Traditional culture of the ethnicities of Uzbekistan based on materials from expeditions of Soviet ethnographers in the 1980s.

Van Itsin' Postgraduate student, Higher School of Social Sciences, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University 195251, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Politechnicheskaya str., 29 d.wang@vip.163.com

Fisheva Anastasiya Aleksandrovna PhD in History Associate Professor, The Department of State and Municipal Administration, The North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 199178, Russia, Saint Petersburg, Sredny prospekt, 57/43 ana-f@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

The formation of collections of any major museum in the country is associated with expeditionary activities aimed at collecting information, discovering, fixing on site or removing exhibits of value from the point of view of studying the cultural history of a particular region.

We have studied the reports of ethnographic expeditions in which employees of the Ethnographic Museum (the State Museum of Ethnography of the Peoples of the USSR (GME of the Peoples of the USSR) took part in the 1980s. It is worth noting that this museum has always been not only an exhibition complex, but also a scientific institution, so scientists went on expeditions both to collect exhibits to replenish the museum's funds, and to study the population and folk art of a particular region.

In the early 1980s, on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the USSR, within the framework of the concept of education and development of a new historical community - the Soviet people - it was proclaimed that one of the most difficult problems of social development – the national question – had been solved in the country, and interethnic antagonism and age–old discord between peoples had gone into the past, a great brotherhood of working people had arisen, the feeling of a united family, an indestructible Leninist friendship of peoples was formed ^[1], a nationwide state appeared ^{[2, 3]}. However, in practice, Soviet ethnographers still perceived the Central Asian republics (Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen, Kyrgyz SSR) as a special world ^[4].

As F. Hirsch noted, in the Soviet Union, as in other states of the modern era, the so-called "cultural management technologies" (N. Dirks's term) were used in order to modernize and transform all regions and peoples of the former Russian Empire and include them in a single Soviet community. Among these cultural management technologies, the census, mapping and the museum played a key role, thanks to which ethnographers and other experts came into contact with the situation on the ground ^{[5, p. 32]}.

During an ethnographic expedition or field research, an ethnographer enters into direct interaction, communication with the culture being studied, the community and its individual representatives. Often, an ethnographer has to talk with local residents, take pictures, describe certain phenomena, measure and sketch all kinds of objects, etc. During the expeditions, the following methods of collecting ethnographic material are used: direct observation, interviewing (questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, questionnaire), identification and fixation of material sources, detection and processing of documentary materials. The methodology of ethnographic research is described in numerous works by Soviet and Russian scientists ^{[6; 7; 8; 9]}

The main task of the ethnographic expeditions conducted in Uzbekistan was to collect exhibits, illustrative materials telling about traditions and innovations in the material culture of the studied region.

So, in 1984, a senior researcher M.D. Perlina and the head of the Department of Ethnography of the peoples of Central Asia of the GME of the Peoples of the USSR B.Z. Hamburg traveled to the Uzbek SSR to study the products of the enterprises of the art industry of the Ministry of Local Industry of the Republic and craftsmen who were part of the association "Usto" of the Uzbek SSR Art Fund. During the business trip, some fundamentally new directions in the activities of these organizations were recorded, for example, that a lacquer miniature workshop worked at the Tashkent inter-regional association "Usto". The first samples of modern lacquer miniatures were purchased at the GME at that time ^{[10, l. 1]}. It was noted that masters of traditional folk art worked successfully in Tashkent.  Hand-made artistic printing on fabric has preserved the continuity of technology and generations of craftsmen. However, there was also a situation when the descendants of many artisans received education in another specialty ^{[10, L. 2]}. The researchers also studied other types of folk art – coinage, copper engraving, and the manufacture of products with artistic embroidery ^{[10, l. 4]}.

Often, along with collecting exhibits, the tasks of the expeditions included the study of the ethnogenesis of a particular people, as well as interethnic and interethnic relations developing in the region.

So, in 1988, a Central Asian ethnographic expedition was held on the initiative of the Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in which employees of the Ethnographic Museum took part. The foothill detachment of this expedition conducted research in the Uzbek SSR and the Tajik SSR from May to August 1988. As part of the expedition, along with the study of carpet weaving among the nomadic Uzbeks of the Samarkand and Kashkadarya regions of the Uzbek SSR, it was planned to study the population of small towns in Uzbekistan.  

Ethnographers were particularly interested in the area of the Zaamin oasis, whose population consisted of an Uzbek-speaking settled population, semi-nomadic Uzbek tribes, as well as Turks belonging to the group of so-called Beshbulak Turks ^{[11, l. 1]}.

Researchers were interested in the origin of the Beshbulak Turks, and according to the results of a survey of informants, it was found that the Beshbulak Turks allegedly descend from a certain native of Istanbul named Akhmat, whose descendants were the founders of the present clans (Chuulak, crvoy, melivoy, tashpulat)^{[11, L. 2]}.

The expedition also took place on the territory of the Jirgatal district of the Tajik SSR, inhabited by Tajiks (30% of the population) and Kyrgyz (70% of the population). The researchers stated that the long-term cohabitation of Kyrgyz and Tajiks in the same territory led to the fact that, due to the large number of mixed marriages, bilingualism became a common phenomenon and established itself at the level of intra-family relations ^{[11, l. 3]}. The cohabitation of Kyrgyz and Tajiks in the same villages, mixed marriages led to the unification of the economic structure of the population of the district.

In addition, during the expedition, eyewitness accounts and participants in the events of the 1930s and 1950s were recorded, when there were mass migrations of the population from the area: flight to Kashgar during collectivization in the early 1930s, to the Ferghana and Alai valleys during the difficult war and post-war years and forced resettlement of mountaineers to cotton-growing areas of Southern Tajikistan in the in the early 1950s ^{[11, l. 4]}. These events have played a major role in changing the demographic situation in different years and the dynamics of international consolidation processes.

The study of the Jirgatalt district was of interest, as it acted as an example of an ethnocontact zone of peoples of different languages, cultures and origins. The researchers studied the transformation of national identity that occurred as a result of linguistic, cultural and economic integration. In addition, the area was located in the highlands, which also made it possible to study the organization of economic life from the point of view of human adaptation to extreme natural conditions ^{[11, L. 5]}. During the expedition, a collection of ethnographic objects was collected (carpets, a set of women's clothing and jewelry, interior details of the dwelling).

In fact, at the same time (in June-July 1988), an expedition to the Bukhara and Khorezm regions of the Uzbek SSR lasting 40 days took place.

It should be noted that by the time the Civil War ended, the Turkestan ASSR (as part of the Russian Federation), the Khorezm and Bukhara People's Republics existed on the territory of Central Asia. When the USSR was formed, the Bukhara and Khoremz People's Soviet Republics did not become part of the USSR, as they were non-socialist. In 1924, as a result of the national-territorial demarcation, the Bukhara and Khorezm People's Republics became part of Uzbekistan. The Bolsheviks, realizing the disparity of the economic potentials of the national republics being created, tried in some cases to neutralize this difference. During the demarcation, the Soviet government was guided not only by the national principle, but also by economic expediency ^{[12, p. 26]}. This led to the fact that in the process of demarcation, not all borders were drawn exactly in accordance with the national composition of the territories. As a result, a significant number of people of one nationality or another found themselves outside their titular state (for example, Tajiks, who made up up to 90% of the population of Bukhara and Samarkand, remained in the Uzbek SSR). In some cases, there have been drastic changes in the traditional economic activities of the people (for example, the territories of permanent nomads were assigned to the nomadic Kyrgyz, and the places of their large settled settlements were transferred to the Uzbeks and Tajiks). The demarcation laid the foundations for serious conflicts between different peoples over disputed territories (especially from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan), so the issue of cohabitation of representatives of different peoples was in the sphere of interests of ethnographers ^{[13, p. 32]}.

The work carried out in certain areas of the Bukhara and Khorezm regions was determined by the desire to compare different historical and cultural traditions of the population groups.

The purpose of the expedition was to get acquainted with the current state of culture in these areas, to trace the changes that have occurred here since the previous expeditions, to replenish the museum's collection with monuments of material culture. Special attention was paid to the study of traditional crafts and crafts, their history and modern development. A purposeful collection of materials on the topic of "Clothing" was carried out, which included a wide range of issues related to fabrics, production methods, the manner of wearing a suit, etc. ^{[14, L. 1]}.

The main population of the central part of Bukhara at that time were Tajiks, as well as Iranians and Jews. Uzbeks inhabited mainly the outskirts of the city, new building blocks, which had grown significantly and represented an almost new city, different from the old one both in terms of ethnic composition of the population (except Uzbeks, Russians, Tatars, etc. lived there) and cultural traditions.

The main language of most residents of the city was Tajik. It was spoken in the family, on the street, although all teaching in schools and universities was conducted in Uzbek. This problem had a negative impact on the development of national relations not only in Bukhara, but also in other cities of Uzbekistan with a predominantly Tajik population (for example, Samarkand). Therefore, the 1980s were marked by speeches demanding the creation of Tajik schools, the publication of newspapers and the organization of television and radio broadcasts in the Tajik language. The participants of the expedition noted that the need to resolve this issue as soon as possible was constantly felt in conversations with various segments of the population ^{[14, L. 2]}.

Researchers have recorded that in the 1980s there was an increased interest of the peoples of Uzbekistan in their history and traditional culture. Illegal circles were created to study the Arabic language and read ancient Arabic books. Scientists reported in their reports that they often had to deal with the opinion about the harmful influence of Slavic writing, introduced in Soviet times, on the historical memory of people, since reading books in Arabic, where the traditions of the people, their customs, traditions, and norms of behavior were recorded, became impossible. Therefore, the moral laws that so firmly guided society in the past gradually began to be forgotten ^{[14, l. 2]}. This explained many social vices. Such moods, characteristic not only for the elderly, but also for most of the youth, sometimes took "pathological" (so in the source – author) forms, such as going into religion, but most often expressed themselves in an effort to learn more about history, revive forgotten traditions, crafts and crafts, and preserve monuments culture, beauty and uniqueness of oriental architecture. For example, a group of young architects appeared, which led the movement for the revival of the urban planning traditions of Bukhara ^{[14, l. 2]}. It was noted that urban planning traditions, even in the old part of the city, were mostly violated. This was expressed in a departure from the traditional layout of houses and courtyards, in covering streets with asphalt that accumulates heat, in drying out and destroying ponds, in the destruction of the old sewer system. As a result, the blocks of new buildings in Bukhara did not differ from new buildings in any city in central Russia, as they were built without taking into account local environmental and cultural specifics ^{[14, L. 4]}.

While working in the Khorezm region, the greatest attention was paid to the study of the history of clothing and fabrics. It was noted that some folk crafts completely ceased to exist (leather, weaving, sewing), others were preserved only thanks to the activities of a few craftsmen ^{[14, l. 14]}

In July-August 1988, as part of the Central Asian expedition, ethnographers organized a trip to Samarkand in the Uzbek SSR. In addition to the task of collecting clothing material on the ethnography of the Tajiks of Samarkand, it was necessary to collect materials on the problems of Uzbek-Tajik interethnic and interlanguage relations. Problems in relations between the two peoples have been observed for many decades, since in the process of national-territorial demarcation, Bukhara and Samarkand, where Tajiks mainly lived, were transferred to the Uzbek SSR.

During the survey of the population of Samarkand, the researchers came to the conclusion that for quite a long time there was an "Uzbekization" of the non-Uzbek population of the city: Tajiks, Iranians, Turkmens, Sarts. Assimilation took place at the administrative level, without affecting any of the formative elements of the Tajik ethnic group (self-awareness, language, etc.), causing tension in the city and obvious cooling of Uzbek-Tajik relations. At the same time, expedition participant E.L. Kubel noted that as long as the Tajik population in the city of Samarkand is treated as a national minority, tension will not disappear ^{[15, L. 12]}.

In her report, the researcher cited statistical data according to which Tajiks were not a national minority of Samarkand. According to the results of the 1979 All-Union Population Census, 224718 Uzbeks and 64780 Tajiks lived in Samarkand. But at the same time, 52232 Uzbeks considered Tajik to be their native language ^{[15, l. 10]}.

The most painful issues were related to the education system. By 1980, there were no Tajik schools left in Samarkand. And only in some places Tajik classes have been preserved. Tajik teachers taught Tajik children in schools mainly in Uzbek and Russian. During the lessons, the teachers explained difficult questions in Tajik. This also applied to Russian and foreign language lessons. Several times more time was spent explaining the educational material, and the quality of teaching left much to be desired due to language confusion. 

Since it was difficult for children to study in a language other than their native language, the level of knowledge of their native language fell. The native language was not studied in literary form and remained the language of everyday and home communication. This explained the poor knowledge of the Persian-Tajik classics. The gradual extinction of the centuries-old cultural tradition was observed ^{[15, l. 13]}.

The problem was that parents had to send their children to Uzbek classes, since education in Samarkand universities was conducted in Uzbek and Russian languages. Although in 1988, in two institutes – medical and pedagogical - for the first time, graduates of Tajik classes took entrance exams in their native language, which significantly improved the atmosphere in the city ^{[15, L. 14]}.

Along with the study of national problems, a collection on the ethnography of the Tajiks of Samarkand was also collected (utensils, a set of embroideries, etc.) ^{[15, L. 15]}.

Thus, the conducted research allows us to conclude that ethnographers were interested in various issues related to the study of the composition of the population and the cultural history of the peoples who lived on the territory of Uzbekistan. Scientists have documented the difficulties in interethnic relations long before they became part of the official discourse of national politics in the USSR.