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Traditions and customs of Central Asia, culture, public holidays

The traditions and customs of Central Asia have very extensive roots that go back centuries. And before touching on their content, it is necessary to pay some attention to the historical heritage that the most ancient states of Central Asia transferred to modern descendants.

Historical heritage of the region

Central Asia has made a huge contribution to the art, science, architecture and literature of the entire world civilization, has left an indelible mark on our common history. In ancient times, skilful craftsmen and slaves built here palaces and temples incredible in their beauty and engineering thought, blooming cities and settlements, many of which are to this day an ornament of world historical architecture. Life style, historical destiny, traditions and customs of Central Asia are described in the article.

XIII-XIV centuries. In Central Asia are marked as the period of construction of the greatest palaces and mausoleums, striking proportionality of their proportions, decorated with bright, beautiful ornament. Many monuments of architecture of that period have reached us. Among them, one can note the unique Registan Square, which was at that time the center of Samarkand; The beautiful Bibi-Khanum mosque; Funeral crypt Gur-i-Emir, differing from the rest with its unusual turquoise dome.

Folk craftsmen already in the XV-XVII centuries. They erected on the square of Samarkand such structures as madrasahs of Ulugbek, Tillya-Kari and Shir-Dor ("The building with a lion"). The history of Central Asian architecture is a clear testament to the fact that it has always been the people who created the monuments of spiritual and material culture of these countries.

1220 became a tragic tragedy for the peoples of Central Asia - the Mongol invasion began. The hordes of Genghis Khan were devastated by prosperous towns and villages, destroyed the oldest monuments of architecture and the culture of these peoples. For decades, this territory was held by invaders, and this, of course, also greatly influenced the traditions and customs of Central Asia, left its indelible imprint, which is still visible today. Moreover, the whole of foreign Asia is full of various traces of the Mongol invasion.

A family

The family and family values are of the greatest importance among the inhabitants of Central Asia. Especially it concerns children. The languages of the peoples of these countries contain many aphorisms dedicated specifically to children: "The child is dear like a heart," "There will be no happiness in the family without a child," "Native child - decoration of the house," etc.

Each family with special joy and trembling perceives the birth of a child. Such a happy event has its own traditional ritual. According to the custom, a few good criers sit down on horses (if everything happens in the village) and sweep along the streets, informing the happy news about the birth of the baby to their relatives, neighbors, friends and acquaintances who present them with various gifts and gifts, say good parting words : "Let your offspring multiply from generation to generation", "We wish you to contemplate the wedding of children," etc.

Family relations in the East have always been distinguished by their conservatism. A traditional Central Asian family is a fairly large group of people, consisting of a father, his wife, their sons and their wives, children, and sometimes grandchildren who live together in the same house. It is known that in the mountainous Tajikistan in the XIX century there were families of more than one hundred people. Such large families, in fact, were communities with their own land plots and the principle of "all income to the general cashier." Even food was consumed by relatives in common: everyone, young and old, gathered at the same table. Such communities, as a rule, were very strong and united. Over time, the big family relationships turned into vestiges of the past, although as early as the middle of the last century some ethnographers noted that for the father, leaving his own son's home and settling his own corner was considered a serious insult.

Nomadic peoples of the region are also aware of the concept of a large family, however, here its members could live in different yurts, but only one "father's" yurt rose on the background of the others.

At the end of the 20th century, the Central Asian family underwent some changes. Here, the elder sons, having married, could already, as they say, go on free bread, create their own hearth. Only the youngest son, who inherited all the condition of his parents, had to stay to look after them in old age. This principle, by the way, is fundamental for a large number of peoples, including the peoples of the Caucasus.

Marriage in Central Asia

In the Central Asian families there are two types of marriage. According to the first type (exogamous), a young man or girl is forbidden to marry with relatives on the paternal line up to the 7th tribe. This model of the construction of marriages is characteristic of the Karakalpaks, Kazakhs and part of the Kirghiz. Another type of construction of marriages (endogamous), when the children of close and relatively distant relatives marry, refers to the Turkmens, Tajiks and Uzbeks. Although it is worth noting that the traditional intra-natal relationship has undergone some changes due to constant wars, redistribution of territory and relocations. This is especially true of the Turkmen people, where both exogamous and endogamous families can be found.

Despite the difference in the principles of marriage, one factor is fundamental: the bridegroom must pay the bride's bride's family. Today, as a rule, it is a certain sum of money, but in the villages the tradition of transferring some quantity of cattle as a kalym still exists. The party of the bride, in turn, according to tradition, should prepare a dowry, usually consisting of clothes and household items, while in the nomads, a yurt was necessarily included in the dowry.

Among the nomadic peoples there was also the custom of the levvirate, which consisted in the fact that the widow was obliged to marry the brother of the deceased spouse. This was done for economic reasons - all the property of the deceased person, inherited by his wife, was to remain in his family. For a woman, this form of marriage was at times similar to a tragedy.

Surely, you also heard about such archaic customs as "marriage in the cradle", when the parents contracted to marry their children when they were still in their infancy, and marriage with kidnapping.

Holidays

Holidays of the peoples of Central Asia included not only the main ritual ceremonies, but also various games, entertaining competitions (in which, by the way, intergenerational rivalry was manifested), performances by actors, poets and musicians. The most revered and ancient holidays among the peoples of Central Asia are Kurban-Bayram, Uraza-Bayram, Novruz.

Eastern hospitality in Central Asian countries

Even people who have never been to the countries of Central Asia, certainly have an idea of eastern hospitality. The owner of the house will never leave his guest hungry, even if he comes for only five minutes. The table will be surely set with various dishes, sweets, and fragrant tea will be served.

Some historians argue that the tradition of hospitality in Central Asia was introduced by none other than Genghis Khan, under whose rule almost all of Asia was located. His order stated that in every house of a guest looking for shelter, one should be received with special respect, friendliness and respect, even if this guest is a completely unknown person. In the event of a violation of this instruction, the inhospitable master expected a terrible fate: he was tightly tied to two heated horses, which were allowed in different directions.

Perhaps, it is for this reason that hospitality, which soon became not a state but a moral law, is an integral part of culture in Central Asia. The owners could refuse the roof only if the guest behaved rudely.

It is worth noting that today such traditions have faded, but they are still preserved.

Relationship

Family relations among the peoples of Central Asia have always been of great importance. Because of belonging to a certain surname, a person is obliged to help "his", even if the relative is not right in something. It is common here that a person who occupies a high position surrounds himself with members of his own kind.

Tribal ties play an important role in the life of every inhabitant of Central Asia. There is a custom that for many Europeans may seem rather strange and burdensome: after returning from a long trip a person must bring gifts to all of his relatives, some of whose names number more than a hundred. In general, it should be understood that in Central Asia, guests do not go empty-handed.

Respect for elders

This custom, as one of the duties of every resident of the Central Asian region, has been known since ancient times. Respect for the elder must be shown, even if the difference in age is only a few years. The younger must fulfill the desire of the elder if the latter asks him to go somewhere, bring something or perform some action in his place. It's indecent to refuse. In the presence of older people, the rest should be reserved. Thus, it is easy for an outsider to identify the eldest in a group of people. Thanks to this age hierarchy, strict discipline is maintained even during crowded meetings: the elders listen without interrupting, they get the best places.

Many children

Large families are also a characteristic feature of Central Asian society. A family can have 5-7 or more children. It is not uncommon for cases when one family brings up more than 10 offspring. The desire to have many children is the oldest postulate in Central Asia. Relations between children are usually very warm, the elders are always ready to help the younger ones. It is also common that children are attracted to work very early.

Women of the East

Women in Central Asia have always been of secondary importance. This was largely due to the appearance of a new religion here. Islam instructed women to occupy only a subordinate role. At all meetings, be it holidays or wake ceremonies, women traditionally retired in their circle. Again, according to religious precepts, a man is forbidden to perform a woman's job (and, as is known, almost all housework is done). Therefore, the women of the East have always worked very much.

Today, the situation of women and men in society, especially in cities, almost equalized. Although most of today's families clearly traced the predominant role of men.

Regions of Central Asia

The territory of Central Asia unites several countries. Among them: the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Turkmenistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Tajikistan. The population of Central Asia is about 70 million people. Their traditions and customs are largely identical, but there are many differences.

So, Tajikistan, whose customs in themselves are quite interesting, is known for amazing wedding ceremonies. Tajik wedding continues for 7 days. In the first of them, the bride and groom announce to everyone about the decision to get married. Both families take turns in ceremonial ceremonies, which last for three days.

And in Uzbekistan (especially in villages) to this day, some houses have a custom, according to which women and men are ordered to sit at different tables. Also, upon arrival at the guest's house, the owner settles them himself, the most distinguished guests receive seats located far away from the entrance.

Turkmenistan is the most closed state of all Central Asian countries. It's difficult to get there, only recently in this country there was free access to the Internet, but nevertheless many known resources (such as Facebook and Twitter) are still closed. It's hard to say how they live in Turkmenistan. Many inveterate tourists compare this country with North Korea. It is worth noting that the Islamic principles here, as well as in other countries of Central Asia, are not so strong. For example, married women may not cover their face with a handkerchief, if their family is normal.

The culture of Central Asia is extremely rich. Since ancient times, famous poets, writers, publicists and musicians have lived and worked here. The culture of Kazakhstan stands out particularly clearly . Not many people know that the first Kazakh film "Amangeldy" was filmed in the distant 1939. Modern cinematography of the country gave us such famous and recognized films as "Nomad" and "Mongol". The culture of Kazakhstan is really rich and includes a lot of theatrical performances, songs, literary works that are loved and appreciated in the entire post-Soviet space and beyond.

The Republic of Kirgizia since ancient times is known for carpet weaving. The carpet here is in fact the main element of the interior and evidence of the ancient history of the country. Since carpets of the Kirghiz are made from sheep's wool, they, rather, roll, and do not weave.

The national clothes of the Kirghiz have not changed in almost 700 years, especially in rural areas. It is interesting that the clothes of unmarried girls, as a rule, are decorated more bizarrely than those of married women. Of course, in cities, rarely anyone can see the traditional outfit, his place was taken by a standard European suit.

Preservation of traditions

Traditional cultures of the peoples of Central Asia own a large number of formal schools of craftsmanship and executive craftsmanship, which have been passed down for many years from generation to generation. There is an established pedagogical process, called "udoz-shogird", which in translation means "master student". It is known that a young man should spend enough time with the teacher, which can take many years to get a blessing on his creative activity. Thanks to such well-established rules for transferring skills from teachers to students, the rich and amazing traditions and customs of Central Asia have for the most part survived, and this, as is known, guarantees the prosperity and preservation of the identity of any people and any country.

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