Tajikistan culture. Religion in the country. Tajik cuisine

The Culture of Tajikistan has developed over several thousand years. Historically, Tajik and Persians come from very similar stock with a mutual language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. Tajik culture can be divided into two areas, Metropolitan and Kuhiston( Highland). Ancient towns such asBukhara, Samarkand, Herat, Balkh and Nishopur Khiva are no longer part of the country. More modern centres include Dushanbe (the capital), Khudjand, Kulob, Panjikent and Istarvshan.

In order to understand Tajik culture it is necessary to look back to the time of Transoxiana, (an area that lies between the Amu Darjaand Syr Darja rivers and modern north-west Afganistan), and the centers of civilization of the Nile, Mesopotamia and the banks of the Yangtze. The Tajiks’ ancestors were from Scythian proto-Indo-European tribes who were nomads of the Eurasian steppes and were among the first to settle in Central Asia about 4000 years ago.

Religion in Tajikistan

A family celebrating Eid in Tajikistan.Zoroaster, the prophet of Zoroastrianism, was born in the Balkh area, (northern Afghanistan and Transoxania) and was possibly Bactrian (the partial ancestors of the Tajiks). Zoroastrianism had been adopted by Persian emperors as a state religion and was practiced during the Samanid era in central Asia until being overrun by the Arabs. The Shahs of Somoni made Bukhara their residence and a focal point for art and science as well as an administrative center. In this period, the personal interest and support of the Shahs in the arts and sciences, along with international trade, and the relatively stable political situation in the Silk-Road region, all contributed to Tajik art and science at its zenith.

The largest celebration to come from the pre-Islamic period is Navruz, which means "New Day". It is held on March 21 or 22, when the cultivation of the land starts. During Navruz, many families visit relatives, throw out old belongings, clean the house and play field games. Special dishes are also served. Other Pre-Islamic Tajik traditions like fire-jumping, dancing round the fire and fighting `devils` with fire, still occur in the more remote regions.

A 1000 years after the Samanid period saw another cultural revival; this time due to the Soviets. They introduced modern drama, opera and ballet. Poets such as Mirzo Tursunzoda, Mirziad Mirshakar and Loik Sherali, novelist and historian Sadridin Aini, all had input, as did professors M Ishoki and Osimi, scholar Sotim Ulughzoda, novelist Jalol Ikromi, and anthropologist and historian Bobojon Ghafurov. In 1969,Malika Sobirova won a gold medal in an international ballet competition.

Since independence, there has been a pre-Soviet cultural revival in an attempt to foster a sense of national identity. Novelist Taimur Zulfikaro and professors Rahim Masov and Bozor Sobir being prominent.

Tajikstan is known as being intolerant of various religious faiths, carrying out actions such as banning certain religions outright and demolishing religious buildings.

Statue of Persian-Tajik poet Rudaki in Panjakent, Tajikistan. Poetry is an important element in the culture of Tajikistan 

Historically, Tajiks and Persians come from very similar stock, speaking variants of the same language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. The Tajik language is the mother tongue of around two-thirds of the citizens of Tajikistan. Ancient towns such as Buchara, Samarqand, Herat, Balkh and Khiva are no longer part of the country. The main urban centers in today`s Tajikistan include Dushanbe (the capital), Khujand, Kulob, Panjakent and Istaravshan.

The Pamiri people of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in the southeast, bordering Afghanistan and China, though considered part of the Tajik ethnicity, nevertheless are distinct linguistically and culturally from most Tajiks. In contrast to the mostly Sunni Muslim residents of the rest of Tajikistan, the Pamiris overwhelmingly follow the Ismaili sect of Islam, and speak a number of Eastern Iranian languages, including Shughni, Rushani, Khufi and Wakhi. Isolated in the highest parts of the Pamir Mountains, they have preserved many ancient cultural traditions and folk arts that have been largely lost elsewhere in the country.
The Yaghnobi people live in mountainous areas of northern Tajikistan. The estimated number of Yaghnobis is now about 25,000. Forced migrations in the 20th century decimated their numbers. They speak the Yaghnibis language, which is the only direct modern descendant of the ancient Sogdian language.

Cuisine of Tajikistan

Traditional Tajik cuisine has much in common with Persian cuisine, and features such dishes as kabuli pulao, gabili palau, shashlyk and sumanak. Traditional Tajik meals start with sweet dishes such as halva and tea, and then progress to soups and meat, before finishing with plov.

Kabuli pulao, also known as gabili palau, and regionally as ош (osh), is the Tajik national dish, a rice dish with shredded yellow turnip or carrot, meat, and olive oil or drippings, and is a staple dish in all the Central Asian republics, known elsewhere as plov. The meat is cubed, and the carrots are chopped finely, and the rice is yellow due to the carrots and oil. The traditional way to eat the dish is to share it communally with one`s hands.

The traditional drink is green tea, sometimes consumed with nuts such as pistachios, and the most common gathering place is a choykhona or teahouse. Tajiks do not drink water unless it has been boiled, as the tap water is unsafe. It is Tajik belief that using iceis bad for one`s health, and that drinking water or a soft drinks with ice in it will cause illness. Kefir, a thick drinking yogurt, is often served with breakfast.

Meals are usually served with hoh, flat bread found throughout Central Asia. If a Tajik has food but not non, he will say he is out of food. If non is dropped on the ground, people will put it up on a high ledge for beggars or birds. Legend holds that one is not supposed to put non upside down because this will bring bad luck. The same holds true if anything is put on top of the non, unless it is another piece of non.

Other dishes shared regionally include manty (meat dumplings), samsa (samosas) and cheburek (deep-fried dough cakes); Shorpur, a meat and vegetable soup; laghmon, similar to shorpur, but with noodles.

In the summer, Tajikistan is abundant in fruit: its grapes and melons were famous throughout the former Soviet Union. The bazaars also sell pomegranates, apricots, plums, peaches, apples, pears, figs and persimmons.