An abbreviated version of this View from the Pews appeared in ChadNet for 5th January 2025.
View from the Pews (extended version)
Recently I spent four weeks exploring the ‘Five Stans of Central Asia’, that is, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. They were originally part of the Tsarist empire, before becoming part of the USSR, but early on they were known as Turkistan. There had been a very diverse mixture of both nomadic tribes, silk road cities, mostly destroyed by Genghis Khan, and some very ancient cities from around 2000BC. There were still traces of Alexander the Great. These Stans did not exist before Soviet times, the borders were created, but often there would be, for example, ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan, or Tajiki people in Uzbekistan. The USSR made people settle and most had to give up their nomadic existence. Those who disagreed were among the vast number murdered in the 20s and 30s by order of Stalin. When the Russians left in 1991, they took much of the moveable infrastructure back to Russia, also most of the farm machinery, leaving all five countries impoverished, and there were then some very poor years in the 1990s, a lot of unrest, and much fighting. These countries have some of the biggest oil, gas and mineral reserves in the world, some yet undiscovered.
Between the fourth and fourteenth centuries Christianity was prevalent throughout the region. Now, in each country there is only a small percentage of Christians remaining. In Almaty, Kazakhstan, we saw the beautiful wooden Cathedral of the Ascension. It was full of icons, gold paint and the smell of incense. In Mary, Turkmenistan, there was a red painted orthodox church. These were the only two we actually saw. However, Islam is now the main religion. I did feel these countries were ‘Islam-Lite’, the governments did not want fundamentalist Islam, though Iran was funding the building of roads, (also China), both trying to get a foot in the country. Wearing black full-length robes was not allowed in some places. Generally, the woman just wore headscarves, and many, none at all. Of course, in Soviet times most religious buildings were either ‘repurposed’ or destroyed.
History went back a long way in this region. In Turkmenistan, not far from the modern city of Mary, we took a two-hour drive through the desert in 4x4s in order to reach the settlement of Gonur Depe, said to be the world’s fifth great civilisation. This was built about 3000BC. The theory is that a river ran by, which has long since disappeared into the desert, that watered the city. Gonur Depe followed the Zoroastrian religion, said to be the one of world’s first monotheistic religions. Not far away were the remains of the ancient ‘Merv, Queen of Cities’, it was the centre of four religions – Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism – before the Islamic conquest. It was an important stop on the Silk Road. All that remains now is a crumbling 7th century fortress, an icehouse, some walls and an Islamic mausoleum, built with a double dome, to give extra strength against earthquakes. The architect in Florence, Brunelleschi, used this design for the Duomo. Merv was immense, as each time it was destroyed, by an earthquake perhaps, or the watercourse changing, another city was built, but not on top as usually happens, but a little further away. In all, there were five cities. There had been water there, but no longer. The mud walls, however high, could not stand against Genghis Khan and his forces, and it was wiped out. Two of our guides said that Genghis set back civilisation by at least six hundred years, as scientific books, medicine and astronomy were all totally destroyed. Nearby were the remains of the only remaining Nestorian Christian church in Asia, built about 400AD. The Nestorians were eventually named as heretics by Rome.
In Termez, (Tajikistan) there was a large Buddhist complex, mostly mud walls, but a dome in the centre remaining. Termez was an important trading town on the silk route, Alexander the Great had also spent time here. It was a garrison town during the years of the Soviets fighting in Afghanistan. The two countries now trade each other, crossing the ‘Friendship Bridge’, over Amu Darya, known as the Oxus in Europe. We were standing less than quarter of a mile from the river. It was extraordinary to look across it at Afghanistan. We did feel a long way from Europe! (In Turkmenistan when we were near the Afghan border there was a large police presence to keep the Afghans out, no trade there)
It was in Uzbekistan that we saw the most wonderful Islamic architecture, particularly the Registan in Samarkand. There were madrassas, mosques, mausoleums and the remnants of an ancient wall painting showing the ambassadors from China doing deals with the Sogdian rulers of Afrasiab, (now Samarkand). It was only a copy, as the original is now in the British Museum for the Silk Route Exhibition. Many of these buildings had fallen into a state of disrepair, from earthquakes and just lack of will, but the Soviets had restored them in the 1930s, and some as recently as the 60s, perhaps in a somewhat heavy-handed way, but they had been saved.
We got the ‘super high-speed train’, bought second hand from Spain, to Tashkent. (the only one in Uzbekistan, the rest are old Soviet rolling stock) The city had suffered an earthquake in 1966, so there is much Soviet architecture. What really impressed us there was the metro system, chandeliers, huge wide platforms, even a Cosmonaut station with images of many Soviet cosmonauts on the walls. But it’s a vibrant city, humming in the evenings!
Khiva was another highlight, (said to be founded by Noah’s son, Shem). It is a medieval mud walled city, in the middle of the desert, full of mosques and madrassas and endless stalls selling silk. It had been the centre of the slave trade, a place to be feared. We stayed in an old madrassa, all the cells from students had been turned into bedrooms. Unlike the other major cities, there were hardly any trees to be seen, just a few fig trees.
Bukhara – central Asia’s holiest city, was a bustling place, bazaars, mosques and old silk road remains. There was the Kalon Minaret, built on 10m deep foundations, including reeds, protecting it against earthquakes. It so impressed Ghengis Khan that it was about the only building in Asia that was not destroyed. We stayed in an old merchants house in the Jewish quarter. Jews had been here since the 12th c and played a large part in Bukharan life.
But we also had mountains, in both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, mostly in the Tien Shan range, stretching from China to Tajikistan. On our first day in the mountains we were about 10,000 ft up, in Kyrgyzstan. Then it was a seven hour journey south, going over the Tor Ashu pass – 3,700metres, a few flakes of snow falling. We had a succession of fairly long tunnels, no lights, no air extractors, so it was like driving through smog. And not very good drivers! Then on to Arslanbob, a small town high up in the mountains. It has the largest walnut forests in the world and Alexander the Great allegedly took some back to Europe. We also walked in the Fan Mountains, part of the Pamir range. The Fan mountains were beautiful with glittering turquoise blue lakes. It was yet another place visited by Alexander, whose horse, Bucephalus had died in the lake. In the mountains we were staying with locals, in small villages. We were always very warmly welcomed, the houses were basic, the food simple, but, as everywhere else, it was always plov, a sort of mutton pilaff, tomato and cucumber salad for starters every day and melon for pudding. But we always slept well, apart from the night my bed collapsed! When we left the mountains our first stop was Osh, Kyrgyzstan, either Alexander, or Solomon was said to have founded it. In the centre is a huge rocky outcrop – Suleiman Too – a holy place said to have been visited by the Prophet Mohammed.
Two things stood out. When the USSR fell, the only people capable of running the countries were the old-style Soviets, some of whom are still in power. They may call themselves democracies, but it is generally an authoritarian rule. Turkmenistan, called the North Korea of central Asia, had a rather nutty President to begin with, then it was a father, whose son is now the President. Two of our party were not given visas and couldn’t cross the border. Ashgabat, the capital, is built in white marble, all cars must be white. It’s a large city, in the desert. There seems to be a slight madness and a very competitive spirit in some of the countries, for example, who had the tallest flagpole, who has got the only indoor Ferris wheel in the world (no one was on it) who has got the best horses and builds endless gold statues of horses; then there is the city that has a car wash on every road going in, so every vehicle is clean before entering. Yet there are people living in basic houses in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan that both have the glitzy capital cities. You wonder how Tajikistan afforded to build its capital, Dushanbe; it’s the poorest of all the stans. Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, it a bustling, friendly and busy, slightly scruffy place. Almaty felt the most western of the capitals, wide tree lined streets, some old Russian buildings and quite a buzz about it. Tashkent is a modern city, and I would have like to have spent longer there. But, in the countryside in all the Stans there are still outside loos and it appeared to be a very simple rural life, camel, sheep or goat herding in the mountains, cotton, vegetables, potatoes etc. are grown in the Fergana valley, the breadbasket of the region, where there also were acres of harvested corn. In some cases they are still using old second hand farm machinery. However, there was free gas, water and electricity in Turkmenistan. In the other four Stans fuel was certainly very cheap. Petrol was about 20p a litre.
But secondly, the saddest thing to really see, was the profligate use of water. The two rivers, the Amu Darya, and the Syr Darya (Oxus and Jaxartes) both go into the Aral Sea – or did. And you can see why they don’t any longer. Alongside the roads were miles of unlined irrigation ditches so the water evaporates. You see endless cotton fields, needing vast quantities of water. In the cities there is the greenest grass, generously irrigated, over 3 million trees have been planted in Ashgabat, all irrigated by trickle hosepipes. We asked what would happen when the water ran out. ‘It won’t’ was the answer.
It was the most fascinating experience; I am not sure if I can call it a holiday as we never stayed long anywhere! But as a taster for Central Asian culture and history it was a never to be forgotten month and every bit as interesting as I had hoped. We talked to many local people, and our guides, a different one in each country, with whom you spent a fair amount of time travelling, would tell you what life was like – honestly most of the time, though we did get the Party Line occasionally! Never to be forgotten.
Sue Riches
Click on an image to see a larger version.
