The territory of present-day Tajikistan
was part of the Iranian Empire, the religion of which was
Zoroastrianism.
When the Iranian Sassanids were defeated by Umayyad Arab armies in
636, Islam was gradually spread throughout the Central Asian region.
See Archaeology
and
History.
The religion of the vast majority of Tajikistan’s population today is
Sunni Islam. In the Pamirs, however, a majority of the people profess
the Ismaili faith (i.e. are followers of the Aga Khan). According to local tradition,
the Pamiris were converted to Ismailism in the 11th century by the Persian poet,
traveller and philosopher Nasir Khusraw. However, one of the foremost non-Ismaili
authorities on Ismailism, W. Iwanow, of the Russian Academy of Sciences in
St. Petersburg, writing in 1948, expressed the opinion that "the present Shughnis,
Wakhis and others were not yet settled there in Nasir's time. They came
to that locality much later on". See "Nasir-I-Khusraw and Ismailism" on http://www.ismaili.net/Source/khusraw/nk2/8.html.
One of the most important symbols of culture in the Pamirs is the Pamiri house,
locally known as 'Chid.' Please click on this link:
Chid, for more detailed information on the symbolism
of the Pamiri house.
Pamiri handicraft skills are being revived by a project of the Aga Khan
Foundation, with support from the Christensen Fund and Aid to Artisans.
See here.
Typical Pamiri handicrafts include:
beautifully decorated skullcaps,
surrounded by a woven band containing Zoroastrian symbols, decorative
embroidered cloths (suzanis)
Photos courtesy Robin Oldacre
and knitted socks and gloves in bright colours
Old Pamiri jewellery can still be found, comprising primarily
necklaces made of coral with silver decorations and rings with spinel
stones (reportedly, the coral is found in the hills of the Alichur
plain and is there because this whole area was raised from sea-level
to its present height as the continents drifted and tectonic plates
clashed).
There is a saying in Tajikistan that the people from Leninabad
govern, those from Kulob fight, in Garm they pray – and the Pamiris
dance. Certainly it is difficult to imagine life in Gorno-Badakhshan
without the perpetual accompaniment of music and dancing. Every
village has excellent musicians, young and old as well as expert
dancers. Men and women dance together, although there is no contact.
Women perform as solo singers and occasionally as accordion players.
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Pamiri dancing is
highly rhythmic and uses complex and elegant hand movements |
Typical instruments,
shown above, are: from left to right tanboor, Afghan rubob, Pamiri
rubob, tor, setor – above gejak (violin-type instrument) – in
front Pamiri rubob lying on a daf (drum); the accordeon is also
widely used |
Musicians
in Khedjez
More information on Pamiri musical instruments can be found on
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106106
A fascinating doctoral thesis by Benjamin Koen at the University of Ohio
(Devotional music and healing in Badakhshan, Tajikistan: preventive and curative practices)
together with samples (wav files) of Pamiri music can be found on
http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?acc_num=osu1059673277
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|
Musicians in Bartang |
Man playing a rubob |
Other information resources:
For Buddhism in Central Asia:
http://www.berzinarchives.com/e-books/historic_interaction_buddhist_
islamic/history_cultures_01.html
For Islam and Ismailism:
http://www.akdn.org/about_imamat.asp
http://www.iis.ac.uk
For Zoroastrianism:
http://www.angelfire.com/rnb/bashiri/Zorobar/Zorobar.html
http://www.zoroastrianism.com/
For Pamiri hats and other handicrafts:
http://www.textile-art.com/geb.html
For ancient and contemporary Tajik design:
http://www.arzhang.tajik.net/index.html
General
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/tajikistanupdate/culture.html
