th embraced Christianity in the late 8th century (Dick-
century to the mid-12th century (Kozhemyako 1959: ens 2010).
71; Klein 2000: 111-112)8. However, more recent The aforementioned inscriptions on the xum (in
studies have shown that the lower layers can be dated Sogdian) and the brick (in Turkic), along with the
from the middle to the end of the 8th century (Тоrgo- mixture of Syriac and Turkic on the gravestone in-
ev & Kolchenko 2010: 309-310) and the upper layers scriptions described below, also point to the multilin-
to the beginning of the 13th century (Kolchenko & gual nature of Christianity in the Chuy valley.
Тоrgoev 2015: 345).
Unlike nearby Ak-Beshim (Kyzlasov 1959: 231- Christian Gravestones from Krasnaya Rechka
233; Clauson 1961; Hambis 1961; Klein 2000: 113-121;
Klein 2004; Semyonov 2002: 44-114; Kyzlasov 2006: The first two gravestones found in Krasnaya
322-329; Kolchenko 2018: 57-70), no Church has been Rechka (stones № 1 and № 2 below) were discovered
excavated at Krasnaya Rechka. However, in addition during excavations in 1980 at the base of the walls of
to the Christian gravestones discussed in this article, the upper layer of the citadel, dated by researchers
a number of other Christian artefacts have been dis- during excavations to the 11th-12th centuries. Lead
covered there, all evidence of an ongoing Christian archaeologist Valentina Goryacheva consulted with
community: a series of pectoral crosses and medal-
lions made of bronze and jade (Kolchenko 2018: 25, 9
The full inscription reads ’yny xwyc’k yrwγtkyn mlp’ny pyδ’r xw
56, 76, 77, 87, 92, 96, 99); various fragmented ceramic xwšt’ry pštwn xcy βrγwncy y’t ’myn ’myn, “This vessel (was made)
for Yaruq-tegin, the teacher. The master craftsman (?) is Pasht-
wan. May he (the teacher?) be diligent. Amen, Amen.” See also the
7
The original excavations were reported in (Pantusov 1886 discussion in (Klein 2000: 112-113).
[1887]). For an excellent overview of these discoveries and their 10
For more information about these artefacts, see the article
documentation in English, see (Thacker 1966-1967: 94-100) , in “Christian Antiquities from Krasnaya Rechka” in next issue.
Russian see (Kolchenko 2017; 2019). A shorter version is found in 11
The Church of the East is a Syriac-speaking church that had a
(Dickens 2009: 14-17). long history in Central Asia. We avoid here the epithet “Nestori-
8
For the general archaeological context of Krasnaya Rechka, see an,” which was used only by others, never by the Church of the
(Kozhemyako 1959: 65-71; Amanbayeva et al. 2011: 38-40; Kol- East to refer to itself; see Brock 1996. For more on the general his-
chenko 2017 а: 23-28). tory of Syriac Christianity in Central Asia, see (Dickens 2019).

42
 М. DICKENS, V. КОLCHENKO

Fig. 2. Stone № 2. Found on the Citadel.

Kept in the museum of KRSU

only gave a partial reading for the first stone and no

Fig. 1. Stone № 1. Found on the Citadel. reading for the second one. As demonstrated below,
Kept in the museum of KRSU
only the first stone has a date; it is unclear when the
deceased commemorated by the second stone (or in-
Syriac specialist Aza Paykova about the inscriptions; deed the recently-discovered third stone) died. Giv-
the latter was unfortunately unable to publish the en archaeological findings indicating that the city
stones due to her untimely death in 1984. However, was abandoned in the period after the Qarakhanids,
in a private letter to Goryacheva, Paykova dated these probably in the mid-12th century, it seems that some
stones to 1100 and 1220 in the Seleucid era, equiv- Christians at least survived after the Qarakhitai con-
alent to 788/89 and 908/09 CE (Goryacheva 1988: quest, as indicated by the late 12th century date on
62-66; Goryacheva & Peregudova 1994: 91)12. These the first stone (Klein 2000: 113).
proposed dates were much earlier than the date range Four additional gravestones (stones № 3 to № 6
of the corpus of gravestones excavated at Bishkek and below) were accidentally discovered in 2014 near the
Tokmak in the late 19th century, which range from eastern “long wall” of the Krasnaya Rechka rabat (the
1200/01 AD (or possibly 1185/86, based on uncertain area surrounding the central ruins) by Captain Ana-
readings of two stones) to 1344/45 AD13. Our revised toly Cherkasov, a Russian pilot based at the nearby
readings below indicate that Paykova’s dates for the Kant airbase14. Although a separate Christian ceme-
two stones were indeed too early. tery has not yet been unearthed in Krasnaya Rech-
The two stones discovered in the 1980s were ka, these recent gravestone finds offer hope that such
published by Wassilios Klein in 2000, although he a graveyard will someday be discovered15. All of the
stones discussed in this article are kept in the Muse-
12
See the discussion of these dates in (Klein 2000: 163-164). On
the Seleucid era, see (Strootman 2015). On its use on Christian
gravestones from Central Asia, see (Bazin 1991: 413-429). 14
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=55126.
13
See references in (Dickens 2009: 15, n. 15). 15
See the discussion in (Kolchenko 2018: 76).

43
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

um of the Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University, located omitting the name and the year of the animal cycle
in Bishkek. (Klein 2000: 163-165)17. The name is clearly ‫ܣܘܠܩܐ‬,
Sulaqa, the Syriac word for “ascension”, a reference to
Stone № 1 (KrR-Cit-1) (Fig. 1) the ascension of Jesus into heaven 40 days after his
Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 091. This stone is one resurrection (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:3, 9). Interestingly,
of the two found in 1980 at the base of the walls of the language of the inscription on this stone switches
the upper level of the citadel; it measures 25 × 18 × from Syriac to Turkic with the addition of the geni-
5.5-6.3 cm16. tive ending ‫ܢܝܓ‬, -ning after the name of the deceased.
In the middle of the stone is a carved cross pattée. The rest of the inscription continues in Turkic: ‫ܐܝܠ‬
Each of its triangular arms is inscribed into the stone ‍‫ܬܐܥܩܘ ܐܪܕܝ‬, yil takığu ärdi, “It was the year of the
by removing the top layer from the surface (the so- chicken.”
called silhouette technique). The lower arm is some- The year 1500 Sel. is confirmed by the year giv-
what longer than the others and has a rudimentary en in the 12-year animal cycle used by the Chinese,
base underneath, giving the appearance of a proces- Turks and Mongols: ‫( ܬܐܥܩܘ‬pronounced tağıqu) –
sional cross on top of a staff. also spelled ‫( ܛܐݎܐܥܘ‬tağıqu 18) and ‫( ܛܐݎܥܘ‬taxığu)
The four lines of text are inscribed around the on the Chuy Valley gravestones (Chwolson 1890: 7,
three sides of the cross. 74 (№ 44); Chwolson 1897: 29 (№ 124, № 125)) – rep-
Line 1 of the inscription extends horizontally resenting Turkic takığu or takağu19, “domestic fowl”
(right to left, of course) above the top of the cross, with (Clauson 1972: 468)20. The year of the chicken fell in
the last letter located in the upper left corner. Lines 2 1500/01 Sel., which matches the Seleucid date on this
and 3 are inscribed vertically down the left side of the stone.
cross, from top to bottom, with line 3 located below
the left arm of the cross. Line 4 is also written verti- Stone № 2 (KrR-Cit-2) (Fig. 2)
cally, but to the right of the cross. The palaeography is Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 094. This is the sec-
generally easy to read, with only a few letters open to ond of the two stones found in 1980 at the base of the
multiple interpretations. As noted above, it was pre- walls of the upper level of the citadel; it measures 22
viously published by Klein (Klein 2000, Grabstein 15 × 15 × 4-7 cm.
(Abb. 45): 163-165, 399). In the middle of the stone is a roughly carved simple
‫ܒܫܢܬ ܐܬܩ‬ cross consisting of two straight intersecting lines, with
‫ܗܢܐ ܩܒܪܐ‬ arms almost equal in length, but different in thickness.
‫ܣܘܠܩܐܢܝܓ‬ The inscription is much more difficult to read than that
‫ܐܝܠ ܬܐܥܩܘ ܐܪܕܝ‬ on the first stone. The first line is written over the top of
In the [Seleucid] year 1500 [1188/89 AD]. This the cross, the second line vertically to the left of it and
grave (is) Sulaqa’s. the last two lines vertically to the right of it. Again, this
It was the year of the chicken. stone was previously published by Klein (Klein 2000,
Of the three stones considered here, this is the Grabstein 16 (Abb. 46): 165-166, 400).
only one with a year in the Seleucid dating system
(abbreviated Sel. below) used by Syriac Christians.
Although previous scholars who have studied this 17
‫ܒܫܢܬ ܐܬܟܘ ܗܢܐ ܩܒܪܐ ܣܘܠܩܐܢܝܐ ܐܝܠ ܐܬܥܩܘܐܪܪ‬, “In the year
stone have interpreted the date differently (1100 Sel. 1426. This is the grave…” It is subsequently noted that the sec-
ond letter in the date can be read as either ‫ ܠ‬or ‫( ܬ‬representing
by Paykova, 1426 Sel. by Klein), only three letters ap-
pear to be present: ‫ ܐ‬and ‫ ܬ‬and ‫( ܩ‬representing the
the numbers 30 and 400 respectively), with the third letter “an
angular and compact ‫( ܟ‬representing the number 20)” and the
numbers 1000, 400 and 100 respectively). The initial last letter a ‫( ܘ‬representing the number 6). 1426 Sel. converts to
‫ ܐ‬is clear and the second letter, when compared with 1114/15 AD. It is also suggested that the date can be read as ‫ܐܬܪܘ‬
the first word ‫ܒܫܢܬ‬, “in the year,” is best interpreted as 1606 Sel. (1294/95 AD). Neither of these dates occurred in the
‫ܬ‬. The last letter, which Klein reads as ‫ ܘ‬, seems rather
year of the chicken.
to be ‫( ܩ‬representing the numbers 6 and 100 respec-
18
The adapted letter ‫( ݎ‬here transcribed as x), used in render-
ing both Sogdian and Turkic into Syriac script, can represent the
tively). Adding up 1000+400+100 gives the year as sounds /k/, /q/ and /x/. For more on this letter, see Dickens 2009:
1500. Not only does our reading differ from Klein’s; 29-30; Zieme 2015: 20-21.
it is also clear that the actual characters on gravestone
19
As Clauson notes, takağu is more typical of the pronunciation
in Xākānī, the Turkic language (or dialect) spoken by the
№ 1 do not allow us to follow Paykova’s dating of 1100 Qarakhanids and most likely that which was used by the
Sel. Christians who left the gravestones of the Chu Valley (Clauson
Klein only gave a partial reading for this stone, 1972: xv-xviii, 468).
20
The only other Turkic animal-year name in Syriac script that
begins with the sound /t/ is ‫ܛܐܒܫܥܐܢ‬, tavıšğan “hare, rabbit,”
16
All dimensions are given in the order length × width × height which fits neither the visible letters nor the Seleucid date of 1500
(thickness). see (Clauson 1972: 447; Chwolson 1890: 7).

44
 М. DICKENS, V. КОLCHENKO

Fig. 3. Stone № 3. Found on the eastern outskirts of the settlement. Kept in the museum of KRSU

‫ܗܢܘ ܩܒܪܐ‬ one; he does not give any reading for it and instead just
‫ܒܘܥܐܪܐܨ‬ says, “The stone is written in Turkish, as the last word,
‫ܥܠܝܡܬܐ ܝܝ ‍ܠ ܝܝܐܠܢ‬ the ambiguous ‫ ܝܕܪܐ‬shows. At the beginning of the in-
‍‫ܐܪܕܝ‬ scription there is neither a number nor a Turkic nu-
This is the grave (of) Buğarač, the maiden. It was meral nor an animal name from the dating cycle”
the year of the snake. (Klein 2000: 165). Our reading suggests otherwise.
There is no Seleucid era date on this stone. Al-
though line 1 is hard to make out, it seems to be the Stone № 3 (KrR-East-1) (Fig. 3)
formulaic Syriac phrase ‫ܗܢܘ ܩܒܪܐ‬, “this is the grave,” Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 432. This stone,
used on the vast majority of Christian gravestones in found in 2014 on the eastern periphery of the settle-
the Chuy Valley. The name on line 2 is more difficult; ment, is only partially preserved, with perhaps half
the letters in order are 1) definitely ‫( ܒ‬b), 2) ‫( ܘ‬w/u/o) of it broken off and missing; the size of the remain-
or ‍‫( ܝ‬y/i/e), 3) ‫( ܥ‬ğ) or ‍‫( ܟ‬k), 4) clearly ‫( ܐ‬a), 5) ‫( ܪ‬r) or ing part is 12.5+ × 18 × 5.3 cm21. In the middle of
less likely ‫( ܙ‬z), 6) almost certainly another ‫( ܐ‬a), 7) the stone is a small equilateral cross, made by the in-
‫( ܨ‬č) or ‫( ݎ‬x/q/k). Buğarač, “little camel” is the only tersection of two straight lines of roughly the same
name listed in Rásonyi & Baski’s Onomasticon Tur- thickness as the letters.
cicum that comes close to what is visible here on the This is the only stone found in 2014 that has an
stone (Rásonyi & Baski 2007: 170). The deceased is inscription; fortunately, it is relatively easy to read.
described on line 3 as ‫ܥܠܝܡܬܐ‬, “young woman, maid- Although the stone is broken in half, the inscription
en,” the typical term used to describe an unmarried seems complete and there are no indications of miss-
woman. This is followed on lines 3 and 4 with the ing words.
Turkic phrase ‫ܝܝܠ‍ ܝܝܐܠܢ ܐܪܕܝ‬, yil yilan ärdi, “It was the Due to the fragmentation of the stone and the
year of the snake.” If the year of death fell close to that very simple depiction of a cross in the center, it is
of stone № 1, it could have been any of the follow- unclear how it was initially oriented; were the visible
ing years in the Seleucid calendrical system: 1484/85, words inscribed above and below the cross (horizon-
1496/97, 1508/09 or 1520/21 (these years convert to tal orientation) or to the left and right of it (vertical
1173, 1185, 1197 or 1209 AD). orientation)? There are only three lines:
Considering the actual inscription on this stone,
Paykova’s dating of 1220 Sel. cannot be maintained. 21
+occurring after a number indicates that the dimension in
Klein has even less to say about this stone than the first question was originally longer, due to the artefact being broken.

45
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 4. Stone № 4. Found on the eastern outskirts

of the settlement. Kept in the museum of KRSU
‫ܗܢܘ ܩܒܪܐ‬
‫ܝܘܫܡܕ‬
‫ܩܫܝܫܐ‬
This is the grave (of) Yošmid the priest. Fig. 5. Stone № 5. Found on the eastern outskirts
Again, we start with the Syriac formula “this is of the settlement. Kept in the museum of KRSU
the grave (of).” The name ‫ܝܘܫܡܕ‬, Yošmid is interest-
ing. It comes from the Sogdian word for “first day” ably spherical. In the middle are two arms of a simple
(meaning “Sunday”) and is related to Persian ‫یکشنبه‬, cross of two intersecting lines 4-6 mm thick; there are
yakshanbe, which has been borrowed into various no remnants of an inscription to be seen.
Central Asian languages: Tajik Якшанбе; Uzbek yak-
shanba; Turkmen ýekşenbe; Kazakh Жексенбі; Kyrgyz Stone № 5 (KrR-East-3) (Fig. 5)
Жекшемби (Zieme 2015: 188-191). Yošmid as a name Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 473. Found in 2014
has parallels in other Christian traditions (including on the eastern periphery of the settlement, the fifth
in Syriac, where we find the name Bar Ḥadbshaba, stone, like the fourth stone, is spherical in form, with
“son of Sunday”); it is common in the Chuy Valley dimensions of 18.8 × 17.5 × 7.5 cm. Only a simple
gravestone corpus, occurring at least 19 times, prob- equilateral cross of two intersecting lines (5-7 mm
ably a reflection of the importance of Sunday as a day thick) is depicted. There is no visible inscription,
of worship for Christians (Chwolson 1890: № 8; № 16 although there are indecipherable markings in one
(cf. Zhumagulov 2011: 370-371); № 4910; № 5010; № quadrant of the cross, as well as a diagonal crack
5013; № 751 (cf. Jumagulov 2011: 300-301); № XII; Ch- across the stone.
wolson 1897: № 61; № 62; № 132; № 196; № 222; №
266; № 267; № 284; Kokovcev 1909: № 2 (cf. Jumagu- Stone № 6 (KrR-East-4) (Fig. 6)
lov 1971: 91-95; Jumagulov 2011: 41-43); Nau 1913: Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 579. The sixth stone
25-26; Klein 2000: 170 (cf. Jumagulov 2011: 119-120, was also found in 2014 on the eastern periphery of
141-142). The Syriac word ‫ ܩܫܝܫܐ‬is the most common the settlement and is a flat slab of red color, carved
word for “priest,” although it is written rather oddly; from granitoid rock. There has been significant loss
the initial qoph (‫ )ܩ‬has a hook in the upper left corner on three sides and the front surface of the original
that makes the letter look like mim (‍‫)ܡ‬. object; the dimensions of what remains are 48+ × 19
(23)++ × 14 (10.5) cm22.
Stone № 4 (KrR-East-2) (Fig. 4) An equilateral cross pattée (similar in style to that
Inventory № КМ КРСУ КП 474. Only part of the on Stone № 1) has been clearly and carefully carved
fourth stone, also found in 2014 on the eastern pe-
riphery of the settlement, remains; it has dimensions 22
++ occurring after a number indicates that the dimension in
of 22.5+ × 19.5+ × 9 cm. The stone is light in color, question was originally longer, due to the artefact being broken
broken diagonally, but its original form was presum- off on both sides.

46
 М. DICKENS, V. КОLCHENKO

into the stone on its preserved surface. No inscription

is visible. The purpose of this stone is unclear, but the
shape suggests that it is most likely not a gravestone.

Conclusion

Although Krasnaya Rechka has not yielded up

anything close to the number of gravestones found at
the Christian cemeteries near Bishkek and Tokmak,
the finds discussed in this article are nonetheless
important. The gravestones reinforce the evidence
gleaned from other archaeological artefacts found
nearby, namely that there was a Christian community
in the area, at least in the twelfth century.
The inscriptions on the three stones appear sim-
ilar to each other in terms of workmanship and size,
which may be an indirect argument for their chrono-
logical closeness. It is notable that the only grave-
stone with a specific date is one of the earliest from
the Chuy Valley, dating from 1500 Sel. (1188/89 CE).
Of course, six images of crosses are clearly not
enough from which to draw serious iconographic
conclusions, but it is interesting to note that in four
cases we have simple equilateral crosses made by the
intersection of two lines, while in two cases we see
a cross pattée, with triangular arms expanding from
the centre out to the edges. In all cases, the crosses are
inscribed into the stone, rather than being carved in
relief23.
These precious finds give us insight into the Syri-
ac, Turkic and Sogdian cultural influences (as reflect-
ed in the names Sulaqa, Buğarač and Yošmid) on the
Christians living in the area more than 800 years ago.
The question of whether or not Krasnaya Rechka was
the residence of the metropolitan bishop of Nawākath
in medieval times is addressed in a companion article
in this issue.

23
For examples of the latter (much less common in the Chu
Fig. 6. Stone № 6. Found on the eastern outskirts Valley corpus), see (Kokovcev 1904-1905 [1906]: № 11; Dickens
of the settlement. Kept in the museum of KRSU 2016: 124).

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The Syriac World. Ed. D. King. Abingdon: Routledge. Ken Bulun. The Соnsеrvаtiоn of Cultuгal Heritage in
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rii drevnikh kul’tov Srednei Azii: Khristianstvo [From Azerbaidzhana, T. IV: Khristianstvo [Religions of Cen-
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Publ. P. 84-95 (in Russian). Kolchenko, V. A. (2019). Hristianskoe kladbiŝe mongolsko-
Hambis, L. (1961). Communication: Ak-Bešim et ses sanc- go vremeni na gorodiŝe Burana (po dannym arhivnyh
tuaires, in: Comptes-rendus des séances de l’Académie dokumentov o raskopkah 1886 goda) [Christian cem-
des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Vol. 105. Р. 124-138. etery of the Mongolian time in the Burana settlement
Hansen, V. (2012). The Silk Road: A New History. Oxford: (according to archival documents on the excavations
Oxford University Press. of 1886)], in: Genuezskaya Gazariya i Zolotaya Orda
Healey, J. F. (2011). Script, Syriac, in: Gorgias Encyclopedic [Genoese Gazaria and the Golden Horde]. Vol. 2. Ka-
Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Piscataway, NJ: Gor- zan - Kishinev: Stratum Publ. P. 209-221 (in Russian).
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Jumagulov Ch. (1971). Yazyk siro-tyurkskikh (nestorianski- ogo vremeni na gorodishche Krasnaya Rechka [Layers
kh) pamyatnikov Kirgizii [The language of the Syro-Tur- of the Karakhanid time at the settlement of Krasnaya
kic (Nestorian) monuments of Kyrgyzstan]. Frunze: Ak- Rechka], in: Kyrgyzskii i karakhanidskii kaganaty: Bla-
ademiya nauk Kirgizskoi SSR Publ. (In Russian). godatnoe znanie i gosudarstvo [Kyrgyz and Karakhanid
Jumagulov, Ch. (2011). Kyrgyzstandagy nestorian-turk Khaganates: Blessed Knowledge and the State]. Bishkek:
zhazuu ehstelikteri (XIII-XIV kylymdar) [Kyrgyzstan Maxprint Publ. P. 344-346 (in Russian).
Dagi Nestorian-Turk Zhazuu Estelikteri (XIII-XIV Ky- Kozhemyako P. N. (1959). Rannesrednevekovye goroda i
lymdar)]. Bishkek: Ch. Aitmatov atyndagy Til zhana poseleniya Chuiskoi doliny [Early medieval cities and
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Klein, W. (2000). Das nestorianische Christentum an den SSR Publ. (In Russian).
Handelswegen durch Kyrgyzstan bis zum 14. Jh (Silk Kyzlasov, L. R. (1959). Arheologicheskie issledovaniya na
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Moscow: Akademia nauk USSR Publ. P. 155-242 (in kic Personal Names, in: Indiana University Uralic and
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sches Personennamenbuch, Band II, Faszikel 8. Wien: entsii, posvyashchennoi 100-letiyu A.N. Bernshtama
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Nau, F. (1913). Les pierres tombales nestoriennes du Musée tional conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of
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Pantusov, N. (1886 [1887]). Khristіanskoe kladbishche bliz Publ. P. 301-310 (in Russian).
goroda Pishpeka v Chuiskoi doline [Christian ceme- van Donzel, E., Schmidt, A. B. (2010). Gog and Magog in
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Rásonyi, L., Baski, I. (2007). Onomasticon Turcicum: Tur- 41). Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press.

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 MARK DICKENS

WHERE WAS THE CHRISTIAN METROPOLITAN BISHOP

OF NAWAKATH LOCATED?1

Abstract: This article discusses a number of medieval Christian gravestones, several with inscriptions in
Syriac script, found at a medieval settlement near the village of Krasnaya Rechka, located in the Chu River
valley in the northern part of Kyrgyzstan. The archaeological context is described, including other Christian
artefacts discovered in the vicinity, after which the discovery of the gravestones is narrated. Each of the six
stones is described, including inscriptions on three of them, after which conclusions are drawn.

Key words: Christianity, Church of the East, Sogdian, Chuy river valley, Kashghar.
Citation: Dickens, M., Kolchenko V. (2023). Medieval Christian Gravestones from Krasnaya Rechka,
Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 50-65.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.005

T
HE CHURCH of the East2 was active in Cen- Turks (see Dickens 2010), Kashghar and Nawākath
tral Asia for over a millennium (from proba- (the latter rendered by Dauvillier as Navēkaθ),5 Tibet,
bly the fourth century to at least the fourteenth Kumdan and Sarag (later replaced by Sin and Masin;
century), during which time it built up a network of all four of these were located in China), Khan-Baliq
bishops and metropolitans stretching from the bor- (Beijing), Katai (Cathay, i.e. northern China) and
ders of the old Sassanian Empire of the Persians as Ong (referring to the Öngüt Turks), the enigmatic
far east as China.3 Jean Dauvillier, in an important Khan-Baliq and Al-Faliq (see Dauvillier 1948: 305-
study from 1948, draws on various primary sources 307; Dickens 2009: 24) and finally Tangut (see Tang
to give an overview of what we know about the exte- 2022).
rior provinces of the “Chaldean Church” (as he calls It is clear from the above list – to which we might
the Church of the East), each of which was overseen add the occurrence of Merv and Nishapur in the early
by a metropolitan bishop (Dauvillier 1948). The prov- fourteenth century Order of Ecclesiastical Judgements
inces of relevance to Central Asia (several of which by ʿAbdishoʿ bar Berikha (Chabot 1902: 619)6 – that
are in traditionally Chinese territory) are as follows: provinces of the Church of the East with two metro-
Merv, Herat (see Fiey 1973), Ḥaliḥ,4 Samarkand, the politan see cities were not uncommon at various
times during its long sojourn in Asia. The current ar-
ticle concerns one of those metropolitan seats shared
1
This article is a companion to “Medieval Christian Gravestones
from Krasnaya Rechka” in this issue. It relies mostly on data from between two locations – mentioned in the Asfār
primary sources in Arabic and Persian regarding the geography al-Asrār (Books of the Secrets), which was written by
of Central Asia. Most secondary sources consulted are in Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā in 1332 (drawing in part on the
English, French or German. Rather than starting from a foregone Kitāb al-Majdal, the “Book of the Tower,” a book with
conclusion regarding the location of Nawākath, the article seeks
to establish this from an in-depth look at all known primary
sources relevant to the topic. As a result of this survey, the author 4
Pelliot proposed this should be associated with the Turkic
ends up concurring with the conclusions found in secondary Khalaj living in western Turkistan and Afghanistan, but see my
sources in Russian on the topic, notably Baipakov & Goryacheva conclusion to the contrary in Dickens 2010: 127.
1983, as discussed at the end of the article. 5
Although the place name would have been pronounced
2
On the inappropriate use of the term “Nestorian” to describe this Navēkath in Persian, Sogdian and other Iranian languages (see
church, see Brock 1996. the examples in Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam and Gardizi below), I have ren-
3
On the history of the Church of the East in Central Asia, see dered it throughout this article according to the Arabic form
Dickens 2019. I leave aside here the possibility that the Church Nawākath, since that is the form we find in the Asfār al-Asrār of
of the East reached Japan, about which the opinion of scholars Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā discussed below.
is divided. 6
ʿAbdishoʿ wrote the Order of Ecclesiastical Judgements in 1315/16.

50
 M. DICKENS

a complex textual history – the dual metropolitanate preting where necessary Khwārazmi’s longitudinal
of , Kashghar and Nawākath.7 Although and latitudinal data, Maróth assigns Nawākath to
Ṣalībā tells us of metropolitan bishops of Kashghar in 104º longitude and 44º latitude, but there is noth-
the twelfth century (Gismondi 1896-1897: / 61, ing more that we can glean about this location from
64), he provides no information on any bishops resi- Khwārazmi’s text (Maróth 1980: 320, 330). As Wassil-
dent in Nawākath at any time, nor does any other ios Klein notes, this would place Nawākath some 400
written source mention a bishop (metropolitan or km south of Ulaanbaatar, far to the east in Mongolia
otherwise) associated with Nawākath. It is therefore (Klein 2000: 136).
unclear what the ecclesiastical arrangement was be- Presumably following Khwārazmi’s lead, Ibn
tween these two cities, located hundreds of kilome- Rustah (fl. 903) mentions Nawākath in a similar list
tres apart from each other. Given the references to in his Kitāb al-Aʿlāq al-Nafisah (Book of Precious
َ َ Re-
twelfth century metropolitans of Kashghar, we might cords). Here, however, Nāwikāt (Arabic ‫ )نويکت‬is locat-
imagine that the actual metropolitan was located ed in the fifth clime, along with the country of Gog,
there, with perhaps a suffragan bishop in Nawākath, Taraz (Talas) the city of merchants, Isbijab (Isfijab,
but without more textual or archaeological evidence, modern Sayram), Shāsh (the region around Tash-
we may never know exactly what relationship these kent), Turaraband and Khwarezm, not to mention
two members of the dual metropolitanate had with Azerbaijan and parts of Armenia (text: de Goeje 1892:
each other. ٨٩; translation: Wiet 1955: 109). The elder Khwārazmi
This article seeks to answer the question of where had also placed several of these locations (Taraband,
exactly this Nawākath – a Sogdian place name mean- Isbijāb and Taraz) in the fifth clime (Maróth 1980:
ing “new city” or “new town,” (Gharib 1995: 245 319). Admittedly, these clime lists are not very geo-
[nwʾy] or 248 [nwyy], 191 [knθ] or 197 [kθ])8 – was graphically precise, but the reference to Nawākath
located. Dauvillier, in a lengthy examination of this in the same clime as Taraz, Isfijab and Shāsh by Ibn
question, presents a number of options put forth by Rustah perhaps suggests that, like the other cities, it is
various scholars, including Yangi Hissar (Yengisar, located in the north (either in the Tian Shan moun-
near Kashghar), Yangikand (apparently near Talas), tain range or to the north of it on the steppe).
Farghana, Yangi-baliq (located somewhere on the The second early Muslim source of interest is
Chinese side of the Tian Shan mountain range), “a Kitāb al-Masālik waʾl Mamālik (Book of Roads and
city of Sogdian origin, located close to Issyk-Köl,” Kingdoms) by Ibn Khurdādhbih (885), where we read
Nūkath / Nūnkat / Tūnkat (the capital of Ilāq) and the following itinerary from Taraz to the border with
Suyab (Dauvillier 1948: 288-291). In order to find a China: Taraz – Lower Nushājān (Lower Barskhān)9
more definitive answer to the question, an examina- – Kaṣri Bās, the Qarluq wintering grounds (near
tion of relevant Muslim (Arabic and Persian) geo- the Khalaj wintering grounds) – Kul Shub – Jal
graphical sources is in order. Shub – Kulān – Birki (Mirki) – Asbara – Nuzkat –
Kharanjawan – Jul – Sārigh – the city of the Qaghan
َ
Muslim Geographers of the Türgesh – Nāwākat10 (Arabic ‫ – )ن َواکت‬Kubāl –
and Historians on Nawākath Upper Nushājān (Upper Barskhān), where the border

We start with two Muslim sources from the ninth

century that mention Nawākath, along with other
9
The identity of (Lower and Upper) Nushājān as a scribal error
for Barskhān is discussed in Minorsky 1948: 290-291. As Mi-
sources that borrowed from each of them. The earliest norsky notes there, Lower Barskhān was located “three farsakhs’
extant reference is found in the Kitāb Ṣurat al-ʾArḍ distance to the east of Taraz,” while Upper Barskhān “was situated
(Book of the Image of the Earth) by al-Khwārazmi (or at least 500 km. to the east” of that, on the shore of Issyk-Köl.
al-Khuwārizmi) (d. ca. 847), where the author lists 10
Arab and Persian writers sometimes render the second half of
the following locations in the sixth clime: Khwarezm, these Sogdian place names as -kat, rather than -kath. One also
finds this spelling variant in Sogdian texts themselves. As Lurje
the Khazars and Nawākath (Arabic ‫)نواکث‬. Reinter- 2003: 191 notes, “place-names are normally spelled with –knδ in
the bulk of the Sogdian original… texts. The Mugh documents
[referring to the Sogdian documents discovered at Mount Mugh
7
The actual Kitāb al-Majdal, written by ʿAmr ibn Mattā (ear- in what is now Uzbekistan] show a variation of spellings with –
ly 11th cent.) and continued by Marī ibn Sulaymān (mid-12th knδ and –kt… the spelling –kt being chiefly a feature of the Up-
cent.), does not mention either Kashghar or Nawākath. For the per Zarafšān highland villages.” Nicholas Sims-Williams (per-
reference to the dual metropolitanate, see Gismondi 1896-1897: sonal correspondence, September 15, 2021) further comments,
١٢٦, ١٣٢/73, 74. On the history of the Kitāb al-Majdal and the Asfār “The reason for the spellings with t is not known, but it clearly
al-Asrār, see Holmberg 1993; Thomas et al 2010: 627-632; Thomas represents a real (dialectal?) pronunciation.” At the same time, as
et al 2012: 900-905. Lurje 2003: 192, n. 28 observes, “the letters t (‫ )ت‬and θ (‫ )ث‬differ
8
See also the discussion of the endings –kaθ and –kand in Central from one another by a single dot and are very often confused with
Asian toponyms of Sogdian origin in Lurje 2003, especially 189, each other. Sometimes different codices of a single text prefer –
196. kaθ or –kat… I could not find any system in it.”

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

of China begins (text: de Goeje 1889: ٩٢-٨٢; transla- would lead to more infighting amongst the Turks and
tion: de Goeje 1889: 21). the eventual end of Türgesh power on the steppes
A very similar but slightly more extensive itin- in 740, not long after which they were replaced by
erary is found in the Kitāb al-Kharāj (Book of Land the Qarluqs. The passage quoted from concerns the
Tax) by Qudāma (d. 948); instead of “Qaghan of the events leading up to the ill-fated Khāqān’s defeat.
Türgesh,” we read just “Qaghan of the Turks” and the Is this the same Nawākath mentioned by Ibn
following locations are added: the territory of the Ki- Khurdādhbih and Qudāma? H. A. R. Gibb, in his
mak Turks to the north of the desert, Kirmiraw, Ban- masterful The Arab Conquests in Central Asia, sum-
jikat, Suyab and Sāghur Kubāl. Nawākath is rendered marizes as follows: “Ibn al-Sāʾijī had appealed for
as Nawākat (Arabic ‫ )نواکت‬by Qudāma, who describes aid to Su-Lu, who was at his capital Nawākath (on
it as a large city, from which a road leads to Upper the Chu [River]). The Khāqān, with a small mounted
Nushājān (Upper Barskhān) (text: de Goeje 1889: -٥٠٢ force including the Sughdian refugees, marched from
٦٠٢; translation: de Goeje 1889: 157-158). Sūyāb (near Tokmak, on the Chu) to Khuttal [located
A number of the locations in the itineraries found to the south, on the northern bank of the Oxus River]
in Ibn Khurdādhbih and Qudāma can be determined in seventeen days” (Gibb 1923: 82). Given the refer-
with reasonable accuracy, including the aforemen- ence to the Türgesh ruler, whose centre of power was
tioned Taraz (see Klein 2000: 128-131), the wintering on the steppes north of Shāsh, it seems highly likely
grounds of the Qarluq Turks, Mirki (see Klein 2000: that we are dealing here with a location in that area.14
131-132), Asbara and Suyab (the capital city of the Nawākath is also mentioned by Ibn al-Faq-
Türgesh) (see Klein 2000: 139-146)11; all these lie ih al-Hamadani, in his Mukhtaṣar Kitāb al-Buldān
along the northern slopes of the Tian Shan,12 an area (Abridgement of the Book of Lands), written ca. 903,
now located in southeastern Kazakhstan and north- but this may be a different iteration of the name. Ibn
ern Kyrgyzstan. The location of Upper Barskhān, the al-Faqih describes the land of Sughd (Arabic ‫)السغد‬ُ as
endpoint of this itinerary, can also be fixed with ac- comprised of a number of cities, including the follow-
curacy, as it lies on the southern shore of Issyk-Köl. ing: Karmāniya, Dabūsī, Samarqand, Surūšana, Šāš,
It is therefore clear that the Nawākath named in these Nakhšab, Ustūrkat, Anūdikat… Binkat, Nūkat (Ara-
َ ُ
lists must be located somewhere between Issyk-Köl to bic ‫)نوكت‬, Nūškat, Tūnkat, Tukkat, Wasiğ and Burna-
the south and the steppe to the north, i.e. in the Chu mad (text: de Goeje 1885: ٧٢٣; translation: Massé 1973:
valley.13 387). Some of these (such as Samarqand) lie within
Amongst these early works of a primarily geo- the traditional boundaries of Sogdiana, with others
graphic nature, al-Ṭabari’s Taʾrikh al-Rusul waʾl-Mu- (such as Šāš) lying further north, admittedly in areas
luk (History of Prophets and Kings) (ca. 915) offers where Sogdians lived but beyond what might be con-
a historical insight of relevance. Under the year 119 sidered Sogdiana proper. The spelling and location of
AH (737 CE), we read that “Ibn al-Sāʾijī wrote to the Nūkat (Nūkath) in this list after Binkat (i.e., Binkath,
Khāqān… when the latter was at Nawākith (Arabic the capital of Shāsh, mentioned below) may indicate
‫ )نواکث‬to inform him about Asad’s having entered that it is in fact the Nūkath located in Ilāq, to which
al-Khuttal… When the letter reached the Khāqān, he we now turn.
commanded his troops to make ready. The Khāqān The geographer al-Iṣṭakhri, in his Kitāb al-Masā-
possessed a meadow and a mountain, a protected area lik waʾl Mamālik (ca. 951) (text: de Goeje 1927: ١٣٣),
which no one drew near to or hunted in” (text: Guidi, followed by Ibn Ḥawqal in his Kitāb Ṣurat al-ʾArḍ
Müller & de Goeje 1885-1889: ۴٩٥١-٣٩٥١; translation: (977) (text: Kramers 1939: ٨٠٥ [cf. de Goeje 1873: ٧٨٣];
Blankinship 1989: 131-132). The Turkic Khāqān is translation: Kramers & Wiet 1964: 486), includes
undoubtedly the Türgesh ruler Sulu (or Suluk) who, Nūkath/Nawkath (Arabic ‫)نوکث‬, along with the capital
after having led Sogdian resistance to the Arab inva- Tūnkath (Arabic ‫)تونكث‬, in a long list of “the cities of
sion of Central Asia, was defeated by the same Arabs Ilāq,” a region located to the south-east of Shāsh, in
in 737 at the Battle of Kharistan and subsequently what is now the Angren valley (somewhat north-west
killed by a subordinate in 738, a series of events that of the Ferghana valley).15 As with the aforementioned
Nawākat(h), so too Nūkath/Nawkath seems to be
Sogdian for “new city” or “new town,” although the
11
See also the footnote below on Suyab’s likely change of location lack of an alif after the wāw might cause us to question
in the eighth century.
12
Part of this area came to be known during Russian colonial this. Alternatively, could it represent Sogdian nwkθ,
times as Семиречье/Semirechye, literally “Seven Rivers” (ren-
dered in various Turkic languages as “Yetisu” or “Jetisu”), named
after the seven rivers that formerly emptied into Lake Balkhash 14
Although, as the translator of this portion of Ṭabari suggests,
along its southern shoreline. “this is uncertain” (Blankinship 1989: 132, n. 480).
13
For a helpful discussion of this itinerary in the Muslim sources, 15
For more on Tūnkath, see also Kramers 1939: ٥٠٩ and Kramers &
see Barthold 1956: 88-91. Wiet 1964: 487. On Ilāq, see Litvinsky 2004.

52
 M. DICKENS

“boat city” or “boat town” (Gharib 1995: 244 [nw-], These references in Iṣṭakhri and Ibn Ḥawqal in-
191 [knθ] or 197 [kθ])? The latter interpretation could dicate that, in addition to the Nawākath lying north
be explained by its location on the Īlāq River. At any of the Tian Shan (north-east of Shāsh), there was also
rate, this settlement is obviously further south than another city with the name Nūkath/Nawkath, located
the location mentioned by Ibn Khurdādhbih and south-east of Shāsh (whether or not it was the capi-
Qudāma, along with (presumably) Ibn Rustah and tal of Ilāq or just a town in that province). Moreover,
Ṭabari. Nūkath/Nawkath and Tūnkath are also both there was a separate (and more important) city in Ilāq
found somewhat later in Ibn Ḥawqal, in an itinerary named Tūnkath, which at times seems to be confused
between Binkath (Arabic ‫)بنكث‬, the capital of Shāsh, with Nūkath/Nawkath (evident not only in Kramer’s
and Tūnkath: Binkath – Nujkath – Bālāyan – Nūkath/ edition of Ibn Ḥawqal’s text, but also in de Goeje’s ear-
Nawkath – Bānjkhāsh – Sakākath – Tūnkath (text: lier edition of the same).18 Tūnkath’s relationship with
Kramers 1939: ٢٢٥ [cf. de Goeje 1873: ۴۰۴]; translation: Nūkath/Nawkath is discussed further below, includ-
Kramers & Wiet 1964: 498).16 ing the reason for confusion in the sources.
However, before moving on, the issue of textual Our next source, the anonymous Persian Ḥudūd
variants in Iṣṭakhri and Ibn Ḥawqal needs to be ad- al-ʿĀlam (982), addresses both instances of Nawākath
dressed, an issue that is relevant to the numismatic (to the north-east of Shāsh) and Nūkath/Nawkath (to
evidence discussed below.17 As Michael Bates notes, the south-east). Under §15, entitled “Discourse on
“De Goeje’s printed text of al-Iṣṭakhrî’s geography has the Khallukh Country and its Towns,” our anony-
‘the madînas [roughly speaking, “cities”] of Îlâq are its mous author lists fifteen towns in the country of the
capital, known as Tûnkat... and Nawkat...,’ but p. 331, Qarluq Turks (who frequented the steppe to the north
note c, shows that two manuscripts of the work [A. and of the Tian Shan). Entry № 3 reads as follows: “NŪN-
B.] have Nawkat [although it is undotted, viz. ‫ ]ٮٮوکت‬in KAT (*Navī-kat?)19 was a town near the mountain
the first position as capital, while note f, p. 332, shows Ūrūn-‘Ārj (Ghārch?), but now it is desolate and is a
that the same two manuscripts have Tûnkat [again, thieves’ haunt. It is a stage (on the road) and a few
undotted: A. ‫ٮوٮکت‬, B. ‫ ]ٮوٮٮت‬as the name of the sec- felt-huts of the Khallukh [Qarluq] are found there”
ondary town in place of Nawkat” (Bates 2021: 42-43). (Minorsky 1970: 97).20 Additionally, under §25, “Dis-
And again, “Al- Iṣṭakhrî’s description of roads, p. 344, course on the country Transoxiana and its Towns,”
repeats the same information with ambiguous rendi- the final entry (№ 93) refers to Nawākath again:
tions of the names of Îlâq’s capitals and main towns; “SHILJĪ, ṬARĀZ (spelt: Ṭ.rār), ‫( ىاكنكث‬Takābkath?),
see 344, notes i and o, for the
َ names Tûnkat [rendered FARŪNKATH, MIRKĪ, NAVĪKATH21, boroughs
ُ
variously as ‫ بيكث‬,‫ ںوںكت‬,‫ تونكت‬and ‫ ]نويكث‬and Nawkat where both Muslims and Turks live. (This locality) is
[appearing as ‫ نوكٮٮ‬,‫ نوكث‬and ‫( ”]توكٮٮ‬Bates, 2021: 43). a residence of merchants, and the Gate of the Khal-
In other words, despite de Goeje opting for Tūnkath lukh (dar-i-Khallukh). In Afrūnkat [sic], Mirkī, and
in the printed edition, there is significant confusion Navīkath the Turks are numerous” (Minorsky 1970:
in the extant manuscripts of Iṣṭakhri over the name 119). Given the reference to both Taraz and Mirki
of the capital. here, there is no doubt that this Nawākath is located
The same confusion concerning the name of the north-east of Shāsh.
capital of Ilāq can be found in the manuscripts of Ibn But are these two references to one and the same
Ḥawqal: “Ibn Ḥawqal’s text (ed. Kramers, 1938-39, 508 location? Vladimir Minorsky thinks not and here it
lines 1-2) is not so complicated: in the listing of towns, is worth quoting his excellent commentary at length,
Kramers’ main manuscript has as capital an undotted first regarding the place name in §15, 3 in Qarluq ter-
letter followed by nwnkth [‫]ٮنونكث‬, which Kramers cor- ritory:
rected to Tûnkath [‫]تونكث‬, and in the list of towns there
is Nawkath written sic [‫]نوكث‬. When the capital of Ilaq
is described again on the following page (509 lines 14- 18
As de Goeje 1873: ۴۰۴ notes, ‫( تونكث‬Tūnkath) is written above ‫نوکث‬
17), the manuscript has ynwnkth [‫]ينونكث‬, the same as (Nūkath) in the text. Further confusing the scribal tradition is the
previously except that the first letter is pointed as yâ’. occurrence in a Persian version of Ibn Ḥawqal (in the same list of
Again the manuscript reading is corrected to Tûnkath “the towns of ‫ ايالق‬Ailak”) of “‫ بونكت‬Bounket, the chief town,” in the
in the edition” (Bates 2021: 43). same place where we should find Tūnkath (Ouseley 1800: 266).
19
Minorsky’s suggested reading of Navī-kat (‫ )نويکت‬in place of
Nūn-kat (‫ )نونکت‬makes perfect sense, given the similarity of yā
16
Iṣṭakhri includes the same itinerary with a few slight differenc- and nun, the two letters in third place of the respective names.
es in place names. Text: de Goeje 1927: ٣۴۴-۳۴٥; cf. translation in 20
The original Persian text of the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam was not avail-
Mordtmann 1845: 137, which differs from de Goeje’s text, given able to the author while writing this article, but thankfully Mi-
Mordtmann’s use of Moeller 1839. See also Barthold 1968: 173- norsky’s extensive commentary more than makes up for that lack.
174. 21
Note that in Persian texts such as the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam and Gar-
17
The author is indebted to Michael Bates for what follows. See dizi (below), the first syllable in the place name we are concerned
Bates 2021 for the full argument. with is pronounced Nav-, not Naw-.

53
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

After Mirkī we find here Nūn-kat, where- As Minorsky notes in his commentary, Iṣṭakhri “calls
as under §25, 93. Mirkī is followed by N.vīkath. the provincial capital [of Ilāq] Tūnkath… its impos-
[here follows the aforementioned itinerary from ing ruins were found at 90 Km. from Tashkent” (Mi-
Ibn Khurdādhbih, from which Minorsky equates norsky 1970: 356). Thus, we have more indication of
Nūzkat in the latter with Nūnkat in the Ḥudūd al- the aforementioned confusion between these two
ʿĀlam]… So Nūnkat must be distinguished from place names (Nūkath and Tūnkath in Ilāq).
Navākat, the former lying west of the Chu and the As with the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, al-Muqaddasi’s
latter apparently east of it… Our author (who did Aḥsan al-Taqāsim fi Maʿrifat al-Aqālim (Best Division
certainly use I.Kh.) says that Nūnkat “was a town”. for Knowledge of the Regions) (ca. 985) mentions two
But both I.Kh. and Qudāma call Nūzkat / Nūnkat different locations named Nawākath and Nūkath/
simply “large village”… while Navākat is styled by Nawkath. The first is located in the region of Isbijāb
Qudāma… “a large town… from which a road (as noted above, this is rendered in some texts as Is-
leads to Barskhān… Our author, evidently mis- fijab), “a flourishing market center [located] on the
taken by the similarity of the two names [Navīkat steppe fringes as an emporium for the nomads’ prod-
and Nūnkat], simply skipped from Mirkī to ucts” (Bosworth 1987). In addition to Tarāz, Barskhān,
Navīkat leaving out the places lying to the west Mīrkī (all names we have encountered above) and
of the Chu. If such is the case, the mountain many
َ َ others, Muqaddasi includes Nawīkath (Arabic ُ َ
Ūrūn-‘Ārj must correspond to the range forming ‫ )ن ِويکث‬and, right after it, Balāsaghūn (Arabic ‫َ)بل َسكون‬
the watershed between the Chu and Ili… Gar- (text: de Goeje 1877: ۴٦٢-٣٦٢; translation: Collins 1994:
dizi’s report (p. 102) on a mountain in the same 238), the latter functioning “in early Islamic times
region by which the Turks took oath and which [as] the main settlement of the region known as Ye-
they considered as the abode of the Almighty un- ti-su or Semirechye” (Bosworth 1989).23 This is not an
doubtedly refers to the same range. Ṭabari [in the itinerary that Muqaddasi gives us, but the occurrence
passage cited above]… confirms that the khāqān of these two names next to each other may suggest
possessed near Navīkat a mountain and a mead- that the towns were located close to each other. Al-
ow which formed a forbidden zone reserved for though “the exact site of Balāsāḡūn is uncertain,”
commissariat purposes in case of expeditions nevertheless “the early Islamic sources clearly locate
(Minorsky 1970: 289-290). it in the valley of the Ču river” (Bosworth 1989), re-
sulting in many associating it with the modern site
Based on these comments and Map VI in the of Burana (Kolchenko 2017: 17).24 This strongly sug-
translation of the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (Minorsky 1970: gests that Nawākath is also located in the same val-
299), it is obvious that Minorsky regarded the afore- ley.25 Again, like the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, the second
mentioned text from Ṭabari to be a reference to Nawākath mentioned by Muqaddasi occurs in a con-
Nawākath (Navīkath in the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, as dis- text now familiar to us: “Īlāq,َ its district and chief
ُ
tinct from Nūnkat) north-east of Shāsh. Minorsky’s centre is Tūnkath [Arabic ‫]تونكث‬. Among its towns
َ ُ
commentary on §25, 93 has nothing to say of Navīkath are… Nūkath [Arabic ‫( ”]نوكث‬text: de Goeje 1877: ٥٦٢;
(or even Nūnkat), but in discussion of the other cities translation: Collins 1994: 238, 240). As with Iṣṭakhri
mentioned which can be identified (Shaljī, Ṭarāz and and َ Ibn Ḥawqal, there are textual variants; in place of
ُ
Mirkī), it is again clear that we are dealing with plac- ‫ تونكث‬for the capital, some manuscripts have simply
َ ُ
es located to the north of the Tian Shan (Minorsky ‫( توكث‬Tūkath). Variants of ‫ نوكث‬include ‫( ٮونكث‬Ūnkath),
1970: 358). We might also take note of the comments ‫( تونكث‬Tūnkath) and ‫( نونكث‬Nūnkath).
on §17, the “Discourse on the Tukhs Country and its The Kitāb al-Fihrist (Book of the Index) (987) by
Towns” (Minorsky 1970: 99), which Minorsky under- Ibn al-Nadim introduces yet more complexity into
stands to refer to “the remnants of the great Türgish the situation. Based on Dodge’s translation of the text,
federation” (Minorsky 1970: 300),22 of relevance when Tūnkath is mentioned twice in the text. The first oc-
we consider the testimony of Gardizi below. Mi- currence is in the context of “remarks on the script of
norsky’s Map V fixes the Tukhsi territory in the Chu al-Ṣughd [Sogdiana],” in which Ibn al-Nadim relays
River valley, north of modern Pishpek (Bishkek) and the observation of “a reliable person” that “Ṣughd is
Toqmaq (Tokmak) (Minorsky 1970: 279). called Upper Irān and is an abode of the Turks. Its
Before leaving the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, it is fitting
to note the following reference (№ 64) under §25:
“NŪKATH [sic], the chief place of Īlāq, has a city, 23
On the name Semirechye, see the relevant footnote above.
a citadel, and a suburb. Its river is called Īlāq, and 24
See also Klein 2000: 121-122, 146-152.
Nūkath is situated on its bank” (Minorsky 1970: 117). 25
Although al-Muqaddasi gives us no more information on
Nawīkath, he does provide further details on Isbījāb, Tarāz,
Barskhān, Mīrkī and Walāsakūn (Balāsaghūn). Text: de Goeje
22
Minorsky’s very helpful analysis is too long to quote here. 1877: ٢٧٢-٢٧٣, ٢٧۴, ٢٧٥; translation: Collins 1994: 244, 245, 246.

54
 M. DICKENS

principal city is Tūnkath.” As Dodge notes, the latter Yūḥannā. On the other hand, perhaps Ibn al-Nadim
probably refers to “the capital of the Īlāq region south- is adopting a definition of Sogdiana that includes ad-
east of Tāshkand” (Dodge 1970: 33). The second ref- jacent parts of what was then known to the Arabs as
erence to this place name is found later in the Fihrist, Māwarāʾan-nahr (‫)ما وراء نال�ر‬, “that which is beyond the
in an extended discussion of the teachings and his- river,” referring to the land north of the Oxus (Amu
tory of Manichaeism. As Ibn al-Nadim notes, “This Darya). In that case, we could be dealing here with
people [the Manichaeans], who are called Ajārā, are Nūkath/Nawkath in the region of Ilāq or perhaps
at Rustāq, Samarqand, Ṣughd (Sughd), and especially even further to the north-east, in the Chu valley.
Tūnkath.” Again, Dodge notes that this is likely re- Another Persian work of relevance is Zayn
ferring to “Tūnkath (Tūnkat) in the Shāsh region, or ul-Akhbār (Adorning of History), by Gardizi (fl. ca.
else modern Tashqand, called Binkath”(Dodge 1970: 1050). Produced in the court of the Ghaznavids (in
803).26 what is now Afghanistan), it blends history, geogra-
However, this is not the end of the story. In phy and ethnography. There are two sections of in-
their authoritative Dictionary of Manichaean Texts, terest to us. The first concerns the route to Barskhān:
François de Blois and Nicholas Sims-Williams of-
fer the following insight under the heading “‫نويكث‬ “As for the road to Barsxān… it goes from
‘Nawēkaϑ’ (place name in Transoxania)”: Navē-kaθ/Navī-kaθ to Kumbar-kat along the
route of the Čigil… and thence to Jīl… From
“wa hum bi rustāqi samarqanda wa ṣ-ṣuγdi wa there to Yār it is twelve parasangs… Amidst these
xāṣṣatan bi nawēkaϑ, (the remaining Manichae- are the tents of the Tegīn… of the Čigil… to the
ans in Khurasan) ‘are in the district of Samarqand left (i.e. north) of the road [between them] is a
and Sogdiana and especially in Nawēkaϑ’, –Na- lake which is called Issik-Kül. From there to Tūng
dīm 337.28 [Mss. C and H have ‫نويكث‬, with all is five parasangs and from Tūng to Barsxān a
ambiguous letters pointed; L has the same, leav- three-day journey” (text: Barthold 1897: 89-90;
ing only the y unpointed. Sogdian nwykt, that is: translation: Martinez 1982: 132).
Nawē-ka(n)ϑ, means ‘new town’. Yāqūt 4.826 has
ُ
a place ‫( نوكند‬read: Nawkand?) near Samarqand, With the reference to Issyk-Köl, Barskhān in this
presumably a persianised form of the same name. context obviously refers to Upper Barskhān, located
There is also a ‫ تونكث‬in Turkestan (region of Šāš/ on the southern shore of that lake, as noted above.
Tashkent), perhaps to be emended to ‫توثكث‬, with As outlined by Gardizi, the road to Upper Barskhān
the twδ kδ mentioned in a Sogdian letter, but the starts at Nawākath and then passes through the terri-
text in the Fihrist seems to imply that the place in tory of the Čigil, a Turkic group “centered around the
question was near Samarqand. One or the other Issiq Köl and İli river regions with groups extending
of these two places is evidently intended in –Na- to the Oğuz lands on the Syr Darya” (Golden 1992:
dīm 18.2, where the author says that the capital 200).27 It is clear from this itinerary that Nawākath
city of the Sogdians (qaṣabatuhā) is called by a lies somewhere to the north-west of the lake, proba-
name that is represented in Mss. P by ‫� يكث‬,‫ ت‬in H bly in the Chu valley.
and V by the same rasm without points, or with The second section of interest in Gardizi (curi-
only the last letter pointed; Flügel’s reading (fol- ously located “at the end of the account of the East-
lowed, without comment, by Tajaddud) ‫ قرنكث‬is ern European—Eastern Caucasian routes and peo-
a conjecture!” See also Marquart 1898, 164 (de ples”) concerns the aforementioned Čigil and Tūxšī
Blois & Sims-Williams 2006: 82-83). (the latter, as noted above, perhaps representing the
remnants of the Türgesh). Here we read: “As for the
What are we to make of this reference in the route to the Čigil and the TRKŠY (*Tūxšī?) [coun-
Fihrist? Based on the manuscript work done by de Blois tries] when you go [out] from Navī-kaθ/Navī-kat you
and Sims-Williams, the reading of ‫“ نويكث‬Nawēkaϑ” must go towards Banjī-kaθ/Panjī-kaθ (i.e. Beš-Balig)”
seems preferable over that of ‫“ تونكث‬Tūnkath” adopt- (text: Barthold 1897: 102; translation: Martinez 1982:
ed by Dodge. However, is it correct to assume that 142; see discussion of this passage below).28 Again, it
this place name can be located near Samarqand? If so, makes sense that the Nawākath we are dealing with is
then we are dealing with yet another possible location
for the Nawākath mentioned in the work of Ṣalībā ibn 27
The Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam also has a section on the Chigil Turks:
Minorsky 1970: 98-99, 297-300.
28
See the discussion in Minorsky 1970: 271-272. As discussed
26
On possible communication between Sogdian Manichaeans in below, this is not in fact referring to Besh-baliq (Chinese Beiting
Nawākath (either near Samarkand or near Talas, i.e. Taraz) and 北庭), the summer capital of the West Uyghur Kingdom, located
their co-religionists in Turfan, see Yoshida 2019: 34-36, 41-43 and just north of Turfan. For the placement of that city on a map, see
Yoshida 2020: 72-73. Bregel 2003: 35, 37, 39, 41.

55
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

the one lying to the north-east of Shāsh, rather than city with a well-populated suburb. It is surrounded by
to the south-east. a strong wall pierced with several gates. Its markets
With the Kitāb Nuzhat al-Mushtāq fī Ikhtirāq al- are flourishing, its revenues considerable; its streets,
Āfāq (A Diversion for the Man Longing to Travel to dependent towns and fields are watered by rivers. Al-
Far-Off Places) (1154) by the North African geogra- though it is the main city of Ilāq, this city [Nūkath]
pher and cartographer al-Idrisi, we start to approach is however smaller than half of Nūkath (Arabic ‫)نوکث‬
the early fourteenth century time period when Ṣalībā [this seems to be a scribal error for Nīkath (Arabic
ibn Yūḥannā was writing. As with the Ḥudūd al- ‫)نيکث‬, the capital of Châch, on which see below]; but
ʿĀlam and Muqaddasi, we find references in Idrisi it is strong, its markets and its suburbs extend to the
to both primary locations of Nawākath and Nūkath/ borders of the Berk (Arabic ‫)�ک‬, ‫ ب‬and its territory
Nawkath. There are several places where Idrisi men- touches that of Isfijab. It is a flourishing city, built on
tions the city in relation to Upper Barskhān (Arabic level land, and having various dependent towns in
‫سان‬‫ � خ‬in Muqaddasi), which is rendered as Barsjān number” (Jaubert 1840: 207-208).
‫ب‬
(Arabic ‫سان‬ ‫ ب)� ج‬by Idrisi. The first occurs at the begin- A scribal error in this passage need to be ad-
ning of the ninth section concerning the third clime; dressed. As noted above, Idrisi refers to the capital of
in the context of discussing those countries that are Shāsh as Nīkath (Arabic ‫( )نيکث‬see Jaubert 1840: 207,
subject to the Qaghan of the Bagharghar (Arabic ‫بغرغر‬, 212, 215). We know from other texts discussed above
a scribal error for ‫تغزغز‬, Toghuzghuz, referring to the that the name of that capital was in fact Binkath (Ara-
Uyghurs), Idrisi mentions Upper Barsjān and “Tewa- bic ‫ ;)بنكث‬Nīkath is an understandable scribal error
keth” (Arabic ‫)تواكث‬, an obvious scribal error for to make in Arabic.29 Some (such as le Strange 1905:
Nawākath (Arabic ‫( )نواكث‬Jaubert 1836: 490). 482) have understood Berk River (Arabic ‫ ن)�ر ب�ك‬to
Another reference occurs at the end of the same be a scribal error for Türk River (Arabic ‫)�ر ت�ك‬, ‫ ن‬but
section, where Idrisi discusses the city of Upper Bars- in fact it represents Parak/Barak, an old name for the
jān: “This last city belongs to the land of the Turks. It Chirchiq River, which flows into the Syr Darya just to
is strong, surrounded by good walls, and it is here that the south-west of modern Tashkent (Bosworth 1990;
most of the Turks who inhabit the land come to take Negmatov 1996: 277). A final point to be made on this
refuge and obtain the items they need. From Barsjān passage is the confusion already alluded to above re-
to Nawākath (Arabic ‫ )نواكث‬on the edge of the country garding the name of the capital of Ilāq; is it Nūkath
of the Khizildjis, it is about 10 days by caravan route (Arabic ‫ )نوکث‬or Tūnkath (Arabic ‫?)تونكث‬
or 5 days through the deserts of the Turks” (Jaubert Our final Muslim geographer brings us within a
1836: 495-496). “Khizildjis” (Arabic ‫)الزلج يه‬ ‫ خ‬is almost century of Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā’s Asfār al-Asrār. Yaqut’s
certainly a scribal error for the Qarluq Turks (Arabic Kitāb Muʿjam al-Buldān (Dictionary of Countries),
‫ خ‬or rather ‫رليه‬
‫اللخيه‬ ‫)ال خ‬.
‫خ‬ Given the reference to both written in 1228, is one of the most important geo-
the Qarluqs and Upper Barsjān, it makes sense that graphical and toponymical works in Arabic literature.
ُ
we are again dealing with the Nawākath that is north- Yaqut includes Nūkath (Arabic ‫)نكث‬, which he says
east of Shāsh and the distance of 10 days by caravan is “was the capital of Ilāq among the towns of al-Shāsh
about right for an overall journey of roughly 300 km in Māwarāʾan-nahr” (Wüstenfeld 1869: ١١٨). However
between Barsjān and the central Chu valley, where all Nawākath to the north-east is not included, although
indications so far seem to place Nawākath. Howev- other cities to the north in what was generally called
er, it is unclear what “deserts of the Turks” the author Turkistan are mentioned in his dictionary, including
has in mind, since most of the journey takes place Isfijāb (Wüstenfeld 1866: ٩۴٢), Tarāz (Wüstenfeld 1868:
along the shore of Issyk-Köl. Like Ibn Khurdādhbih ۴٢٥), Balāsāghun (Wüstenfeld 1866: ٨٠٧) and Barskhān
before him (and undoubtedly drawing on that father (Wüstenfeld 1866: ٥٦٥). These places are also enumer-
of Arab geography), Idrisi also includes Nawākath in ated in the introduction to Yaqut’s work, where we
an itinerary between “the city of the Qaghan” (Ara- read about “Lake Issik-Kul near Barsakhān” in a sec-
bic ‫ )مدﻳﻨﺔ خاقان‬to the north and Kubāb (a scribal er- tion on the various seas in the world (Jwaideh 1959:
ror for Ibn Khurdādhbih’s Kubāl), followed by Upper 32), as well as in the following list of places located in
Barsjān (Barskhān) to the south. Echoing what Idrisi
said earlier, the latter is said to be “10 days of caravan
walking through a country where water and pastures 29
To further confuse matters, Idrisi mentions another city in
are abundant. For a Turk courier, the journey is only the Shāsh region called ‫نيا کث‬, Nīyākath (Jaubert 1840: 206, 207).
5 days” (Jaubert 1840: 218). 30
In the secondary literature, most opt for Tūnkath, e.g. Bar-
Idrisi also mentions the other Nūkath/Nawkath, thold 1968: 172-173; le Strange 1905: 483.
located south-east of Shāsh, although the text exhibits
31
My thanks to Michael Bates for permission to use his (un-
published) translation. Although Arabic ‫ قصبة‬is translated here
confusion regarding the name of the capital of Shāsh: as “capital,” it literally means “palace, citadel, castle” and by ex-
“Nūkath (Arabic ‫)نوکث‬, the capital of Ilāq, is a large tension “seat of government.”

56
 M. DICKENS

the fifth clime (again, Nawākath is not mentioned in Qudāma give the distance between Nawākath and
either of these places): Upper Nushājān (Upper Barskhān) as 3 parasangs
followed by “15 days for caravans” (de Goeje 1889: 21,
“It begins in the land of the eastern Turks and 158), no more helpful than Idrisi’s “10 days.” Gardizi
the territory of Gog (Yājūj), the walled-in, and is equally vague about distances involved on the route
passes over the lands of various kinds of Turks, from “Navē-kaθ” to “Barsxān”; there are references to
who are known by their tribes, to Kāshghar, 12 parasangs from Jīl to Yār, 5 parasangs from Yār to
Balāṣāghūn, Zāsht, Farghānah, Isbījāb, Shāsh Tūng and then a 3-day journey from Tūng to Barsx-
(Tashkent), Ushrūsanah, Samarqand, Bukhāra, ān (Martinez 1982: 132).33 Idrisi – following the same
Khwārizm, the Sea of the Khazars (the Caspi- route as that of Ibn Khurdādhbih and Qudāma from
an Sea), to Bāb al-Abwāb (Derbent)…” (Jwaideh “Taran” (Arabic ‫طران‬, scribal error for Taraz, Arabic
1959: 48) ‫ )طراز‬to Upper “Barsjān” (Barskhān) – arrives at 189
Arab miles, equivalent to 63 parasangs, from Taraz
Determining the Location of Nawākath to Nawakath (Jaubert 1840: 217-218); this equals 376
km, which takes us slightly past modern-day Tokmak.
The following chart summarizes the data that can What of other evidence for the location and role
be gleaned from the Arabic and Persian geographers of Nawākath or Nūkath in other sources? We are for-
and historians discussed above. tunate to have a Sogdian contract (found amongst the
This chart clearly shows that there were at least Mount Mugh documents), dated to 711 (thus, consid-
two places in medieval Central Asia that bore the Sog- erably older than any of our Muslim sources), which
dian name “New City” or “New َ َ Town”: Nawākath/ “records the marriage of the Turkic noble Ot-Tegin
Nawīkath (Arabic ‫ نواکث‬or ‫ )ن ِويکث‬and Nūkath, or per- (’wttkyn) to the Sogdian woman Dhughdghōnch
haps Nawkath (Arabic ‫)نوکث‬. The location of the latter (δγwtγwnch), whose guardian was Chēr (cyr), the
can be fixed quite precisely to the Īlāq River valley, ruler of Nawēkat, ‘New Town’ (nwyktc xwβw).” Vlad-
somewhat south-east of Shāsh. The location of the imir Livshits interprets Nawēkat as “a Sogdian town
former is not specified exactly in the sources, but it in Semirech’e, on the right bank of the Chu, an im-
can be worked out roughly, based on the surrounding portant fortified trade centre, about 4 leagues to the
towns, particularly when those sources provide de- east of Suyab, the capital of the Türgesh Khanate”
tails regarding distance from other locations that can (Livshits et al 2015: 22).34 Although the text does not
be readily identified. specify where Nawēkat is located, Livshits’ assump-
We have already discussed above Idrisi’s state- tion that it is the city referred to by Ibn Khurdādhbih,
ment that “from Barsjān to Nawākath… is about 10 Qudāma, the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, Muqaddasi, Gardizi
days by caravan.” Several other sources give distances and Idrisi cannot be ruled out, given the similarity
between Nawākath and other cities in travel itiner- between Sogdian nwykt and Arabic ‫نواکث‬. However,
aries that can help us narrow down the location of we do not know enough about the rulers of Sogdian
Nawākath. Thus, Ibn Khurdādhbih counts a total of cities during the Arab invasion to discern whether
‫ خ‬farsakh) between Taraz and
56 parasangs (Arabic ‫فرس‬, Nawākath (in the Chu valley) or Nūkath/Nawkath (in
Nawākath (de Goeje 1889: 21); using a ratio of 5.98 the Īlāq valley) is the likely home of Chēr (or indeed if
km per parasang, this converts to 335 km.32 Mea- neither is and we ought to look elsewhere in Sogdian
suring this distance along modern roads from Taraz territory).35
eastward (and then south-eastward up the Chu val- There are also numismatic sources of relevance,
ley) brings us very close to the modern location of although these relate to Nūkath/Nawkath, rather than
Krasnaya Rechka, approximately 35 km east of Bish- Nawākath. This information is contained in an un-
kek and 30 km north-west of Tokmak. Qudāma gives published paper by Bates, already referenced above,
the distance from Taraz to Nawākath as 53 parasangs
(de Goeje 1889: 157-158), which converts to 317 km;
again, this brings us very close to modern Krasnaya 33
Unfortunately, Gardizi does not give us the distance from Navē-
Rechka. Continuing on in a south-easterly direction kaθ to Jīl or the mode of transportation for the 3-day journey.
and in contrast to Idrisi, both Ibn Khurdādhbih and
34
The marriage contract is found on p. 27.
35
Livshits et al 2015, 22 concludes: “Less probable is the identifi-
cation of Nwykt with Nūkath (‫ )نوکث‬in the Ilak region.” As Pavel
Lurje noted in a post to the Sogd email list (Feb. 16, 2021), “In
32
Since a parasang/farsakh was technically the distance that a a very deteriorated late rock inscription near Nookat/Nawkat in
horse could walk in an hour, it is difficult to convert distances Southern Kirgizistan I found the word nwykt (written relatively
given in parasangs in medieval sources to kilometres. Even in clearly). So there is a large range of possibilities.” Amongst other
the nineteenth century, the parasang represented different dis- examples, Lurje also notes Navkad Quraish near Kesh (modern
tances in different parts of the Muslim world. For the conver- Shahrisabz, Uzbekistan) (personal correspondence, December 6,
sion of parasangs to km, see Hinz 2012. 2022).

57
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Source North-east of Shāsh South-east of Shāsh Other

Khwārazmi Nawākath
(d. ca. 847) (location uncertain)

Ibn Khurdādhbih Nāwākat

(885)

Ibn Rustah (fl. 903) Nāwikāt

(possible location)

Ibn al-Faqih (ca. 903) Nūkat / Nawkat

(probable location)

Ṭabari (ca. 915) Nawākith

(possible location)

Qudāma (d. 948) Nawākat

Iṣṭakhri (ca. 951) Nūkath / Nawkath

Ibn Ḥawqal (977) Nūkath / Nawkath

Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (982) Navīkath/Navākat Nūkath / Nawkath

Muqaddasi (ca. 985) Nawīkath Nūkath / Nawkath

Ibn al-Nadim (987) Tūnkath Nawēkaϑ

(probable location, (possible location
according to Dodge) near Samarqand,
according
to de Blois and
Sims-Williams
Gardizi (fl. ca. 1050) Navē-kaθ / Navī-kaθ /
Navī-kat

Idrisi (1154) Nawākath Nūkath / Nawkath

Yaqut (1228) Nūkath / Nawkath

wherein the author discusses mints established in the Our last source to consider is a travel itinerary
regions of Shāsh and Ilāq during the ʿAbbasid Ca- included in the Xīn Tángshū (New Book of Tang, com-
liphate. The last of the four mints discussed is “a place pleted in 1060), Volume 43b, Treatise 38, Geography
called Nawkat. The name appears only on one issue 7b. Beginning from 热海, “the Hot Sea” (a loan trans-
in the caliphal era, a fals [medieval Arabic copper lation from Turkic Issyk-Köl), it describes the route to
coin] dated 205 (820-21) … There are few examples the northwest, through the mountains and onto the
of the issue, which so far is not properly published… northern steppe:
The first part of the name on the coin is clearly not
Tûnkat. It lacks the letter nûn between wâw and kâ’…
The earliest known coins with the name Tûnkat are 36
The text is taken from the online New Book of Tang: http://chi-
dated 401 (1010-11). All the coins allegedly with that nesenotes.com/xintangshu/xintangshu043b.html. I am grateful
name before that date seem actually to have Nawkat, to my colleague Valerii Kolchenko for bringing this passage to
the name on this fals” (Bates 2021: 39-41). my attention. My thanks to Thomas Jansen for his assistance with
the translation.

58
 M. DICKENS

又四十里至凍城，又百一十里至賀獵城，又 of Ibn Khurdādhbih and Qudāma) are more accurate

三十里至葉支城，出谷至碎葉川口，八十里至裴 and detailed; indeed, according to Barthold, some of
羅將軍城。又西二十里至碎葉城，城北有碎葉 the distances in this Chinese source are completely
水，水北四十里有羯丹山，十姓可汗每立君長於 wrong (Barthold 1899: 17-18, n. 7).40
此。自碎葉西十里至米國城，又三十里至新城， Some comments on the place names are in or-
又六十里至頓建城，又五十里至阿史不來城，又 der. The first one to be deciphered, by Joseph de
七十里至俱蘭城，又十里至稅建城，又五十里至 Guignes in 1756, was the city of 怛羅斯 – Dáluósī
怛羅斯城.36 in Pinyin, tatlasz in Late Middle Chinese (hereafter
“Another 40 li to Dòng [Tūng] City, another 110 LMC41) – representing Talas, the western end point
li to Hèliè City, another 30 li to Yèzhī City, out of the of this particular itinerary (de Guignes 1756: lxvi).
gorge to the opening37 of the Suìyè [Suyab] River and A century and a half later, in 1899, Friedrich Hirth
80 li to Péiluójiāngjūn [Balāsaghūn] City. Another 20 (without explaining his reasoning) suggested that the
li west to Suìyè [Suyab] City; the Suìyè [Suyab] Riv- city of 裴羅將軍 – Péiluójiāngjūn in Pinyin, literally
er38 is to the north of the city and Jiédān Mountain is “General Pei Luo” City, about which see below – may
40 li to the north of the river. Every time the Khan/ have been located in the vicinity of modern Tokmak
Qaghan of the Ten Surnames/Tribes was established, (Hirth 1899: 73). Hirth also correctly interpreted the
it was at this [place]. From Suìyè [Suyab] 10 li west place name 碎葉 – Suìyè in Pinyin, suajjiap42 in LMC
to Mǐguó City, another 30 li to Xīn chéng [New City – as Suyab, an understandable choice given both the
= Nawākath], another 60 li to Dùnjiàn City, another Chinese form and the geographical context. The text
50 li to Āshǐbùlái [Asbara] City, another 70 li to Jùlán mentions a Suyab River (碎葉川口 and碎葉水), an
[Kulan] City, another 10 li to Shuìjiàn City, another alternate name for the Chu River, as well as a town or
50 li to Dáluósī [Talas] City.” city called Suyab (碎葉城).43 Hirth further speculated
As with references to the parasang / farsakh in that the mountain named 羯丹 – Jiédān in Pinyin, ki-
Muslim sources, this Chinese itinerary presents chal- attan in LMC – is reflected in the name of the village
lenges in translating distances in li to those in km.39 of Kurdai in the Alatau mountain range.
However, we can approximate it using data from What of the “Khan/Qaghan of the Ten Surnames/
various sources written during the Tang and Song Tribes” mentioned in connection with this moun-
dynasties, which indicate that (during most of the
seventh-twelfth centuries) 1 li = 360 bu = 1,800 chi
= 180,000 fen, with the fen defined as the width of a 41
Reconstructed Late Middle Chinese pronunciations of these
grain of millet (Jun & Hargett 1989: 9-11). Using 2 place names are taken from Pulleyblank 1991.
mm for the latter gives us a value of 360 m for 1 li. 42
In Pulleyblank’s transcription, /j/ is essentially the same as “con-
This enables us to convert the distances above as fol- sonantal y- in English” (Pulleyblank 1991: 6).
lows: 10 li = 3.6 km, 20 li = 7.2 km, 30 li = 10.8 km, 40 43
As Barthold notes, the location of the city of Suyab seems to
li = 14.4 km, 50 li = 18 km, 60 li = 21.6 km, 70 li = 25.2 have changed at some point in history (Barthold 1899: 17-18, n.
7). The Chinese itinerary from the Xīn Tángshū – finally assem-
km, 80 li = 28.8 km, 110 li = 39.6 km. We may note, bled in 1060 but based on earlier information from the time of
however, Wilhelm Barthold’s remarks that the Ara- the Tang dynasty (618-907) – indicates that Suyab is located 20 li
bic descriptions of this itinerary (specifically, those west of Balāsaghūn. This reference is somewhat problematic, due
to ongoing uncertainty about the location of the latter, but Suyab
has more recently been identified with the modern town of Ak-
Beshim, located just west of Tokmak in the Chu Valley (Clauson
37
Although 川口 most commonly refers to the mouth of a river 1961: 4). In contrast, Gardizi, writing in the mid-eleventh cen-
(i.e., an estuary), the writer here must have in mind the opening tury, clearly indicates that Suyāb was located near the mountain
up of the landscape as one transitions from a mountainous area on which the Turks “offer sacrifice… and take oaths” and which
into a river valley. they call “the Lord of Majesty” (Martinez 1982: 143), presumably
38
In contrast to 川, the word for river used above, here 水 is used. a reference to the sacred mountain mentioned above by al-Ṭabari
39
Before it was standardized to 0.5 km in 1929, the value of the and also alluded to in the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam. Both Gardizi and the
Chinese unit of distance li (里), often referred to as “the Chinese Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam indicate that this second (and more northerly)
mile,” varied over time and so “it makes little sense to calculate location of Suyab was able to muster 20,000 (armed) men (Mi-
different li according to the changing pre-Qing values of its under- norsky 1970: 99, 303; Martinez 1982: 143). Barthold suggests that
lying measure, the bu” (Wilkinson 2013: 576). the city was relocated after its earlier iteration had been captured
40
Barthold also gives this itinerary in Barthold 1894: 4, without and destroyed by the Chinese in 748, an event referred to in Clau-
commenting on it, other than to refer readers to de Guignes’ ear- son 1961: 8, drawing on Chavannes 1903: 45, 143-144, 286. Reloca-
lier work on the itinerary. However, on p. 16 of the same article, tion to the north-west (further down the Chu valley) would have
in commenting on the itineraries found in Ibn Khurdādhbih and made eminent sense; it was closer to both the sacred mountain
Qudāma, Barthold gives the Chinese equivalents (from the Xīn and the northern steppes where the Turks had their power base
Tángshū) of Kulan, Asbara, Nuzkat and Sārigh. Kulan and Asbara and further away from the dual threat of the Chinese and the Arab
I have addressed in the main text of this article. Barthold identi- Muslims. See also the discussion in Klein 2000: 139-146.
fies Nuzkat with Dùnjiàn (頓建) and Sārigh with Mǐguó (米國), 44
MD note: sometimes translated as “barbarian,” this term was
but does not explain how he arrives at these conclusions. used initially to describe the nomadic peoples to the north of

59
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

tain? The 十姓 (“ten tribes”) mentioned in our text of Samarkand and one of nine Sogdian kingdoms
are obviously a Turkic group, due to their leader be- (and, by extension, Sogdian surnames) found in Chi-
ing styled 可汗 (khan/qaghan). In fact, they are also nese sources (Chavannes 1903: 144-145).46 However,
mentioned in the Jiù Tángshū (Old Book of Tang, com- due to the location of Mǐguó near Nawākath in the
pleted ca. 945), “which in speaking of events of the Xīn Tángshū itinerary, it must represent another place
mid-seventh century, interjects that İstämi/İštämi ‘in (unless the account has become confused somewhere
the past’, as the commander of ‘ten great chiefs’ and in the process of transmission).47
100,000 troops conquered the various hu 胡44 lands Yutaka Yoshida suggests that this “Mǐguó City” –
of the west and became Qağan of the ‘Ten Surnames/ lying as it does between Suìyè =Suyab and Xīn chéng
Clans/Descendants’ Chin. Shi Xing 十姓” (Golden = Nawākath – corresponds to Banjikath (Arabic/
2012: 159). We can probably equate this mountain Persian ‫)بنجیکت‬, located between Nawākath and Suy-
with that described by al-Ṭabari, the aforementioned ab according to Qudāma (text: de Goeje 1889: ٦٠٢;
“protected area which no one drew near to or hunted translation: de Goeje 1889: 158) and Gardizi (text:
in,” that Minorsky considered the same as Ūrūn-‘Ārj Barthold 1897: 102; translation: Martinez 1982: 142).
mentioned in the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam. Indeed, Map VI In his translation of the latter, A. P. Martinez inter-
of “The Chu-Ili Watershed” in Minorsky’s translation prets “Banjī-kaθ/Panjī-kaθ” (Iranian for “five towns/
of this text shows the sacred mountain between the cities”) as a reference to Besh-baliq (Turkic for “five
Qurday (cf. Hirth’s Kurdai) Pass and the Kastek Pass, towns/cities”), one of two capitals (along with Qo-
both located in the Alatau mountain range. cho) of the West Uyghur Kingdom, but this makes
Two more place names from the Xīn Tángshū no sense in the context. The “district ruler” of the area
itinerary are identified by Barthold in a companion in Gardizi’s text is a mere dehqan (Persian ‫)دهقان‬, who
piece to Hirth’s (which refers to the latter), where the at most is a regional prince (Steingass 1892: 549), sig-
famous Russian orientalist notes (albeit in a footnote) nificantly below the stature of the Idiqut who ruled
that “A-shi-pu-lai” – 阿史不來, Āshǐbùlái in Pinyin, over the Uyghurs (Clauson 1972: 46; Sinor et al 1998:
ʔaʂrputlaj in LMC – must be Asbara and “Kü-1an” 202). Moreover, Gardizi has already mentioned the
– 俱蘭, Jùlán in Pinyin, kɦyəlan in LMC – must be “Toğuz Oğuz,” i.e. the Uyghurs, earlier. Although he
Kulan; both places are mentioned above in Ibn Khu- also refers there to “Panj-kaθ [i.e. Beš-Baliğ]” (Per-
rdādhbih’s itinerary (Barthold 1899: 17-18, n. 7).45 To sian ‫)پنجکت‬, when he speaks of their king, he uses the
these we may add three other identifications: 1) 凍 title Xāqān (Persian ‫)خاقان‬, much more befitting the
– Dòng in Pinyin, təwŋ in LMC – must be Tūng men- Uyghur ruler than dehqan (text: Barthold 1897: 90-
tioned above by Gardizi and rendered by the Ḥudūd 91; translation: Martinez 1982: 132-136).
al-ʿĀlam as TŪN.L, located on the southern shore of Additionally, Gardizi’s text notes that, “when you
Issyk-Köl; 2) 裴羅將軍 – Péiluójiāngjūn in Pinyin, go [out] from Navī-kaθ/Navī-kat you must go to-
pɦuajlatsiaŋkyn in LMC – is surely Balāsaghūn, dis- wards Banjī-kaθ/Panjī-kaθ,” after which you will pass
cussed above, not “General Pei Luo” City; and 3) 新 through a village called “*Uz-kat” and then “[another]
城 – Xīn chéng in Pinyin, sinʂɦiajŋ in LMC – means village… which they call Suyāb” (text: Barthold 1897:
“New City” or “New Town” in Chinese and is obvi- 102; translation: Martinez 1982: 142). So, as not-
ously a calque for Nawākath itself. ed above, the Banjikath mentioned in this itinerary
This leaves the following place names from the lies between Nawākath and Suyab (heading not east,
itinerary still to be identified: 賀獵 (Hèliè, xɦɑliap); but rather north-west). We are thus not dealing with
葉支 (Yèzhī, jiaptʂi); 米國 (Mǐguó, mjiajkuək); 頓 Besh-baliq in the West Uyghur Kingdom, but rather a
建 (Dùnjiàn, tunkian); 稅建 (Shuìjiàn, ʂyajkian). Of location somewhere in the Chu Valley. But to return
these, Mǐguó (literally, “country of Mi”) is the Chi- to Yoshida’s suggestion, why would a Chinese source
nese term for Maymurgh, a region located south-east refer to Banjikath in the Chu Valley as Mǐguó City?
The simplest answer is that the Xīn Tángshū is confus-
China and eventually applied more generally to all inhabitants of ing two places named Banjikath/Panjikath (neither of
Central Eurasia. which is Besh-baliq): the city named in our itinerary,
45
I came to the same conclusion independently regarding these located in the Chu Valley, and Panjikent, the capital
two place names prior to becoming aware of Barthold’s article. of Maymurgh, south-east of Samarkand. Since May-
Chavannes 1903: 10 also translates and comments on this pas- murgh was known to the Chinese as Mǐguó, it was
sage, but has little to say beyond the aforementioned observations
of Hirth and Barthold. logical to name its capital Mǐguó City.48
46
On the capital of Maymurgh, see Begmatov 2021: 3-4. On the
nine kingdoms, see Sheng 1998: 138, n. 52; Sims-Williams & Gren-
et 2006: 106-107; Rong 2006: 148; Ashurov 2020: 31-32.
47
Chavannes 1903: 10 makes the same point, that this place name 48
See the argument in Yoshida 2002. I am grateful to Pavel Lurje
in the itinerary should not be confused with the kingdom near and Yutaka Yoshida for the above information (personal corre-
Samarkand. spondence, December 6, 2022 and April 23, 2023).

60
 M. DICKENS

Before moving on, we should note that 建 (the to travel from Kashghar to the Chu valley (roughly
second syllable in Dùnjiàn and Shuìjiàn) was pro- 650 km by modern roads) than to the Ilāq valley (an
nounced kian in LMC and represents the aforemen- additional 750 km by modern roads). Moreover, the
tioned Sogdian element –kand, “city, town,” as is evi- latter is only some 300 km from Samarkand, which
dent from the Chinese transliteration of Samarkand, had its own metropolitan bishop; if indeed Nūkath/
飒抹建 (Chavannes 1903: 356). If so, then Dùnjiàn Nawkath in the Ilāq valley had a Christian commu-
(tunkian) could represent Tūnkand; if we substitute nity (for which we have no evidence that I am aware
–kaθ for –kand, giving Tūnkath, could this be an al- of), one would expect it to be ecclesiastically attached
ternate form of the Nūnkat(h) found in the Ḥudūd to nearby Samarkand.50 Regarding the objection that
al-ʿĀlam and discussed above? Given the fact that locating Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā’s Nawākath in the Chu
Nūnkath was a variant form of Tūnkath, the capital of Valley places it too close to the metropolitan of Al-
Ilāq, this is certainly a possibility, although admitted- maliq (Dauvillier 1948: 289), we may briefly note that
ly rather speculative. The location of 頓建 Dùnjiàn the distance between the two is roughly 600 km by
between Nawākath and Asbara in the Chinese itin- modern roads, thus not much less than that between
erary correlates to that of Nūzkat in the accounts of Kashghar and Nawākath.
Ibn Khurdādhbih and Qudāma, which (as Minorsky To these two arguments in favour of Nawākath
pointed out in the extract above), must be a variant of being located in the Chu valley we may add the con-
the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam’s Nūnkat (Minorsky 1970: 289).49 clusion of Karl Baipakov and Valentina Goryacheva,
which narrows down the location to Krasnaya Rech-
Final Thoughts ka (as mentioned above, roughly halfway between
modern-day Bishkek and Tokmak). Baipakov and
All in all, the data surveyed above from the Ar- Goryacheva suggest that, apart from Krasnaya Rech-
abic and Persian geographers and historians, sup- ka, there is no other archaeological site in the valley
plemented by the Xīn Tángshū, is extremely valu- which fits Qudāma’s description of Nawākath as “a
able in identifying the second half of the mysterious large city” with a road leading to Upper Barskhān
dual metropolitanate of ‫اكشغرونواكث‬, Kashghar and (Baipakov & Goryacheva 1983).51 Also of interest are
Nawākath mentioned by Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā in the Klein’s findings on the subject of Nawākath in his
early fourteenth century. We might consider two facts important study of “Nestorian” Christianity in what
that point to this Nawākath as the city located in the is now Kyrgyzstan. After discussing the textual evi-
Chu valley, rather than the one situated in the Ilāq dence that is investigated in the present article, along
valley. First, in contrast to the latter spelling of ‫نوکث‬, with the diverse suggestions put forward by Dauvil-
the former is always spelled with a third letter rep- lier and the later ideas of Baipakov and Goryacheva,
ََ
resenting
َ َ َ َ vowel ā or ī, i.e. ,‫ نواکت‬,‫ نواکت‬,‫نواکث‬
either the Klein addresses the one possible objection to identi-
‫ نويکت‬,‫ نويكث‬or ‫ن ِويکث‬. This is either identical or very fying Nawākath with Krasnaya Rechka, the fact that
close to the spelling encountered in Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥan- the former is mentioned as having a metropolitan
nā’s Asfār al-Asrār. Second, the location of Nawākath bishop in a text written in the early fourteenth centu-
in the Chu valley makes more sense in terms of a ry, but by all accounts, the site of the latter was aban-
connection with Kashghar than does the location of doned in the twelfth century, with the collapse of the
Nūkath/Nawkath in the Ilāq valley. The Chu valley Qarakhanid state (Klein 2000: 138).
is much closer to Kashghar than is the Ilāq valley. Regarding this objection, we may offer several
Admittedly there would be few easy routes through counter-arguments. Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā’s Asfār al-As-
the Tian Shan, but it would be nonetheless quicker rār does not give us accurate information on when
the first metropolitan of Kashghar was appointed or
when the dual metropolitanate with Nawākath was
49
As noted in an earlier footnote, Barthold also equates Dùn- established. For that matter, although the author was
jiàn with Nuzkat, without giving his rationale for that equation.
I am unable at this point to propose a satisfactory identification writing in 1332, we do not know what source materi-
for Shuìjiàn, located in the Chinese itinerary between Kulan and als he used and whether or not the information they
Talas. contained was still current in his day; did Kashghar
50
Samarkand is included as one of the metropolitan bishops and Nawākath retain their former metropolitan sta-
of the Church of the East in the aforementioned list by Ṣalībā tus when he was writing or had that situation ceased
ibn Yūḥannā that includes Nawākath (Gismondi 1896-1897: ,١٢٦
١٣٢/73, 74). A metropolitan of Turkistan is also mentioned, but we to be the case by then? Furthermore, as Klein notes,
do not know the location. I have speculated elsewhere that “the no archaeological evidence has yet emerged that even
Metropolitan of Turkistan (‫)�كستان‬,‫ ت‬found in ʿAmr’s [to be cor-
rected to Ṣalībā’s] list… can be equated with the metropolitanate
established by Timothy,” a reference to the metropolitan of the 51
See also the discussion in Klein 2000: 137-139 and the assertion
Turks that Patriarch Timothy I appointed in the late eighth cen- in Kolchenko 2017: 23 that “а majority of modern researchers
tury (Dickens 2010: 123), but there is no hard data to prove this. accept its [Krasnaya Rechka’s] identification as Navikat.”

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a regular bishop of the Church of the East was ever choose to establish a base of operations in the Chu
resident in the Chu valley; the only bishop mentioned Valley, located as it was on an important leg of the
on the gravestones found there is an Armenian one Silk Road network that was so vital to the movement
(Марр 1894). Assuming (as suggested above) that of goods and ideas between east and west. It was an
the actual metropolitan resided in Kashghar and that area where Muslims from the south (whether Arabs,
Nawākath was in some way subordinate to that city, Persians, converted Sogdians or others) mixed with
we may wonder how aware the church hierarchy in Turks from the north, many of whom were not yet
Baghdad was of the situation on the ground when Islamized. It enabled the local Christians commem-
this dual metropolitanate was established, let alone orated on the many gravestones found in the Chu
when it ceased to function. As Klein suggests, if in- valley54 to maintain connections with other mem-
deed Nawākath was on the site of Krasnaya Rechka, bers of the Church of the East living in major centres
its decline in the twelfth century from its former sta- along the trade routes, as well as with other Turks,
tus as “a large city” may not have been well-known in those who shared their ethno-linguistic background,
Baghdad (Klein 2000: 138-139).52 Indeed, we can well living on the steppes, in the mountains or in the vari-
imagine a situation where the actual state of affairs ous trading cities that dotted the landscape. Further-
on the ground may not have reached the attention more, locating a metropolitan (or suffragan) bishop
of those maintaining records in the Mesopotamian in the Chu valley may have provided some form of
heartland of the Church of the East; perhaps Ṣalībā continuity with the earlier metropolitan of the Turks,
ibn Yūḥannā was using a twelfth century source which most likely located in Talas/Taraz, as I have argued
was written prior to the fall of Nawākath/Krasnaya elsewhere (Dickens 2010: 127-129).55 It may not be
Rechka (which would explain why he gives no more possible to determine exactly where Nawākath was
information on bishops of Kashghar after the patri- located, but the idea that it was situated where we
archate of Eliya, r. 1176-1190).53 now find modern-day Krasnaya Rechka should cer-
No matter what its exact location (and indeed its tainly not be ruled out and, given the archaeological
ecclesiastical relationship with Kashghar), it seems evidence for the presence of Christianity in the area
fairly certain that Nawākath – situated “somewhere (on which, see the companion piece in this issue on
in the Chu valley” – retained a special status in the Christian gravestones found in Krasnaya Rechka), it
hierarchy of the Church of the East, at least for a peri- should perhaps be considered the best option for the
od of time. It is not surprising that the Church would time being.

52
The possible structure of the church hierarchy is discussed in
Klein 2000: 240-255.
53
Having said this, it does seem odd that two centuries could have
elapsed – from the time when the archaeological site at Krasnaya 54
Again, see the companion piece in this issue on gravestones
Rechka seems to have effectively stopped functioning as a set- from Krasnaya Rechka.
tlement in the mid-twelfth century to the time when Ṣalībā ibn 55
Although I note in that article that ʿAbdishoʿ bar Berikha and
Yūḥannā wrote the Asfār al-Asrār in 1332 – without the church ʿAmr ibn Mattā [correct to Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā], writing in the
hierarchy having received news of this important change in one late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, mention metro-
of its eastern-most ecclesiastical provinces. One is tempted to politans of the Turks and Turkistan, respectively, my conclusion
blame the disruptions brought on by the Mongol conquest in the still stands that “it is unclear if the metropolitanate of the Turks/
early thirteenth century for this missing information, but by all Turkistan mentioned by these two authors was a continuation of
accounts communication between the different parts of the Mon- that established by Timothy [for the Qarluqs and likely located
gol Empire was extremely efficient once the conquests had come at Talas/Taraz] or a subsequent creation” (Dickens 2010: 133). If
to an end (see Atwood 2004: 258-259). In the end, we will proba- the metropolitanate of Nawākath was intended to continue on
bly never know how it was that the name of Nawākath persisted where the earlier metropolitanate of the Turks had left off, then
in whatever (perhaps outdated) sources Ṣalībā ibn Yūḥannā later that of Turkistan must be located elsewhere in the medieval Tur-
used. kic world.

62
 M. DICKENS

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 DMITRY MILOSERDOV

ARMS DECORATION FEATURES IN KHANATES

OF CENTRAL ASIA (BUKHARA, KHIVA, KOKAND)
LATE 18th – EARLY 20th CENTURY
Abstract: The article discusses various techniques and styles of decorating bladed arms of the khanates of
Central Asia in the late 18th - early 20th centuries. Based on the ornamentation of arms, production and
jewelry centers in the Emirate of Bukhara, the Kokand and Khiva khanates are distinguished.

Key words: Bukhara, Kokand, Khiva, niello, cloisonne, shagreen, zorgar, shamshir, shashka, pichak, kard,
khanjar.
Citation: Miloserdov, D. (2023). Arms decoration features in Khanates of Central Asia (Bukhara, Khiva,
Kokand) late 18th – early 20th century, Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 66-96.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.006

T
ODAY, among researchers studying oriental armament of the armies, as well as the study of the
arms, there is an acute problem of identifying terrain. Of course, other data was collected along the
samples from Central Asia and, in particular, way. But, unfortunately, for modern researchers, the
their correlation with specific centers of production. centers for the production of arms in the khanates
Very often, the common name of the region is indi- and the features of its decoration were not within the
cated as the place of manufacture of one or anoth- scope of their interests. Ethnographers who tried to
er sample: Turkestan (Schwarz 1900: 394-395; Mos- highlight this problem appeared in Central Asia to-
er 1912: XII, Taf. XVIII, XIX; Zeller 1955: 340-350) wards the end of the 19th century. The first works
or Central Asia (Semenov 1909: 153-155; Anisimova related to the study of the production of arms in the
2013: 260-266; Obraztsov 2019: 136-144). khanates appeared in the 1870s (Krauze 1872: 213-
Given the well-known fact that edged weapons 217; Brodovskiy 1875: 48-49; Schuyler 1877: 177), and
were made (Meendorf 1826: 220; Butenev 1842: 164; were further developed already at the beginning of the
Krauze 1872: 217; Valikhanov 1904: 38) and deco- 20th century (Schwarz 1900: 394-395; Semenov 1909:
rated (Yefremov 1811: 85; Meendorf 1826: 221) in 153-155; Olufsen 1911: 475-481). By this point, the
khanates, in our opinion, we can try to localize the region was practically demilitarized, the production
places of their production. But there are a number of arms for the native people was prohibited (Krauze
of difficulties. First of all, the problem lies in the fact 1872: 217), and the vast majority of gunsmiths by the
that before joining Russia, the region was practically end of the 19th century had become ordinary manu-
closed to both Russian and European scientists. For- facturers of household knives (Semenov 1909: 155).
eigners entered the territory of the khanates mainly Battle arms, on the other hand, could only be seen
with embassy missions (Burnashev 1818: Muraviev in the people who were in power and in antiquarian
1822; Blankennagel 1858; Khanykov 1843; Volovnikov rows in the markets of the khanates (Olufsen 1911:
1986), as captives (Russov 1840), less often with mer- 477). Moreover, they aroused interest mainly among
chant caravans (Yefremov 1811) or secretly, usual- Europeans who visited the region (Semenov 1909:
ly disguised as native people (Burnes 1834; Conolly 155) and randomly acquired various exotic items, in
1838; Wolff 1845; Demezon 1983). Most of them were their opinion, including armor and arms (Zeller 1955:
limited by them routes and places of stay. And every- 341-381). True, it is important to note that at the
one, without exception, was interested, first of all, in court of the Kokand Khan, expensive arms intended
interstate agreements, the collection of intelligence for the ceremonial exits of the Khan and his associ-
data on the administrative structure, condition and ates, as well as as gifts, were made until the 1870s (the

66
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 1. Turkmen shamshir with a harness. 19th century. (Ills: A. Dementieva)

moment the Kokand Khanate was abolished). At the courts of

the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Khiva, expensive arms
were made until the early 20th century (Novoselov 2017/2018:
84-85).
In connection with this topical issue today is the ex-
act definition of the place of production of arms, which in
the literature quite often without clarification is attributed to
Turkestan (Zeller 1955: 341-381) or Central Asia (Aleksinsky
2010: 92, 96; Anisimiva 2013: 263-266; Obraztsov 2015: 160).
Unfortunately, due to the similarity of their design in differ-
ent khanates, in the vast majority of cases it is not possible to
localize ordinary models of edged weapons made in Central
Asia, except for sabers and daggers of representatives of the
Turkmen tribes. Their curved shamshir-type sabers have well
recognizable features (Botiakov 1989: 50, 51). The crossguard
and the pommel of the handle are iron, of a classical form.
Handle scales are bone or wooden, covered with leather. The
scabbard with two iron suspension rings is covered with green
(Lyutov 2006: 222) or brown (Lyutov 2006: 221) leather, some-
times with a fringe at the end. Their lower part is reinforced
with a peculiar chape made of denser brown leather. From the
mouth to the chape, the scabbard is wrapped with a narrow
leather belt. The leather chape and scabbard straps, as well as
the hilt, are often decorated with hemispherical iron rivets
(Lyutov 2006: 221) (Fig. 1). Sometimes the scabbard was dec-
orated with small silver elements with flat oval honey-colored
carnelians. The leather belt is formed by two crossed straps
connected by a silver plate with a distributor or weave (Botia-
kov 1989: 51). The belt fastened over the right shoulder with
a classic clasp, common throughout the region and probably
of Persian origin (Fig. 2). Turkmen knives are also very pecu-
liar and different from all the others. These are either kards in
Fig. 2. Harness clasp. silver cone-shaped scabbards with a typical décor (Anisimova
19th century. (Ills: A. Dementieva) 2013: 265-266), to which we will return, or straight-backed

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 3. Shamshir, Hermitage, presented in 1868 by the Kokand Khan to the Russian Tsar Alexander II.
Chromolithograph from the book Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal, or Collection of Weapons Belonging to His Majesty
Sovereign Emperor Alexander Nikolayevich. 1869. Private collection. Russia. (Scanned copy)

68
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 4. Walrus ivory grips. 19th century. Central Asia Fig. 5. Saber handle made of silver, decorated with
(Kokand?). Museum item KMZ KOK 6862/1. niello and gilding techniques. 19th century. Central
Kostroma Historical, Architectural, Asia (Kokand?). Museum item IOKM 63525. D. G.
and Art Museum-Reserve. Russia. Burylina Ivanovo State Museum of History
(Photo courtesy of the museum) and Local Lore. Russia. (Photo: V. Melnikov)

knives, reminiscent of the pichaks that existed in the «wootz saber with gold, black scabbard; wootz knife
region, in leather scabbards decorated with fringe with fish tooth (wahlrus) handle» are called (Chulosh-
(Botiakov 1989: 54-57). nikov 1932: 98). In the same year, in an embassy letter
But the above example is an exception. Or- from the Khiva ambassador Khoja-Muhammed to
dinary models of edged weapons that existed in the Tsar Fedor Ioannovich, among other gifts, they men-
khanates of Central Asia are almost indistinguishable tioned: «a wootz saber with gold, a wootz knife with a
from each other and from similar samples that came silver scabbard» (Chuloshnikov 1932: 99).
to the region from Iran. The situation is different with It is known that in the 19th century jewelers
richly decorated arms. The ethno-cultural traditions (Meendorf 1826: 221; Dadamukhamedov 2019: 139)
of making sabers adorned with precious metals and «zargarchi» (Geyer 1908: 121; Sukhareva 1962: 185)
stones in Central Asia are reflected in various sourc- were engaged in finishing such arms. At the same
es, in particular, in embassy orders, letters, petitions time, it is important to note that jewelry production
and archival funds of the Russian state of the 16th- in the khanates of Central Asia had a hereditary-fam-
17th centuries. So, for example, in two petitions of the ily character, in which techniques and techniques of
Bukhara ambassador Muhammad Ali to the Russian craftsmanship were passed down from generation to
Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich in November 1585, among generation within the family, which kept technical se-
the gifts and goods he brought from Central Asia, crets (Geyer 1908: 122). Jewelers competed with each

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

other. Each hid the secrets of his craft from others.

Usually a jeweler in his declining years took his young
relative as an apprentice (Chvyr’ 1977: 70). Naturally,
this led to the emergence of strong and in some ways
even inert traditions in the jewelry industry (Geyer
1908: 122). Although, at the request of the custom-
er or his own desire, the jeweler could choose any
combination of details or ornaments in the manu-
facture of the product, all this variability was within
the strictly regulated framework of the traditional set
of elements. Extraneous, alien things took root very
hard in an environment with an established artistic
tradition. And since not only jewelers, but also their
customers were «brought up» in the local artistic tra-
dition, the master made mainly items decorated in
such a way that they were considered beautiful and
«their own» (Chvyr’ 1977: 75), characteristic of a par-
ticular area. Comparing the decor, jewelry techniques
and techniques used in the manufacture of tradition- Fig. 6. Variations of a design using the niello technique
al jewelry and in the finishing of elements of edged on the back and underside of checker handles from
weapons, we can, by drawing parallels between them, Central Asia. 19th century. (Ills: A. Dementieva)
roughly determine the regional centers for the pro-
duction of richly decorated arms. However, there are a number of samples of arms
Unfortunately for researchers, most of the deco- that belonged to representatives of the ruling houses
rated arms from this region, made in the 19th century, of the khanates of Central Asia (Novoselov 2017/2018:
as mentioned above, ended up in Russian and foreign 84-85) or presented by them as a gift to Russian em-
museums from collectors who randomly acquired perors and private individuals, and are currently
samples of it in the late 19th and early 20th centuries stored in the State Hermitage (St.Petersburg, Russia)
in Central Asia (Moser 1888: 80; Olufsen 1911: 476, (Aleksinsky 2010: 92, 96), Russian Ethnographic Mu-
478; Zeller 1955: 344-346; Anisimova 2013: 268-270) seum (St.Petersburg, Russia) (Lyutov 2006: 205 , 206,
or officers who brought samples of arms as trophies. 211) and Museum in Bern (Switzerland) (Zeller 1955:
In addition, undoubtedly, the exchange of valuable 107-109), the place of production of which is known
models of edged weapons took place between the rul- quite accurately.
ing houses of the khanates. So, in the treasury of the Referring to these gifts, to which the relevant of-
emirs of Bukhara, there could be arms decorated in ficial documents have been preserved, one can quite
Kokand or Khiva, subsequently sent as gifts to Russia. accurately associate the decor of their scabbards and
An example of such a «double donation» is the sham- hilts with the origin of these sabers from the work-
shir kept in the Hermitage (St.Petersburg, Russia). It shops of certain khanates. It should be borne in mind
was sent among other gifts in 1868 by the Kokand that this regional division is rather arbitrary, since
Khan Said Muhammad Khudoyar Khan III to the the number of arms that came from the khanates as
Russian Emperor Alexander II. This saber is recorded gifts to Russian emperors, respectively documented
in the album with color chromolithographs «Tsar- in official papers, is limited. However, referring to
skoye Selo Arsenal, or Collection of Arms Belonging its decor, one can outline general trends, linking the
to His Majesty Emperor Alexander Nikolayevich», decorated arms with the centers of its production in
published in 1869, where it is signed as Kokand (Kem- Bukhara, Khiva and Kokand.
merer 1869: XXXI) (Fig. 3). However, now it is listed Precisely enough, today, it is possible to identify
in the museum’s collection as Khiva (Obraztsov 2015: expensive models of arms made in Kokand. This can
152-153). This is due to the fact that the scabbard of be done thanks to the gifts of the Kokand Khan, sent
the saber, apparently, was made in Khiva. This can be by him to St. Petersburg in 1868 on the occasion of a
seen by comparing their decoration with large pre- trade agreement with Russia: shashkas and elements
cious and semi-precious stones without cutting and of horse harness (Kemmerer 1869: XXXII; Obraztsov,
floral ornament on a metal sheet covering the wood- Malozyomova 2019: 36, 39). Kokand shashkas are dis-
en part of the scabbard with numerous examples of tinguished by an almost straight blade, reminiscent of
bladed weapons originating from the Khiva treasury an unusually narrow Afghan Khyber knife in shape.
(Buryakov 2013: 146, 147, 170; Aleksinsky 2010: 92, The handle scales could be made of white bone (wal-
94, 96-98). rus or ivory) (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 140)

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 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 7. Pchak knife sheath, mouth and tip, decorated with turquoise using the takhnishon technique. 19th century.
Central Asia (Kokand?). Private collection, Germany. (Owner's photo)

(Fig. 4), like the exhibits from the collection of the 52) (Fig. 5). At the end of the pommel of almost all
State Hermitage (St.Petersburg), received in 1868 as such shashkas, a movable figured silver ring is fixed,
part of the gifts of the Kokand Khan Khudoyar, sent to which a short lanyard made of silk threads is tied,
to St.Petersburg (Aleksinsky 2010: 94, 97) or from the with one, three or five tassels, usually red (Miloserdov
exhibit from the Kremlin Armory (Moscow, Russia) 2018: 56; Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 36). In front
(Denisova 1953: 153, Табл. XLI). There are also han- of the handles of Kokand shashkas with bone or horn
dles completely lined with turquoise (Obraztsov 2015: scales (at the point of transition to the blade), there
154-155) and with scales made of rhinoceros horn is a metal element. It separates the blade from the
(Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 141). A sample of a handle formed by the scales, and is called the «bol-
shashka is also known, with a solid silver handle, dec- ster». In Central Asia, according to informants from
orated using the technique of niello and gilding, with the region, this element is called «gulband» (Botyakov
a characteristic floral ornament (Miloserdov 2018: 1989: 54) by a part of the local population. It serves

71
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

to protect the front end of the handle and performs uct was covered, as it were, with scales of silver and
an aesthetic function. On the Kokand shashkas un- turquoise, resembling the aforementioned cloisonne
der consideration, the gulband is made of silver and enamel, in which polished turquoise occupied the
decorated with a characteristic floral ornament made place of enamel. Such things were made as follows:
in the technique of niello and gilding. An ornament cells of silver wire were soldered onto the surface of
in the same technique adorns a strip of silver, which the product. In the cells, with the help of mastic, piec-
is called a «brinch», soldered to the gulband and en- es of turquoise were strengthened (Sukhareva 1962:
circling the handle along the back and belly, that is, 48), located close to each other, to which the jeweler
covering the tang of the shashka located between previously gave a certain shape, for example, a trian-
the overlays. The decor on brinchs and gulbands of gle, square or flake shape (Flindt 1979: 25). Then the
shashkas, which we attribute to Kokand and call «Ko- product was given to a polisher, named in the work
kandian», is always almost identical to stylized floral of Sukhareva – a cutter (khakkok), who polished it
ornaments on silver bracelets from Khujand and Ko- on a special grinding machine (charkhi saigtaro-
kand, made using the «engraving-niello» technique shi). The grinding machine had two interchangeable
with gilding elements. The niello ornament itself is wheels: first they ground (metaroshidan) on a sand-
always large, of a vegetative nature, more often with stone grindstone (charkhi regi), then the product was
central-axial symmetry (Chvyr’ 1977: 124) (Fig. 6). finished (pardoz medodan) on a walnut wheel. The
Between the gyulband and the handle there is almost turquoise and the wire forming the cells were ground
always a silver «belt» with square cells, in which piec- off, forming a flat, smooth surface (Sukhareva 1962:
es of turquoise are fixed, polished flush, on the same 48). If some pieces of turquoise fell out during grind-
level with the surface of the gyulband and the hilts ing, they could be replaced with mastic that matched
or, more often, protruding above their surface. In the color.
the first case, the turquoise has a square shape cor- The scabbard could be either completely cov-
responding to the cells, and in the second it is oval, ered with turquoise using the takhnishon technique
slightly squared cabochons (Obraztsov 2015: 154- (Miloserdov 2018: 56) (Fig. 7), or not completely
155; Miloserdov 2018: 51, 52, 56). On some samples decorated with this ornamental stone. In the sec-
of Kokand shashkas, this belt, probably at a later time, ond case, the wooden parts of the scabbard, free of
was replaced by a strip of silver, decorated using the turquoise, were covered with red or crimson velvet
technique of niello and gilding, in the same style as (Obraztsov 2015: 154-155; Obraztsov, Malozyomova
the gulband with brinch. 2019: 139, 141), and on top of them were fixed the
A curved «belt» with square cabochons of tur- mouth and chape, decorated using the tachnishon
quoise usually runs along the upper part of the mouth technique, between which there was a strip of alter-
of the scabbard of such shashkas, stylistically corre- nating diamond-shaped elements or crescent-shaped
sponding to the belt on the handle (in some cases, elements, decorated in the same style with turquoise
turquoise alternated with transparent stones or red (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 139-141). Samples of
glass). The scabbard itself is most often richly decorat- shashkas are also known, on the scabbard of which el-
ed with turquoise, in a technique that the ethnogra- ements of continuous turquoise decoration alternated
pher Olga Alexandrovna Sukhareva calls takhnishon. with silver gilded slotted plates, with floral ornaments
According to her, this jewelry technique was devel- lined with velvet, for example, purple (although it is
oped by Bukhara masters (Sukhareva 1962: 48). But possible that before the fabric faded, it had a crimson
judging by the objects known to us, it received special color), so that it seemed that the turquoise scabbard
development from the Kokand jewelers, who deco- seemed to be «wrapped» with a silver ribbon (Ani-
rated arms for the needs of the khan. The tahnishon simova 2013: 260-261). In rare cases, the sheath of
technique is called by European researchers «Bukhara Kokand shashkas was completely covered with pre-
cloisonné» (Flindt 1979: 25). Translated from French, cious metal, combined with turquoise elements made
the word «cloisonné» means cloisonné enamel. This using the takhnishon technique. Such samples in-
term reveals the technique of execution: cells are clude a shashka (inv. V.O. 3514) from the exposition
made from copper (gold, silver) wire, which are sol- of the State Hermitage (Russia, St.Petersburg), which
dered onto the metal surface of the object. The cells, the Emir of Bukhara presented as a gift to Alexander
in turn, are filled with enamel chips and then the item III. Its scabbard is covered with smooth gold leaf em-
is fired. And so on until the cells are 100% filled. After bossed with repeating designs in the form of large ro-
a series of enamel chips and firing, the object is pol- sette frames connected by small stylized six-petalled
ished in order to give the product a noble shine and flowers. At the same time, the large mouth and chape
brightness. The peculiarity of the Bukhara cloisonne of the scabbard with a characteristic teardrop-shaped
(takhnishon) is that small pieces of turquoise are used completion are decorated with turquoise using the
instead of enamel. As a result, the surface of the prod- takhnishon technique, in exactly the same way as on

72
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 8. Pchak made in Kokand. 19th century. Fragment signed by the master
craftsman. Private collection, Germany. (Owner's photo)
Caption: ۱۲۷۹ ‫معل استا بالل خوقندی‬
"The work of master Bilal of Kokand, 1279 (Hijri)” (1862–1863 CE)

other Kokand shashkars. Considering that the shashka itself was made com-
pletely in the traditions of the Kokand craftsmen described above, it can be
assumed that this item came to Bukhara as a gift to the emir from the Khan
of Kokand. We will return to the issue of similar models of arms, which, in
our opinion, were objects of donation between representatives of the ruling
houses of the Emirate of Bukhara and the Kokand and Khiva khanates, a little
later.
As in the whole region in Kokand there were sabers – shamshirs (Kun
1872: 9) and knives. In our opinion, the scabbards of the shamshirs, entire-
ly decorated with turquoise using the takhnishon technique, testify to their
Kokadian origin. At the same time, the hilts of such sabers could either ful-
ly (Anisimova 2013: 255-256) or partially (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019:
137-138) match the scabbard in terms of decoration technique, or be com-
pletely simple, with bone scales (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 137-138),
like the ordinary samples of these arms in the region under study. The iron
crossguard and suspension rings may be plain and undecorated (Obraztsov,
Malozyomova 2019: 137-138), or may be decorated with gilding (Anisimova
2013: 255-256), carvings, or incisions. Samples of shamshirs are also known,
the suspension rings and the pommel of the handle, and sometimes the entire
handle of which are decorated using the takhnishon technique (Obraztsov,
Malozyomova 2019: 137-138). Based on the decoration with turquoise of the
entire (or most) surface of the scabbards of knives and sabers using the same
technique, we also attribute them to Kokand, as well as velvet belts, the patch
plates of which are decorated exclusively using the takhnishon technique
(Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 144-145). A distinctive feature of expensive
traditional knives (pichaks) made on the territory of the Kokand Khanate is
an elegant handle made of solid walrus or ivory (in more rare cases, rhinoc-
eros horn), which is separated by a silver belt with square castes, in which
turquoise is fixed, from a long silver bolster decorated using the technique
of blackening and gilding, as well as an elegant blade with a straight back
(Obraztsov, Maloziomova 2019: 144) (Fig. 9). Blades are often forged from
wootz steel, both imported and, apparently, locally produced. In addition to
the general visual similarity with the Kokand shashkas and the use of the
same technological methods when decorating the above-mentioned shashkas Fig. 9. Pchak made in
and knives, which we attribute to Kokand, there are samples of those with the Kokand. 19th century.
Private collection, Germany.
signature of the master, testifying in favor of our version (Fig. 8). Probably,
(Owner's photo)

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 10. Bukhara handle. 19th century. Central Asia

(Bukhara). Private collection, Australia.
(Photo Gavin Nuget)

these knives were very popular in the region, includ-

ing after the abolition of the Kokand Khanate in the
1870s. It is difficult to say whether such knives were
made only in Kokand and its environs, or if Bukha-
ra craftsmen also reproduced this shape and design
of knives. In any case, judging by the acquisition of
such knives by Henry Moser during his travels, they
were sold in bazaars on the territory of the Emirate of
Bukhara (Moser 1888: 142; Moser 1912: р. XII).
As well as the clearly identifiable Kokand shash-
kas, the samples of this arms, which were made in
Bukhara, are quite well recognizable. The blades of
Bukhara shashkas are usually wider and heavier, and
can also be significantly curved (Pink 2017: 32-33;
Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 139-140). The handles
are more massive than those of Kokand, with an ex-
tension in front of the blade and a pronounced «beak-
shaped» pommel. Most often, the handle is formed by
two horn (Miloserdov 2018: 40-41) or wooden (Hales Fig. 11. Bukhara shashka with scabbard. 19th century.
2013: 233; Anisimovа 2013: 263-264) scales, which Central Asia (Bukhara). Private collection, Australia.
are usually riveted to the shank with three to five steel (Photo: Gavin Nuget)

74
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 12. A Bukhara shashka with jade handle. Chromolithograph from the Moser collection. Oriental Arms and
Armour. Leipzig: Karl W. Hierseman, 1912, р. xii, Table xix, No. 502. Private collection, UK. (Scanned copy)

75
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

handle can be bone, silver, jade, agate or jasper (Han-

sens 1989: 76). Analyzing the Central Asian shashkas
acquired by Henry Moser during his travels in Russian
Turkestan, it can be assumed that checkers were also
made in Bukhara, the handles of which were made
of an array of stone, for example, jade (Moser 1912:
XII; Zeller 1955: 346) (Fig. 12). In this case, the main
part of the stone handle is separated from the blade
by a small, as if flattened silver gulband with a simple
engraved or niello ornament. Between the gulband
and the main part of the handles of such shashkas, as
on the Kokand samples of this arms, there is a silver
«belt» with square cells, in which pieces of turquoise
are fixed in the form of slightly squared cabochons
(Moser 1912: XII). Despite some visual similarity be-
tween the assembly of such handles and Kokand sam-
ples, we, as mentioned above, tend to attribute these
shashkas to Bukhara. Such a conclusion can be drawn
on the basis of the shape and width of the blades, the
absence in the technique of decorating the silver gul-
band of such a technique typical for craftsmen from
Kokand as gilding, as well as a completely non-Ko-
kand style of scabbard decoration, in which there is
no turquoise. The scabbards of shashkas from the
Moser collection are covered with red and green vel-
vet, on top of which there is a silver mouth and chape,
decorated with floral ornaments using the chasing
technique.
In general, the sheath of Bukhara shashkas, de-
pending on the design of the arms itself, could be
either as laconic as possible and even rude, or pomp-
ous, decorated with precious metals and precious
stones. Undecorated samples of shashkas, which we
attribute to the Emirate of Bukhara, with handles
made of horn or wood, were completed with wooden
scabbards covered with brown or black coarse leath-
er (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 36, 39). In place
of the mouth of such sheaths, there is often a fixed
Fig. 13. Decor of the Bukhara shashka brought from «thickening» made of leather, most likely preventing
the ethnographic expedition of Ole Olufsen to Bukhara the sheath from slipping out from behind the belt
at the end of the 19th century. (Ills: A. Dementieva) (Miloserdov 2018: 54-55) (Fig. 11). In some cases, the
wooden parts of the scabbards were completely cov-
rivets (Flindt 1979: 24) (Fig. 10). In the case of using ered with chased silver leaf. The mouth and the tip
horn or wood as a material for overlays, the rivets are on such scabbards were conditionally distinguished
large, which can be considered a characteristic feature by narrow turquoise belts (Obraztsov, Malozyomova
of the Bukhara shashka (Flindt 1979: 25). A massive 2019: 139-140). For more modestly decorated shash-
handle with large rivets helps to accurately identify kas, the wooden parts of the scabbard were covered
even undecorated shashkas made by the masters of with velvet or high quality leather. In the second case,
Bukhara (Miloserdov 2018: 50-54). The scales han- the scabbard has metal parts, most often made of sil-
dle on the side of the blade often covers strips made ver: a chape and a mouth (in rare cases, there is also
of iron or sheet silver, decorated with primitive en- one suspension ring). The specimens known to us
graving or niello floral ornaments (Pink 2017: 32-33). with scabbards covered with velvet are equipped with
The handle of the traditional Bukhara knife «pichak» silver details decorated using the chasing technique
looks the same (Olufsen 1911: 477-478; Zeller 1955: (Zeller 1955: 346). The scabbards of Bukhara shash-
349-350; Flindt 1979: 24; Lyutov 2006: 200; Anisimova kas, covered with shagreen, could be even with mas-
2013: 268, 270). In some cases, the material for the sive details made of smooth silver (Flindt 1979: 22),

76
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 14. Bukhara shamshir with its décor. 19th century. Central Asia (Bukhara). Private collection, Russia.
(Photo: A. Varfolomeev)

or the leather could be decorated with embossing, to the kern. The space inside the cartouche, around
and the silver details could be decorated using niello the shoot crowned with a flower, is filled with styl-
and turquoise. I would like to dwell on the last option ized shoots and leaves made in the same niello tech-
in more detail. An example of such work is a shash- nique. The chape of the scabbard is decorated in the
ka acquired by the Danish ethnographer Olufsen same style as the mouth. But since it is much longer,
in Bukhara at the end of the 19th century (Hansens the composition of the shoot is somewhat changed,
1989: 76). Wooden scabbard, covered with black it is elongated and, according to the jeweler’s plan, it
pebbled leather with embossed front side. The small should have had two flowers made of gold, similar to
graceful mouth and chape, made of silver, are distin- the one located at the mouth. Unfortunately, in the
guished by turquoise belts, fixed in square, triangular process of existence, the gold from the chape was lost.
and diamond-shaped deaf castes (gemstone setting) But, the contour of six-petal flowers made in black
(Marchenkov 1984: 106) soldered to the details of the and the pits located respectively along their center
scabbard. A cartouche is depicted on the mouth us- and the bases of the petals, which, along with solder-
ing the niello technique, in which a climbing shoot ing, held gold (Fig. 13), have been preserved.
of a plant is located, the stem and leaves of which are By analogy with the ornamentation of the shash-
additionally highlighted with engraving strokes. The ka discussed above, we include the sheath of sham-
shoot is crowned with a six-petalled flower made of shir, made in a similar style, to the work of Bukhara
thin applied gold, with oval petals pointed at the ends. jewelers. True, unlike the previous item, the scabbard
The edges of the petals are engraved in the same style of the saber in question is completely covered with
as the borders of the shoot, and the center of the flow- fairly thick silver. On the front side of the scabbard,
er and the base of the petals are marked with inden- the mouth and chape are marked belts with tur-
tation points, presumably made with a tool similar quoise inserted into square castes. In a thin double

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frame made in niello, the space between the borders ples of these sabers, which can be tried to identify the
of which is filled in the same technique with a zig- Bukhara work. So in a special storehouse of the Rus-
zag line, there is a six-petalled flower with oval pet- sian Ethnographic Museum (St.Petersburg, Russia),
als, slightly pointed at the ends, as in a flower on a among the gifts of the emirs of Bukhara presented to
shashka, with narrow leaves located on the sides of the Russian Imperial family, there is a shamshir (REM
it, a pair of which is turned up, and a couple down. 4467-3 a, b), the scabbard of which is covered with
The edges of the petals, flower stamens and leaf veins a gold leaf with a small chased floral pattern (Lyutov
are underlined by engraving. But unlike the previous 2006: 205). Its mouth, chape and suspension rings are
item, the flower and leaves connected to it are made marked with single belts of turquoise cabochons. We
using the technique of gilding, and not applied gold. assume that it is the objects made in this technique
The space inside the frame around the flower is filled that can be attributed to the Bukhara work. First of
with niello lines of a primitive ornament. The herb- all, such a conclusion can be drawn because the mas-
al composition located on the chape of the scabbard ter used gold, although, as we mentioned above, in
is balanced with the composition of the mouth. A Central Asia, silver was mainly used as a material for
double niello frame encloses a winding shoot with jewelry (Velyaminov-Zernov 1856: 123; Geyer 1908:
leaves, made using the gilding technique, on which 121, 123, 126; Chvyr’ 1972: 40; Yershov 1975: 96; Ish-
three six-petal flowers are located at an equal dis- buldina 2013: 238). This was due to the fact that, ac-
tance from each other, slightly decreasing from top cording to Sharia, men were forbidden to wear gold
to bottom. In the lower part of the chape, the shoot items (Abdullaev 1986: 159; al-Bukhari 1997: Vol. 1:
is crowned with a bud turned sideways so that the 371, Vol. 4: 1962; al-Askalyani 2000: Vol. 4: 145; Vol.
center of the flower is partially visible. The leaf veins 14: 21). Nevertheless, the nobility in Bukhara neglect-
and flower petals, as on the mouth, are engraved. ed this prohibition or tried to circumvent it. Products
The space inside the frame, surrounding the gilded were made not only from silver, but also from an al-
shoot, is filled with a dense floral ornament depict- loy in which gold and silver were mixed (Abdullaev
ing leaves. The scabbard between the chape and the 1986: 159; Lyushkevich 1989: 73.). The result was a
mouth consists of three silver elements of approxi- very malleable pale yellow metal, which was called
mately the same size, bounded by double frames of «milk gold» – «tillaye dzhurgoti» (Sukhareva 1962:
niello, inside of which the same plant composition is 43). Also, items made of silver were completely gild-
depicted in the center, made in the same technique: a ed, so that they visually looked like gold, although
winding stem with leaves, on which at the same dis- they formally met religious requirements (Abdullaev
tance from each other the other has three six-petalled 1986: 159). Gilding with mercury – «khali simobi»
flowers. The flowers are depicted schematically - only was well known to Bukhara masters. Gold, together
their outline is outlined. The space around the shoot with mercury, was melted in a crucible over low heat.
is filled with niello floral ornament, made in the same The alloy was poured into cold water, poured either
style as the shoot itself. Elements of floral ornament into a cup (if you worked with a small amount of met-
similar to the ornament on the scabbard, made in the al) or into an earthen tub. After draining the water, a
same technique of niello and gilding, decorate the sil- gray substance was obtained, like liquid clay. Having
ver details of the saber suspension (Fig. 14). The in- smeared with it the object intended for gilding, they
side of the scabbard is decorated with embossing in heated it. Mercury evaporated, and the object turned
the form of scales, the borders of which are outlined out to be covered with a thin, but very durable layer
in black. In our opinion, it is important to note that of gilding (Sukhareva 1962: 47). However, the jewel-
niello is not often found on Bukhara products. This ry business of Bukhara was distinguished by the fact
technique, as mentioned above, was usually used in that pure gold was also used here on a relatively large
the manufacture of expensive silverware by Kokand scale (Olufsen 1911: 530; Sukhareva 1962: 43). By the
craftsmen (Sergeev 1960: 10). The typical use of silver way, it should be noted that in Bukhara, in addition to
to decorate arms is mentioned by the Russian Orien- jewelers who carried out private orders, about twen-
talist Pyotr Ivanovich Pashino, who wrote that «of the ty craftsmen with their students worked in the palace
noble metals in products, silver is most often found, workshop, making various gold and silver items ex-
which goes into service: plaques on the belt, harness clusively for the emir’s court (Sukhareva 1966: 196),
and scabbard» (Pashino 1868: 147). such as arms parts, dishes, elegant harness and other
Unfortunately, most of the shamshirs that existed riding accessories (Sukhareva 1962: 41). In Bukhara,
in the Bukhara Emirate are practically indistinguish- unlike masters of other branches of craft, court jew-
able from Persian samples (Flindt 1979: 23; Anisimo- elers occupied a privileged position, received titles
va 2013: 250). This was noted by many travelers vis- and ranks (Dadamuhamedov 2019: 141). According
iting the region (Meendorf 1826: 272; Moser 1888: 80; to old jewelers interviewed by ethnographers in the
Olufsen 1911: 476). However, there are exclusive sam- middle of the 20th century, the use of gold has espe-

78
 D. MILOSERDOV

applied with a pencil directly by hand. The pattern

was minted using a set of tools for chasing «kalam»,
consisting of iron or bronze chisels with a working
part of various shapes. Some chisels had a convex pat-
tern at the end. The master, incuse a pattern, changed
the chisels, selecting them in accordance with the
intended ornament and building a pattern from the
elements that he had at his disposal. Deciding the
construction of the ornament, the master always
counted on his own set of chisels, and, if necessary,
made a new chisel of the desired profile. Thanks to
this technique, a complex and thin chased ornament
was made quickly and easily. They worked by lightly
striking with a hammer on the opposite end of the
chisel from the worker, so that the pattern was easily
imprinted on soft metal (Sukhareva 1962: 42, 45). Re-
searchers note that Bukhara master chasers worked
by creating an ornament on metal from memory.
Therefore, it is impossible to meet a literal repetition
of the same pattern. There is always at least a slight
change in composition (Sergeev 1960: 10). In addi-
tion, the zorgarchi also had a set of stamps «kolib»
(Sukhareva 1962, 42) and copper boards «shingila
komob» with ornaments carved on them by the jew-
eler himself, which were also used to quickly obtain
an «embossed» ornament. A silver or gold plate was
superimposed on a board with an ornament, which
was closed on top with a thicker lead plate. The mas-
ter struck the lead plate with a hammer. Under this
influence, both plates, both lead and precious metal,
were bent, so that a pattern was squeezed out on the
latter (Geyer 1908: 127).
Fig. 15. Classical Bukharan design made with In the case of the considered shamshir from the
the chasing technique on the scabbard’s metal elements. treasury of the Emir of Bukhara, it is difficult to de-
(Ills: A. Dementieva) termine what kind of technique was used by the mas-
ter: chasing or stamping, for applying a small stylized
cially spread since the end of the 19th century un- floral ornament to the metal of the scabbard. On the
der Emir Seyid Abdulahad Khan, when pomp and one hand, when stamping, the jeweler worked with
extravagance came into fashion. During this period, very thin sheets of gold or silver (Chvur’ 1977: 17),
gold even began to be specially imported in large which would have been damaged by during use sabre.
quantities from Russia. Bukhara also received a cer- On the other hand, we have, of course, arms for the
tain amount of gold from Gissar, where there were its parade, which were practically not used by the owner.
deposits. These metals were especially valued in their Returning to the ornament, it should be noted that
pure form. Noble low-grade metals were not used it is formed by six petal rosettes and four and three
at all in Bukhara in the 19th century, since they are petal rosettes arranged in a «profile». All flowers are
poorly forged and do not correspond to the cold forg- combined and edged with convex curved stems with
ing technique developed in Central Asia (Sukhareva leaves (Fig. 15). The ornament is complemented by
1962: 43; Lyushkevich 1989: 73). stripes on rosette petals and leaves, presumably ap-
Cold forging lends itself to precious metals (gold, plied with a chisel. The mouth, suspension rings and
silver), as well as copper. Therefore, this technique is the chape of the scabbard are edged with strips of false
rarely used, mainly in jewelry production. The tech- granulation and highlighted with turquoise cabochon
nological process of cold forging consists in the plas- belts fixed in teardrop-shaped deaf castes (Marchen-
tic processing of metal without its preliminary heat- kov 1984: 106) soldered to the scabbard (Fig. 16) from
ing. Chasing was the next stage in the processing of narrow gold strips. An exception is the tip of the scab-
the product, as can be seen from the scabbard of the bard tip, which is highlighted by a strip of «S-shaped»
shamshir in question. The ornament on jewelry was castes. This is a traditional for Central Asia method

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 17. Mounted turquoise on Bukhara shamshir

scabbard tip. 19th century (Ills: A. Dementieva)

scabbard of this less expensive saber is sheathed in

purple-red velvet. Four parts made of gilded silver are
decorated with a chased pattern, which uses elements
of floral ornament, discussed above in the previous
shamshir. Similarly, small cabochons of turquoise
are used to decorate the metal parts of the scabbard.
But if the turquoise highlighting the cut of the scab-
bard under the crossguard of the saber is fixed in
teardrop-shaped castes, then the stones framing the
steel suspension rings and the gilded chape of the
scabbard are stacked in S-shaped castes, which form
double «lines» of cabochons arranged in a checker-
Fig. 16. Turquoise attachment on scabbard mouth board pattern (Fig. 17). Absolutely identical in the
from a Bukhara shamshir. 19th century. Central Asia decor of the metal elements of the scabbard and the
(Bukhara). Museum item IOKM 9915. D. G. Burylin materials used, up to purple-red velvet, shamshir was
Ivanovo State Museum of Local History. Russia. presented to Henry Moser by the Emir of Bukhara
(Photo: V. Melnikov) in 1883 (Zeller 1955: 113-114), which additionally
confirms the attribution of these sabers to Bukhara.
of mounting small cabochons made of colored glass Considering that at that time all the craftsmen had
and stones, when they are inserted into a caste made their own unique style and their own jewelry tech-
of wire or narrow metal strips soldered to the base, niques (Geyer 1908: 122; Chvyr’ 1977: 75), it can be
and attached by bending the thin edges of the ring or assumed that a certain zorgar from the emir’s court
crimping the wire (Geyer 1908: 127). In our case, the jewelers made such scabbards specifically for sabers,
castes do not tightly clamp the turquoise cabochons, which should have become to be expensive gifts. This
so it is logical to assume that they were additionally version is confirmed by the fact that another abso-
fixed with special mastic. This method of fixing tur- lutely identical shamshir, down to the details of the
quoise in the products of Bukhara jewelers is men- suspension, is kept in the State Hermitage Museum,
tioned by the ethnographer, a specialist in Central and another one, which is also the «twin brother» of
Asia Olga Alexandrovna Sukhareva (Sukhareva 1962: the previous ones, is in the Armory of the Royal Pal-
48). It is important to note that the teardrop-shaped ace in Stockholm (Fig. 18). It is a well-known fact that
setting of stones is often found on women’s jewelry expensive sabers of this type were presented by the
made in Bukhara in the second half of the 19th cen- Emir of Bukhara as a gift in a variety of situations. For
tury (Sychiova 1984: 30-33, 46-47; Abdullaev 1986: example, the battle painter, participant in the Central
228). In our opinion, this is another evidence that the Asian campaigns Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin wrote
scabbard was made by Bukhara master jewelers. the following:
The details of the shamshir scabbard (REM 5183- «The Bukhara saber is a luxurious and expensive
1 a, b), also related to the gifts of the emirs of Bukha- arms. A beautifully curved hilt, carved from ivory, is
ra, are made in a similar style (Lyutov 2006: 206). The decorated at the end with a silver openwork fitting

80
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 18. Bukhara shamshir. 19th century. Central Asia

(Bukhara). Museum item 35634 from
the Livrustkammaren (The Royal Armory) collection,
Stockholm. Sweden.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Sabre_
images_from_Livrustkammaren#/media/File:Sabel_-_
Livrustkammaren_-_35634.tif
Fig. 18а. Buhkara shamshir scabbard tip, decorated
by enameling. 19th century. Central Asia (Bukhara).
and a long white brush; the velvet scabbard is bound Museum item IOKM 63358. D. G. Burylina Ivanovo
with gold and silver, trimmed with a chased pattern, State Museum of Local History. (Photo: V. Melnikov)
turquoise and even expensive stones. The value of
these sabers often reaches very large figures, and, of row time period of the late 19th – early 20th century,
course, makes them the property of a very few chosen jewelers also decorated weapons using the enamel
ones. A similar saber was sent by the Emir of Bukhara technique (Fig. 18 a). If the thing was decorated with
to General Abramov, after he took the city of Karshi, enamel, then the background between the patterns
occupied by insurgents» (Karazin 1874: 234). and the places that were intended for enamel were
selected using a special small cutter in the form of
Judging by the samples from museum collections a spoon with a rounded end, which made the back-
known to us, we can conclude that the scabbards ground with a ripple, giving shine to the metal, which
of such shamshirs, intended as personal gifts from was mandatory when applying transparent enamels.
the emir, were covered with velvet, both in different This technique was called «gursum», «gursum set».
shades of red, and green, crimson and purple (Abdul- Enamels were brought from China in the form of
laev 1986: 134-135). round tiles, crushed into powder, moistened with
Exclusively in Bukhara, and apparently in a nar- water and smeared raw into the recesses of the pat-

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Fig. 19. Photograph of the karud dagger given by the Emir of Bukhara to Henry Moser from his book
Durch Central-Asien; die Kirgisensteppe, Russisch-Turkestan, Bochara, Chiwa, das Turkmenenland und Persien,
Leipzig, 1888. Private collection, Russia. (Scanned copy)

tern. When the product was fired in a furnace, the turquoise in the tachnishon technique, located along
enamel melted and filled the recess. After that, on the edge of the mouth of the scabbard, was stylistical-
the hardened enamel, with the help of a «suwon» file, ly balanced with a short chape topped with a reverse
all the bumps and smudges were leveled; the prod- drop-shaped button, made in the same technique and
uct was polished with sand (regshui mekardan) and from the same materials. Karud with a scabbard deco-
again placed briefly in the furnace. The enamel melt- rated in this technique was presented to Henry Moser
ed again, and its surface became smooth, shiny and by the Emir of Bukhara (Moser 1888: 149; Moser 1912:
transparent (Sukhareva 1962: 45). Almost all samples XII) (Fig. 19). The scabbard was covered with black or
of precious weapons decorated with enamel known to green leather (Zeller 1955: 359), less often with expen-
us are made in a single exclusive style (Korneev 1978: sive fabric (Zeller 1955: 387-388), and in some cases
21, 113), undoubtedly, by the emir’s court jewelers it was completely covered with a silver sheet with a
(Novoselov 2017/2018: 89). chased floral ornament (Moser 1888: 149). The mouth
Speaking of knives and daggers, let’s consider the and chape of the sheath of knives could be made of
options for finishing, which was used by Bukhara chased or blackened silver, on which a floral orna-
craftsmen when decorating knives and daggers. Ac- ment was reproduced in these techniques, sometimes
cording to Sukhareva, it was the Bukhara craftsmen in combination with turquoise belts (Moser 1912:
who developed the technique already familiar to us, XII). Judging by the studies of the Danish ethnog-
used by Kokand jewelers, called «takhnishon». How- rapher Ole Olufsen and Torben Flindt, who worked
ever, judging by the samples known to us, it can be with his collection, the traditional knives - pichaks,
argued that the jewelers from Bukhara, who decorat- which were made in Bukhara, were distinguished by
ed these samples of weapons, although they used tur- a curved blade with a «raised» point (Olufsen 1911:
quoise, did not completely cover the scabbard with it. 475, 521; Flindt 1979: 24). The handle of such knives
Usually a narrow silver belt made of several strips of was more often formed by scales of horn or bone

82
 D. MILOSERDOV

(Pashino 1868: 137; Kirpichnikov 1897: 131). The butt blades, sometimes decorated using the technique of
end of the hilt on the side of the blade can be cov- gold-plated inlays, with a sheath covered with silver
ered with overlays in the form of strips made of iron and gold and decorated with turquoise and other pre-
or sheet silver, sometimes decorated with primitive cious stones, originally intended exclusively for use
engraving (Olufsen 1911: 521). In those cases when as battle arms, by the end of the 19th century became
expensive walrus or ivory, lapis lazuli, jade, agate or an attribute of those close to emir. They were a sign of
jasper served as the material for the handle, both in status, a kind of ceremonial arms, just like the ai-bal-
the form of an array and in the form of scales (Mos- ta hatchets, originally used during hostilities, which
er 1912: XII; Zeller 1955: 349; Flindt 1979: 25), the eventually acquired handles overlaid with gold and
main part of the handle is separated from the blade became a uniform attribute of the emir’s adjutants
by a bolster, lower than on Kokand knives, usually (Moser 1888: 147-148) and a symbol solemnly car-
decorated using the niello technique (Zeller 1955: ried by the mirshab, who led the procession of the
361-362; Flindt 1979: 24). Between the bolster and emir. They also relied on prime ministers (Olufsen
the main part of the handle there can be a ring of 1911: 477). Such axes, decorated in Bukhara, are well
turquoise pieces fixed in square castes (Fig. 20). To recognizable (Fig. 21). The battle part is made most
distinguish richly decorated knives made by Bukha- often in Persia from wootz steel. And wooden han-
ra craftsmen from knives from Kokand, according to dles are usually covered with silver (Olufsen 1911:
our assumption, it is possible first of all by the shape 478) or gold leaf with chased floral ornaments and are
of the blade, and secondly by the length of the bol- additionally decorated with square bands, in which
ster. Otherwise, the decoration of the silver details square pieces of turquoise are fixed (Olufsen 1911:
of knives and scabbards was quite similar. Probably, 478; Lyutov 2006: 213). There are also battle axes,
based on the statements of some researchers, it can be which are decorated with double «belts» of turquoise
considered typical for the craftsmen who worked in
Bukhara to combine emeralds, rubies and pearls (Ly-
ushkevich 1989: 73) tightly packed together on arms.
An example of such decoration is a karud from the
collection of the State Hermitage with a handle made
of rhinoceros horn, inlaid with gold and precious
stones, the golden chased case of the wooden scab-
bard of which is covered with a floral pattern in the
form of an intertwined flowering shoot. Volumetric
gold facings of the mouth and chape of the scabbard
with a spherical ending, decorated with precious and
semi-precious stones of irregular shape and faceted
cabochons. Emeralds and rubies densely packed to-
gether predominate among these gems (Obraztsov,
Malozyomova 2019: 143). Also, the «Bukhara» origin
of this knife confirms the use of gold, and not gilded
silver in the scabbard lining and, most importantly,
the source of its receipt (Sukhareva 1962: 43). Until
1885, it was kept in the collection of the Tsarskoye
Selo Arsenal in a cabinet with items presented by the
emirs of Bukhara personally or through embassies
to Emperors Alexander II and Alexander III. Unlike
many other Central Asian weapons, this knife is eas-
ily identified, since it was described in some detail by
Eduard Eduardovich Lenz, considering among other
daggers: «S.415. The rhinoceros horn handle is inlaid
with intertwining gold patterns with multi-colored
stones. Straight blade. Frame of Central Asian work»
(Lenz 1908: 120). Among the items made in this tech-
nique, we also include a knife from the collection
of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the massive
wooden handle of which is decorated with silver inlay
(Lyutov 2006: 197). Fig. 20. Photograph of pchaks taken by Henri Moser.
Such large knives, often with splendid wootz 19th century. Private collection, Russia. (Scanned copy)

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

Fig. 21. Bukhara battle ax (tabar) brought from the ethnographic expedition of Ole Olufsen, late 19th century.
Central Asia (Bukhara). Museum item Q-292 from the Nationalmuseet collection, Denmark.
(Photo courtesy of the museum)

cabochons, fixed in S-shaped castes. Although they Parts of the scabbard, imitating the chape and mouth,
are considered to come from the gifts of the emirs of were decorated with large precious or semi-precious
Bukhara (Lyutov 2006: 214-216), we believe that these stones without cutting, which can be seen on a check-
samples were made in the Khiva Khanate. er from the State Hermitage Museum – inv. IN. 102,
If arms decorated in Bukhara can be distin- received in 1873 from the treasury of the Khiva Khan
guished from samples from other khanates, then the (Aleksinsky 2010: 94, 97). The belonging of scabbards
identification of arms decorated in the Khiva Khanate decorated in this technique to the Khiva people is
causes, with the exception of a single exception, sig- confirmed by the design of other samples of arms
nificant difficulties. Lenz also noted that «Khivan sa- from the Hermitage, such as shamshirs with Persian
bers belong to the Persian type of shamshirs, and dif- blades (Aleksinsky 2010: 92, 96) and locally made
fer from the latter in the decoration of the scabbard», knives trimmed with gold, silver and precious stones
namely, «the lining with a silver sheet with an em- in the Khiva style (Moser 1912: XII; Aleksinsky 2010:
bossed pattern and, on some samples, with precious 97; Anisimova 2013: 265, 267). There are references
stones in nests» (Lenz 1908: 111). Unfortunately, in to the same technique of decorating arms with gold
our opinion, such a description also applies to Bukha- and multi-colored precious stones in Khiva sources
ra sabers. For the first time, the head of the arms de- of the 18th-19th centuries (MITT: 504). It is curious
partment of the State Historical Museum (Moscow, that some modern researchers assert that the social
Russia), Maria Mikhailovna Denisova, tried to iden- position of the 19th century jewelers in the region un-
tify samples of Khiva work. She, following Lenz, not- der consideration was different.
ed that the Khiva long-bladed arms usually differ in If in Bukhara there were court jewelers who oc-
the design of the scabbard. The scabbard, according cupied a privileged position, then in Khiva the pro-
to her, is decorated with thin silver with an asymmet- fession of a jeweler was one of the lowest (Dada-
ric large floral ornament, made by chasing or em- mukhamedov 2019:141). It is also noted that in the
bossing (Denisova 1953: 142, 153). At the same time, second half of the 19th century Bukhara and Kokand
the wooden parts of the scabbard can sometimes be became the main centers of highly developed jewel-
completely covered with a silver case with gilding. ry production (Chvyr’ 1977: 77), which allows us to

84
 D. MILOSERDOV

make an assumption about the insufficient level of 2013: 265, 267; Buryakov 2013: 147, 171; Obraztsov,
development of such in the same time in Khiva. It is Malozyomova 2019: 141-142) (Fig. 24).
impossible not to mention the words of the research- Known examples of kards made in this style, with
ers of the late 19th century, who noted that although sheaths of silver not covered with gilding, on which
among the representatives of the Turkmen tribes, there is only one double belt of turquoise cabochons,
nominally subjects of the Khiva Khanate, there are located along the edge of the mouth (Moser 1912:
blacksmiths, locksmiths and craftsmen who worked XII). Between the two upper belts of turquoise or
with silver and finished arms, their work in the Eu- pearl there is always a wide belt of voluminous del-
ropean sense looked rude and primitive: «…in the toids squeezed from the inside - figures resembling
works of these crafts, one can see in all respects their a rhombus, in which the two upper sides are shorter
completely infantile state, and, as it were, a deliber- than the two lower ones (Fig. 24). Turquoise cabo-
ate unwillingness to do it beautifully and distinctly» chons can be fixed in the center of these protruding
(Voennyi sbornik 1872: 79). We see some dissonance. figures. This element is also typical of the silver scab-
On the one hand, rather primitively decorated weap- bards used by the Turkmens, who lived on the terri-
ons of the Turkmens and information about, most tory of the Khiva Khanate and near its borders (Fig.
likely, not a high level of jewelry craftsmanship in the 26). The scabbard sheaths of Khiva kards made of
Khiva Khanate, and on the other hand, richly dec- precious metals are always covered with chased floral
orated sabers, knives and daggers presented by the ornaments, which we will discuss in detail below. It
khans of Khiva as a gift to Russian emperors. Let’s try
to deal with this not a simple question.
The widely used short-bladed arms in this khan-
ate is unambiguously attributed to Khiva. The wear-
ing of well-recognized knives by the Khiva and
Turkmens living in this region is reflected in many
photographs and lithographs of the late 19th and ear-
ly 20th centuries (Anisimova 2013: 253; Lyutov 2006:
209). In addition, such knives were frequent gifts
presented by the Khiva khans to Europeans (Fig. 22).
Moreover, both at the government level, for example,
one of these knives was included in the diplomatic
gifts brought to Russia by the heir of the Khiva Khan
Asfandiyar (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019, 141-142),
and to ordinary travelers from Europe who found
themselves at the court of the Khan of Khiva (Moser
1912: XII). The above-mentioned knives are tradi-
tional Persian wootz kards (Fig. 23), the handles and
sheaths of which are decorated by local craftsmen in
a common well-recognized style. Walrus ivory han-
dles were complemented by cylindrical butt made of
gold or gilded silver. Along the edge of this massive
pommel in blind castes, framed by real or false granu-
lation, six to ten polished tra-nsparent multi-colored
precious or semi-precious stones, more or less close
to a cabochon in shape, are usually fixed. Another
such stone is most often fixed in the center of the butt
end of the pommel. The borders of the back can be
accentuated with false grain or small cabochons of
turquoise, enclosed in round or semicircular blind
castes. Such kards were immersed in the scabbard
so that the lower edge of the pommel coincided with
the upper edge of the metal sheath of the wooden
scabbard, made in the shape of a cone. Chased case
made of silver with or without gilding, almost always Fig. 22. Photo of the kārd presented by the Khan of
Khiva to Henry Moser from his book Durch Central-
decorated with five double belts of turquoise cabo- Asien; die Kirgisensteppe, Russisch-Turkestan, Bochara,
chons or, in rare cases, small pearls. Gems are fixed Chiwa, das Turkmenenland und Persien, Leipzig, 1888.
in S-shaped deaf castes (Moser 1912: XII; Anisimova Private collection, Russia. (Scanned copy)

85
 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

should be noted that samples of such kards are known

without metal butt (Moser 1888: 254). There were
also other samples of oriental weapons with a straight
blade, for example, a sample of a Turkish dagger with
a jade handle known to us, for which Khiva crafts-
men made scabbards identical to those discussed
above (Fig. 26). Considering the striking similarity in
the decor details of these knives, we assume that they
were all made in approximately the same time period,
namely, in the last quarter of the 19th – early 20th
centuries by the same master, or perhaps by a master
and his apprentice, carefully copying the techniques
of his teacher. It is likely, although it requires further
study, that most of these richly decorated kards were
made as expensive gifts for Europeans by order of the
Khan of Khiva, since today we are not aware of liter-
ary or pictorial sources confirming their existence in
the Khanate. But we know for sure that such kards
were presented as a gift to a variety of personalities
(Moser 1912: XII; Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019:
141-142).
In a similar stylistics, although with certain differ-
ences, double-edged curved khanjars were decorated,
which existed in Khiva, judging by the descriptions
of eyewitnesses, at least from the first half of the 18th
century. Here is what lieutenant Dmitry Gladyshev,
who visited Khiva in 1740, writes:

«Noble Aral people have a dagger behind their

sash, which is made of wootz steel, the size with a
handle is 6 inches (about 30 cm). Cheren (handle) is
made of white «fish bone» (walrus tusk), and stones
of different colors are cut into the cheren (handle):
yakhonts (rubies) and diamonds. The scabbard is
gold, many have gilded silver. And those who are not
so rich have handle without stones, and a scabbard of
green leather» (Gladyshev 1851: 71).

A dagger matching the description is stored in the

Kremlin Armory (Moscow, Russia). On his blade, in
the technique of notching with gold, there is an in-
scription in Arabic: «The abode of Islam Khorezm.
Khan Bahadur Isfandiyar. Year (hijri) 1329». Thus,
the inscription indicates that this dagger was made
in 1909 and belonged to the Khiva Khan Bahadur
(Novoselov 2017/2018, 84-85). A reel handle made
of walrus bone and a curved double-edged damask
blade with pronounced stiffening ribs are typical of
Persian khanjars (Khorasani 2006: 582-595) (Fig. 28).
The difference lies in the decor of the hilt and scab-
bard. The extended parts of the hilt (the pommel and
the transition to the blade) are covered with a thick
layer of gold. Precious stones are fixed in deaf castes,
bordered by strips of false granulation. It is important
Fig. 23. Persian kārd. 19th century. Iran. to note that the stones are not fixed as tightly next to
Private collection. Russia. (Photo: P. Bogomazov) each other as on the weapons that we attribute to dec-

86
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 24. Décor of voluminous triangular-shaped items

on a Khiva dagger sheath. 19th century. Central Asia
(Khiva). Private collection. Germany.
(Photo: Kurt Kollwig)

Fig. 26. Ottoman reel dagger with jade handle and

Fig. 25. Mounted turquoise on a Khiva dagger scabbard scabbard made by Khivan craftsmen. 19th century
sheath. 19th century. Central Asia (Khiva). Private Turkey. Central Asia (Khiva). Private collection.
collection. Germany. (Photo: Kurt Kollwig) Germany. (Photo: Kurt Kollwig)

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

orated in Bukhara. At the top of the hilt on its front

side are three large European-cut diamonds, which
are surrounded by smaller cabochons of multi-col-
ored gems. In the place where the hilt passes into the
blade, a large faceted ruby is​​ fixed in the center, on
the sides of which there are diamonds similar to those
in the pommel. In the same way as in the pommel,
large European-cut gemstones are surrounded by a
scattering of small cabochons of rubies and emer-
alds located at a short distance from each other. The
mouth of the wooden scabbard, covered with a metal
sheath with a chased floral ornament, is made of gold,
decorated with cabochons of precious stones, and sty-
listically serves as a counter part of the gold decora-
tion on the handle, at the point of its transition to the
blade. Thus, when the dagger is scabbard, the above
two parts form a single whole. Probably, in order
to emphasize the border separating them, a double
belt of small turquoise cabochons, fixed in S-shaped
castes, was put along the upper edge of the mouth of
the scabbard. Exactly the same belts limit the chape
of the scabbard. Part of the scabbard between them is
devoid of a chased ornament and looks as if the mas-
ter had wound a golden thread around a wooden base
(Novoselov 2017/2018: 84). We know almost identical
daggers kept in the collections of the State Hermitage
Museum (St.Petersburg, Russia) (Obraztsov 2015: 94-
96), the Russian Ethnographic Museum in St.Peters-
burg (Russia) (Lyutov 2006: 192), the Stockholm Ar-
mory «Livrustkammaren» (Sweden) (Fig. 29), as well
as several examples in private collections. The differ-
ences between these daggers are minimal. Judging by
the photographs known to us and the style of objects
that have come down to us, we can conclude that it
was in Khiva that the khans and their entourage wore
similar curved daggers of the Persian type (Fig. 30),
as well as Indian khanjars decorated in a similar tech-
nique with jade handles and karuds with horn and
bone handles (Obraztsov, Malozyomova 2019: 143).
Usually, for all the examples of short-bladed arms
listed above, the metal sheaths of the wooden scab-
bards are made of silver with or without gilding, with
a similar chased floral ornament, double belts of tur-
quoise cabochons in S-shaped castes along the top of
the mouth and limiting the chape, with a characteris-
tic winding of a metal thread, as well as with a rather
«loose» arrangement of rounded gems or glass with
a colored foil backing at the mouth of the scabbard
(Anisimova 2013: 271-273; Buryakov 2013: 146, 170,
190). In some cases, the tops of the hilts can be deco-
rated with gold with precious stones or colored glass.
Olufsen mentions this use of substitute gemstones:
«…the mountings of arms, ferrules and mouth-piec-
es of knife and sword sheaths are very solid and often
Fig. 27. Kārd inside a Turkmen scabbard. 19th century.
Central Asia (Khiva). Private collection. Russia. very well made. The articles are profusely adorned
(Photo: P. Bogomazov) with turquoises, corals, garnets, opals, lapis lazuli,

88
 D. MILOSERDOV

We consider it important to note that, judging by

the decor and style of the hilts and scabbards of some
richly decorated daggers stored in the collection of
the Russian Ethnographic Museum and attributed to
the gifts of the emirs of Bukhara of the Russian Impe-
rial family, we can conclude that they were made in
Khiva (Lyutov 2006: 193-194).
In addition to short-bladed arms, in the Khiva
Khanate, as in Bukhara, the ruler’s dignitaries and of-
ficers wore decorated battle axes. This is evidenced by
the surviving photographs (Fig. 31) and descriptions
of travelers from Europe. One of them writes:

«We asked in Khiva to be taken toa silversmith’s,

and so we were in the strict sense of the word, for
there was a workshop with two crucibles of stone to
be heated by charcoal fires, two small anvils, and, if
I remember rightly, silver in the bar as we had seen
at Kuldja, whilst the work the man had in hand was
the silvering the handle of a battle-axe, by order of
the Khan, to be carried by some new place-man as an
insignia of office...» (Lansdell 1885: 287).

We assume that some axes from the collection of

the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the handles of
which are decorated with a large and rough chased
floral ornament or smooth silver and gold, combined
with double belts of small turquoise cabochons, fixed
in S-shaped castes, were made in Khiva (Lyutov 2006:
214-216). Our assumption is supported by an ax al-
most identical to them from the collection of the Ar-
tillery Museum in St.Petersburg, presented in 1911
to Nicholas II, among other gifts from the Khan of
Khiva, on the butt of which, in the technique of an
inscription in gold, is inscribed: «The World of Islam,
Khorezm» and the date «1329» Hijri (1911 accord-
ing to the Gregorian calendar) (Anisimova 2013: 274-
275).
As mentioned above, the situation with the iden-
tification of Khiva long-bladed arms is much more
complicated. Knowing that the wooden details of the
scabbards of sabers were decorated with a thin silver
or gold sheath with an engraved or embossed floral
ornament, large and sometimes asymmetrical, not
only in Khiva, but also in Bukhara, as on the scab-
Fig. 28. Persian Khanjar. 19th century. bards of shamshir (Zeller 1955: 113-114) and karud,
Private collection. Russia. (Photo: P. Bogomazov) presented to Henry Moser by the emir of Bukhara or
karud (Moser 1912: XII), acquired in Bukhara by Ole
Olufsen (Olufsen 1911: 478), we believe that this fea-
emeralds and rubies, but only the turquoises, cor- ture cannot be considered decisive for the products of
als, garnets and the lapis, are always real, as they are the Khiva masters. On the other hand, the decoration
found in great quantities in the Bokharan mountains of the mouth, and sometimes the chape of the scab-
and the neighbouring Persia for which reason they bard, long-bladed arms, as well as parts of the scab-
are very cheap here; at least 90 percent of other pre- bard imitating the chape and the mouth, with freely
cious stones, exposed for sale, are imitation stones.» arranged large precious or semi-precious stones with-
(Olufsen 1911: 530). out cutting, as on a shashka from the State Hermitage

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kand and Bukhara, apparently did not find distribu-

tion in Khiva, perhaps due to the fact that jewelers
from Bukhara and Kokand, as noted above, strictly
kept their secrets (Geyer 1908: 122; Chvyr’ 1977: 70),
although turquoise, as can be seen from the exam-
ples above have been used. But, these were the small
hemispheres of this stone already mentioned above,
inserted into S-shaped «nests» of wire soldered onto
the sheath at the mouth and sometimes the tip, so
that a double strip of turquoise cabochons was ob-
tained. With some degree of caution, this jewelry
technique can be considered a marker for decorated
Khiva arms, given that we find complete analogies
in women’s jewelry that jewelers made in the Khiva
Khanate (Sazonova 1970: 139; Sychova 1984: 52-53;
Abdullaev 1986: 183, 198). It should be borne in mind
that this feature can be decisive for Khiva arms, being
applicable only in combination with others. Because
on some samples of arms decorated in Bukhara, this
jewelry technique is also found (Zeller 1955: 113-114;
Lyutov 2006: 206).
With some stretch, it can be considered that
sometimes it was the chased works of the Khiva jew-
elers on the silver details of the scabbards that were
made in a more rough manner than the works of the
Bukhara masters (Zeller 1955: 119). But, apparent-
ly, a scabbard, completely covered with a silver leaf
with a chased floral ornament, the mouth and chape
of which are gilded (Abdullaev 1986: 133; Buryakov
2013: 148, 166, 169), probably using the technique of
mercury gilding, can be considered a sign of Khiva
work. Although it may be that gilding was achieved
by another curious technique, known as duostara
(two-lining), when a gold overlay was made on a sil-
Fig. 29. Khiva Khanjar. 19th century. Central Asia (Khiva). ver object. At the same time, gold in such products
Museum item 69703 from the Livrustkammaren (The was only one hundredth part: for 100 parts of silver,
Royal Armory) collection, Stockholm, Sweden. only one part of gold was taken. Having prepared a
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Dagger_ small cube from silver, the gold was broken into a leaf
images_from_Livrustkammaren#/media/File:Persisk_ of the same size. Putting them together, smeared the
dolk_-_Livrustkammaren_-_69703.tif edges with borax and put on fire. As soon as gold be-
gan to solder with silver, the fire was removed; after
– Inv. IN. 102, received in 1873 from the treasury of allowing the metal to cool, the cube was carefully bro-
the Khiva Khan (Aleksinsky 2010: 97), in our opin- ken on an anvil into a thin plate. To soften the blows,
ion, can be considered a sign of the work of the Khiva a piece of lead of the same shape was placed between
masters. The belonging of scabbards decorated in this the cube and the anvil. The resulting plate was so thin
technique to the Khiva people is confirmed by the that it could be cut with scissors (Sukhareva 1962:
design of other examples of arms from the Hermit- 46). True, Sukhareva attributes this jewelry technique
age, such as sabers of the shamshir type with Persian to Bukhara jewelers, but we believe that due to the
blades (Aleksinsky 2010: 92, 96) and knives trimmed simplicity of execution, it could well have been used
with gold, silver and precious stones in the Khiva sty- in Khiva.
listics (Moser 1912: XII; Aleksinsky 2010: 97; Anisi- An even more difficult issue is the Khiva shash-
mova 2013: 265, 267; Obraztsov 2015: 160). There are kas, which Maria Mikhailovna Denisova singled out
references to the same technique of decorating arms in her work, focusing on the material of the handles
with gold and multi-colored precious stones in Kh- of this arms (Denisova 1953: 153). She mentions that
iva sources of the 18th-19th centuries (MITT: 504). the Khiva shashka from the collection of the State
The «Bukhara cloisonné» technique, common in Ko- Historical Museum (Moscow, Russia) has a handle

90
 D. MILOSERDOV

Fig. 30. Photo of a Khiva youth with khanjar in his belt. 19th century. Central Asia (Khiva). Private collection.
Russia. (Scanned copy)

made of jade (Denisova 1953: 153). But before that, the Turkmens, who are nominally subjects of the
she writes that the handles of Bukhara shashkas are Khiva Khanate, in whom eyewitnesses note the exis-
also made from whole pieces of jade (Denisova 1953: tence of sabers, mentioning «curved sabers made in
142). In view of this contradiction, we believe that in Khorosan» (Voennyi sbornik 1872: 78) and that «the
this case the handle material cannot be considered a sabers were heavy with a wide blade and extremely
defining feature that specifies the place of production sharply honed» (Voennyi sbornik 1888: 221). Shash-
of Khiva shashkas. Even more important is that to- kas, which Denisova, and after her, some modern au-
day we have no documentary evidence of the use of thors attribute to Khiva work, focusing on the decor
checkers by the Khiva people. Judging by the sources of the scabbard, in our opinion, are gifts presented to
available today, both literary and pictorial, the Khiva the khans of Khiva by the rulers of neighboring khan-
people preferred to use sabers of the shamshir type ates. Such weapons, which were gifts and kept in the
(Muraviev 1822: 115-116; Moser 1888: 285), just like treasury of the Khiva khans, were described by the

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Fig. 31. Photo of Khiva officers with battle axes. 19th century. Central Asia (Khiva).
Private collection. Russia. (Scanned copy)

92
 D. MILOSERDOV

war correspondent Januarius Aloysius MacGahan, long-bladed arms were made in Khiva by Iranians
who saw him after the capture of Khiva by the Rus- and Afghans (Sobolev 1873: 160), who were captives
sian troops: «There were swords of all sorts. Two or enslaved, it can be assumed that jewelers from the
three sabres of English manufacture; a number of the Emirate of Bukhara could to be among such captives
broad, beautiful, slightly-curved blades of horassan, and subsequently settle in the khanate. This would
inlaid with gold; several slender Persian scimitars, explain such a striking similarity in the decoration of
with scabbards set in turquoises and emeralds; short, precious arms made in the last quarter of the 19th -
thick, curved poignards and knives from Afghani- early 20th centuries in Khiva and Bukhara.
stan, all richly mounted and provided with sheaths Summing up, the following can be noted:
set in precious stones» (MacGahan 1875: 182). It is 1) Thanks to the information that in Central Asia
likely that the scabbards of such donated shashkas the craftsmen who decorated arms worked in their
were made in Khiva, in a style that corresponded to own, quite specific and kept secret, jewelry tech-
the tastes of the rulers of the Khiva Khanate. niques, we can, by comparing jewelry and decorat-
It is important to note that shamshirs and kards, ed arms, localize samples of edged weapons, linking
decorated by Khiva craftsmen and presented by the them with Bukhara emirate, as well as the Kokand
embassy from Khiva in 1900 as a gift to the Russian and Khiva khanates.
emperor, are distinguished by highly artistic chased 2) According to a number of signs voiced in the
work on gold and silver scabbard details with fine de- article, we can quite accurately determine the decor
tailing and background elaboration (Aleksinsky 2010: of arms made in the Kokand Khanate and the Emirate
92, 96). Some of them are additionally decorated of Bukhara or by craftsmen from it.
with small turquoise cabochons or large irregularly 3) The most difficult to determine the place of
shaped stones. The ornament on the scabbard, the production is decorated arms made in the Khiva
use of gold as a material, the level of artistic work and Khanate, with the exception of some well-recognized
the applied jewelry techniques are very reminiscent samples of short-bladed weapons.
of those that existed among the Bukhara masters. 4) With a high degree of probability, we can talk
Considering the above statement that the profession about the presence of a «Bukhara» influence on the
of a jeweler was one of the lowest in Khorezm (Kh- work of Khiva gunsmiths who made decorated arms
iva) (Dadmukhamedov 2019: 141) and the data that for the rulers of the khanate.

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vozvrashchenie ego ottuda chrez Angliyu v Rossiyu der Waffensammlung. Bern.

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 ELMIRA GYUL

EMBROIDERED CARPETS OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: The article is devoted to the embroidered carpets of Uzbekistan, which may be in two flat-woven
varieties and one felt one. The earliest items of this group, related to the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan –
Bactrian ones – were found in burials of Noin-Ula (Mongolia). After a long break in the finds, scientists
began documenting the tradition of embroidered carpets anew, based on the finds from the late 19th – early
20th century. These materials are the products of the Uzbek groups belonging to the Dasht-i-Kipchak tribal
association – the Kungrat and Lakai; namely, the flat-woven carpets of the enli type (ok-enli gilam, kizil-enli
gilam, kara-enli gilam) and kiz gilam, as well as felt carpet products and felt carpets (kigiz). In Uzbekistan,
the focus of researchers fell on these items only starting from the early 2000s, after the Complex Expedition
was undertaken to Boysun, which UNESCO proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage
of Humanity. Boysun is an area in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan, where the traditions of the Uzbek
carpet weaving are preserved in their most authentic form. The technological process of their manufacture, the
purpose and semantic content of their decor, and the related evolution have been identified and researched,
ever since. In the last quarter of the (20th) century, ok-enli gilams have only survived in the working practice
of the Kungrat weavers of Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya. The study of the embroidered carpets in the entire
variety of their types and the popularization thereof will help draw the attention of relevant organizations to
the goal of reviving this group of traditional textiles manufacture and use.

Key words: embroidered carpets, ok-enli gilam (kara-enli, kizil-enli), kiz gilam, kigiz.
Citation: Gyul, E. F. (2023). The Embroidered Carpets of Uzbekistan, Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 97-108.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.007

U
ZBEKISTAN is a country with extremely the land. In this regard, the study and preservation of
rich textile traditions. The diverse landscapes the local authentic weaving traditions are of particular
– the combination of fertile oases with the importance. The purpose of this article is to present
steppes, foothills, deserts and semi-deserts – have to the reader a group of the least studied Uzbek
all become the reason for the diverse economy and carpets: the embroidered ones, in order to consider
culture groups of population to have coexisted here the genesis of their typical production techniques,
for centuries. The inhabitants of the cities and oasis- their types, their distribution areas, and the semantics
type settlements, while growing cotton and mulberry, of their motifs.
were also engaged in embroidery crafts, including In the 19th century, when three independent
gold weaving. They created printed cloth, magnificent Uzbek states existed on the territory of the modern-
cotton and silk fabrics that enthralled and “conquered” day Uzbekistan – the Khiva khanate, Kokand khanate,
the entire world. Cattle breeders, in turn, having and the Emirate of Bukhara, the carpet weaving was
enough wool, weaved the carpets and fulled the felt. spread mainly among the part of the population
The textile culture of this part of the population of engaged in agisted stock breeding or trans-humane
this region is also represented in embroidery (silk, grazing. These are the numerous Uzbek tribal
wool, and cotton). These were primarily small-sized groups of the Dasht-i-Kipchak origin (the largest
products – various kinds of packaging containers, or are the Kungrats and Lakai of the Kashkadarya and
clothing items, or embroidered carpets, which will Surkhandarya regions), the tribal groups of the
be discussed further below. In general, the carpets Samarkand region, Jizzakh and the Ferghana Valley,
were predominantly the product of cattle breeding having lost their tribal identification, the Karakalpaks
or “pastoral” groups that still preserved traditions of and the Kyrgyz of the Ferghana Valley. The grassland
their nomadic past. farming was also well developed and popular with the
The modern-day carpet weaving is being Arabs of Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya, with the
developed in Uzbekistan at a dynamic pace, but has Turkmens of the middle reaches of the Amu Darya,
little to do with the classical carpet making legacy of whose lands were part of the Bukhara Emirate, and

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these population groups, in effect, combined the applied art. However, embroidered carpets, among
breeding of sheep and camels with agriculture. Each smooth-woven, or, as the author writes, pile-free
of the above groups produced carpets and carpet- (kokhma, terme, gajari, besh-kashta, arabi1), have
type products, furnishing the finished products not not been mentioned herein (Moshkova 1970: 38–
only for their domestic households, but also for the 41). However, page 41 demonstrates a single black-
needs of the townspeople. In more modest volumes, and-white fragment of an ok-enli gilam carpet,
though, the carpet weaving was practiced by sedentary which, judging by the patterns, is one of the copies
farmers, in particular, Tajiks. published by Fölkersahm. The author captioned it as
The local carpets differed in types, purposes and “made according to the besh-kashta technique” with
manufacturing techniques. Based on the technical an additional note that “besh-kashta palases with
parameters, they can be classed into piled, smooth- a relief multi-colored overlaid pattern seem to be
woven (pattern-woven, pile-free), embroidered or embroidered by the rough smooth stitching, and this
felt-type. If we talk about the exclusive Uzbek carpet- may sometimes lead to a confusion of definitions”
making tradition, it includes the following groups (Moshkova 1970: 40, Fig. 17). Perhaps this situation
of carpets, which stand out in their production arose because the preparation of the book for the
processes: long-pile julhirs, short-pile (shorn) gilams, publication, including its part containing illustrations,
smooth-woven, felt-type. The smooth-woven carpets was completed after the author passed away. In fact,
group is the most diverse one; it consists of smooth- the photo, undoubtedly, shows an embroidered
woven carpets and carpets with embroidery. The carpet.
latter include two types — enli gilam and kiz gilam. The group of embroidered ones was singled out in
The embroidered group is also complemented by one her classification of carpets of Central Asia by Elena
of the types of felt carpets. Tsareva, Russian specialist in archaeological and
Embroidered carpets in publications of their ethnographic textiles of the peoples of this region.
researchers. Embroidered carpets have attracted She included photographs of two items of this type
the attention of researchers since the early stages in her excellent review article, noting that they have
of the study of carpet weaving in Central Asia, “distinct tribal characteristics” (Tsareva 2003: 228).
which began in the mid of 19th century, when the These are kiz-gilam of the early 20th century, woven in
Russian Empire launched a campaign conquering the village of Tuda, Baysun district, and a felt carpet,
this region (1854–1880). However, this is rather a which the author captioned as kiz-namat, woven
fixation or documentation of the materials, which in Chelek, Samarkand region in the 1920s, (both
is quite understandable for the first steps towards pertain to the collection of the Samarkand Museum
understanding the carpet weaving of these remote of Cultural History).
lands, newly discovered for Russian researchers and As for the Uzbek studies of the recent decades,
travelers. So, we can see black and white photos of embroidered carpets were first mentioned in the
ok-enli carpets in the book “Ancient Carpets of materials of the Baysun complex expedition, which
Central Asia” by Armin Baron von Fölkersahm, operated in 2003–2005, in connection with the
collector, artist and art critic, curator of the Treasure proclamation of Baysun, being a region in southern
Gallery at the Imperial Hermitage and, later, director Uzbekistan, as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and
of the Hermitage, who, however, did not have a Intangible Heritage of Humanity under the program”
chance to visit the land of their creation (Fölkersahm of UNESCO. Baysun turned out to be a true “reserve”
1915: 64–65). The author identifies them as «Uzbek of embroidered carpets, although by the time the
Kungrat embroidered palases» and notes that they field work was carried out in this area, only one of
are part of the collection of the Russian Museum of their species, ok-enli gilam, had survived. The name
Alexander III (the nowaday State Russian Museum in itself was introduced into the scientific literature
St. Petersburg). With reference to the manufacturers by the author of this article (Gyul 2005: 267–283).
of these carpets, he writes: “They are distinguished by Further details on embroidered carpets are given
the embroidery of the luxurious palases with patterns in the monograph of the same author, entitled
of floral motifs, while sheared carpets do not rise as “The Carpet weaving of Uzbekistan: history,
above the level of ordinary make of some other Uzbek aesthetics, and semantics”, where both of their types
tribes” (Fölkersahm 1915: 75). are discussed (Gyul 2019: 134-139). Thanks to the
The most large-scale work devoted to the carpets Baysun expedition, it was possible to identify the
of the region has been the monograph by Valentina centers where the manufacture of carpets of this type
Moshkova entitled “The Carpets of the peoples of
Central Asia of the late 19th – early 20th century.”
It still remains in its status as a reference book
1
Arabi is the local name for the kilims, derived from the fact
that the main manufacturers of these carpets were Central Asian
for all specialists and enthusiasts of this type of Arabs; the Uzbek version of the name of a kilim is takir-gilam.

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was still preserved, to pin the understanding of the the already known and newly found ones, were made
semantics of their decor, which was preserved among in the same place, at the same time – at the turn of the
weaveresses by the early 21st century. common era (Glushkova, Polosmak 2012: 153–157;
Among the publications of the recent years, the Polosmak 2013: 154). The subject imagery of the new
article by Zilola Nasyrova, dedicated to ok-enli carpets Noin-Ula finds are even more diverse. Here is a battle
is also noteworthy. In her work, the author specified scene (133 × 100 cm), a procession of dismounted
the variants of this species - kizil-enli and ok-enli (Na- warriors and priests (?) moving to the altar with a
syrova 2008: 21). Thus, given the obvious attention blazing fire (192 × 100 cm), some characters and a
to embroidered carpets, none of the publications ruler sitting in his armchair and holding a bowl with a
presented a complete range of this type. hot (sacred?) Obviously, at its time, this curtain-carpet
Early examples of carpets and embroidered adorned the walls of some worshiping premises. On
carpet-like products. Before considering all types of one of the fragments, we can see a profile image of
embroidered carpets of the late 19th–20th centuries, a man, whose depiction is almost a complete match
let us briefly look at the genesis of woolen curtains and with the image of the “ruling “Gerai” Sanab Kushan”
embroidered floor covers. The surviving rarities make on a silver tetradrachm discovered in the village of
it possible to understand that such items have been Vakhshinskiy in 1967 (Zeimal 1983: 76). Thus, both
known at least since Antiquity. The earliest known on the coin and on the embroidered fragment, we
examples - the Bactrian ones - were found in the Hun can see the image of Kushan himself, the founder of
(Xiongnu) nobles burial ground, located in the Noin- the Yuezhi dynasty, and the carpet can thus be dated
Ula mountains in northern Mongolia (the burial to not earlier than the I century BCE – I century
site dates back to the period of the late 1st century CE. (the exact period of reign of Kushan “Gerai” is
BCE – early 1st century CE). These are cloths sewn questionable). Another convincing factor that testifies
together from a series of strips of fabric and decorated in favor of the Bactrian version of the origin of the
with satin embroidery in woolen thread. They were artifacts is the obvious portrait-like resemblance of its
obviously intended to decorate the walls of the front characters to the appearance of the ruler of “Gerai,”
rooms of buildings. On the surviving fragments, we known from the Khalchayan sculpture (the palace of
can see portrait images, a group of riders with horses, the ruling dynasty in Surkhandarya). Clothing and
griffins and other characters (these are kept in the military armor are also identical.
State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg). Thereafter there was a long gap, and we can only
The first researchers put forward an assumption assume the existence of embroidered carpets. Clavijo
about the Greek origin of these finds (Boroffka 1925: the Spanish ambassador wrote about the carpets of
78). K. V. Trever, in her turn, attributed them to the the period of Timur’s reign (the last third of 14th –
products of the Hellenized Bactrian environment, early 15th century), mentioning mainly the red ones,
made in the late 2nd century BCE. (Trever 1940: 3, with embroidery using golden threads, as well as
143). S. I. Rudenko also considered that this was the with inserts of white and other colors of carpet fabric
work of the Bactrian and Parthian masters who were (Clavijo 1990: 122, 130, 131).
at the Hun (Xiongnu) headquarters (Rudenko 1962: Who produced embroidered carpets in the
40). G. A. Pugachenkova confirmed the Yuezhi- 19th - early 20th century. The samples that follow in
Kushan origin of these artifacts. At the same time, she time date back to the late 19th – early 20th century.
noted that the pictorial, realistically wrought imagery The embroidered carpets of this period are still the
here was no longer the product of the steppe nomadic products of cattle-breeding groups, but already
culture, but of the urban handicraft shops of Bactria different in their ethnic composition – Lakai and
(Pugachenkova 1966: 191). L. I. Rempel was more Kungrats, which, in particular, were mentioned by A.
specific here, revealing the commonality of the im- Fölkersahm. Their decor is different from the antique
ages – Caucasoid faces with characteristic hairstyles products discussed above – this decor here was,
fixed using ribbon-diadems, on the surviving in effect, dominated by the ornamental principles.
fragments with the portraits of Yuezhi rulers on some However, taking into account a certain cultural
early Kushan coins, as compared with the Khalchayan commonality of the civilizations of the steppe zone,
sculpture (Rempel 1989: 122). there is reason to talk about the continuity of the
The exclusivity and the small number of Noin-Ula very tradition of embroidered carpets (or the use of
artifacts did not allow to draw confident conclusions embroidery in carpets or felts), which subsequently
about the scale of Bactrian carpet weaving, at the time developed with the various ethnic groups into various
of their discovery. Excavations in mounds No. 20 and forms.
31, carried out by the Novosibirsk and Mongolian It is believed that Lakai and Kungrats are the
scientists in 2006–2009, added new rarities to the descendants of the most ancient Turkic part of
Bactrian textiles group. Embroidered fragments, both the population of the Asian steppes. According to

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one version, in the early 16th century, these tribes, Some families remained in northern Afghanistan
together with the other Turkic and Turkic-Mongolian (in the Kunduz region), but most of them were
tribes led by Sheibani Khan, migrated from the concentrated on the lands of the northern bank of the
Dasht-i-Kypchak steppes to the south, conquering Amu Darya River, mainly in the mountainous regions
the oases and cities of Maverannakhr (Karmysheva of Tajikistan, and is included in the new collective-
1954: 35). We find information about the Kungrats, in farming life of the country of the Soviets. Today, the
particular, in the “Chronicles Collection” by historian Lakai of Tajikistan continue to maintain their identity
Rashid ad-Din, who referred to them as “the Turkic as an ethnically Uzbek group of people.
tribes, whose nickname was the Mongols in ancient The best examples of the Lakai and Kungrat textiles
times.” It is known that the Kungrats have long been date mainly to the period of 1875 to 1925, but this
one of the largest tribes living in the territories of the does not mean that the women of these tribal groups
present-day Khorezm, Samarkand, Bukhara, Navoi, had not been engaged in the needlework earlier.
Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya regions, and are now From the 1930s, the quality of the “steppe” textiles
considered as one of the most important sub-ethnic was increasingly deteriorating, which was primarily
components of the Uzbek nation. associated with socio-political transformations. The
In the twentieth century, Kungrats were located Sovietization and collectivization led to a change
mainly in the Kamashin, Guzar, Dekhkanabad in the everyday life, to a gradual erosion of age-
districts of the Kashkadarya region, and the valleys of old family ritual traditions and customs, where
the Sherabad and Karatag rivers of the Surkhandarya textiles played a prominent role. The widespread
region (Baisun, Shurchi, Dashnabad, Sherabad). use of the carpet ‘artels’ or workshops which united
Certain groups of Kungrats can be found in the weavers, and produced standardized products, the
Jizzakh, Kattakurgan, Samarkand, Bukhara regions. coming of factory textiles to the everyday life did
In the 1970s, owing to the development of the Karshi not contribute to the preservation of the carpet
steppe, many families of the Kashkadaryan Kungrats weaving and embroidery traditions, either. The latest
moved to Baysun, forming small mono-ethnic villages Lakai examples, in particular, the embroidery, date
there. Nowadays, Baysun is an interesting area, a kind to the 1950s, clearly showing a state of decline. The
of a reserve, where the culture of this tribal group is subsequent oblivion of the “nomadic” embroidery
compactly represented. and carpets was associated both with the termination
The situation was different for the Lakai. Data of the tradition of their manufacture starting from
about them is rather scarce. In the first half of the the 1950s, and with the mass export of the surviving
19th century, this ethnic group was part of the samples abroad.
Katagan tribe, the majority of which lived in their As for the Kungrats of Uzbekistan, despite all
yurt (allotment) of Kunduz; The Lakai occupied the the vicissitudes of the time, they strived to preserve
vast pastures of the mountainous valleys of southern their sway of life, music, folklore, national clothing,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the areas around Balkh handicraft (felt felting, carpet weaving, embroidery),
and Kunduz in northern Afghanistan and were still all bearing distinct imprints of the steppe nomadic
engaged in cattle breeding, founded small villages, tradition. In particular, this is expressed in the concept
combining trans-humane grazing with agriculture, of nasl buzilmasin – “so as not to spoil the family”,
while maintaining political independence and tribal which implied the rejection of mixed marriages and
integrity. strict adherence to traditions. Although the quality of
With the formation of the Uzbek khanates, the modern home-spun carpets was gradually degrading,
territories inhabited by Lakais and Kungrats became with their pattern symbolism revisited and redefined,
part of the Bukhara Emirate. In 1869, the Emir of the handicraft tradition is still alive.
Bukhara, enraged by the defiant behavior of the Nowadays, the entire known corpus of the
tribe inherently independent by their spirit, which embroidered carpets can be divided into two groups
never paid him their tribute, deployed a brutal according to the quality of their working. The first
military offensive against the Lakai, defeating their one is the products of the late 19th - the first quarter
leaders, capturing their herds and thus forcing them of the 20th century, distinguished by the finesse and
to succumb (Gibbon, Hale 2007: 33). By 1889, the delicacy of workmanship, highly elaborated and
Lakai were forced to switch to the semi-nomadic detailed decor, and the balanced color scheme. The
lifestyle, and they also began to engage in agriculture, second one is products stating from the 1970s, a good
and established a political and military alliance with example of which are the carpets studied during the
Bukhara (Gibbon, Hale 2007: 33). Baysun expedition of 2003–2005. While maintaining
In the first years of the Soviet rule, the Lakai again the principles of the original manufacturing
acted as ardent fighters for independence of their technology and typical decor motifs, the pattern of
lands, but their resistance was historically doomed. these products is larger, the fine details disappear, the

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Fig. 1. Kara-enli. Uzbeks-Kungrats. Surkhandarya or Kashkadarya region, second half of the 20th century.
Enterprise “Bukhara silk carpets”, Bukhara

Fig. 2. Embroidered carpet kiz-gilam. Uzbeks-Kungrats. Surkhandarya region, first half of the 20th century.
enterprise “Bukhara silk carpets”, Bukhara

quality of workmanship deteriorates. to the culture of the Turkic tribes of the ‘steppe circle’.
Despite the fact that the main population of the Enli group carpets. Due to the lack of creditable
Baysun region is the Tajiks and Uzbeks, the practice surviving material, it is difficult to state exactly when
of making embroidered carpets was recorded stable compositions of embroidered carpets, known
exclusively in the Uzbek villages – Tuda, Khojabulgan, to us from the material of the 19th – early 20th
Dashtigoz, Besh Erkak. In Duobe, which has both centuries, were formed. Their first type is carpets of
Tajik and Uzbek populations, embroidered carpets the enli group (lit.: enli – wide, i.e., obviously, a carpet
are also produced by Uzbeks, Kungrat tribal groups, with a wide – embroidered – strip). Their originality
and Tortuvli. Such localization once again serves to in comparison with other patterned techniques lies
emphasize the belonging of the embroidered carpets in the fact that embroidery is done on the finished

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fabric, while the pattern of such types of products as and color, the richness of the floral decor impart a
sumac and besh-kashta, reminiscent of embroidery, unique originality to the carpets of the enli group.
was created in the process of fabric weaving using the They could also be called kiz gilam – a girl’s carpet,
additional weft thread (Fig. 1, 2). In everyday life, enli which emphasized the status of enli as a wedding
carpets performed the same functions as the interior attribute.
embroideries of the suzani among the sedentary Kiz-gilam carpets. As for the second type of
population - they were the most important wedding embroidered carpets, produced by the Kungrats
attributes and were most often used as curtains or and Lakais of the Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya
bedspreads, less often for floor cover. They were Rivers, their naming as kiz gilam is conventional,
woven on a narrow warp loom, in separate takh- since the original one has not been preserved. Their
tas (narrow, long panels or strips), which were cut main characteristic feature is an exclusively red base,
into pieces corresponding to the width of the future upon which rows of same-type of medallions were
carpet, embroidered and, finally, sewn together to embroidered (Fig. 5). From the second half of the 20th
form a finished product. When stitching, strips with century the practice of their manufacture began to
embroidery in this type of carpets are interspersed wane gradually, and therefore, perhaps, these carpets
with strips woven using other techniques, most often did not fall into the circle of attention of the modern-
- gajari (a technique where floating warp threads are day researchers. Meanwhile, S. M. Dudin mentioned
pattern-forming), which is why such products are carpets with “smooth woven stripes of brick-red,
called composite. brown or ocher-yellow colors, embroidered with
As already noted, the embroidered stripes in woolen or cotton yarn”, referring them to the works
enli carpets could be white, red or dark brown. of the Uzbek carpet weavers from the Bukhara and
Depending on this color, the finished products were Samarkand regions (as quoted from: Moshkovа 1970:
called ok-enli gilam (a carpet with a white wide strip; 66). V. G. Moshkova herself noted that she did not
they also use a reduced ok-en, okli), kyzyl-enli gilam encounter embroidered palases in districts of the
(a carpet with a red wide strip) and kara-enli gilam Samarkand region, and the place of their production
(a carpet with a black broad strip, Fig. 3) (Nasyrova remains unknown (as quoted from: Moshkova 1970:
2008: 21). White strips, which are most common, can 67). We can assume that in this case we are talking
obviously be considered as a wish of a happy way – about Kungrat and Lakai red embroidered carpets.
ok yul – to newlyweds, whose future life path was to At present, most of the red kiz-gilams are dispersed
be “guarded” by various embroidered star and totem among foreign collections, and only a few copies have
signs (curls of ram horns), as well as flower rosettes been preserved in private and museum collections
and palmettes, personifying fertility. in Uzbekistan (among the exhibitions of the State
Sometimes, in one carpet, gajari stripes could be Art Museum of Uzbekistan – kiz-gilam of the late
combined with both white and brick-red embroidered 19th century, Dekhkanabad district of Kashkadarya
stripes, as, for example, in a copy of the late 19th region; in the exhibitions of the Samarkand State
century, from the collection of the Textile Museum, Art Museum – kiz-gilam of the late 19th – early
Washington (accession No. 1989.9.3, gift of Charles 20th century, Surkhandarya region, Tuda, Uzbek-
Grant Ellis, Fig. 4). Kungrats of the Tortuvli Clan – the same one which
Red, in this case, can also be associated with a was published in the mentioned publication by E. G.
protective meaning – this color, in folk magic, has Tsareva).
always signified strength and protection. There are Like the vast majority of other Uzbek carpets,
also specimens from the early 20th century, where kiz-gilam were sewn from pre-woven and
only white and red stripes were sewn together, embroidered narrow fabric cloths. Unlike composite
without gajari, embroidered with cotton. The size of enli-gilams, made up from strips manufactured
the carpets ranged anywhere within 2.80 x 1.40 m. using various techniques, kiz-gilams were sewn from
The data collected by the Baysun expedition identical strips, with embroidery (only sometimes a
revealed that, by the late 20th century, the production separately sewn-on narrow border could be added
of ok-enli gilams had exclusively been preserved; the using a different technique, more often the kilim-type
tradition of kara- and kyzyl-enli carpets gradually process). The warp and weft of the base fabric are wool,
vanished. threads of the uniform, sometimes extreme, fineness;
Embroidered palases with a white strip from the the spinning of threads for this type for carpets was
turn of the 19th–20th centuries in non-domestic received special attention. As for embroidery, it
collections were attributed as Lakai (northern was the wool, cotton, sometimes in minor details it
Afghanistan). Thus, from the late 19th century, this was the silk. The main elements were embroidered
type of carpets was obviously known among both of with a bosma (smooth) stitch, with the contours
the tribal groups. The expressive contrast of texture and additional details embroidered with the yurma

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Fig. 3. Ok-enli gilam. Uzbeks: Lakais or Kungrats. Surkhandarya, 19th century.

Private collection of Akbar Khakimov, Bukhara

Fig. 4. Composite enli rug with red and white embroidered strips. Uzbeks: Lakais or Kungrats. Late 19th century
Collection of the Textile Museum, Washington (accession No. 1989.9.3), a gift from Charles Grant Ellis.
Photo from the museum website

Fig. 5. Embroidered felt carpet. Uzbeks: Lakais or Kungrats, surkhandarya, late 19th – early 20th century.
Collection of Samarkand Museum-reserve

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(chain-like) stitch. The quality of the embroidery can horns and other horn-like motifs, stylized ram heads.
serve as a dating attribute; it is higher on the earlier- Embroidered felts. Finally, yet another group
dated products. of embroidered carpets is the felt carpets (kigiz).
As was already noted above, a distinctive and A little over 100 years ago, semi-nomadic peoples
immediately recognizable feature of these products living on the territory of Uzbekistan produced three
is the bright red background color and rows of main types of felt carpets: felted (rolled), applique
octagonal medallions, almost close to the shape of a and embroidered. Nowadays, the production of only
circle, against which placed were equilateral crosses, felted (rolled) felts has been preserved. As for the
classic for the “steppe” art, with a rhombus at the technique of embroidery on felt, it is also recorded
base and curls of horns at the ends. The coloring of by the ancient time artifacts, in particular, the famous
the medallions is diagonal (white with green, white applique felt carpets from the Fifth Pazyryk Barrow
with blue, red with blue, red with white, etc.), which with pictorial decor. At a certain period in the culture
brings the Lakai and Kungrat kiz-gilams closer to of the steppe nomadic peoples, figurativeness gives
the Turkmen gel tradition. The rarest specimens had way to the ornamental principle, and at the same
a white background, with red and blue embroidery time it is rather difficult to state whether this was due
(Gyul 2019: 138). On one carpet there could be from to the weakening of ancient traditions and return to
six to twenty-eight or more medallions, depending the ornamentality inherent to the culture of Central
on the size. Asia, or to the influence of the Islam ornamental
The best specimens are distinguished by a more dominant. In any case, in the 19th century the decor
detailed decor, the presence of additional motifs, both of felt carpets is exclusively abstract, non-figurative,
inside the medallion itself – small checkered motifs or and rare pictorial motifs are woven into the overall
flower rosettes in each of the four sectors formed by patterned canvas.
the cross, and on the background of the middle field The lost practice of embroidery on felt is unique
free from medallions - W signs, lattice motifs, eight- – firstly, the carpet base itself is sewn together
pointed stars, equilateral crosses. The medallion itself from pre-rolled and cut large felt parts. Once sewn
was framed either with a dotted line (a multi-colored together, these parts, contrasting in color, form the
strip), or with tiny triangles with curls of horns (in intended composition of the item. Then patterns
this motif one can see the pattern of ram’s heads), or are embroidered over the felt base, also using multi-
with a shamrock, which can be interpreted as a bird’s colored threads. The result is a decorative, ornate
footprint. On a copy from the collection of the State surface that combines felt quilting and embroidery.
Art Museum of Uzbekistan, almost imperceptibly, The patterns of these carpets were typical for the
on the edge, a triangle is embroidered with black steppe art, and were found ubiquitously: vortex
threads – another classic symbol of protection against rosettes, meander, stars, horn-shaped and stepped
an evil eye. The inclusion of such, at first glance, (jagged) motifs.
inconspicuous, hidden amulets into the composition Just like the smooth-woven kiz-gilam carpets, the
was a widespread phenomenon in folk art: these were surviving examples of felt embroidered carpets can
designed to enhance the already protective functions only be found in private either national or foreign
of the decor. museum collections (British Museum, UK; Museum
The exposition of the State Museum of Applied named after A. Linden, Germany, and many others.)
Arts presents a rather late kiz-gilam from the 1970s, (Fig. 7).
where the saturated red color gives way to a calmer In addition to the elegant bedding felt carpets,
range of colors, and the composition as a whole the steppe dwellers practiced embroidery in the
resembles a backgroundless mosaic laying of octagons manufacture of various kinds of felt containers, for
with rhombuses between them (Fig. 6). example, ok-bash (uk-bash, uk-bash) - bags to protect
Just like enli, this type of product had a special the ends of the uuk poles forming the dome of the
status, endowed not only with decorative, but also yurt-house, when they are transported in a collapsed
with magical functions. Usually, a kiz-gilam was / assembled state, on top of the riding animals.
prepared by the mother for her daughter’s wedding Nowadays, the tradition of embroidery on felt is a
and was used as a wedding curtain or bedspread, thing of the past, along with other striking phenomena
which is the reason for our choice of the name to of the nomadic culture. In this regard, it is necessary
replace the lost one. The presence of a border brought to raise the issue of reviving of the production of
these products closer to the bedding carpets. The embroidered carpets as one of the most interesting
border is narrow, 8–15 cm, woven in a separate strip, phenomena of the traditional Uzbek textiles.
contrasting in color (black), or the same red. Typical Decor of embroidered carpets and its seman-
border patterns are eight-pointed stars, vortex tics. Despite certain differences in the techniques, the
rosettes, stepped rhombuses, crosses with curls of decor of all embroidered carpets - both smooth-woven

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Fig. 6. Embroidered carpet kiz-gilam. Uzbeks-Kungrats. Kashkadarya. 1930. Collection of the State Museum of
Applied Arts and History of Handicraft of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. KP-7063. Accession No. 90

Fig. 7. Embroidered felt carpet. Uzbeks: Lakais or Kungrats, Surkhandarya, late 19th – early 20th century.
Collection of Samarkand Museum-Reserve

and felt - is based on a standard, and at the same time carpets from the mid to late 19th century (kiz-gil-
endlessly varying, set of motifs, which once again am, ok-enli-gilam) and the early 20th century. (kigiz)
emphasizes their belonging to one cultural tradition. from the collection of the Linden Museum, Stuttgart,
At the same time, one can distinguish among motifs presented in the catalog of the exhibition “Heirs of
of strips made using the Gajari technique, common the Silk Road. Uzbekistan,” testifying, on one hand,
to all Gajari carpets (rhombuses with horn-shaped to the great interest of the West in this part of the
curls, signs W and S, a syrg motif that played the role Uzbek textiles, and, on the other hand, to the still
of an amulet, a chess motif), and embroidered motifs debatable content of its decor (Heirs/Successors…
(on white, red or dark brown strips), larger and more 1997: 200, 201, fig. 389-391). Not entirely correctly
diverse in shape. labeled as kilims, these products are attributed with
A wonderful trio of the Uzbek embroidered certain degree of caution to the Uzbek Lakai of

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Northern Afghanistan (two smooth-woven ones) and of the so-called double axe (obviously, a relic of
the weavers of Surkhandarya (felt carpet) that are not Zoroastrian symbolism, the image of Vretragna, the
ethnically designated. In the same presumptive “vein,” god of war and victory), in the later ones, flower rosettes
the decor is interpreted, in whose motifs the author and palmettes come to the fore. There is a noticeable
of the article J. Kalter recognizes either images of transition from geometric motifs to vegetable motifs
“yurts and camels”, and “non-traditional star motifs”, - horn curls along the edges of an equilateral cross are
then “insect-like images” (Heirs/Successors ... 1997: interpreted as flower palmettes (an attempt to turn
200). These cautious conjectures once again indicate a solar symbol into a vegetable one). Realistic, quite
that understanding the semantics of patterns in our recognizable forms of flowers are typical for products
time is already quite difficult. Taking into account of the second half of the 20th century. They can be
the purpose of embroidered carpets as wedding seen as a reflection of the transition to the sedentary
attributes, there is reason to speak in general about way of life and the adaptation of motifs typical of
the benevolent nature of their decor. agricultural cultures. Thus, in the энли carpets of the
The entire existing range of the ornamental motifs Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya regions of the second
can be divided into several groups: half of the 20th century the pattern gets bigger, the
– medallions in the form of crosses and floral theme tends towards naturalism. There are
rhombuses, circles, eight-pointed stars and vortex multicolored large palmettes connected to each other
swastikas (solar symbols), S signs and meanders by a shoot of an undulating stem, recognizable roses
(water, fertility, uninterrupted life course). This and tulips, even motifs reminiscent of raspberries of
popular group is the backbone of any carpet decor. the 20th century. The 20th century – the fantasy of
The motifs are somehow connected with benevolent modern craftswomen is no longer restrained by the
ideas, they “promise” the protection of the gods, desire to preserve the olden-day patterns. The later
fertility, increase in the family headcount; in in time the production of a the carpet, the more
– zoomorphic motifs: mainly the image of ram realistic is the imagery of flowers. Craftswomen call
horns – the main totem symbol of the steppes (as an them without species distinction – lola gul (tulip or
option – combined interwoven pair of horns of kosh poppy). The content of these patterns is related to the
kaykalak, designed to express the idea of marriage, theme of the fertility. Innovations are the inscriptions,
the union of a couple, and also served as double and the modern-day symbolism, including state
protection), geometric elements with “animalistic” symbols (images of the flag, coat-of-arms). Despite
names, for example, keklik-tush (keklik chest). the standardized set of motifs, weavers constantly
Initially associated with totemism, the motifs of this vary them due to a different interpretation of details,
group are intended to convey the animal in the “part achieving the endless variety of decors.
for its whole” technique typical of the steppe artistic Of course, the most popular are variations of an
tradition – pars pro toto. This technique testified equilateral cross with a rhombus at the base and curls
to the initially cult-worshiping nature of animals of horns at the ends; in kiz-gilams this cross dominates.
- the totem, which is also the patron of family, had The unprecedented area of the spreading of this motif
to be depicted indirectly, encrypted, through its not only among the Lakai and Kungrats, but among
characteristic symbols; all nomadic peoples in the past since antiquity (early
– floral motifs, symbols of fertility, are found examples are on a white felt carpet from Pazyryk)
mainly in the carpets of the enli group. These are allows us to speak of its exceptional importance. It
stylized palmettes of various degrees of complexity, can be seen as a kind of “steppe mandala,” a universal
including paired, as if transformed from horn curls, model of a harmonious world order in the view
bodoms (almonds), naturalistic flowers; of nomads, at the same time – a symbol of the sky
– item-related motifs that have the character of god Tengri. The cross incorporated several basic
amulets: tarok - comb (for protection), tumor, tumor- concepts at one time: God the Creator / God the
cha – triangular amulet, minute amulet; Sun (cross), the union of male (horn) and female
– anthropomorphic motifs: a woman in labor; (rhombus) principles, the combination of which
– service elements – small geometric shapes that is very typical for the idea of the dual organization
serve to link larger decor motifs, squares, dotted (si- of the world order among the nomadic tribes, the
chan izi - mouse tooth), wavy strips, broken lines, etc. origin and development of life, the developed space,
A peculiar evolution of the decor of embroidered fertility, patronage and protection. Having become
strips can be traced: the earlier-dated copies are widespread, this element has clearly become a
dominated by astral (eight-pointed stars, vortex common Turkic universal symbol, incorporating
rosettes) and zoomorphic (rhombuses with curls of life-affirming and protective concepts. In the carpet
horns, like totem signs) signs, stepped rhombuses, decor, the Tengrian cosmogram could also act as a
triangles in a meander frame, large S signs, the motif strong amulet, good wishes, a symbol of prosperity,

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and finally, a marker of belonging to the values of this these carpets were important wedding attributes,
religion. The repetition of the cross in rows along the “providing” the fertility function of the bride – the
central field greatly enhanced the magical significance future mother, and protecting her from the evil eye.
of the carpet decor. In general, the patterns of embroidered carpets
By the time of large-scale ethnographic research were related to folk magic and were associated with
of the 20th century this motif, thanks to the curls the idea of the patronage of Heaven, totem animals,
of the horns, was interpreted by the craftswomen and the fruit-bearing forces of nature. Despite the fact
as kuchkorak (from kuchkor – a stud-ram). Such an that the creators of these carpets converted to Islam
interpretation was clearly associated with the echoes long ago, the figurative basis of their folk art remained
of totemism, the deification of horned animals – a true to pre-Islamic cults, symbols and ideals.
bull, a ram, a goat or a cow, with which the concepts
of strength, potency, prosperity, and fertility were Conclusion. Embroidered carpets, which were
associated. The method of depicting sacred animals attributes of wedding celebrations of the nomadic
with the help of horns was very ancient, associated with part of the population of Uzbekistan in the past, have
a special attitude towards these animals; schematism become relics, have practically disappeared from
served as a conventional expression of their secret the life of the population, along with most of the
powers and capabilities. However, another version of “steppe” heritage. Nowadays, from the entire species
the name of this motif is no less interesting – kayka- range embroidered large-format carpets and smaller
lak. Perhaps this word comes from haikal – an idol, carpet-like products (bags) are preserved only as
and then it is possible to assume that the motif itself ok-enli gilams, the only producers of which are the
was originally associated with a worshiping image. Uzbek-Kungrats of Surkhandarya and Kashkadarya
Another alleged primary source is – kuy kalla – the regions. The unique Lakai tradition of embroidered
head of a sheep. In this case, we are faced with a horn carpets has not been preserved. The tradition of
female image, hinting at the goddess of Umai, who making embroidered felts has also gone into oblivion.
was traditionally represented by the horned crown. The study and popularization of Uzbek embroidered
The collection of the State Art Museum of carpets, which were so common in the recent past,
Uzbekistan has an original ok-enli-gilam, where will help revive one of the most interesting groups
cross-kuchkorak, embroidered on white stripes is of textiles – perhaps not as an attribute of ritual, but
transformed into paired figures of women in labor. as beautiful decorative items which can decorate the
This kind of decor once again emphasizes that modern life.

REFERENCES Gyul, E. F. (2005). Kovrotkachestvo [Carpet weaving],

in: History and traditional culture of Baysun. Proceedings of
Boroffka, G. I. (1925). Kul’turno-istoricheskoe znache- the Baysun scientific expedition. Issue 2. Tashkent. P. 267-
nie arheologicheskih nahodok ekspedicii Akademii nauk 283 (in Russian).
[Cultural and historical significance of the archaeological Gyul, E. F. (2019). Kovrotkachestvo Uzbekistana: istori-
finds of the expedition of the Academy of Sciences], in: ya, estetika, semantika [Carpet weaving in Uzbekistan: his-
Brief reports of expeditions to explore Northern Mongolia in tory, aesthetics, semantics] Tashkent (in Russian).
connection with the Mongol-Tibetan expedition of P.K. Ko- Heirs… (1997) – Uzbekistan: Heirs to the Silk Road:
zlov. Leningrad (in Russian). Exhibition catalog. Stuttgart.
Clavijo, Ruy González de (1990). Dnevnik puteshestvi- Karmysheva, B. Kh. (1954). Uzbeki-lokajcy Yuzhnogo
ya v Samarkand ko dvoru Temura [Journey to Samarkand Tadzhikistana [Uzbeks-Lokais of South Tajikistan] Dushan-
to the court of Timur] (1403–06). Moscow: Nauka Publ. (In be (in Russian).
Russian). Moshkova, V. (1970). Kovry narodov Srednej Azii
Fölkersahm, A. E. (1915). Starinnye kovry Srednej [Carpets of the peoples of Central Asia] Tashkent: Fan Publ.
Azii [Ancient carpets of Central Asia], in: Edition of the (In Russian).
“Old Years” monthly periodical. October-December/June Nasyrova, Z. (2008). Kover ok-enli: genezis, hudozhest-
1914/1915. St.Petersburg (in Russian). vennye osobennosti i problemy vozrozhdeniya [Ok-enli
Gibbon, K. F. and A. Hale (2007). Uzbek Embroider- carpet: genesis, artistic features and problems of revival],
ies in the nomadic tradition. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. in: San’at. No. 2. Tashkent. P. 21–23 (in Russian).
2007. Polosmak, N. V. (2013). Vyshityj kover iz 20-go
Glushkova, T. N., Polosmak, N. V. (2012). Tekhnolog- noin-ulinskogo kurgana [Embroidered carpet from the
icheskaya harakteristika kovrov iz Noin-Uly [Technologi- 20th Noin-Ula kurgan], in: Monumentum Gregorianum.
cal characteristics of carpets from Noin-Ula], in: Ancient Collection of scientific articles in memory of Academician
cultures of Mongolia and Baikal Siberia. Issue. 3. Ulaan- Grigory Maksimovich Bongard-Levin. Moscow: Granitsa
baatar. Vol. 1. P. 153–157 (in Russian). Publ. (In Russian).

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Pugachenkova, G. A. (1966). Halchayan [Khalchayan]. Trever, K. V. (1940). Pamyatniki greko-baktrijskogo

Tashkent: Fan Publ. (In Russian). iskusstva. [Monuments of Greco-Bactrian art.] Moscow –
Rempel, L. I. (1989). Portret v iskusstve antichnoj Leningrad: AN USSR Publ. (In Russian).
Srednej Azii [Portrait in the art of ancient Central Asia], Tsareva, E. (2003). Traditional Textiles of Uzbekistan.
in: Ancient and early medieval antiquities of Southern Uz- IV. Pileweaves, in: A World of Carpets & Textiles / Ed. by
bekistan. Collection of articles, ed. by G.A. Pugachenkova. M.L. Eiland, Jr. Washington D.C.: Tenth International
Tashkent: Fan Publ. (In Russian). Conference on Oriental Carpets, Inc. P. 223-235.
Rudenko, S. I. (1962). Kul’tura hunnov i noinulinskie Zeimal, E. V. (1983). Drevnie monety Tadzhikistana
kurgany. [The culture of the Huns and the Noinulin kur- [Ancient coins of Tajikistan] Dushanbe: Donish Publ. (In
gans.] Moscow – Leningrad: AN USSR Publ. (In Russian). Russian).

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ISSUES

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 ELIZAVETA NEKRASOVA

BUKHARA: THREE CENTURIES FROM

THE ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF THE BLESSED CITY
Abstract: This article presents a critical review for the main section of a new monograph published by IICAS
entitled The Bukharan School of Architecture from the 15th 17th Centuries: Features and Developmental
Dynamics by Professor and Doctor of Architecture, Mavlyuda Abbasova-Yusupova. The reviewer corrects
what she perceives as numerous inaccuracies and obvious shortcomings of the book, and provides additional
information on the historical topography and architectural monuments of Bukhara acquired over the past 45
years by specialists from the Institute of Archaeology under the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, as well as
via architects and archaeologists from the Uzbek Research Project Institute for Restoration (UzNIPIR), which
previously existed under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Key words: Bukhara, Mavlyuda Abbasova-Yusupova, history, city topography, architectural monuments,
Timurids, Sheibanids, Astarkhanids.
Citation: Nekrasova, E. G. (2023). Bukhara: Three Centuries from the Architectural History of the Blessed
City, Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 111-127.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.008

B
UKHARA is one of the most significant ancient (rabad), with surrounding fortresses and small villag-
and medieval cities in the Republic of Uzbeki- es and a well-regulated irrigation system. Apparent-
stan. Located in a valley along the lower reach- ly, from the mid 9th century, the fortress was called
es of the Zeravshan River (in ancient times known as kukhandiz (old fortress) with the shahristan within
the Sogda, Masaf and Kuhak River). The city devel- the ancient inner wall incorporating the inner city
oped on one of its significant channels and has not (shahr-i darun), and it surrounding territory. With-
changed its location for more than two thousand in the outer wall was the outer city (shahr-i birun).
years. Today, the ancient section of Bukhara remains Arab geographers identified the latter two urban sec-
a “living” city having preserved its original structure tions Madina and Rabad, respectively. Probably by
(i.e. the Ark, shahristan, Shahrud canal, remnants of the 13th-14th centuries, the kukhandiz began to be
the rabad and external walls). Architectural monu- designated by a new term – the ark; the names for
ments dating from the 9th-10th centuries to the ear- other parts of the city have not yet been established
ly 20th century remain on its territory. However, the by researchers. The terms shahristan and rabad are
living conditions and construction were quite limit- found in the Bukharan administrative and economic
ed. The city, located on a flat, swampy plain with an documents dating before the 18th century (exclud-
extremely unstable water regime, often experienced ing the ark); hisar and kadim referred to the former
resource scarcity (Nekrasova 1999a: 61-69; Nekrasova shahristan, and the territory of the outer city was
2010: 106-112). called hisar-i nau or hisar-i jaded, meaning the new
By the 7th century, on the eve of the Arab con- city (Nekrasova 2000: 229-232).
quest, Bukhara had already developed into a large Many researchers have studied Bukharan history
trading city, consisting of two main, well-forti- from the 15th-17th centuries. Currently, a great num-
fied sections – the fortress (diz) and the city prop- ber of scholarly books and article are available, both
er (shahristan)2 – along with an extensive suburb written and oral sources, along with results from ar-
chitectural and archaeological research. Now, anoth-
1
Ed. Note: In a Central Asian context a shahristan identifies the er monograph has been added to this bibliographical
administrative center of a city which often would include the rul- list.3 This article provides a critical review of the book.
er’s residence and defensive structures, such as a citadel, which
in Bukhara is the fortress known as “the Ark.” 2 The ark and 3
Abbasova-Yusupova, M. A. (2022). The Bukharan School of Ar-
shahristan can still be perfectly identified. chitecture in the 15th-17th Centuries (Distinctive features and path
2
The ark and shahristan can still be perfectly identified. of developments). Samarkand: IICAS Publ. 360 p.

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In the “Introduction” (pp. 7-11), M. A. Abbaso- The replacement of either the gates or the walls was an
va-Yusupova lists the scholars involved in architectur- exceptionally expensive and labor-intensive under-
al study in Bukhara during the 15th-17th centuries. taking. It should be remembered that Bukhara and its
The author list includes works covering the described surroundings are located on a flat plain, in a swampy
period, yet fails to include Musa Saidzhanov (Said- area (the slope towards the Zeravshan River is less
zhanov 2005), Vera Andreevna Levina (Levina 1953: than 0.05 cm) with a high water table. Most construc-
161-169), Mithat Sagretdinovich Bulatov (Bulatov tion materials were imported, including stone (lime-
1978), Nikolai Mikhailovich Bachinsky and others. stone, marble, and later, pebbles for paving streets),
The last special work by Konstantin Stepanovich clay, wood, and drinking water came via the Shahrud
Kryukov was published not in 1965, but much later canal flowing from the Zaravshan.6 It was impossible
(Kryukov 1995). Unfortunately, the last major work to frequently relocate the walls and gates around the
by Lia Yulievna Mankovskaya (Mankovskaya 2014) is city. One can only talk about the expansion or stag-
not mentioned either. nation of residential development within the outer
The new monograph by M. A. Abbasova-Yusupo- fortified walls of Bukhara.
va consists of five chapters, each of which deserve It is not entirely clear why during the Samanid
special comment.4 Chapter one “The Development dynasty, when Bukhara was the capital of a huge state,
of Architecture in Bukhara: Chronology” (pp. 1370), the author states that the city “grows in all directions
opens with the section Historical Background and the except the north.” But the first externally fortified
Topography of the City. walls around the city appeared in the mid 9th centu-
P. 13. In a brief historical reference, the author ry. Samanid Bukhara was huge in size. Consider these
lists Bukhara’s main periods, yet skips the Khulagu- facts: In the northern section, a significant part of
id-Chagataid era. During the times of relative pros- the wall was discovered and studied, which survived
perity between 1238 and 1273, the khanqah of the thanks to the first namazgah built by Kutaiba b. Mus-
Kubraviya tariqa functioned in the city; and the large lim and the necropolis with the hazira of Abu Hafs
madrassas, Masudiya and Haniya, were built. There Kabir al-Bukhari (Muhammad an-Narshahi 2011: 59-
is data that that up to a thousand students studied 60, 474-477, Fig. 24-27).
in each of these institutions (Petrushevsky 1949: 14, V. A. Shishkin’s suggestion about the inner rabad
116). wall and its location in the city was unfounded be-
P. 14. According to research data obtained in cause the wall ran along the inner contour of cem-
recent decades, the dynasty that followed the Shei- eteries that were supposedly located outside the city
banids should be called the Tukai-Timurids, or As- gates. Thus, the area of Bukhara under the Samanids
tarkhanids, but not the Janids. (Alekseev 2006: 86-87). did not exceed 300 hectares (Shishkin 1936: 11). This
P. 15. Abd al-Latif (1420-1450 CE) was the son of hypothesis was supported by academia, but was re-
Ulugbek Muhammad Taragai, grandson of Timur. The futed after architectural and archaeological studies at
Sheibanid Abdullah Khan’s son, Abd al-Mumin Khan, the city’s necropolises by researchers from the Uzbek
was killed in 1598 six months after his father’s death. Research Project Institute for Restoration (UzNIPIR).
His involvement in the death of Abdullah Khan has Under the Karakhanids, urban life was far from
not been definitively proven. In addition to the build- cloudless, as Bukhara lost its metropolitan status, and
ings on Registan Square and on the territory of the urban development contracted from the outskirts to
Ark in Bukhara, The Astrakhanid Subkhan-Kuli Khan the center. Necropolises appeared on its periphery,
(1680-1702 CE) rebuilt three dahmas and repaired the where the first burials were arranged in abandoned
remaining dahmas in the khan’s necropolis of Baha structures starting from the 10th century (Nekrasova
ad-din Naqshband (Nekrasova 2018: 256-261).5 2008: 38-53).
P. 16. The construction of Bukhara during differ- P. 17. Information on the walls and gates of
ent periods require comment. According to textual Bukhara can be found in numerous written sources.
sources, the walls of the rabad (outer city = hisar-i But the Juybara area (former Naukanda) was incor-
birun) were erected in the middle of the 9th century. porated into the city in the 9th century, which was
confirmed by architectural and archaeological re-
search. In the late 16th century, a fragment of the Juy-
4
Ed. note: In the text of the article, the reviewer spells Islam-
ic terms, proper names, and local toponyms in the traditional
bari sheikhs’ possessions was attached to the south-
manner typical of Russian-language academic literature, which western part of the outer city and surrounded by a
in some cases differs from those used in the monograph by M. A.
Abbasova-Yusupova.
5
Most of the information about the activities of the rulers of 6
Cf. Samarkand and Tashkent: these cities are in the foothills
Bukhara on the necropolis of Baha ad-Din has not been pub- providing excellent water quality, various building materials, etc.
lished. Ed. note: A dahmas is a large grave construction, like a which has always been a significant advantage over the topogra-
mausoleum. phy of Bukhara.

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 E. NEKRASOVA

fortress wall. The old-timers of Bukhara still call this gate, 16th century.” Tir-Garon is actually one of the
“appendix” Kunji-kala. trade domes, yet the book contains a photo of the city
P. 18. Abbasova-Yusupova refers to Baba-yi Para- wall from outside the city near the Talipach gate.
duz (a tailor whose full name was Abu Bakr Muham- Water from the Shahrud canal was distributed
mad ibn Ahmad al-Isqaf, d. 303 AH/915 16 CE) as throughout the city not through a system of canals
dating to the 14th-century mausoleums (Gafurova as this method of water delivery was rare by the 16th
1992: 68). Restored in the late 1970s, the mausole- century. The khauzes (pools) were interconnected
um is located on the remains of a demolished ancient by a complex system of underground brick vaulted
cemetery. The original building or its remnants are lo- galleries (tazar) running from khauz to khauz (Isaev
cated at a great depth corresponding to the 10th cen- 1956: 3-14; Nekrasova 2015: 370-371, Fig.7).
tury level. The British explorer from India, Mir Izzet Further, Abbasova-Yusupova writes: “Since an-
Ullah, who visited the mazar in 1813, saw “... a flat cient times, the city featured two main streets, which
stone slab over which there was no building” (Sokolov intersected perpendicularly in the center of the
1957: 200, 216, note 46). The existing mausoleum was shahristan.” Archaeological research established that
erected on the site of the previous one, probably in the southern segment of the north-south street in the
the mid 19th century, and it was in ruins by the mid shahristan was developed after the Mongol invasion,
20th century. The Chashma Ayyub mausoleum was while prior to that the site was occupied by urban
completely rebuilt in the 16th century (excluding its buildings (Muhammad an-Narshahi 2011: 460-461,
western part), and the remains of the floor from the Fig.12). The east-west street in the eastern part of the
previous building (probably a hazira, erected during crossroads (chaharsu) was not highlighted by any ar-
the reign of the Karakhanid Arslan Khan) were re- chitectural structure but passed further to the south.
corded at a depth of 2 m from the existing building’s Further changes in the shahristan’s center occurred
floor (Nekrasova 2019: 48).7 under the Timurids and Astarkhanids. This is clearly
P. 19. The Sheibanid, Abdullaziz Khan moved visible on the city’s 1985 topographic plan. The street
Bukhara’s northern wall to the south by 500 m, most between the facades of the Ulugbek madrassa and the
likely because the territory left outside the city was a later erected Abdulaziz Khan madrassa, as well as the
vast swampy plain unsuitable for either construction facades proper, is oriented not strictly east-to-west,
or agriculture.8 This situation persisted until the 1920s but is turned somewhat to the south, that is, directed
(Aini 1960: 329, etc.), when the staff of the Tropical to the facade of the Kalan mosque and, presumably,
Medicine Institute drained it.9 The reeds that grew to the small square in front of it. After the construc-
there in abundance were widely used by artisans, tion of the Mir-i Arab madrassa, the old crossroads
this was true particularly in northern part of the city was moved to the north, and later Chaharsuk-i Darun
(hisar-i nau) which contained small marshes densely (then Tak-i Zargaran) was erected over it, while the
covered with reeds. Each marsh was owned by some- Mir-i Arab madrassa encloses the southern part of
one who sold reeds to mat makers, builders, etc. As Chaharsuk. The street’s western part appeared during
a result of the wall’s relocation, the Bukhara’s oldest construction of the Arslan Khan mosque or Kalan.
necropolis, Hazrati Imam, was left outside the city. Until that time, there was a compact residential quar-
Information about the outer city wall’s length in ter at the site (Muhammad an-Narshahi 2011: 459-
the 16th-17th centuries is given in the late 19th centu- 460, fig. 13).10
ry by military engineer I.T. Poslavsky (“...a 12-kilome- P. 21. The photo by Sergei Shimansky (not Shi-
ter wall, with 16 rounded half-towers and 12 pairs of manskaya, as indicated in the caption) shows the
towers flanking the fortress gates”). However, the last Shaikh Jalal gate. The captions reads “the main lon-
thorough repair of the city’s outer walls and gates was gitudinal highway running almost parallel to the
undertaken by Mangyt dynasty founder, Muhammad Shahrud canal and passing from the Talipach Gate
Rahim-biy, in 1166 HA/1752-1753 CE. in the west to the Mazar Gate in the east crossed the
P. 20. Attribution of the photo on this page is in- entire city.” However, Shahrud entered the city from
correct as it reads: “The city wall near the Tir-Garon the east and left it in the west. The longitudinal main
street referred to by the author never was such. The
7
In my study of Chashma Ayyub in Bukhara, I restrained from
specifying the type of building, but I am still inclined towards a 10
A water conduit that ran along the street leading from the
hazira, erected in the 12th century, and not a mausoleum. former gate of Hazrat Imam, past the Ark, through the territo-
8
The distance from the oldest outer wall of the city to the ry of the former Shahristan to Tak-i Telpak Furushan was dug
16th-century wall was calculated according to the city’s topo- during the excavation that lasted from September 1990 to April
graphic plan in 1985. 1991. Observations and studies along the conduit route (clearing,
9
In 1924, the Uzbekistan Institute of Tropical Medicine (Tropin) probe pits, recordation) were carried out by archaeologists from
was opened in Bukhara. It was headed by the famous parasitolo- UzNIPIR (E.G. Nekrasova, S.V. Inyutin, D.B. Chunikhin). A por-
gist, L. M. Isaev. tion of these studies was included in one of this reviewer’s works.

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canal proper was quite winding in some parts of the of the Karakhanid-era Arslan Khan mosque.
city (it was straightened in 1920-1924 and during res- P. 25. The Haji Ahrar bath was located south of
toration work in the 1970s). The streets along it were the Mir-i Arab madrassa; the structure was succes-
very narrow in some areas. In addition, “forbidden sively called Hammam-i Tah-i Minar (Bath at the
strips” were arranged on both sides of Shahrud, where minaret) and Hammam-i Kazi Kalan (Bath of the
no structures were allowed. The arguments about the Supreme Judge). Its lobby, covered with a dome, is
main meridian street of the city are still insufficiently preserved (later it became part of the Amir Madras-
reasoned here. sa). In the 18th century, the house of Muhammad
P. 22. The plans of the Karakul and Talipach gates Rahim-biy, founder of the Mangyt dynasty (1713-
(which are not annotated) are incorrect and photos 1758), was built on the site of the bathhouse; later, in
of all the city gates could be given here, but none of 1333 AH /1914-15 CE, the site was occupied by the
these buildings can be dated to the 16th century. The Amir or Amir Alim Khan madrassa (ruler of Bukha-
gates were more prone to deformation and destruc- ra, 1910-1920). To the north stood the Kalin-i Ali
tion than the walls, as they were actively used on a caravanserai (a carpet caravanserai owned by the last
daily basis (not including including military opera- Emir of Bukhara, Alim Khan) (Mirza Sami 1962). In
tions). 2017, this reviewer studied the bathhouse sewage sys-
P. 23. The author makes note concerning the tem along a 20 m distance.
Bukharan khauzes, which became the source of guin- The Ulugbek Madrassa was completed in 1417,
ea worms causing dracunculiasis. In this regard, some not in 1419.
clarifications are needed. The fight against guinea The court historian Hafiz-i Tanysh made mention
worm was actively conducted in Bukhara beginning of the Shiebanid-era, Abdallah Khan bath (Hafiz-i
from 1925; by 1932, it was eliminated (Isaev 1956: Tanysh 1983: 259). Wall fragments, closely adjacent
3-14). The khauzes were gradually withdrawn from to the southern facade of the madrassa, are visible in
practical use. In those years, the plan was to fill the photographs from the 1930s and 40s.
khauzes with soil up to more than half their depth and The second section of the first chapter is entitled
then to use them as playgrounds. In 1929, the con- The Architecture of Bukhara in the Temurid Period
struction of an iron grid water tower was completed (pp. 26-36). It is important to note the following ob-
in the city according to a project by the outstanding servations:
engineer and scientist V. G. Shukhov. The circular city Pp. 26-27. Building materials used in mass resi-
water supply network was made in such a way that dential construction in the 19th and early 20th centu-
all drained khauzes were provided with water intake ries are referred by Abbasova-Yusupova as belonging
booths (Pozharishchevsky 1931: 35-36).11 to the 15th century. Yet, there were no loess deposits
Pp. 24, 46. Concerning Magak-i Attari, above (specifically light yellow-colored sedimentary rock)
the pre-Islamic temple are remains of a mosque that in Bukhara or the neighboring regions. Pakhsa –
burned down, according to Narshahi, in a confla- rammed earth – is recorded only in the ancient walls
gration that destroyed part in Bukhara in 937 CE. of the Bukharan Ark. Basements, the first floors of
Burnt ceiling beams, fragments of walls, and sup- residential buildings, and stables were built from fired
ports made of mud brick – an intermediate building brick. Residential buildings were made using two-
– were found above its floor. The ganch carving most row frames. Reeds (Tajik kamiҷ) played in important
likely belonged to the 12th-century mosque. In the role in residential architecture and Bukharans’ every-
first half of the 16th century, from the surface level day life. Thick reed layers were laid into the bases of
corresponding to that period, a new eastern entrance walls, preventing entry of saline groundwater. The flat
was added to the mosque and decorated with a mon- roofs of buildings were covered with reeds before they
umental portal. The old foundations and walls of the were smeared with clay. The masters wove mats and
12th-century mosque have remained to this day, and kitchen utensils from reeds, which can still be seen in
the mosque area has not expanded. The changes af- many Bukharan houses even today.
fected only the upper walls and ceilings in Magak-i P. 29. Rectangular panels on the mihrab wall of
Attari (Nekrasova 2018a: 238-242). The minaret (Ka- the Bukharan Namazgah mosque are composed not
lan) was completed in 1129 (Rempel 1961: 159), the of polychrome majolica decor, but of carved glazed
Kalan juma (Friday) Mosque retained the dimensions high-relief terracotta. It is unlikely that this décor was
made on the instructions of Amir Timur. This ruler
11
This information can be found in a report for the city’s first renovated the building in the late 14th century and,
redevelopment project, which, fortunately, was never implemen- according to an author from the early 15th century,
ted. A copy of D. Pozharishchevsky's manuscript, which is in my “at present, the maksura of Emir Timur’s building
personal archive, belonged to Vasily Shishkin, who headed Buk- [has not been preserved] in it” (Gafurova 1992a: 69-
hkomstaris in the 1930s. I thank the daughter of Vasily Shishkin,
Galina Vasilyevna Shishkina, for this generous gift. 70).12

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The Sayf al-din Baharzi khanqah-mausoleum, cated in Fathabad, was not just a Mongol khan who
according to Abbasova-Yusupova, “began to be ref- converted to Islam, but a dervish from the Kubraviya
erenced by” the early 15th century; nevertheless, this tariqa and most likely a patron for the construction
was convincingly proven during architectural and ar- of his mausoleum (Basharin, Nekrasova 2018: 383-
chaeological research by N. B. Nemtseva (Nemtseva 385). However, the mausoleum was constructed in
2003: 213). the Chagatai, not the Timurid, period.
The famous theologian and scholar, Haja Mu- P. 35. A small mausoleum was built over the ac-
hammad Parsa (Haja Shams ad-din b. Muhammad tual burial site of the Sufi Turk-i Jandi (Ahmad b. Fazl
b. Mahmud al-Hafizi al-Bukhari, d. 822 AH/1419 Abu Nasr al-Jandi, d. early 11th century); subsequent-
CE) an ideologue of the Naqshbandiya tariqa while ly a two-chambered mausoleum and other structures
not the head of the Bukharan Sufis, but the second were erected over it. (Nekrasova 2008: 38-53). In a
caliph (deputy) of Baha ad-din Naqshband.13 His private conversation, the historian Dr. Bakhtiyar Ba-
khanqah (rebuilt according to the original plan) has bajanov did not confirm the existence of a waqf docu-
survived to the present and adjoins the western wall ment concerning the Turk-i Jandi mausoleum recon-
of the madrassa, mosque, and library. The monumen- struction in 1542 by the Sheibanid Khan Abdulaziz.
tal western part contains a courtyard, which included The mausoleum of Abdurakhman-vali, located
the abovementioned library and mosque as well as near the city of Karakul, is very original in its plan.
a mausoleum, all of which were demolished in the The building consists of two rooms, a ziyaratkhana
1920s-30s. The current site with their ruins is occu- (abulation room) and a gurkhana (burial chamber),
pied by residential buildings.14 The small semi-un- covered with three domes. The gurkhana consists of
derground brick room (considered the mazar of Haja one room stretching along the transverse axis. The
Parsa) was constructed after the demolition of the two equally sized small square spaces are covered with
ensemble’s structures; two tombstones from the cem- small domes, with an arch between them (Nekrasova
etery located behind the western wall of the ensemble 2006: 96, 201).
were moved to this room (Muminov, Nekrasova, Ziy- P. 36. The madrassa of Maulan Muhammad Mi-
odov 2009: 17-41; Nekrasova 2018b: 77-78). skin is named after the donor of the construction
Pp. 30, 88. The so-called library of Haja Mu- – the tariqa Naqshbandiya Sufi Muhammad Qazi
hammad Parsa on Ku-yi Dehkan Street (guzar Mul- (Muhammad bin Burhan ad-din al-Miskin as-Sa-
lah Pairavi) was discovered by the reviewer in 2005, marqandi, ca. 1451-1516 CE). As the caliph of the
and later academically published (Nekrasova 2012: Naqshband Shaikh Haja Ahrar. Muhammad Miskin
220-221). This site was probably the library of Mu- served as the supreme judge of Bukhara, kazikalan,
hammad Parsa’s ancestor – the famous intellectual under the Sheibanid, Mahmud Sultan (1500-1504
and bibliophile Hafiz al-din al-Kabir al-Bukhari (d. CE) (Babajanov 2006: 292-293). According to vari-
1291 or 1294 CE). Indirect confirmation is due to ous sources, the madrassa construction was complet-
al-Bukhari’s mazar (tomb) located nearby. The bath- ed between 1516 and 1520. This partially collapsed
house of Haja Parsa was located not in the Murgkush building can be seen in rare photographs by L. I.
quarter, but in the Hullabafan quarter. Rempel taken between 1939-1940, while the Muham-
P. 33. The Diggaran mosque in the village of Haz- mad Miskin madrassa plan was included in the 1924
ara dates to the 12th century based upon the latest general plan of the bazaar street in the shahristan
archaeological research (Mirzaakhmedov, Abdullaev, (Nekrasova 1999b).15
Gritsina 2009: 148-161). The third section of the first chapter is titled The
P. 34. The Chinggisid, Buyan-Kuli Khan (killed Architecture of the Sheibanid Period (pp. 36-59). This
in 760 AH /1358-59 CE), whose mausoleum is lo- section also requires several comments:
Pp. 39-41. The Gaziyan Sufi Center as recorded
on the Parfenov-Fenin plan, consisted of a khanqah-
12
The author of Kitab-i Mullah-zade, Ahmad ibn Mahmud, nick- mosque (16th century), a khauz and the Gaziyan-i
named Muin al-fuqara (Benefactor of the Poor), a student of Haja Kalan (Big Gaziyan) madrassa (early 16th century).
Muhammad Parsa (d. 822 AH/1419 CE), wrote this book after To the north of the latter was the Gaziyan-i Hurd
the death of the teacher. The maksura of Amir Timur was proba- (Small Gaziyan) madrassa (probably 16th century),
bly demolished during the reconstruction of the namazgah in the the brick constructed Mullah Muhammad Sharif
16th century. Ed. note: A maksura was a portal or entryway to a
chamber in Central Asian architecture. Sangin madrassa (1730-1733 CE), and the half-tim-
13
Tariqa (Arabic for road or way). Quite often in western and Rus-
sian-language literature on Sufism, "order" or "brotherhood" are
used rather this term. 15
The plan of the bazaar street in the shahristan was recorded by an
14
Here, the term "khanqah" encompasses an ensemble of build- expedition led by architect Moses Ginzburg in 1924. It was provid-
ings, including, in addition to the khanqah mosque, a madrassa ed with labels designating the building names in Arabic script. The
and a necropolis behind the western facade of the madrassa. plan is used in many research papers.

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Fig. 1. Lowering daytime surface level under Tak-i Sarrafan in 1975. The entrance to the Mullah Arizi
mosque or Sarrafan can be seen in the center of the background

ber constructed Mullah Muhammad Sharif Chubin al and archaeological features of the buildings.16 The
madrassa (late 18th century). The buildings of the Sufi plan of the Sarrafan ensemble in Abbasova-Yusupo-
center are listed in the same order as a monograph va’s monograph is borrowed from an article about
by O. A. Sukhareva. However, a 903 AH /1497-98 CE this particular structure (Filimonov, Nekrasova 1998:
waqfnameh mentions the quarter, and not the Gazi- 97, fig. 2), but their authorship is not credited in the
yan madrassa (Sukhareva 1976: 94-96, note 94). In caption (fig. 1). The Sarrafan architectural ensemble
the Juybari sheikhs bills of sale, the Gaziyan mosque (Chaharsuk, Mullah Arizi mosque, Mira Yari bath,
street appears in three documents from the mid 16th Shahrud bridge) was built in two stages. A mosa-
century (Ivanov 1954: 141-144, 147-148). Following ic inscription was cleared above the entrance to the
L. A. Rempel, Abbasova-Yusupova wrongly identified mosque. The first date provides information about
the Gaziyan khanqah mosque as the small Gaziyan the mosque’s construction on behalf of the Sheibanid
madrassa (Rempel 1981: 141). However, this is the khan, Ubaydallah in 921 AH/1515-16 CE, the second
khanqah mosque and it was measured in 1924 by the refers to the completion date of the entire ensemble
same team of architects headed by M. Ya. Ginzburg. with the participation of Ubaydallah Khan and his
Pp. 43, 138. Many Bukharans remember the co- Emir Yari b. Jan Wafa-biya, and later the younger
lossal restoration work carried out in Bukhara in the brother of Emir Yari – Dust Muhammad-biya and
second half of the 1970s and 1980s on the city’s south- son of Emir Jan Wafa-biya in 945 AH/1538-39 CE.
ern bazaars (east of the Tak-i Telpak Furushan, near The first two figures were known even earlier as par-
Magak-i Attari and Lab-i Khauz). At that time, it was ticipants in the campaigns of Sheibani Khan.
decided to lower the streets to the 16th century level,
along with simultaneously studying the architectur- 16
The results of the work are partially published.

116
 E. NEKRASOVA

P. 44. The central hall of the khanqah at Baha ad- 16th-century khauz in the Mir Dostum-biy quarter
din was encircled all along the perimeter by two-sto- and the Lyab-i khauz-i Mir Dostum khanqah at the
ry hujras (guestrooms) in the 17th century. This was Hiyabana turn near the Madari Khan and Abdullah
partly confirmed by archaeological excavations of the Khan kosh madrassas.
necropolis buildings (Nekrasova 2018b: 80-83). M. P. 58. The Kuluta caravanserai, or Kalta-sarai, was
Abbasova-Yusupova does not specify in her book the built not in the 16th century, but in the middle of the
location of the khanqah’s main facade. 19th century. The waqf-name was compiled in 1262
P. 47. Hammami Kuhak (Bath [on] the Hill) and AH/1845-46 CE on behalf of a certain Muhammad
the Hafiz-i Taftan Mosque were located to the north Sharif b. Muzaffar in honor of the Khalifa Khudaidad
in the immediate vicinity of Chahar-suka Darun khanqah.18 The caravanserai’s eastern facade adjoins
(Tak-i Zargaran). In the early 20th century, the Mir- the Tak-i Telpak Furushan and gallery was erected,
za Rahmatullah caravanserai or Sabzi-sarai (a sa- together with the middle part of the caravanserai,
rai where vegetables were sold) was built over the over the filled-in moat around the Hisar and Kadim
bathhouse ruins. In the late 17th century, the Hafiz-i (shahristan). According to an earlier waqf from Ra-
Taftan mosque, as well as the entire quarter, were re- jab 1212 AH/1797 CE, before the caravanerai con-
named Kaltakiyan. struction, several domestic cells, or guestrooms, were
P. 49. The buildings in the center of the Karhane owned by Muhammad Sharif whose proceeds were
(Workshop) were completed in 977 AH/1569-70 CE also spent on maintaining the Khalifa of Khudaidad
and still stood in the mid 20th century. The construc- khanqah (Turaev 2001: 85-95).
tion costs were donated by Haja Sa’d Juibari and su- P. 59. The Qasr-i Arifan mosque at the grave of
pervised by Mawlana Abd al-Wahid. On the north Baha al-din Naqshband’s mother was most likely
side of the khauz was the mazar of the famous mystic built in the 18th century. Evidence for this includes a)
Haja Yusuf al-Hamadani (1048-1140 CE).17 Probably, the foundations of the mosque,19 and b) the mosque’s
his hovel was located at that site several centuries ago, western facade with the mihrab “turned,” having its
where the murids of Hamadani studied; among them, back to the mazar of the venerable lady, whereas the
the future founders of the famous tariqas Khwajagan mihrab of the memorial mosque should have been lo-
and Yasaviya – Abd al-Khaliq Gidduvani and Ahmad cated opposite the sacred place.
Yasavi. The mazar attributed to Yusuf al-Hamadani, The last section of the first chapter is called The
gave his name to this city quarter’s center – the old Architecture of the Astarkhanid Period (p. 59-70). It
Sufis were called “masters.” also requires significant amendments:
As established by architectural and archaeological P. 62. A contemporary to Nadir Divan-begi notes
research and with the help of additional information that, in addition to the mosque, the ruler erected a
from translated epigraphic and written sources, the khauz and a ribat, (i.e. a caravanserai) (Norik 2011:
main architectural ensemble of the Chor-Bakr ne- 315, link 2). Indeed, a utility courtyard adjoined the
cropolis was constructed and then reconstructed for eastern facade of the Nadir Divan-begi madrassa
80 years (Nekrasova 2016: 853-876). until the 1930s; however, this was typical for every
P. 51. The inscription on the main facade of the building of this type. A narrow corridor led from the
Faizabad khanqah mosque was read by V. A. Shish- madrassa courtyard to the facade. But there was no
kin almost 100 years ago which recounts the build- mosque and darskhana20 in the building. Neverthe-
ing construction as completed in 1007 AH/1598-99 less, the waqf-nameh was made by the construction
CE, the patron was a dignitary of Sheibanid Abdul- patron specifically for the madrassa.21
lah Khan – Dust Divanbegi, and not Sufi Shah-i Ahsi Pp. 64-65. The Juma (Friday) Mosque on the
(Shishkin 1936: 67). Registan Payanda-biy atalik 1023-1027 AH/1614-
Pp. 54-55. The mosque, completed in 994 1617 CE was construction under the patronage of
AH/1585-1586 CE, is not called Dust Chirog Okosi, Payand-biy atalik, b. Kasim-biy Turkman, who was
but Dust-chuhra-agasi – a court title (chief of court one of the emirs during the reign of the Astarkhanid
pages), responsible for enforcing morals and super- Imam-Kuli Khan (1611-1642 CE). The mosque inte-
vising grooms (Semenov 1954: 48). Additionally, a rior along the eastern facade contained the hujras for
khauz never existed near the Dust-chuhra-agasi
mosque, rather, the nearest reservoir was located
next to the Haja Zain ad-din khanqah mosque. Ab- 18
Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Collection I
basova-Yusupova refers to information from O. A. 323, op. 1, doc. No. 266, 267, 267/1.
Sukhareva, but the latter discusses Mir Dostum, a 19
The foundations of the Qasr-i Arifan mosque were examined by
S. Inyutin.
20
An darskhana (Persian) is an auditorium at a madresse.
17
The Haja Yusuf al-Hamadani mazar has been preserved to the 21
Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Collection I
present. 323, op. 1, doc. No. 115/1 of 1052/1642-43.

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the Atalik madrassa, with a minaret towering at the il Structures” (pp. 71-140), potential readers should
building’s northwest corner. It is not surprising that keep in mind that although the author paid sufficient
the mosque was covered with a cultural layer by the attention to residential architecture, the households
early 20th century, because it was located on a busy of Bukharan Jews (pp. 77-79) require a comment.
bazaar square. This building was demolished in 1929. Whenever this reviewer is told about the Bukharan
The mosque floorplan was recorded by the M. Ya. Jewish Diaspora in the city since ancient times, this
Ginzburg expedition in 1924. raises the question: “Could you please show me the
Pp. 66, 97-98. There could not be a sardoba res- area where they settled?”. As is known, Bukhara had
ervoir in the courtyard of the Daru ash-shifa (House three mahallas (neighborhoods) of Jews. The earli-
of Healing) madrassa, because similar structures in est mythical mention of the city’s Bukharan Jews is
Bukhara were situated over natural springs (i.e. sar- found in a work by Z. Amitin-Shapiro written in the
dobas in the Khalifa Khudaidad ensemble, the Ishan-i 1620s. It refers to the construction of the Nadir Di-
Imla necropolis, and the Bukharan Jewish cemetery). van-begi Khauz in the Lab-i Khauz ensemble. Across
A significant cultural layer lies under this small ma- the road to the south of this khauz is the Old Mahalla
drassa, which could only be fed by groundwater; the of Bukharan Jews. Bukharan Jewish houses that have
latter sardoba in Bukhara was quite corrosive, with a survived the present were built in the 19th and early
high salt content. 20th centuries. They consisted of one courtyard and
P. 66. Shodim-biy (16th century?) was a mauso- were actual miniature fortress houses. The first storey
leum erected on a high platform; it had a crypt under built from fired brick for utility purposes could be ac-
its floor. Sometime later, a madrassa was erected be- cessed from the street. Storage rooms were arranged
tween it and the Bala-khauz mosque, which inherited around the perimeter walls. The ceiling was support-
the name of the mausoleum. ed by columns. The second half-timber storey was
P. 67. Kurinish Khane was the hall for coronations residential and could only be accessed via a wood-
and receptions and erected on behalf of Astarkhanid en staircase through a rectangular hatch in the first
Subkhan-Kuli Khan (1680-1702 CE) (Sayyid Mu- floor’s flat ceiling. Currently, many houses in the Old
hammad Nasir 2009: 91). Mahalla have been converted into private hotels. The
P. 69. The Azizan khanqah mosque, or Hazrat first storeys are covered almost by half their height on
and Azizan Baba-Haja khanqah, has been preserved the outside by a cultural layer and are now often used
as a reconstruction to the present day. as basements. Abbasova-Yusupova does not mention
The Mavlono (Maulana) Sharif Sufi Ensemble houses in the other two mahallas.
(tariqat Yasaviya = Jahriya) was founded on the high- P. 88. Concerning the Hjah Parsa libraries, see the
est point in the southeastern quarter of Hisar-i Kadim comment on p. 30.
(shahristan). The remains underneath the structure P. 92. Maktabs (schools). The maktab that still ex-
of this legendary bath mentioned by Olga Sukhare- ists at the Chor-Bakr necropolis was erected no earli-
va, were not recorded by archaeologists. This legend er than the 19th century.
probably refers to the bathhouse of Haja Ahrar, which Pp. 92-94. The maktab, Abbasova-Yusupova
in the late 15th century was located nearby and pre- dates to the 16th century, is presented neither on
ceded the construction of the Abdulaziz Khan ma- Parfenov-Fenin’s plan (1910-11), nor is it mentioned
drassa. in the description of city’s quarters by O.A. Sukhareva
Maulana Sharif built a khanqah with a dome; lat- (Sesu quarter).
er, a mosque was attached to it, and the courtyard was Pp. 95, 96, 98. Hospitals. See the comments on
surrounded by hujras. After the founder of the archi- the Daru ash-shifa madrassa mentioned above per-
tectural ensemble died, the khanqah was converted taining to p. 66.
into a mausoleum (Nekrasova 2018d: 245-248). P. 99. The author mentions “A section of such a
P. 70. A moat was present between the gates of the covered 16th-century street...” which connects Tak-i
shahristan Dar-i Akhanin with a swing bridge and Telpak Furushan and the old city (shahristan, Hisar-i
Chaharsuk-i Ahanin (later Tak-i Telpak Furushan). kadim) and was established in the 19th century. See
The gate was a small, rectangular building according the comment concerning p.58.
to its floorplan, containing a central hall with small, Pp. 101, 103. Chaharsuk-i Ahanin (Tak-i Telpak
narrow rooms for guards. On the shahristan side, it Furushan) (15th century) is the most complex build-
had a low portal. A monumental portal, flanked on
the both sides by towers, faced the hisar-i nau (for-
mer rabad).22 Dar-i Ahanin and Chaharsuk-i Ah- 22
This information was obtained through architectural and archae-
anin, which were reconstructed by V. M. Filimonov ological studies of Tak-i Telpak Furushan headed by the restoration
project developer, Vladimir Mikhailovich Filimonov (1924-1998),
(Nekrasova 1999b) (fig. 2). and by architectural archaeologists from UzNIPIR, E. Nekrasova, S.
As for the second chapter, “The Typology of Civ- Inyutin and D. Chunikhin in 1991 1992.

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 E. NEKRASOVA

Fig. 2. Reconstruction of the ensemble from the early 16th century was made by the architect Dr. V. M. Filimonov
based upon architectural and archaeological research:
1. Dar-i Ahanin, 2. Chaharsuk-i Ahanin, 3. moat (handag), 4. mazar

ing of all the trade structures that have survived to construction of the Sarrafan ensemble were under-
the present. Its ancient section is a hexagon, probably taken in the early 16th cent. during the reign of Shei-
erected in the 15th cent. It was constructed partially banid Abdallaziz Khan. Along the outer perimeter,
on the ancient cemetery. Turquoise, white, and blue Tak-i Telpak continued to be renovated until the 19th
glazed tiles from these burial structures were rather cent. (see the commentary for p. 70).
chaotically introduced into the brickwork during the P. 104. Tak-i Sarrafan (see the commentary for p.
hexagon’s construction. The reconstruction of Tak-i 43).
Telpak Furushan, the Magak-i Attari mosque and the P. 105. Tak-i Zargaran = Chaharsuk-i Darun

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was erected in an ensemble with the Chorsu mosque ing of the heat-conduits (archaeologist E. Nekrasova,
(Zargaran). architect I. Glaznova). Thus, it provides a plan for the
A written source describes the construction of bathhouse made by technician V. Ivanov in the 1930s.
a tim23 with six gates (darvaza) for cloth merchants Abbasova-Yusupova made reference to this docu-
(komashfurushan) by order of the Sheibanid Abdul- ment, citing this reviewer’s article (Filimonov, Nekra-
lah Khan in Bukhara in 985 AH /1577-78 CE (Juraeva sova 1998: 117), but the article has no such plan.
1990: 88). The document’s description corresponds Chapter three “The Typology of Religious Build-
to the existing building. This peer-reviewed mono- ings” (pp. 141-198) requires the following additions
graph shows the tim’s old plan prior to restoration and remarks:
with the profile (collapsed) corners. Archaeological P. 141. The Arab governor of Khorasan, Kutai-
research revealed the foundations of portal pylons in ba b. Muslim al-Bahili (ruled 704-715 CE), in 94
the eastern entrance of the tim. On the roof, a collec- AH/713 CE, built the first cathedral mosque in the
tion of wonderful décor was discovered in the filling city’s fortress on the site of a pagan temple (buthana).
of axillary arches, mainly that of carved glazed terra- In the north section of Registan Square, he founded
cotta. One of the two madrassas presumably built in the first holiday mosque, or namazgah, surrounded
the mid 13th century was located there. The first was by a wall with the Ma’bid gate (Arabic meaning wor-
Mas’udiya (erected on behalf of the Mongolain great ship). And the question pertaining to other types of
khan by the civil ruler of Bukhara, Mu’ud b. Mahmud mosques and the time of their appearance in Bukha-
al-Harazmi and mutavalli and mudarris – Sayf al- ra and the oasis (quarterly, memorial, in caravanse-
din al-Baharzi) or the second, Haniya (erected from rais, and madrassas) has not been fully determined.
contributions by the khan’s wife, the Kerait Christian Brief information about mosques of the Arab tribes
Sorghaghtani-biki – mother of the Mongolian khans has been preserved. A Christian church in the south-
Mönke, Hulagu, and Kublai) (Nekrasova 2018: 106). western part of the shahristan was converted into a
Pp. 109, 110. According to the information from “Khanzalite mosque” (banu Khanzala, later probably
waqf certificates and bills of sale, 20 caravanserais al-Sham meaning “Syrian”). In the same area is the
built in the 16th-17th centuries have been identified “mosque of the Sa’dites” (banu Sa’d) and in the north-
on the territory of Bukhara so far. None survived to western section is the “mosque of the Quraysh” (banu
the present day. Quraysh) while in the shahristan’s northeastern sec-
Pp. 111-112. Sardoba (see comments for pp. 66, tion was the “Hamdanite mosque” (banu Hamdam).
97-98). Additional information: According to a waqf The fire temple outside the shahristan in the Mah
nameh, the sardoba of Khalifa Hudaidad was erected Bazaar was converted into a mosque (now Magak-i
during the reign of the Ashtarkhanid Baki Muham- Attari) (Nekrasova 2018: 102-103 and thereafter).
mad Bahadur Khan (1603-1605 CE) (Turaev 2001: P. 144. Haja Zain ad-din is a khanqah mosque
85-95). containing a luxurious hall with a two-sided iwan,
Pp. 133-139. The author states that “... baths were mazar, maktab and several hujras for pilgrims com-
multi-domed sunken structures [...], a protected bined into one space.24
storeroom was a half-timbered building ...”. The ex- P. 147. The Lyab-i Khauz-i Mir-Dostum mosque
tant bathhouses in Bukhara (16th century: Mira Yari was not two-storied, but was erected on a high sufa
= Sarrafan-i Hafiz-i Haji = Misgaran; late 17th early podium.25 This was a common construction tech-
18th centuries – Kunjak) were not sunken structures. nique for mosques in the 16th century.
Over time, these buildings were covered on the out- Pp. 148-149. At the approximate center of the Ka-
side by a cultural layer, so their monumental vestibules lan minaret’s body is a dilapidated Kufic inscription
(i.e. the Sarrafan bathhouse has an octagon repeating that encircles it. There was not enough space in the
the plan of Chaharsuk), covered with domes which same tier to complete the inscription commemorat-
were either demolished or collapsed, and half-timber ing the beginning date of the building’s construction,
rooms were constructed above them. That is why the and its fragment (fig. 3) was placed by the masters in
washing section of these bathhouses was accessed via the next higher tier (Babajanov et al. 2016: 179-181).
a down staircase. Page 138 of the monograph shows a
section of the Sarrafan bathhouse with underground 24
Ed. note: An iwan (Persian) is an architectural term denoting a
heat-conduits, but this is not an interpretive recon- rectangular hall or space usually surrounded by three walls. It often
struction. The cross-section was made based upon marks an entrance to a monumental building in the Central Asian
textual source measurements after architectural and or Persian context.
archaeological studies of the bathhouse and the clear- 25
Ed. note: A sufa is an architectural term common in Central
Asian contexts that identifies a raised ledge of varying widths that
ran around the outer part of a room, often found in houses, that
23
Ed. note: An tim (Persian) is vaulted-dome covered market, served as ledges for seating or as counter space. In this context, the
passage. sufa was utilized to raise the level of a foundation.

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P. 158. On the upper belt of the Kalan minaret,

next to the completion date of 524 AH /1129 CE, is a
historical low-relief inscription providing the tower’s
completion date, not “inclusions” of carved glazed
terracotta. There are three belts with inscriptions on
the minaret trunk in Vabkent. The one in the lower
belt names the patron for the construction – Sadr Bur-
han-ad-din Abd al-’Aziz II and the initial year of con-
struction, 593 AH/1196-97 CE carved from unglazed
terracotta. The upper belt contains a Quranic text in
carved glazed terracotta with a highlighted date giv-
ing the construction’s completion, 595 AH/1198-99
CE. (Nilsen 1956: 93-97). Inscriptions on the Kalan
and Vabkent minarets are 70 years apart. However,
during this period, the technique of making carved
glazed terracotta changed.
Pp. 159, 161. In the autumn of 1953, a probe
pit was dug at the foundation of the Kalan minaret
by Sergey Nikolaevich Yurenev. He determined that
the foundation was rooted more than 11 m deep, its
base hidden in groundwater. Wooden reinforcement
beams were introduced into the foundation body,
which was made of fired bricks alternating with lime-
stone belts on clay mortar (Yurenev 1953: 2-31).
P. 164. The photo caption on this page reads “Ka-
lan Minaret, 1127. After bombardment by artillery
shells in 1920. Photos taken in the 1920s.” Specifica-
Fig. 3. Kalan minaret. Ceramic tiles inserted above tion is needed here as this photograph was taken in
very end of the inscription with date. 1923 during the restoration of the minaret.
(Photo by E. G. Nekrasova) Unfortunately, Abbasova-Yusupova missed im-
portant facts about the décor of the Kalan minaret.
However, previously it was mistakenly translated as In the gallery, an authentic ceiling fragment was pre-
“Bako’s work” (Zahidov 1965: 45-47). Unfortunately, served from the flat ceiling of its lantern, and on its
Abbasova-Yusupova repeated this mistake. trunk, above the inscription (replaced in 1923 by a
P. 150. The Haja Kalan juma mosque in the belt of polychrome geometric mosaic) were frag-
Gaukushan ensemble was a rather original building. ments of ganch carving.
During the construction of that quarter’s mosque, the P. 168. In the Haja Parsa khanqah, the cemetery
hall of the Hayy (“Everlasting,” one of the 99 names was located behind the monumental western facade.
of Allah) was “built” into its northeastern part of the On page 187, the caption under the photo reads:
iwan (Nekrasova 2018e: 132-134). “Khoja Porso khanqah mosque, 15th century. Gener-
Buildings erected in the 16th century and de- al view. Photo taken in the early 20th century.” In fact,
molished in the mid 20th century were undeserved- this is a memorial mosque at the Haja Parsa cemetery
ly forgotten. One is the original, completely covered (half-timbered, with a double-sided iwan support-
Shaikh-shan (Famous Sheikh) juma mosque (demol- ed by wooden columns on the eastern and northern
ished in the early 1960s), erected by Kulbaba Kukelt- sides), with a darvaza-khana covered with a dome as
ash’s father, Amir Yar-Muhammad atka who was the an entrance to the burial chamber, with a small mina-
mentor of Abdullah Khan. It was located next to the ret next to it. It was demolished by 1949 and the pho-
western facade of the Kulbaba Kukeltash madrassa. to was taken in 1939-40, probably by Lazar Rempel.
The list of mosques not mentioned in the monograph Currently, private residential buildings are situated
could be continued. Among them, for example, is the above the cemetery.
Madar-i khan lab-i rud (jami) erected in the 1530s; P. 169. The Chashma Ayyub monumental por-
the Mir Tahur-divan, erected in the 16th-17th cen- tal was erected during construction of the mausole-
turies on behalf of the family ancestor of hereditary um, completed in 785 AH /138384 CE. During the
senior government officials to the Bukharan Khanate. 16th-century renovation, the portal was not restored.
Badi-diwan, a descendant of Mir Tahur, mentions it P. 178. The interpretation of the courtyard layout
(Mirza Badi-diwan 1981: 10, 29-30). in the Kukeltash madrassa, the largest in Bukhara, is

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incorrect. Abbasova-Yusupova states that “... in order not mentioned in written sources and has no inscrip-
to save money and space, [the madrassa] was built tions on it; nor has any architectural or archaeological
with two iwans ....” One of the richest and most influ- study been conducted.
ential dignitaries of the country, Kulbaba Kukeltash, P. 192. For my comments regarding Haja Parsa
had no need to save money. To support this madrassa, see comments for pp. 30, 88 and 168.
he established the richest waqf (endowment) which P. 193. Sufi Dehkan lived in the late 17th and ear-
included a tim, kappan, numerous dukans (shops) in ly 18th centuries (Mir Muhammad Amin-i Bukhari
the Sarraf-khana (House of Money Changers) quar- 1957: 299-300). There are two known waqf-namehs
ter “inside the old hisar,” in the Hazrat Amir-i Arab for a khanqah of this type: The first was compiled in
bazaar, near Chaharsuk-i Ahanin and the Magak (At- 1115 AH /1703-04 CE on behalf of Hafiz-i Ali Sufi
tari) mosque, Safid furushan (Sale of white cloth) tim, Dihqan, while the second document that had been
two caravanserais and many dukans in different parts renewed was dated 1308 AH/1891-92 CE and written
of the city (Juraeva 1997: 113-114). on behalf of Hafiz-and Sufi Dihqan.
It is a pity that Abbasova-Yusupova does not an- The fourth chapter “Architectural Ensembles,
alyze in detail any of the types of architectural struc- Memorial and Cultic Complexes” is the shortest yet
tures. For example, the Bukharan madrassas are contain several errors.
complex not only architecturally, but also in terms of Pp. 201, 211. The attempted reconstruction il-
engineering. Sufa platforms, some quite large, were lustration captioned “Goziyon Ensemble, 16th-late
arranged in front of their main facades; functionally, 17th centuries. Plan of the first half of the 16th cen-
they were the outer yards (sahna-yi birun) of build- tury” is incorrect. In the ensemble center is a khauz,
ings. These sufas were used by students, who gathered to the south of that, across the street was (and is) the
there to study their lessons; as well as nobles, schol- Mullah Muhammad Sharif madrassa (1143-1146
ars and ulems who assembled there to argue “about AH/1730-31–1733-34 CE). To the west of the house
the incorruptibility of the spiritual substance of man, lies the Gaziyan khanqah mosque, to the north is the
reborn to life,” discussing the question “of being in former site of the Gaziyan-i Kalan madrassa (a city
the realm of metaphysics” etc. Unfortunately, today, bathhouse was built on its site in the 1920s-30s). The
the sufas at the portals of many madrassas are almost Qazi al-kuzzat (Chief Court) Mazar was located near
completely removed or shortened, contrary to their the east side of the khauz of Haja Muhammad Zahid
buildings’ historical appearance; nor are they shown al-Bukhari dating to the early 17th century (Muham-
in the plans of this book. The details of the layout of mad Nasriddin 2003: 30).
the cells and the life of the madrassa, building materi- P. 212. The caption under the picture on this
als and so on will not be discussed here. In addition, page reads: “Registan Ensemble. Buildings adjacent
the book does not mention either the taharat-khana to the Ark from the 16th and 17th centuries. Pho-
(rooms for five ablutions), or the utility courtyards at tos taken in the early 20th century.” But in fact, this
the madrassa. is a well-known photograph by a mysterious person
Pp. 180-181. Gaziyan Sufi Center. The Mullah nicknamed F. OrdeN, who entitled it “Sheep Bazaar
Muhammad Sharif madrassa is “identified” as the Big at Registan Square in front of the Citadel of the Emir
Goziyon (Gaziyan-i Kalan), and the khanqah (with a of Bukhara.” It was taken in 1885-1887, and there is
courtyard, maktab and halls for prayers and dervish not a single building in the photograph that dates to
rituals) as the Small Goziyon (Gaziyan-i Hurd). the 16th century.
Pp. 186-198. In the 16th-17th centuries, monu- P. 215. The caption under this photo reads: “Ab-
mental khanqahs inside and outside Bukhara were dulkhalik Gijduvani Complex. General view. Photo
built on strong platforms, the previously mentioned made in the mid-20th century.” This is not a mistake,
sufas, which are not reflected in any of the illustra- but it would be more correct to write: “Sufi ensemble
tions or in the monograph’s text. of Abd al-Khaliq Gijduvani. Southeast view. Photo by
P. 189. The caption under the lower illustration E. N. Yuditsky, 1950.” The absence of clear references
reads: “Mavlono Sharif khanqah, 17th century. Plan.” and citing of source illustrations in a number of cap-
However, this is not a khanqah, but a mosque with tions is a common problem throughout the book.
two iwans on the northern and southern sides, closely Pp. 222, 223-224. Hazrat Imam is the oldest
attached to an earlier khanqah building, which even- Muslim necropolis in Bukhara, which is still operat-
tually was transformed into a mausoleum. But for ing today. It was founded shortly after the conquest
the entire architectural ensemble, of course, the term of the city by the Arabs at the northern edge of the
khanqah is quite acceptable. first namazgah of Bukhara.26 Named Hazrat Imam or
P. 190. The caption under the upper illustration Haja Baror (Haja, meaning to bring success or luck)
reads: “Dehkon-bobo khanqah, 15th century. Plan.” after Abu Hafs Kabir al-Bukhari, which was the nick-
The dating of the monument is disputed, since it is name for a popular Hanafi sheikh, great theologian,

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 E. NEKRASOVA

Fig. 4. Hazrat-i Imam necropolis, view from the south. (Photo by D. I. Ermakov, 1890).
In the background, Abu Hafs Kabir al-Bukhar hazirai, marked with three tugs

and faqih (jurist), buried there (150-217 AH /767-832 complex” has on it the necropolis buildings. Build-
CE). In the mid or, more likely, the first half of the 9th ing No. 2 referred to as a “mausoleum”, was, in fact,
century, the cemetery and namazgah were surround- since about the 16th century the female Bibi Zudmu-
ed by a city wall and thus included in the territory of rad shrine (Nekrasova 2018j: 89-90). Archaeological
Bukhara’s outer city (rabad). For centuries, the main research established that two mosques were located
place of pilgrimage was a hazira with the graves of successively under its floor. The lower one was a me-
Abu Hafs Kabir, his son Abu Hafs Saghir and other morial mosque with a wall containing a mihrab and
persons marked with ceramic grave markers. On the made of polished bricks with turquoise-glazed tile in-
instructions of the Karakanid ruler, Arslan Khan Mu- serts. Opposite it was presumably, the hazira of Abu
hammad b. Sulaiman (1102-1130 CE), the hazira was Hafs Kabir.27 Building No. 1, is captioned “Hazira
reconstructed. Its portal is decorated with a monu- with the burial of Hazrati Imam in sagana”. Until re-
mental Kufic inscription made of carved ganch; a cently, the Abu Hafs hazira was located on the crest of
memorial mosque decorated with both polished and the old, fortified wall, where it was “lifted” during the
glazed turquoise bricks (fig. 4) is arranged beside it. relocation of the wall 500 m to the south. A dakhma
P. 223. The diagram captioned “Hazrati Imam was arranged in the center. It contained artifacts from
Complex in Bukhara. The 1990s master plan with the destroyed Abu Hafs hazira.
main buildings constructed between the 16th to ear-
ly 20th centuries, before the reconstruction of the
27
Archaeological research titled "Research Work on the Compila-
tion of Historical-Architectural and Historical-Urban Reference
Plans for the Historical Section of Bukhara" was conducted with
It was founded in the early 8th century by the Arab commander
26 short interruptions from September 1987 to June 1989 by archae-
Kutaiba b. Muslim. ologists from UzNIPIR. The project author was V. M. Filimonov

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Fig. 5. Baha al-Din Naqshband complex. I. First courtyard in the 1940-50s was moved beyond the territory of the
ensemble, the entrance complex was demolished, and a secondary school and stadium were built in its place .1 Main
entrance to the mazar of Baha' ad-din-Tak-i Miyan, "the middle arch" between the two Ipak Ayyim mosques. 16th
century. 2. Dwellings begger families (not extant). 3. The family mausoleum and madrassa of Daniyal-biy Atalik
from the Mangyt dynasty. 4. Haja Dilawar darvaza-khana (plan for the 1990s architectural and archaeological stud-
ies; re-erected in the first decade of the 21st century). 5. Second courtyard. By the 1980s, the necropolis in many parts
was covered with soil. 6. Remains of khauzes in the garden that once existed on the site. 7. Dakhma-yi Shahan (Shah's
(Khan's) dakhmas) 16th-early 18th centuries. Third courtyard. 8. Hazira of Baha’ ad-din Naqshband. 8a. Bab-i
Salam, Greeting Gate, the main gate of the shrine. 9. Khanqah of Sheibanid ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Khan. 10. Minaret, 1302
AH/1884-5 CE. 11. Amir Muzaffar madrassa, late 18th century (now it houses a museum). 12. Bazar (not extant); 13.
16th-century khauz. 14. Trunk of the sacred mulberry tree, which until the 1930s was located at the eastern edge of
the khauz. 15. Entrance to the mazar was built in the early 1970s and had the form of a small brick darvaza-khana;
the road through the necropolis was made before the visit of a sheikh from Saudi Arabia. In the first decade of the
21st century, an imposing entrance complex was built there, which now is the main entrance to the ensemble called
Bab-i Islam (calligrapher H. Salih). 16. Red Rose Garden, behind it is an architectural ensemble (mosque, minaret,
khauz) with the mazar of Baha’ad-din Naqshband Bibi ‘Arifa's mother. See: Nekrasova 2018c

A short distance from the mazar of Abu Hafs (Babajanov et al. 2016: 73-133).
Kabir, was a khanqah established by Amir Timur Ku- Pp. 224-225. The illustration captioned “Baha ad-
ragan.28 In 2009-2011, Abu Hafs Kabir’s mazar under- Din Naqshband Complex, 15th-early 20th Centuries.
went a radical reconstruction. A small mausoleum (a Plan” is careless and not well done. In fact, this world
replica of the mausoleum of the Samanids) was erect- renowned Sufi shrine is three times larger in area
ed on the site of the hazira; it was surrounded on three than depicted (fig. 5).
sides by iwans on slender columns. Ancient decora- The last, fifth chapter, “The Features of the
tion techniques are used in the building design and it Bukharan School of Architecture” will be left without
was covered with a small dome. The inscriptions are comments, although many questions arise when one
made of polished terracotta and carved ganch. In the reads it thoughtfully.
mausoleum interior are four grey marble tombstones, One of the significant shortcomings of M. Ab-
covered with exquisite ornaments and inscriptions basova-Yusupova’s monograph is that she ignores the
results of architectural and archaeological research
in Bukhara conducted for many years by researchers
with archaeologists E. Nekrasova (head of architectural and ar-
chaeological research), S. Inyutin, A. Voskovsky, S. Nizinkovsky,
D. Chunikhin, V. Shindin. The work results are partially pub-
lished. 29
Necropolis and Sufi center of Baha’ ad-din Naqshband. Recon-
28
A 1518 copy of the document has been preserved. See the Cen- struction of the general plan in the early 20th century. Made up
tral State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan (Узбекистон by E. Nekrasova based on written sources and the materials of
Республикаси марказий давлат архиви). Collection I - 323. Op. architectural and archaeological research (1990-1991, 1996-1998,
1. Book 2. D. 1096. 2001-2005).

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 E. NEKRASOVA

from the Bukharan team at the Institute of Archae- under review is the final version of a doctoral the-
ology under the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek sis successfully defended by the author in 2000 at
SSR and architectural archaeologists from UzNIPIR the Moscow Architectural Institute, yet “revised and
despite beginning her professional career in this lat- supplemented taking into account the repeated field
ter institution.30 Meanwhile, the Central Asian School expeditions undertaken by M. Abbasova-Yusupova.”
of Restoration founder, Boris Nikolaevich Zasypkin It is a pity that the outstanding archaeologist Ed-
(Zasypkin 1928: 3-7),31 Nina Borisovna Nemtseva ward Vasilyevich Rtveladze, noting the merits of this
(Nemtseva 1981: 79-87), and Galina Anatolyevna monograph, did not delve into its obvious shortcom-
Pugachenkova (Pugachenkova 1982: 24-30) wrote ings, which this article has sought to accomplish, and
about the importance of architectural and archaeo- which could have been avoided.
logical study of these monuments before restoration.
If Abbasova-Yusupova had looked through the re-
sults of this research, she would have understood the
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32
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 DILNOZA RAJABOVA

FROM THE HISTORY OF SHIITE-SUNNI

CONFLICTS IN THE EMIRATE OF BUKHARA
Abstract: The article studies the historiography of the Sunni-Shiite uprising in January 1910 in the Emirate of
Bukhara. While the Sunni Islam in this Central Asian state was based on Hanafi Sharia law, Shiite Muslims
formed the majority in the administration of the emirate. When the Emirate of Bukhara became a protectorate
of the Russian Empire, the influence of Shiites in its administration increased enormously. The reason for
that was that by the middle of the 19th century, former hired Shiite slaves were appointed to important state
positions, and social equality was specified in vassal treaties (1868, 1873). The emergence of such changes in
the Bukharan society caused the opposition of the Sunni nobility, resulting in an acute conflict. In the emirate,
the local population was dissatisfied with high taxes and social changes. Shiite Muslims were also influenced
by the ideas of social equality propagated by members of the Babi movement in Iran, who were hiding from
repression in Central Asia, which led to bloodshed between Sunnis and Shiites in Bukhara. The causes and
consequences of the uprising are analysed on the basis of local and foreign historical sources, periodicals,
archival documents, as well as data of modern research.

Key words: Bukhara, Kushbegi, slaves, Persians, Shiites, Sunnis, Sheikh-ul-Islam, Ashuro, Sarbaz, uprising.
Citation: Rajabova, D. Ya. (2023). From the history of Shiite-Sunni conflicts in the Emirate of Bukhara,
Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 128-134.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.009

I
N THE middle of the 19th century, the Shiite they were captured and sold as slaves by nomad-
denomination in the territory of the Emirate of ic Turkmen tribes in the slave markets of Bukhara
Bukhara was a very large. Sources do not clearly and Khiva. Most of the Persians in Bukhara were
specify the time of the appearance of Persians, whom slaves brought from Merv in the 16th-19th centuries
the Bukharans called Ironi, Marvi or Mashhedi. Most (Schuyler 1876a: 106, 109). In the middle of the 19th
of them were descendants of settlers from Khorasan, century, Persian slaves served in the army of the Emir
mainly from Merv (Sukhareva 1966: 154-155). The of Bukhara, were the servants of officials from the
Bukharan Persians themselves believe that their an- emir’s office and household workers in noble families.
cestors have lived there since the ancient times of the Arminius Vamberi wrote: “The Persians in Bukhara
emergence of Bukhara. The Mangyt dynasty contin- pay constant religious taxes and have adapted very
ued the policy of the Sheibanids and Ashtarkhanids of well to the khanate. Because it was cheaper for them
resettling opposing tribes. According to Muhammad to live here than in their own country, and it was a
Yakub Bukhari, Amir Shahmurad initially brought convenient place for practising handicrafts. Some of
17,000 families to Bukhara and settled them in dif- them have even won the trust of noble masters.1” Ac-
ferent parts of the emirate. Later, he again brought cording to the 1926 census, 6,000 Persians were reg-
to Samarkand from Iran and Khorasan 30,000 Ta- istered in the emirate, with 2,000 living in the city of
jik-speaking families, descendants of the Kyzylbash Bukhara (Sukhareva 1966: 154).
Shiites, and ordered that they converted to Sunnism. Residents of Bukhara had very active social ties
His successor Amir Haidar also resettled about 400 with the Persians. In particular, the historian Mir Ab-
families in order to weaken local officials and prevent
the local nobility from consolidating and striving for
independence from Merv (Khanykov 1843: 71). 1
According to A. Vamberi, the number of Persian slaves in Central
The influx of the Persian population in various Asia (mainly in Khiva and Bukhara) was 80,000 (Vamberi 2003:
15), while Pavel Ivanov claimed that these figures were rough and,
ways to the territory of the emirate continued in lat- citing other sources, indicated that in fact the number did not
er periods. In particular, until the late 19th century, exceed 40,000 (Ivanov 1958: 164).

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 D. RAJABOVA

dulkarim Bukhori (died 1830) wrote that “the Mervs dedicated to the martyrdom of the grandchildren
deported by Amir Shahmurad seemed to have found of the Prophet Muhammad, descendants of Ali and
a new homeland in Bukhara2” V. V. Barthold also ac- Fatima – brothers Hassan and Hussein and their sis-
knowledged this and wrote that “the Mervians lived ters. Shiites blame themselves for not having been
here with gratitude” (Barthold 1927: 108). able to save them from the tyranny of unbelievers,
According to the available information, it is diffi- repent and during the ceremony beat themselves for
cult to specify time and numbers of the Persian pop- this gunohi kabir (great sin). Every year ashuro lasts
ulation that penetrated into Bukhara, but there is a for more than a month, during which people mourn
hypothesis. In Bukhara, it is necessary to distinguish and wear mourning clothes. Sometimes a child on a
between two types of Iranian-speaking population: horseback embodied a symbolic scene of the youth
free Iranians resettled by the rulers of Bukhara since of Ali’s descendants, and sometimes Ali’s descendants
the early 1st millennium AD and those that came were buried symbolically in a coffin (Muhammad So-
from Merv and representatives of other Iranian peo- lih 2008: 34). So, starting from the tenth day of ashuro
ples who were captured and sold by nomadic Turk- in the month of Muharram, Bukharan Shiites wore
mens until the early 20th century. They were the most mourning clothes in the memorial hall of husainik-
numerous Shiites in the territory of the emirate. Shi- honas for 30 days (Sukhareva 1966: 160-161).
ites lived in different districts of Bukhara, mainly in By the late 19th–early 20th century, the activity of
the western guzars of the city. Many Shiites lived in the Persians in the center of the Emirate of Bukhara
the villages of Kumrabot and Afshar Mahalla, which increased due to social equality (Amir Sayyid Abdu-
were located near the city on the territory of the Jubor lahad Khan abolished slavery in 1885) (Becker 1968:
quarter. 320-321). They began to hold religious rites in the
Shiite Persians lived near the khojas of Jubor, in streets and squares of Bukhara. The attitude of the
the mahallas of Chakar, Abdullahoja, Chukur Mahal- local Sunni population towards them was moderate.
la, Waqf and Hauzi Baland. The Persians who lived in “Mostly the Sunni neighbors sympathised with the
the central part of the Tupkhona quarter and in the Shiites and joined their mourning ceremonies in the
western part of the Ark in the old shahristan in the open air between the gates of Samarkand and Sher-
Dust-Churago quarter of Bukhara were Sunnis. They giron,” noted the British diplomat Alexander Burnes
had lived here for many years and prayed in mosques in 1834 (Burnes 1848: 369). By this time, the liberat-
with other residents of Bukhara (Turaev 2021: 39- ed Persian soldiers had returned to their homeland,
40). In the second half of the 19th century, when the while others remained in service as mercenaries. Emir
Persians, who had achieved social equality, settled in Abdulahad Khan had to spend extra money to replen-
the Kosagaron mahalla, this street became known as ish his army (Shubinsky 1892: 266). They also became
Kuchai gulomo. Some other Shiites converted to Sun- more active in domestic economic relations. In addi-
nism and mixed with the indigenous Bukharans. tion to activities such as handicraft, sericulture, silk
The Shiite Persians also had to comply with cer- production and processing, some free Persians also
tain restrictions in the emirate. In particular, their were hired as workers to assist artisans. Moreover, the
quarters in Bukhara were divided, and those who con- Emir allowed the Persians to continue their activities
verted to Sunnism had three prayer houses (husain- in his office and in military units, which led to their
ikhonas) in Bukhara along the Tupkhona and Jubor increased influence in the political sphere.
mahallas. The first was located in the old quarter of Ahmad Donish (1827-1897) noted that the in-
Hauzi Baland, the second in the mahalla of Morkush, terference of Persian officials in palace affairs began
and the third was between the mahallas of Juyizar and during the reign of Emir Haidar, and they faithfully
Janafaron. There was also another large husainikhona served as “disciples” under divanbegi and religious
prayer house in Kagan (New Bukhara) (Rahmatova, leaders, and by the time of his successor Nasrullah
Kurbonov 1995: 125). The visitors of the husainik- Khan Bahadir, they were engaged in military affairs
hona prayer houses performed worshipping rituals (Donish 2014: 33). It is known that “hired slaves” were
guided by a sheikh. They did not gather there every selected from Russian, Kalmyk and Persian prisoners
day for prayer. People came to the husainikhonas in for involvement in office and military work (Kislya-
large numbers only for the ashuro annual mourn- kov 1962: 41).
ing ceremony (shohsei-vohsei ritual, self-torture for P. P. Shubinsky and N. A. Kislyakov mention in
the death of Hussein). The mourning ceremony was their works that the position of a kushbegi, chief tax
collector and head of artillery, was one of the import-
ant government positions in the emirate. The kushbe-
2
Materials on the History of Turkmens and Turkmenia. Volume gi controlled the administration of the entire emirate,
II. 16th-19th centuries. Iranian, Bukharan and Khivan sources. managed bekships and supervised officials in respon-
Moscow - Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, 1938. P. 198-201.
(In Russian). sible positions; the chief tax collector controlled tax-

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es, income, internal and external trade relations; the tinued under Abdulahad Khan. Some Sunni scholars
head of artillery supervised military potential, the accused Abdulahad Khan, who ruled the emirate
army, foreign policy affairs and maintained official from Karmana, of “his mother, his wife, the kush-
relations on these issues with the Turkestan Gover- begi and several high-ranking officials being Shiites,
nor-General, the political agency in the emirate and which weakens Islamic beliefs; in addition, this is her-
neighboring countries (Shubinsky 1892: 140; Kislya- esy, which the Crown Prince of the emir studied at a
kov 1962: 47). By the second half of the 19th century, Christian school (Rashidov U., Rashidov U’. 1987: 31).
Mullah Muhammadi (1872-1889), one of Amir Mu- These statements were distributed by Agha Reza Esh-
zaffar Khan’s hired slaves, was a kushbegi at the latter’s on Ali Askarkhanov, a citizen of the Ottoman Empire
palace (Kimura Satori 2021: 199), and the chief tax who came to Old Bukhara in 1909, and Mir Haidar
collector and head of the military unit was the kush- Mirbadalov, a representative of the Russian Political
begi’s son Muhammad Sharif (Schuyler 1876b: 99). Agency in Bukhara, who began to incite local Sun-
A number of other Shiite officials, such as the gov- nis against Shiites. Turkish propagandist spies, Sunni
ernor of Hisar, Astanakul-kushbegi (Rajabov, Inoya- nobles dissatisfied with the government, and clerics
tov 2016: 285), devonbegi Muhammad Yusuf, Gulam tried to replace Emir Abdulahad Khan with one of his
Haidarbegi, Haidarkul Inak ibn Muhammad Sharif Sunni brothers (Tukhtametov 1977: 33).
Devonbegi and Muminbek Inak, worked as kush- The Qazi-kalan of the Emirate of Bukhara, Sunni
begi’s subordinates (Vohidov, Kholikova 2006: 40). Bakohoja, and Chairman Burkhoniddin, were dissat-
The grand vizier of the palace, Muhammad Shokh- isfied with the activities of kushbegi Astanakul and
biy, was a kushbegi (kushbegi poin or kulli kushbegi), other Shiites in the political administration. Accord-
as well as four successive high ministers before As- ing to the writer Sadriddin Aini, Burkhoniddin and
tanakul-kushbegi (1905-1910), were descendants of Mullah Qamar from Tatarstan began to look for ways
hired slaves (Kimura Satori 2021: 194). to remove Astanakul from his post (Ainii 1987: 57).
By the late 19th century, while Shiite officials were Mullah Qamar was considered a secret employee of
appointed to the main palace posts, all religious ti- the Russian Political Agency.
tles and positions in accordance with Sharia were Many reforms in the emirate caused discontent
transferred to Sunni Muslims. In particular, from the among the population: reforms in education, which
lowest ordinary muezzin and imam to the highest consisted in the lowering of student allowances
kazi-kalan and Sheikh-ul-Islam, there were religious (scholarships) with a decrease in waqf property, rent-
duties that were assigned to Sunni Muslim scholars, ing out madrasah premises to merchants; the colonial
and they were appointed only by the descendants policy of taxation of raw materials and wealth of the
of the Khojas and Seyids. After the emirate became emirate was actually carried out by the Russian Em-
a vassal of the Russian Empire, diplomatic relations pire through Shiite officials. The fact that kushbegi
were held through political officials. The kushbegi Astanakul appointed his relatives to many key posts
acted as an intermediary between the emir and the in the administration of the emirate, in addition to
Russian government (Bregel 2000: 8-12). all these difficulties, became unbearable for the local
The Sunni ulama Mirzo Somiy Bustoniy and Ah- population and the Sunni nobility.
mad Donish, who were palace mirzas (scribes), in In January 1910, people began an open strug-
their works call all the Shiite movements and branch- gle with kushbegi Astanakul. On one of those days,
es rofizi.3 Both authors wrote that the transition of the with the permission of the kushbegi, Iranian Shiites
palace administration into the hands of Shiite officials gathered for the ashuro funeral ceremony at the Bo-
would lead to a state crisis. They maintained that the lo-Hovuz Mosque in front of the Ark, not far from the
reason was that the transition of not only the office, Samarkand Gate. The ceremony took place every year
but also the entire state administration under the in husainikhonas, but a public celebration in an open
control of Shiites would also have a negative impact square became an impetus for an uprising. Sunnis
on the faith.4 called this ceremony heresy and asked Mufti Imam
By the early 20th century, disagreements on the Domullah Ikram to issue a fatwa to cancel its public
multi-confessional aspect of Bukhara became more celebration. But Domullah Ikram rejected this claim,
frequent. As a result, the Shiite-Sunni conflicts that saying that Sunnis also had heretical traditions and
arose several times under Emir Muzaffar Khan con- rituals (Ayniy 2010: 73).5
At first, a Sunni mullah student studying at a
Bukharan madrasah was punished by mourning peo-
3
Rofism – the word rofiz means in Arabic to walk or refuse. This ple claiming that he laughed at Shiites who beat them-
was the designation for all Shiite movements that rejected the
sunnahs of the Prophet Muhammad (Tulepov 2013: 73).
4
Mirzo Somiy. Mirot al-yakin. Manuscript from the Bukhara 5
This refers to a local pagan ritual known as the Red Flower or
State Library, No. 70, ca 1893.) Tulip Holiday (Peshchereva 1927).

130
 D. RAJABOVA

selves and cried. Abdurauf Fitrat, one of the most fa- than 300 Shiites were expelled from Bukhara after the
mous representatives of Central Asian Jadidism, was truce.
in the city when this conflict began in Bukhara: “On Describing the January events in Bukhara, the
Saturday, when I left my room and came to Toki Tel- Russian officer Enpe noted in his memoirs that the
pakduzon, I saw about fifty mullahs who gathered to military weakness of the Emirate of Bukhara in-
discuss something. I came up to them and listened. creased its dependence on the armed forces of the
They told that behind the Samarkand Gate two or Russian Empire (Enpe 1910: 188). Indeed, the so-
three mullahs travelling to a performance quarrelled cio-political and economic situations in the Emirate
with Iranians. It was the 10th month of Muharram, of Bukhara were very difficult and the emir’s policy
1328 AH” (Abdirashidov 2023: 5). was under strict Russian control.
Sunnis protested and gathered in the Ark Square. American traveller William Curtis in his es-
They demanded that kushbegi Astanakul punish the say Turkestan – the Heart of Asia wrote about these
Iranian Shiites and that the ashuro ceremony be pro- events as follows: “The movements of 1910 did not
hibited in Bukhara. The rebels at first consisted main- begin suddenly, they combined religious and politi-
ly of madrasah students, and then they were followed cal demands from the rebels, [...] although the Rus-
by a Sunni crowd. There were more than 10,000 of sian government took measures against the uprising,
them. Astanakul sent the Emir’s soldiers against the in fact both opposing sides wanted to protect their
Sunnis gathered in front of the Ark, which resulted in rights. The reason was the absence of a constitution
bloodshed on January 9, 1910. and parliament in the country” (Curtis 1911: 141-
The uprising lasted for three days with lulls and 144).
outbursts, and all publications described it as the larg- Sadriddin Aini in his works The History of the
est Sunni-Shiite conflict at that time. In particular, in Mangyt Emirs in Bukhara and Materials on the
addition to official statements by the government of Bukharan Revolution referred to the mutual dis-
the Russian Empire, these events were covered by pe- agreements between the Sunni Kazikalon Burk-
riodicals in the Muslim world, such as Turkestanskaya honiddin (son of Kazikalon Badriddin), chairman
Oblastnaya Gazeta (Turkestan Regional Newspaper, Mullah Bakokhoja and the Shiite Astanakul-kushbegi
Tashkent), Burkhan-i Tarakki (The Basis of Devel- as the cause of the uprising. Ahmad Donish wrote in
opment, Astrakhan), Vakt and Shura (Orenburg), Meyor ut-Tadayun that before the death of Kazika-
Bayon ul Khak (Statement of Truth, Kazan), Mullah lon Mullah Badriddin in 1908, all religions, except
Nasriddin (Tiflis), Tarjiman (Translator, Bakhchisa- Sunnism, were strictly controlled. Later, attempts to
rai) and Sirat-ul-Mustakim (Turkey) (Kimura Satori, prove that their religion is the only true one inten-
2021: 206). sified among Sunnis, Shiites, Jews and Christians.
Crimean Tatar intellectual Ismail Gasprinsky, Although the state religion was the Sunni branch of
analysing the Sunni-Shiite conflict in Bukhara, rec- Islam, the fact that it was headed by the Shiite Kush-
ognised the financial system of the state and the pres- begi Janmirza and the chief tax collector, the Shiite
sure by the Russian Empire as the main reasons. He Astanakul, caused discontent among Sunni scholars
wrote about the collapse of the education system, (Donish 2008: 6a, b).
which also damaged trade relations (Abdurashidov V. V. Bartold considered the 1910 events in
2012: 182). Bukhara the response of Sunni officials to oppression
Amir Abdulahad Khan, who was in Karmana, and unjust rule or reactionary actions by religious fa-
sent Mirzo Nasrullah, the bek of Shahrisabz, Mirzo natics (Bartold 1927: 246), while the Soviet historian
Nizamiddin Urganji, the bek of Charjuy, and Sayyid A. H. Khamraev wrote that it was a bloody struggle
Olimkhan, the bek of Karmana, to Bukhara to sup- between two feudal strata for political control over
press the uprising. But when the uprisings did not the working population of Bukhara (Khamraev 1955:
subside, at the suggestion of the political agency, the 70). T. G. Tukhtametov in his research focused on this
Turkestan Governor-General was asked for military event and came to the conclusion that the uprising
assistance. On 13 January 1910, Russian troops head- was caused by the activities of Turkish spies, and this
ed by General G. Lilienthal came from Samarkand was based on the “insidious plans of Germany (agents
to Bukhara and suppressed the rebellion. After these in Turkey)” in their colonial policy.
bloody events, on 15 January, the leaders of the two U. Zh. Rashidov concludes that the suppression
sides, Shiite and Sunni, agreed on peace. Astanakul of the rebellion with the help of the Russian military
was removed from the position of a kushbegi, and the meant official interference in the internal affairs of
bek of Shakhrisabz was replaced by the Sunni Mir- the emirate (Rashidov, U. 1987: 33). Kimura Satori
za Nasrullah kushbegi (Tukhtametov 1977: 30-48). admits that the Sunnis were not against the Shiites,
Many innocent people suffered from the uprising. but against their beliefs, and that the uprising was a
About 500 Iranians and Bukharans were killed. More radical reaction to their long-standing discontent

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Bazaar in Bukhara. Russian postcard from the early 20th century

132
 D. RAJABOVA

(Kimura Satori 2021:208). O. A. Sukhareva assessed their rejection of injustice. Moreover, influenced by
the events of 1910 as a strong blow to the cultural ties the ideals of social equality in Babism, local Shiite
of Sunnis and Shiites, their blood and clan relations Muslims also had their own claims. By the early 20th
(Sukhareva 1966: 165). Despite the interfaith toler- century, they began to consider themselves entitled
ance in Bukhara, some political agents managed to to have equal relations with the Sunnis in all respects,
introduce discord into local traditions among a large which allowed external forces to organise an uprising.
number of Muslims. The situation in the early 20th century required
Analysing the events of 1910 on the basis of archi- that the Emir of Bukhara Sayyid Abdulahad Khan
val documents, it is possible to see the influence of the ease the pressure of the Russian Empire, preserve re-
participants of the defeated Iranian Babist movement, lations between the government and religious figures
who took refuge in the territory of the Central Asian in the world, and carry out reforms in the interests of
khanates, on the Shiites of the Emirate of Bukhara.6 the local population. But since the small numbers of
Although Shiites became active in the government of Shiites in the political administration of the emirate
the emirate, since the second half of the 19th century were not taken into account by the majority of nota-
it was under the control of imperial curators. In 1898, ble Sunni officials, the sharp protests caused by the
tax collector Mullah Muhammad Gavhar Devonbe- religious factor had serious consequences.
gi was arrested and interrogated along with treasurer As a result of the uprising, Sunni Mirza Nasrullah
Astanakul for sending too much money to Mashhad, was made the kushbegi of the emirate, and although
where he was born, and for abusing his political po- Shiites were removed from other positions, the system
sition. When Astanakul was proved innocent and of governance in the emirate remained unchanged.
Devonbegi imprisoned, the Russian Empire’s control Therefore, throughout 1910, the threat of a new rebel-
over the economic affairs of the emirate consolidat- lion worried the imperial government. Among oth-
ed.7 In 1899, the Russian government ordered that the er preventive measures, in April 1910, the passport
emir and his office move to a magnificent palace built system of the Russian Empire was introduced and a
at the expense of the emir’s treasury in New Bukhara. control group was created in Old Bukhara, the latter
But kushbegi Janmirza conveyed the emir’s negative consisting of 12 Russian political agents who were
response, claiming that the emir ruled from Karmana paid (the annual salary of 7,980 roubles consisted of
because of the influence of the weather on his health 2,000 rubles allocated by the empire, and 5,980 rou-
and that the palace was not built in accordance with bles that came from the emirate treasury). They were
Muslim traditions (Olufsen 1911: 575). The ideas of aimed at strengthening control over the population
social equality in the Babist movement8 had a strong (Tukhtametov 1977: 46-48). The Russian authorities
influence on the Shiite nobility engaged in trade in also intended to eliminate British, German and Turk-
the Emirate of Bukhara. Shiite Muslims who made ish spies who were secretly operating in the emirate.
pilgrimages to Mashhad and Karbala were familiar So, the main reason for the Sunni-Shiite uprising
with the ideas of Babism. in Bukhara in 1910 was, of course, the socio-political
The 1910 uprising requires an in-depth study of protest, while religious discord actually became a pre-
its origins, causes, results and consequences. Analys- text. The multi-confessional situation in the Emirate
ing archival documents, historical sources and mod- of Bukhara was was favourable for the conspirators.
ern research data about this event, we can make the Shiites were one of the main confessions there, like
following conclusions. Each social stratum that par- Jews and Hindus. They were mainly engaged in trade,
ticipated in the uprising had its own reasons for pro- handicrafts and sericulture, and followed legal and
test. In particular, rebelling madrasah students were religious restrictions until they achieved social equal-
dissatisfied with the increasingly difficult living and ity. In the late 19th–early 20th centuries, despite the
studying conditions in the education system; arti- consolidation of the political position of a small num-
sans, dehkans (peasants) and small middle-class mer- ber of Shiite officials in the government of the emir-
chants were tired of increased taxes; this was caused ate, they became oppositional to the Sunni elite. The
by an increase in the number of Shiite officials in the big uprising in the early 20th century clearly showed
administration of the emirate of notable Sunnis and that the emirate, as a de facto colonial territory, was
strongly under the political influence of Western
powers in the so-called Great Game.
6
National Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Op. I-1, doc.
1020, shs. 1-3.
7
National Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Op. I-3, doc.
127, sh. 52-54.
8
Babism is a movement founded in Iran by Muhammad Ali
Tabrizi in 1826, promoting the ideas of social equality and fair
legal governance (Schimmel 2009: 98; Encyclopædia Iranica,
III/3:309-317).

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 ELENA NERAZIK

BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Preface. Doctor of Historical Sciences Elena Evdokimovna Nerazik wrote her autobiography in 2019. A few
years earlier, her resumptive work “Formation of the Early Medieval Society in the Lower Amu Darya [Oxus]
River” was published, whereby she virtually crowned her active scientific career. However, all these years she
has kept abreast with the discoveries and new publications on archeology of Central Asia. Of course, she kept
a keen interest in the results of the work of the Karakalpak-Australian archaeological expedition, which was
undertaken to the settlement of Akhshakan-kala, the first capital city of the ancient Khorezm. Retiring from
her work, E. E. Nerazik nevertheless continued to reflect on a number of issues which, from her point of view,
had not been properly covered by research and scientific literature, and which she, in her own words,“would
love to study, if she had the strength to.” In particular, in conversations with me, she mentioned such topics as
“Khorezm and the northern borders of Parthia”, “Ceramic complexes and the ethnic history of Khorezm”, but
she did not wish to commit her ideas to paper, explaining that she provides a field of activity for the coming
generations of scholars.
One day, I had the honor to ask Elena Evdokimovna to write a brief text for Wikipedia about her contribution
to the development of Central Asian archaeological science and the history of Khorezm. She agreed to do
it, and, overcoming her age difficulties (at that time she was already 92), wrote eight pages in small hand,
with the reservation that the publication would only be allowed after her death. On December 18, 2022,
Elena Evdokimovna passed away. Fulfilling her wish, I hereby provide the reader with the latest manuscript
conveying the scholar's view on her own life and scientific legacy. In 1990, the contribution of Nerazik to
science and international cooperation in the scientific field was celebrated by the UNESCO Albert Einstein
Medal award.
Olga Inevatkina

Key words: archaeology, Khorezm, the Khorezmian expedition, Ayaz-kala 2, Yakke-Parsan, Toprak-kala.
Citation: Nerazik, Е. E. (2023). Brief Autobiographical Note, Bulletin of the IICAS 35, 137-142.
Article link: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.010

I
WAS BORN on November 17, 1927, to a fami- During those years, the exploration routes of the
ly of teachers. My father was a teacher of literature scholar covered the right-bank and left-bank parts
at Vitebsk Pedagogical Institute (Byelorussia), my of Khorezm, while the survey of the archaeological
mother was a school teacher of German. After gradu- sites was carried out using aerial photography and the
ating from high school, I entered the Faculty of History Khorezm map of irrigation systems with the mark-
of Moscow State University. After graduating from it, in up of the existing archaeological sites made on it by
1950, I was admitted to the doctoral school of the Insti- Boris Vasilyevich Andriyanov, which is still not fully
tute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences published. He made a duplicate copy of this map and
(nowadays, N. N. Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Eth- kindly provided it to me. The routes were accompa-
nology and Anthropology of Russian Academy of Sci- nied by excavations of the most typical sites chosen
ences), where I studied under the guidance of the out- by me. Among the large sites, whose excavations I su-
standing scholar Sergey Pavlovich Tolstov. From 1950, I pervised, are such settlements as Kunya-Uaz (4th-3rd
started working at the same institute, in the meantime, I centuries BCE), Toprak-kala (1st – early 5th century
successively defended my candidate thesis, and then my CE), the multi-layered Khazarasp site with some an-
doctoral thesis, too. Independent field trips, as part of cient and medieval layers. The large oases along the
the Khorezm archaeological and ethnographic expedi- Kyrk-Kyz and Yakke-Parsan canals in the right-bank
tion, with which I cast my lot, began in 1952 and these Khorezm, on the left-bank Chermen-Yab have been
trips went on until 1990, when the field work of the ex- examined in their entirety. The ruins of dwellings of
pedition on the territory of the Karakalpak SSR practi- the first centuries AD were excavated near Ayaz-kala
cally ceased after the collapse of the Soviet Union. 2, and near Janbas-kala, where ancient settlements of

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topics, as a rule, were considered with the involve-

ment of a wide range of sources, primarily written
information, anthropological ethnographic data, and
archaeological materials from the adjacent regions
of a certain locality. However, I have always paid the
most of attention to the history of dwellings and set-
tlements, whether rural or urban, thus studying them
in two aspects.
The first being the main stages of formation of the
Khorezm rural dwelling. The main result of my de-
velopment of this subject was the reconstruction of
the history of this type of dwelling over the course of
more than one millennium. The study of the trans-
formation of dwellings raised a number of questions,
in particular: the ways of composing of various types
of dwellings, their specific features and causes; for
example, the direction of the country’s historical and
cultural ties, ethnic interactions and ecology, and
ethnic traditions. The study of these issues is part of
my book on rural dwellings of Khorezm, where the
presentation builds upon the milestone historical
periods of the land, so correctly identified by Sergey
Tolstov in his day.
Unfortunately, there is still no work so fully de-
voted to the history of the Central Asian folk ar-
chitecture, from the ancient time to the time which
Elena Evdokimovna Nerazik. 1950s ethnographers have already been studying. I have es-
tablished that the origins of the compositional tech-
winemakers were discovered. An entire Big Palace of niques underlying the construction of rural dwellings
the 4th/5th – mid-8th centuries was excavated almost of the population of the South Cis-Aral Sea Region
entirely near Ayaz-kala 2 – the now widely known in the late 19th and early 20th centuries go back to
early medieval castle of Yakke-Parsan, along with a the early Middle Ages. It was then already that the
number of synchronous sites of the Berkut-kala oasis, residential cell was formed, which became an inte-
etc. Thus, at my disposal, there was the extensive and, gral part of the South Uzbek hauli. Having system-
in many respects, unique material that formed the atized, in this regard, the available topographic ma-
basis for five monographs (Nerazik 1966; 1976; 2000; terials, I created a typology of the dwelling - from a
2013; Nerazik, Rapoport 1981a), two anthologies, simple cell to complex hauli of rich landowners and
collected and edited by myself, featuring my “Fore- other wealthy people (Nerazik 1972: 43-63). In the
words” and one of the articles (Nerazik, Zhilina1982; meantime, on the basis of the field research materials
Nerazik Rapoport 1984; Nerazik 1998a), as well as provided to me by Gleb Pavlovich Snesarev, who de-
chapters in resumptive works on the ancient history scribed the settlement of Durgadykh near Khanka in
of Central Asia (Nerazik 1963; 1964; 1999a: Nerazik the left-bank part of the Amu Darya River, it became
Shishkina 1999b).1 My works were also published in possible to identify a new previously unknown type
local Central Asian and foreign publications (Nerazik of dwelling, combining the features of sedentary and
1986; Nerazik 1996). nomadic life style (Nerazik 1982b: 164-178).
The range of my interests reflected within these Another of the two main directions of research
works is rather ample. It encompasses the history of on this topic is the rural dwelling as a source for re-
the rural settlements and dwellings, history of cities, vealing family structure at various historical stages.
sociological reconstructions (family, community), By this time, approaches to such research were suc-
ethnic history of the population of the South Cis-Aral cessfully being developed in both the national and
Sea region, forms of everyday culture, etc. All of these foreign (in particular, American) science. Based on
these developments, I used a certain methodology,
combining quantitative and demographic parameters
1
An introductory chapter was also written by yours truly for the “At-
las of the People’s Dwellings of Central Asia and Kazakhstan” within (for example, the size of the dwelling and various liv-
the series of atlases whose making was undertaken by the Institute of ing spaces and premises, the ratio of the total to living
Ethnography, which, unfortunately, remained unpublished. space, etc.). However, the main among them was the

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Artist of the Khorezm expedition I. V. Savitskiy and E. E. Nerazik on the outskirts of Kyrk-kyz-kala, 1953

layout of the premises and the types of hearths, as it ters on the southwestern outskirts of the Left-Bank
is known that a common cauldron is evidence of a Khorezm, dating back to the first centuries CE, were
common household economy, at least in the field of revealed, information about which has now widely
consumption, the analysis of the number of tableware been used by other researchers. Based on the total-
and utensils, their types and distribution across the ity of all these data (more than 350 dwellings from
dwelling areas were of considerable importance (Ne- various time periods have been examined, and three
razik 1975: 5-26). Such a technique involved the use dozen of them excavated; detailed site plans for 34
of ethnographic materials and was especially effective large settlements have been made), I came to a con-
in relation to regions with a stable ethnic tradition, clusion that large family traditions were preserved in
continuity of economic and household management Khorezm for a long time, in particular, those pertain-
skills, as could be observed in Khorezm. It is also nat- ing to agnatic groups (in other words, family-related
ural that a researcher would have to have massive ar- ones, or patronymies). The latter are best recognized
chaeological material and solid ethnographic patterns from the anthropological material of the Middle
information at his or her disposal, but, unfortunately, Ages (12th-14th centuries). For earlier times, writ-
normally, in the ethnographic works a house would ten sources are essential. For example, documents
be presented uninhabited, since family and dwelling from the Toprak-Kala Palace or inscriptions on the
were scientifically studied and described separately. Tok-Kala ossuaries (Nerazik 1976: 158-234). In the
A serendipitous exception was the work of Alina Ni- topography of medieval settlements, one can see a re-
kolaevna Zhilina on the south of Khorezm, which I flection of certain stages, the dynamics of large-family
jumped at using. groups, their disintegration into “lower-order patro-
However, no dwelling alone can be a full-fledged nymics”, when common ownership of the land is still
source for a research at issue. Such research is inextri- preserved, and “higher-order patronymics,“ when the
cably related to history of settlements, especially since land already comes into the ownership of individual
the land of the oases of Khorezm has preserved not families”.
only remains of larger buildings, but even the smallest I hope that my conclusions about the non-uni-
ones, the levees from large canals and traces of small linear development of the family, the disintegration
ditches, too; even the remains of fields of various con- of large related groups in prosperous times due to
figuration. Drawing on ethnographic parallels, one the rise of the economy and culture, the flourishing
can even establish which crops they had been used of cities and crafts, when small families gained some
for. Even remains of specialized settlements of pot- distribution, also matter. And, on the contrary, they

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B. A. Litvinsky. T. H. Metaksa, E. E. Nerazik, T. K. Mkrtychev, and N. Yu. Vishnevskaya at the opening

of an exhibition dedicated to KhAEE at the Museum of the Orient. Moscow, January 2006
were observed to unite again in times of crisis. Sub- Khorezmian cities, compared to the rest of the Cen-
sequently, this conclusion was confirmed in the ma- tral Asian cities, were distinguished by their original-
terials of ethnographers. I also believe that it was the ity; were deprived of citadels, suburbs, they lacked
agnatic groups that in the Middle Ages were the unit craft quarters. In the diversity of rectangular cities,
of allotment of the “water share” in the rural com- they saw in the latest works the centralization of state
munity. And the stable preservation of agnatic groups power in the country which intensified in the 4th-3rd
in Khorezm is explained by the peculiarities of irri- centuries BCE. Without arguing with these postu-
gated agriculture in the country, the need to main- lates, I still see evidence of the town-planning role of
tain and operate large irrigation systems that require the state, primarily in the stable uniformity of forti-
labor cooperation, which is especially difficult with fication elements - the size and shape of loopholes,
the dispersed settlement of farmers prevailing in the curtains, towers, which is possible only with a single
country. directing state power.
In parallel with the study of rural settlements The construction of fortresses as the political and
and dwellings in connection with the excavations of administrative pillars of the central government in
the settlement of Toprak-kala (starting from 1965), the oases also played an important role in urban de-
I turned to the history of the cities of Khorezm and velopment. Near them, settlements often arose, which
the problems of urban formation in a wide chrono- eventually turned into cities, enclosed by a wall. At
logical range. There were no general reports on this the same time, fortresses became citadels, and thus
issue either. Having systematized the available facts the aforementioned feature (the absence of citadels)
and combined them with information from writ- completely disappears. The cities that arose in this
ten sources and cartographic data, I outlined three way later acquired a neutral form, having absorbed
zones of urbanization: central, near the Amu Darya, another tradition of city formation in Khorezm, ap-
the most ancient; northern, the lower reaches of the parently associated with the interaction of farmers
Amu Darya, where urban-type settlements appear and pastoralists (Nerazik 1981b: 136-148). The in-
in the 7th-8th centuries; and the latest, the Daryalyk ternal structure of the ancient Khorezmian cities is
zone on the northwestern and western outskirts of still difficult to determine. The point of view about
the country, where the heyday of urban centers dates their regular layout with a central street and quarters
back to the 13th-14th centuries. symmetrically located on both sides of it has become
In the 1950s, we believed that the ancient widespread. This point of view was based mainly on

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the reconstructions of Toprak-kala and Janbas-ka- rounded by Kyat, the early capital of Khorezm; the
la created by Tolstov. The building-block pattern formation of cities by “demerger”: Khiva-Ardakhi-
of development is typical for many cities of various va, Khushmisan – Arda-khushmisan, etc. (Nerazik
times. But is not yet clear how fair the above men- 1981b: 136-148).
tioned standpoint is. There is reason to believe that Among other issues that interested me, not in the
the correct arrangement of blocks is typical rather of least are the ethnic history and ethnogenesis of the ar-
other urban centers, rapidly built facilities, and pre- chaeological sites of the Southern and South-Eastern
planned capitals. Such was, for example, Khaivan-ka- Cis-Aral Sea regions. In several works, I specifically
la, the main city of Kerder in the 8th century. dwelled upon the influence of political, economic,
The excavations of Toprak-kala completely de- environmental factors on the formation of language,
stroyed Tolstov’s ideas about the structure of the culture, territory and self-awareness of the popula-
quarter itself. He believed that these were single hous- tion, i.e. on the formation of an ethnos (Nerazik 1986:
es-arrays inhabited by family related groups. It turned 30-49; 1990a: 3-14). Ethnic motifs are permeated with
out that these quarters were actually built up with plots on the history of settlements and dwellings, on
large and small houses (households), which were re- the forms and ornaments of ceramics.
built, repaired, abandoned, etc. The street between the But most of all I was interested in the history
quarters did not separate them, but, on the contrary, of the Chionites – the tribes that appeared in Cen-
connected them, being a yard space for household tral Asia in the 4th-5th centuries, their connections
purposes (Nerazik 2005: 543-561). A comparison of with Khorezm and their advance there from the east.
the plans shows that the origins of the planning of The most complete essay on this is contained in my
such cities, for example, as the late medieval Bukhara, latest book, in which I returned to my original top-
have very deep roots. The issue of handicraft quarters ic of early medieval Khorezm (Nerazik 2013). In
in ancient Khorezmian cities remains open until the this work, I proceeded from the systematization of
excavations of large cities, most likely different from materials, the distribution of monuments into cate-
small ones. And Toprak-kala is generally a special gories (cities, settlements, dwellings, places of wor-
city, the population of which served the residence of ship, etc.) and the typology of the latter. At the same
the Khorezmshahs. time, it was necessary to go far beyond the limits of
As a result of the publication of my works, I hope, Khorezm proper, thus including in this typology not
the understanding of the history of the formation of only Central Asian monuments, but also similar ones
the early medieval and medieval cities of Khorezm from neighboring countries and highlighting against
has somewhat expanded. For example, S. Tolstov this background the general and peculiar in the cul-
wrote about their almost total decline in the early ture of Khorezm. Thus, many new features of it were
Middle Ages, while new ones grew up near the walls discovered, in particular, a new classification of the
of large castles. This judgment was based on his work sites of the Berkut-Kala oasis is presented, where in-
in the Berkut-Kala oasis. However, the continuation stead of the previously amorphous “castles”, small and
of these excavations, undertaken by me, showed that large settlements, estates, castles, religious buildings
Berkut-Kala, the center of the oasis, was a small town were identified, and the latter were published for the
with a citadel similar to ancient Khorezmian cities. first time. I paid a lot of attention to the history of the
There was a palace, a house and other, smaller struc- country’s dynasty (“Afrigids”), the dating of two stag-
tures. All this was surrounded by a wall with towers es in the development of ceramic production, etc. For
and a defensive (and not residential) kiosk. A town the first time, excavations of a large palace at the foot
was also formed at the foot of Ayaz-Kala. However, of Ayaz-kala 2 have been published in full.
this did not exclude the addition of cities near cas- In my works, I once again followed Tolstov in the
tles, residences of feudal lords. In the Middle Ages, footsteps of the ancient Khorezmian civilization, in-
cities were formed near the walls of large castles on scribing unknown pages into its history. This, in fact,
the western outskirts of the country, in the Daryalyk is the essence of my work for seventy years.
zone. Referring to this time, with the help of Vladimir
Aronovich Livshits, I used ancient toponyms found The text of the manuscript was prepared for
in written sources (for example, Makdisi). This made publication by O. N. Inevatkina
it possible to reveal the presence of satellite cities sur- (The State Museum of the Oriental Art, Moscow).

REFERENCES Istoriâ tadžikskogo naroda [History of the Tajik people),

Vol. I. Moscow: Nauka Publ. P. 401-430 (in Russian).
Nerazik, E. E. (1963). Predki tadžikskogo naroda v IV-V vv. Nerazik, E. E. (1964). Rannesrednevekovye gosudarst-
[Ancestors of the Tajik people in IV-V centuries], in: va Afrigidov i pamâtniki ih vladyčestva na territorii

141
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Karakalpakii [Early medieval states of the Afrigids the settled population], in: Nerazik E.E., Žilina A.N.
and monuments of their rule on the territory of (eds) (1982a), pp. 164-178 (in Russian).
Karakalpakstan], in: Očerki istorii Karakalpakskoi Nerazik, E. E. and Yu. A. Rapoport (eds.) (1984), To-
ASSR [Essays on the history of the Karakalpak ASSR). prak-kala. Dvorets [Toprak-kala. Palace) (Proceed-
Vol. 1. Taškent: Fan Publ. (In Russian). ings of the Khorezm expedition, Vol. XIV). M.: Nauka
Nerazik, Е. Е. (1966). Sel’skiye poseleniâ Afrigidskogo Horez- Publ. 303 p. (In Russian).
ma [Rural settlements of Afrigid Khorezm) M.: Nauka Nerazik, E. E. (1986). Ob ètničeskih processah v ran-
Publ. 155 p. (in Russian). nesrednevekovom i srednevekovom Horezme [On
Nerazik, E. E. (1967). K problemam razvityh gorodov ethnic processes in the early medieval and medieval
Horezma [To the problems of developed cities of Khorezm], in: Materialy k ètničeskoj istorii naseleniâ
Khorezm), in: Arheologiâ i ètnografiâ Horezma [Arche- Srednej Azii [Materials for the ethnic history of the pop-
ology and èthnography of Khorezm). Moscow: Nauka ulation of Central Asia]. Taškent: Fan Publ. P. 30-49 (in
Publ. P. 219-227 (in Russian). Russian).
Nerazik, E. E. (1968). O nekotoryh napravleniâh ètničeskih Nerazik, E. E. (1990). Priaral’e: nekotorye èkologičeskie as-
svâzey naseleniâ Ûžnogo i Ûgo-Vostočnogo Priaral›â v pekty ètničeskogo razvitiâ [Aral Sea: Some Ecological
IV–VIII vv. [About some directions of ethnic relations Aspects of Ethnic Development], in: Problemy ètno-
of the population of the Southern and South-Eastern geneza i ètničeskoj istorii narodov Srednei Azii i Kazah-
Aral Sea region in the 4th-8th centuries], in: Istoriâ, stana. Ėtničeskiye processy, brak i sem›â. [Problems of
arheologiâ i ètnografiâ Sredney Azii: K 60-letiû so dnâ Ethnogenesis and Ethnic History of the Peoples of Cen-
roždeniâ prof. S.P. Tolstova [History, archeology and tral Asia and Kazakhstan. Ethnic Processes, Marriage
ethnography of Central Asia: On the occasion of the and Family]. Issue 2. Moscow: Nauka Publ. P. 3-14 (in
60th anniversary of the birth of prof. S.P. Tolstov). Mos- Russian).
cow: Nauka Publ. P. 197-207 (in Russian). Nerazik, E. E. (1996). Khorezm. Part One, in: History of
Nerazik, E. E. (1972). Iz istorii horezmskogo sel’skogo žiliŝa Civilizations of Central Asia. Vol. III. Paris: UNESKO
[From the history of the Khorezm rural dwelling), in: Publ. P. 211-226.
Sovetskaâ etnografiâ [Soviet ethnography)]. No. 3. P. Nerazik E.E. (1997). Rannee srednevekov’e v Horezme
43-63 (in Russian). [Early Middle Ages in Khorezm], in: Ėtnografičeskoe
Nerazik, E. E. (1975). Poseleniâ i žiliŝa Horezma kak is- obozreniye [Ethnographic Review]. No. 1. P. 41-58 (in
točnik dlâ issledovaniâ sem’i v I-XIV vv. n. è. [Settle- Russian).
ments and dwellings of Khorezm as a source for the Nerazik, E. E. (ed.) (1998a) Priaral’e v drevnosti i sredneve-
study of the family in the I-XIV centuries. AD], in: kov’e. K 60-letiû Horezmskoj arheologo-ètnografičeskoj
Sem’â i semeinye otrâdy u narodov Sredney Azii i Ka- èkspeditsii [Aral region in antiquity and the Middle
zakhstana [Family and family detachments among the Ages. To the 60th anniversary of the Khorezm archae-
peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan). Moscow: ological and ethnographic expedition]. Moscow: Vo-
Nauka Publ. P. 5-26 (in Russian). stochnaya literature Publ. 304 p. (In Russian).
Nerazik, E. E. (1976). Sel`skoe žiliŝe v Horezme (I-XIV vv.). Nerazik, E. E. (1998b). Predisloviye [Foreword], in: Ner-
Iz istorii žiliŝa i sem`i. Arheologo-ètnografičeskie očerki azik E.E. (ed) (1998a), pp. 3-6.
[Rural dwelling in Khorezm (I-XIV centuries. From the Nerazik, E. E. (1998c). Usad’ba v Yakke-Parsanskom oazise
history of housing and family. Archaeological-ethno- [Homestead in Yakkу-Parsan oasis], in: Nerazik E.E.
graphic essays). Moscow: Nauka Publ. 256 p. (ed.) (1998a), pp. 172-186 (in Russian).
Nerazik, Е. Е. (1979). Materialy po zemlepolzovaniyu i Nerazik, E. E. (1999a). Horezm v IV-VIII vv. [Khorezm
zemlevladeniû v Horezme pervyh vekov n. è. [Materi- in the 4th-8th centuries], in: Arheologiâ Sredney Azii
als on land use and land tenure in Khorezm in the first v rannem srednevekov›e [Archeology of Central Asia in
centuries AD.], in: Ėtnografiâ i arheologiâ Srednei Azii the Early Middle Ages]. Moscow: Nauka Publ. P. 30-49
[Ethnography and archeology of Central Asia). Mos- (in Russian).
cow: Nauka Publ. P. 42-47 (in Russian). Nerazik, E. E. and G. V. Šiškina (1999b). Zaklûčeniye
Nerazik, E. E. and Yu. A. Rapoport (eds.) (1981а). Gorodiŝe [Conclusion], in: Nerazik E.E. (1999a), pp. 207-219
Toprak-kala [Settlement Toprak-kala (Eхcavations (in Russian).
1965-1975)]. Proceedings of the Khorezm expedition. Nerazik, E. E. (2000). V nizov’yah Oksa i Âaksarta. Obrazy
Vol. XII. M.: Nauka Publ. 150 p. (In Russian). drevnego Priaral’ya [In the lower reaches of the Oks and
Nerazik, E. E. (1981b) “Predisloviye, glavy I, III, VI [Pref- Yaksart. Images of the ancient Aral Sea region) (co-au-
ace, chapters I, III and VI], in: Nerazik E. E., Ȗ. A. thors: Rapoport, Yu.A., Levina, L.M.). Moscow: Indrik
Rapoport (eds) (1981a), pp. 5-8, 8-56, 72-100, 136-148 Publ. 384 p. (in Russian).
(in Russian). Nerazik, E. E. (2005). Drevniye goroda Horezma i puti ih
Nerazik, E. E. and Žilina, A. N. (eds.) (1982a). Žiliŝe naro- razvitiâ [Ancient cities of Khorezm and ways of their
dov Srednei Azii i Kazahstana [Housing of the peoples development], in: Central’naya Aziya. Istochniki. Istori-
of Central Asia and Kazakhstan]. Moscow: Nauka ya. Kul’tura [Central Asia. Sources. History. Culture].
Publ. 238 p. (In Russian). Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura Publ. P. 543-561 (in
Nerazik, E. E. (1982b) Srednevekovye sel’skie postrojki Russian).
Horezma v svâzi s problemami formirovaniâ neko- Nerazik, E. E. (2013). Formirovanie rannesrednevekovogo
toryh tipov žiliŝ osedlogo naseleniâ [Medieval rural obŝestva v nizov’âh Amudar’i [Formation of the ear-
buildings of Khorezm in connection with the prob- ly medieval society in the lower reaches of the Amu
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142
 TO THE 100th ANNIVERSARY
OF BORIS ANATOLYEVICH LITVINSKY

T
HROUGHOUT his long life, Boris Anatolye-
vich Litvinsky purposefully studied the history
and culture of Bactria. In studying archaeology
and the antiquities of the Middle East, his research is
of greatest importance for any part of the historical
region and any branch of historical knowledge, be it
general cultural problems or specific features, such as,
for example, the manner of carrying a sword in a par-
ticular historical period.
Possessing encyclopaedic knowledge and phe-
nomenal memory, as well as an inner need to find out
the essence and connections in any archaeological
find or phenomenon, he could turn a study related
to the publication of a seemingly ordinary thing into
an interesting essay dedicated not only to this object,
but to the entire tangle of problems arising from its
study. For example, a study like this resulted from Li-
tyvnsky’s inquisitive attention to a poorly preserved
alabaster statuette, which in its artistic and cognitive
merits could not compete with other magnificent
items from the Takhtisangin collection. And, I am
sure, if someone else had to study this collection, this
statuette would have received only a brief technical
description. Litvinsky turned it into an occasion for
an interesting excursion into Bactrian-Parthian rela-
tions.
We, specialists in the Parthian period, have an-
other, to a certain extent symbolic, or even mystical
reason to pay special tribute to the memory of B. A. engaged in the further study of one of the rooms in
Litvinsky. He took his first steps as an archaeologist the North-Eastern Structure of the Central Ensemble
on the Parthian land, in a place sacred to all spe- of Old Nisa.
cialists in Parthia: Nisa-Mithradatkert. Demobilized It was he who, with the trained eye of a former
from the army due to injury in 1945, he returned to soldier, noticed the remains of the Parthian inscrip-
his native Central Asian State University. Following tion on a khum excavated from there. At the end of
an individual schedule, he mastered the two-year the season, quite independently, he unearthed the re-
programme for one year and in the spring of 1946 mains of a room on top of the eastern fortress bastion
became a “learned archaeologist”, as the head of the (at that time it was tower No. 1, and now its serial
Department of Central Asian Archaeology, Professor number is 16). In the difficult situation of the first
Mikhail Evgenievich Masson, referred respectfully to days after the Ashgabat earthquake on October 6,
his disciples. His first expedition and archaeological 1948, B. A. Litvinsky, as a former military man, took
practice is connected with the ancient settlement of over the organizational leadership of the expedition
Old Nisa, where in 1946, as part of the first South (the head of the expedition, M. E. Masson, was in
Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition, Tashkent at that time), and then took an active part in
he took part in the excavation of the Building with a the preservation of the newly discovered and not yet
Square Hall. At the same time, together with his col- at all famous rhytons from Nisa.
leagues Sergey Yershov and Vadim Masson, he was Working for the South Turkmenistan Complex
Archaeological Expedition developed another valu-
able quality in Litvinsky – the ability to easily and
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.011 quickly switch from one topic to another and freely

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navigate the realities of different historical periods. In There is no need to list in detail the numerous
1947, he took part in the excavation of the multi-lay- academic discoveries made by Boris Anatolyevich
ered archaeological site of Anau and made his first and dwell on the significance of his published works.
independent reconnaissance route from Bezmein to This has already been largely reflected in numerous
Baharden. In 1948, he was engaged in excavations at reviews, anniversary editions dedicated to him, and
the medieval archaeological site of Shehrislam, lost in now obituaries. If a person works a lot and fruitful-
the Karakum desert, conducted a survey of the Mis- ly, then such work is usually called selfless, but this
rian plain, participates, as mentioned above, in the definition is not suitable for Boris Anatolyevich – his
preservation of the Nisa rhytons. In 1949-50 he car- work was self-forgetful, he enjoyed it and drew much
ried out the first excavations of the famous ancient satisfaction from his occupation with research, de-
agricultural archaeological site, Namazga-depe. In spite all the difficulties that accompany it. In the late
1951, in Tashkent, he defended his PhD thesis titled 1990s, he told me about it himself: “I am now in such
“Medieval settlements in the Nisa region (north of a happy time of life when practically nothing prevents
Kopet Dagh) in the 9th-14th centuries.” me from working, the children have grown up, I have
After defending his thesis, he left the supervision a home and a good private library, there is no need to
of M. E. Masson and began an independent career, earn money for food, there is no more burden of re-
going to Tajikistan, where he almost completely by sponsibility for others [at that time Boris Anatolyev-
himself established a local archaeological center. This ich was relieved of his duties as head of a department
activity was subsequently appreciated by the lead- at the Institute of Oriental Studies under the Russian
ership of the republic – in 1978, B. A. Litvinsky was Academy of Sciences – V. P.], my arms, legs and head
elected a corresponding member, and in 1985 a full still function. Just work for pleasure as much as you
member of the Academy of Sciences of the Tajik SSR. like.” “You should take breaks in this work,” Elena

Elena Davidovich, Boris Litvinsky and Victor Sarianidi. Photo by Nadezhda Dubova, 2005

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Recent editions of the books by B. A. Litvinsky

Abramovna Davidovich, Boris Anatolyevich’s wife, and during direct personal consultations with Boris
grumbled from her chair. Anatolyevich himself, I was able to better appreci-
Although, judging by this tirade, although Boris ate the vast range of his knowledge, his attentive and
Anatolyevich was freed from administrative “respon- friendly attitude towards young scholars. He instantly
sibility for others”, he was still responsible for others and generously shared information on an issue of in-
and was engaged in many additional activities. He terest, tactfully suggested a more correct way to solve
remained a member of numerous academic and oth- a problem. Discussing an interlocutor’s publication,
er councils, several editorial boards, a constant par- he primarily paid attention to positive aspects and
ticipant in various research conferences, a reliable rarely spoke about shortcomings. After each such
opponent in the defense of doctoral and PhD the- meeting with him, I was not only enriched with new
ses, the author of many thematic articles for various information, but also felt encouraged.
collections. Finally, every Monday, regardless of the But, still, our relationship was not so close. The
weather, and often his physical well-being, he sat in long disagreement between B. A. Litvinsky and M. E.
his small office at the Institute of Oriental Studies of Masson affected his relationship with the latter’s lat-
the Russian Academy of Sciences until noon and still er students. Since 1995, the situation changed some-
made attempts to help his former disciples – he was what. I returned to my historical homeland (I moved
interested in their affairs, advised and encouraged from Ashgabat to Moscow), and Boris Anatolyevich
them. These voluntary commitments absorbed the got rid of his administrative duties at the Institute of
lion’s share of the free time. In fact, he had just a cou- Oriental Studies and devoted himself entirely to re-
ple of hours free from research activities necessary for search.
moving from one research institution to another and He kindly suggested that I use his wonderful li-
going to grocery shops – Boris Anatolyevich and Ele- brary, and my visits to exchange one batch of books
na Abramovna, brought up in democratic traditions, for another often turned into long conversations.
had no servants. By doing this, Boris Anatolyevich allowed himself
I was acquainted with Litvinsky since the 1968 to have some rest after active work in the morning,
Dushanbe conference on the problems of Kushan and it was interesting for me to listen to the master’s
history and culture. Before that, I had known him opinions on a variety of topics. These conversations
only from publications that attracted me with their usually involved Elena Davidovich. Conversations on
clarity and erudition. I should admit that first meet- academic topics were interspersed with recollection
ing did not make a special impression on me, since about the work for the department and the South
many prime stars participated in that conference, and Turkmenistan Complex Archaeological Expedition,
Boris Anatolyevich defended the latest version of the and in general about the history of the archaeological
opening date of the Kanishka period, which was alien study of Central Asia. Boris Anatolyevich knew a lot
to me. But later, during meetings at other conferences about this topic and it is a pity that he did not leave

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any written evidence about it. He only waved aside where. They had made some official visit and looked
my wishes to do this – he said that not all of his re- obviously tired. Seeing this, I quickly handed over the
search materials had been published yet, that he did books and was about to say goodbye, but Boris Ana-
not want to waste time on secondary things. But in tolyevich did not let me go: “No, no, come in, let’s sit
this respect, Boris Anatolyevich was not quite right down and talk.” “But you’re tired,” I said, “some other
or, rather, was too modest. He was one of the few ar- time, perhaps.” “You see,” he replied, “I’m already an
chaeologists who published and correctly interpreted elderly man, and there may not be another time, and
almost everything that they had excavated. I don’t want you to have unpleasant memories about
In conversations with young archaeologists, Boris our last meeting and a short talk in the corridor.”
Anatolyevich tirelessly repeated that the first thing an We had our last meeting three years later, about
archaeologist was to do, as soon as they made a deci- a month before his death. Boris Anatolyevich was
sion to carry out archaeological excavations, was to noticeably weak by that time, but, as always, was
make a complete, detailed description of the results of full of desire to work. I even helped him take a book
their studies, and this should not be a mechanical re- he needed from the top shelf of a rack, which was
cord of the results of excavations, but an insight into physically inaccessible to him now. Two weeks after
the essence of the historical processes of the period his death, the last volume of his now famous trilogy
they studied. He often repeated the phrase: “Many about Takhti-Sangin was signed for publication. He
dig, but only a few can understand and explain to oth- never saw a published copy, but this edition (like the
ers the essence of what has been excavated.” “hundred volumes” of his other research works) be-
Boris Anatolyevich was a gentle and delicate per- came a worthy finale of the research activities made
son. I do not remember any cases when he ever raised by this remarkable scholar and person.
his voice, expressed his dissatisfaction, said some
barbs to his opponent. At the same time, he was prin- Victor Pilipko,
cipled and even strict in academic matters. I remem- Doctor of History, leading researcher
ber one situation. One day, on the eve of an expedi- at the Department of Classical Archaeology,
tion, I brought the books I had borrowed from him Institute of Archaeology,
and found the couple had just returned from some- Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow

146
 FATHER AND SON FALK AT THE NUKUS MUSEUM

Robert Falk. Snow roofs. Sun. 1907

T
HE State Museum of Arts of the Republic of on the Run (Moscow, 1989) for the first time put the
Karakalpakstan named after I. V. Savitsky has a collection in a certain art historical context, desig-
unique collection of fine art produced in Rus- nating it with the term avant-garde popular at that
sia in the 20th century. The significance of this col- time. Meanwhile, modern researchers agree that the
lection became obvious during the lifetime of Igor 20th-century history of Russian and then Soviet art
Vitalievich Savitsky, the founder of the museum and was more complex than a simple enumeration of the
the person who actually formed it. Published after main artistic trends and associations, including the
his death, the famous book The Avant-garde Stopped broader generally accepted chronological and ideo-
logical opposition: avant-garde – (social) realism.
And, of course, the collection of the Nukus Museum
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.012 provides excellent material for studying this history,

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Robert Falk. Two young women. 1910. On the left - Elizaveta Sergeevna Potekhina, on the right -
Anastasia Konstantinovna Bobrovskaya (Potekhina's friend)

which ultimately should lead to the creation of a more That was why his painting was included in the retro-
spacious picture of the development of art in Russia spective review of the development of Russian/Soviet
during the fateful century. art. Such interest in Falk over the past decades is quite
Among the artists whose heritage is preserved in stable and has an explanation. In the history of art, he
the Nukus Museum, there are names that say little to occupies a special place as a person whose work, on
people who are not related to art, and there are those the one hand, reflected significant artistic phenome-
who, especially in recent decades, have become iconic na for his time (early commitment to Impressionism,
not only in the artistic environment, but also in the participation in the Jack of Diamonds, teaching at
broad public consciousness. Robert Rafailovich Falk Vhutemas – Higher Art and Technical Workshops in
(1986-1958) is one of such famous figures. Undoubt- Moscow). On the other hand, he managed to build his
edly, for some art lovers, Falk is associated, first of all, own artistic position, different from both avant-garde
with a scandal – more precisely, part of the scandal and realism.
that unfolded during Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to This position, like Falk himself, has been regar-
the exhibition at the Moscow Manege in 1962. At ded since the 1950s as a link between European fine
that time Robert Rafalilovich, the author of one of art, the Russian avant-garde, which is already acquir-
the paintings depicting “nude” bodies, which caused ing a mythological status, and modernity. It is no
Khrushchev’s indignation, was no longer alive, but coincidence, therefore, that an extensive literature is
Falk was considered by many contemporaries as a devoted to the work of Robert Falk. In recent years,
significant person in the history of fine art in Russia. the peak of interest in Falk was expressed in a large

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Robert Falk. Against the background of suzane. Samarkand. 1943

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exhibition, which opened in early 2021 at the State Savitsky a reason to call himself a student of Falk, al-
Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. Over 200 of the artist’s though formally the latter was never an official teach-
works were presented at the exhibition, and a solid er of Igor Vitalievich. At about that time, I. V. Savitsky
album/catalog was published. It was attended by a became acquainted with R. R. Falk’s fourth wife, An-
large group of authors who wrote not only analyti- gelina Vasilyevna Shchekin-Krotova. It is not surpris-
cal articles, but also very appropriately used memoirs ing that many years later, when Savitsky asked her to
highlighting the personality of Falk (T. Levina, E. sell her husband’s paintings to the museum, the “ideal
Efremova, Yu. Didenko, M. Kamensky, A. Belyaeva, widow” picked up 13 works for the museum, reflect-
T. Mikheenko, E. Bulatov, A. V. Shchekin-Krotova). ing virtually all of Falk’s creative stages. 10 works by
It so happened that the exhibition in the Tretya- his son from his first marriage, Valery Robertovich
kov Gallery did not involve Falk’s paintings from the Falk (1915-1943), became an “unexpected addition”
small (13 works), but very representative collection to his legacy, which came to Nukus.
in the Nukus Museum. That was how this collection Talking a well-known specialist in Falk’s work,
formed. When R. R. Falk was evacuated to Samar- Yulia Didenko, I asked her a question about the inter-
kand in 1942-1943, he became seriously ill and was pretation of one curious detail in the paired portraits
hospitalized. by R. R. Falk, and she prompted me on a topic that
Fate decreed that there was another patient in seemed interesting. Didenko drew my attention to
the same hospital room – Igor Savitsky, a student at the works of Valery Falk, stored in Nukus. Actually,
the graphic faculty of the Moscow Art Institute. Ob- her research became the basis of the exhibition “The
viously, during the time they spent together in the Falks: Father and Son”, held in 2022 at the Nukus Mu-
same ward, they made acquaintance, which later gave seum. It presents all 13 works by R. R. Falk and 10

Valery Falk. Evening in the village. 1935-1937

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Valery Falk and Robert Falk. The shooting date has not been set.
Photos from the personal archive of Elena Borisovna Gromova

works by V. R. Falk. Irina Petrushina took an active time, Valerik entered adolescence and, seeing that his
part in the preparation of the exhibition (arrange- son’s condition was becoming more and more diffi-
ment, texts). cult, Potekhina let him go to his father. So in 1933, the
The exhibition is based on the history of the rela- father and son found themselves together in a small
tionship between the father and the son, which is well apartment that Falk rented in Paris.
known to researchers into the biography and creative According to R. R. Falk’s recollections, at that time
life of Robert Falk. In 1915, his first wife, E. S. Potekh- he was not only an artist and a professor of painting,
ina, brought their son. His family called him Valerik. but a cook, a laundryman and a paramedic for his
The boy was born sick and weak. The birth of the son son. But these everyday inconveniences meant noth-
did not stop the looming disintegration of the fami- ing compared to the main problem. It turned out that
ly. For Robert Rafailovich it was hard going through father and son had nothing to talk about. The famous
the divorce – he even spent some time in a neuropsy- artist and an accomplished person was confronted by
chiatric hospital. Subsequently, the health and fate of a teenager who, due to his morbidity and transitional
his son became a constant source of disturbance and age, had no illusions, did not build any life plans and
care for the artist. Therefore, it is no coincidence that was closed to communication. The senior Falk faced a
when in the second half of the 1920s R. R. Falk began young elder who looked at his father somewhat con-
to plan a business trip to Paris, one of the reasons for descendingly – “as if we changed ages.” However, in
his impending departure was, as he said, the desire to this difficult situation, Robert Falk found an unex-
show his son to European doctors. In 1928, R. R. Falk pected way out – he remembered his son’s childhood
went to Paris with his third wife R. V. Idelson. Despite interest in drawing and began patiently encouraging
Falk’s pleading, the son’s mother, E. S. Potekhina, did him to engage in fine art. The father understood that
not give permission for Valerik to go with them. But creativity could socialize his son and give him a future
in 1929, R. V. Idelson returned to the USSR. At this that he did not see. In the end, Robert Rafailovich’s

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perseverance bore fruit – in 1935, the young man As the Second World War began, R. R. Falk to-
entered a school where he was taught engraving gether with his new wife A. V. Shchekin-Krotova was
and printing. In 1936, Valerik together with his fa- evacuated, first to Bashkiria and then Samarkand.
ther took part in several exhibitions (the 14th exhi- In 1942, Valery also evacuated to Samarkand. Very
bition of the Salon Tuileries, the exhibition “Russian soon, concealing the medical diagnosis that exempt-
artists” in the gallery Zak and other). Later, Valerik ed him from military service, he managed to get him-
helped his father in working on the set design for the self drafted. After studying at the Frunze Infantry
film Taras Bulba produced in France. In fact, these School, he received the speciality of a military topog-
steps along the path of Valery Falk’s social formation rapher and was sent to the Stalingrad Front. Late in
were more important than his formal achievements that year, Valery Falk was wounded in the Battle of
in painting. This is how fine art became the basis for Stalingrad, and in the spring of 1943 he died in hospi-
the human relationship between the father and the tal. Falk learnt about his son’s death only six months
son. In 1937, the Falks returned to Moscow. There later, when he returned to Moscow from Samarkand.
is a lot of speculation that the moment for returning According to Shchekin-Krotova, Robert Falk
from Paris was not the most appropriate. The USSR considered Valerik a talented artist and had high
was going through a peak of repression, which could hopes for him. Naturally, as a result of his son’s tragic
easily concern anyone. But it should be kept in mind death, Falk took special efforts to care about his small
that in Paris in the second half of the 1930s there was artistic heritage. Moreover, this admiring fatherly at-
already a lot of tension associated with the fascization titude was conveyed to Falk’s inner circle. It is no co-
of Europe. And Falk, like any intuitive artist, felt this incidence that Shchekin-Krotova, seeing in Savitsky a
atmosphere of approaching catastrophe. person close in spirit to her late husband, gave him 10
When in 1928 Robert Falk went to Paris, he was a works by Valery for the Nukus Museum.
famous artist and a recognized teacher. After return- By exhibiting the works of father and son Falk
ing, he found out that great changes had taken place within the same exhibition space, we brought togeth-
in the USSR over the years, and he not only had no- er two very different artists for the first time since
where to live (his apartment/workshop was occupied 1936. The purpose of the exhibition was not to com-
by his third wife, R. V. Idelson, with her new husband), pare the work of the father and the son, demonstrat-
but was not in demand anymore as an artist. And the ing the similarities and differences. We showed how
elder Falk became homeless for a while, while Valer- fine art, thanks to Robert Rafailovich Falk, became a
ik returned to live with his mother. Over time, R. R. bridge for human communication between the father
Falk received his own corner – two attic rooms in and the son.
Pertsov’s House, and an invitation to work – to make
scenery for a performance based on Lermontov’s play
The Spaniards for the State Jewish Theater. It is sig- Tigran Mkrtychev,
nificant that he attracted his son to this work, trying Doctor of Art History,
to preserve the established connection between them. Director of the I. V. Savitsky State Museum of Art
However, this was their last collaboration. of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Nukus

152
 POST-COLONIAL
PERSPECTIVE ON TURKESTAN PHOTOGRAPHY

A
LMOST of the same age, photography and
colonial Central Asia experienced similar ex-
plosive growth. The landmark book Photogra-
phing Central Asia brings together well-established
contributors, leading historians, art historians, archi-
vists and anthropologists from Western and Central
Europe, Russia and the United States to convey the
complexity and multi-perspectivity of the research
materials, methods, sources and materials related to
photography of and in Russian Turkestan/Soviet Cen-
tral Asia between the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. It is worth mentioning that S. Gorshenina,
S. Abashin, B. De Cordier and T. Saburova’s volume
of the special “Worlds of South and Inner Asia” col-
lection is in full Open Access mode.1 Altogether with
the two hundred often unfamiliar images in high re-
production quality, the editors and the contributors
have already done students of Turkestan and Central
Asia a great favour, enabling the sort of close-up in-
spection of images that may have never been available
otherwise.
As an object itself, the book inspires multiple
modes of reading by its intriguingly well-staged pho-
tograph on its cover where the Chief Administrator
of Land Management and Agriculture of the Rus-
sian Empire A. V. Krivoshein meets with the people
of Russian Turkestan in 1902. Like many other case
studies of the book, it shows the duality and ambi-
guity of colonial photography as a tool of modernity
and colonial enterprise but also as an art medium,
illustrating “the complex mechanisms by which im- itself comprises a broader exploration of the possi-
ages of Turkestan were created, remembered or for- ble place of Central Asian studies still at the periph-
gotten”(22). ery of ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ areas of academic re-
While presumably the “photographing” of the ti- search, particularly in the postcolonial context of the
tle refers to the military engineers and field amateurs, post-Soviet world. Pursuing her introductory essay,
Russian colonials and their local assistants and subal- Svetlana Gorshenina maintains the editors’ desire to
terns, photography as protean technology witnessed show and to analyze unexamined episodes in the his-
the transformations of colonial Turkestan itself: from tory of photography in colonial Turkestan and Soviet
the emergence of the new Russian Turkestan Gover- Central Asia thus inaugurating an ambitious endeav-
nor-Generalship to the advent of its printed support or of the editors to disprove the traditional perception
- the media press in the 1920-1930s, to conclude with of Central Asia as a marginal region and of Central
it virtual framework of social media today. The book Asian photography as the most marginal of all mar-
ginal subjects.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.34920/2181-8592-2023.35en.013 Without reducing the entire argument to the bi-
nary of ‘photography and power’, the editors impose a
1
Photographing Central Asia: From the Periphery of the Russian certain direction on the reader by arranging the essays
Empire to Global Presence. Ed. by Svetlana Gorshenina, Sergei around two poles: Photography and Orientalisms and
Abashin, Bruno De Cordier and Tatiana Saburova. Volume 13 in
the series Welten Süd- und Zentralasiens / Worlds of South and
Using and Reusing Photographs which follow a relative
Inner Asia / Mondes de l'Asie du Sud et de l'Asie Centrale. Berlin: chronological order. If the first part attempts to con-
De Gruyter. 2022. 431 pp. € 102, 95. ISBN 978-3-11-075442-1 nect documentary Orientalism, modernity and pho-

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 BULLETIN OF THE IICAS 35/2023

tography through individual trajectories of well-and Yet, to be able to think about the photography as an
less-known visitors and explorers (Charles-Eugène object of art or material culture, requires a certain vi-
De Ujfalvy, Samuil Dudin, Alexander Samoilovich, sual literacy on the part of the reader and a certain
György Almásy, Vassilii Sapozhnikov, Konstantin willingness of the authors to provide the reader with
von der Pahlen and Nikolai Shchapov) who came to some skills necessary for ‘reading’. Even if the major-
Turkestan at different historical moments, the sec- ity of them proposed their own practices of reading
ond strives to analyze the practices of use and re- their visual materials, the logocentric perception of
use of photography through its popularization and photography seems still dominant due to the admin-
commercialization in the forms of photojournalism, istrative aspects of the colonial Turkestan put forward
photographic collections and postcards depicting the in the present volume. Photography played an essen-
“Russian Orient” and how these historical materials tial role in popularization of Turkestanomania of the
could be instrumentalized within the virtual “mem- period, firing the imagination for the exotic and the
ory wars” of today. foreign altogether with recording archeological and
Even if other organizational structures might ethnographic evidence. There is room for expansion
have been deployed (thematic clustering as one of on this point, including the artistic dimension of the
them), thankfully, the chronological approach does Central Asian photography which would, hopefully,
not necessarily preclude debates which would have fruitfully resonate in the future volumes to come.
been raised by alternative modes (as, for instance, The broad range of photographic material de-
the case studies of Samuil Dudin or Max Penson). scribed in the volume, the clarity of the language and
We could only deplore the absence of the missionary the very detailed footnotes will no doubt enhance
input, Russian and foreign alike, demonstrating that the conjointly created website Open Central Asian
the historical development of the missionary photog- Photo Archive (https://ca-photoarchives.net/) and
raphy in colonial Central Asia and its consequences The European Handbook of Central Asian Studies
for a larger history of colonial photography remain to (https://www.ibidem.eu/en/the-european-hand-
be explored. book-of-central-asian-studies-9783838215181.
Timely and stimulatingly, the contributors reveal html) making this collection a popular source of
the different modes of ‘seeing’ that involve distinct knowledge on Central Asian history and culture.
cultural norms, social practices, power relations, lev-
els of technology, and networks for circulating pho- Irina Kantarbaeva-Bill,
tography, and that determine the manner of its (re) University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès
use in constructing various images of Central Asia. (EUR’ORBEM, CAS, LLA)

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ADDRESSES OF AUTHORS Media Association of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.

Contact: nekrasova-elizaveta@rambler.ru

Bahtiyor Abdullaev, Senior researcher of the Samar- Akmal Mukhammadiev, Junior researcher of the
kand’s Institute of Archaeology named after Yahya National Center for Archeology of the Academy of
Gulyamov. Contact: abdbahtiyor@gmail.com Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.
Contact: muhammadiyev.kml@gmail.com
Elmira Gyul, PhD., Professor, Research Fellow, Insti-
tute of Art Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Kholiyor Oinazarov, Basic doctoral student (PhD) of
Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. the National Center for Archeology of the Academy
Contact: egyul@yahoo.com of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent.
Contact: xoliyor.oynazarov@mail
Mark Dickens, PhD in Syriac Studies, Visiting Re-
searcher, Centre for East Asian Studies Groningen, Dilnoza Rajabova, Basic doctoral student (PhD)
University of Groningen, the Netherlands. of the Bukhara State University, the lecturer at the
Contact: dickens@ualberta.ca Bukhara Medical Institute, Republic of Uzbekistan.
Contact: dilnozarajabova85@gmail.com
Valerii Kolchenko, Researcher at the Institute of
History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the National Vladimir Ruzanov, PhD in archaeology, senior sci-
Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic, Bish- entific employee of the Samarkand’s Institute of Ar-
kek. Contact: archak@gmail.com chaeology named after Yahya Gulyamov.
Contact: ruzanov1.2@mail.ru
Dmitry Miloserdov, Senior Researcher of the De-
partment of Foundations, the State Darwin Museum Rustam Suleymanov, D.Sc., Professor, Chief Re-
(Moscow). Contact: roofvogels1974@gmail.com searcher of the National Center for Archeology of the
Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan,
Elizaveta Nekrasova, PhD in archaeology, National Tashkent. Contact:: sr_39@mail.ru

ABBREVIATIONS

AIT Archaologie in Iran und Turan

IMKU Istoria Material’noj Kul’tury Uzbekistana (History of Tangible Culture of Uzbekistan)
KhAEE The Khorezm Arhaeologo-Ethnographic Expedition
KSIA Kratkie soobsheniya Instituta arheologii [Brief reports of the Institute of Archaeology]
(Moscow).
KSIIMK Kratkie soobsheniya Instituta istorii materialnoy kultury [Brief reports of the Institute
for the History of Material Culture] (Leningrad – St.Petersburg).
MAE Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) under the Russian Academy
of Sciences (St.Petersburg).
MIA Materialy i issledovaniya po arheologii SSSR (Materials and researche on archeology
of the USSR).
ONU Obschestvennye nauki v Uzbekistane [Social Sciences in Uzbekistan] (Tashkent).
RAN Russian Academy of Sciences.
SA Sovetskaya archeologiya [The Soviet archeology] (Moscow).
ZVOIRAO Memoirs of the Oriental Department of the Russian Archaeological Society (St.Petersburg).

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 ВЕСТНИК МИЦАИ 34/2022
29/2020

Translated into English: Denis Chuchkin, Shamil Gareev

Editor: Steven Gilbert

Cover illustration:
Embroidered carpet ok-enli gilam. Uzbeks: Lakais or Kungrats. Surkhandarya, 19th century.
Private collection of Akbar Khakimov, Bukhara, Illustration for the article by E.Gyul.

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