October 3, 2015

1934 TAJIKISTAN - A Tajik girl in traditional clothes


Tajik is a general designation for a wide range of Persian-speaking people of Iranian origin, with traditional homelands in the Oxus Basin, the Fergana Valley and on both banks of the upper Oxus, i.e. in present-day Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. In Tajikistan they are the main ethnic group (about 80% of the population, i.e. 6,787,000), but most of them live in Afghanistan (between 9,450,000 and 11,550,000). As a self-designation, the term Tajik, which earlier on had been more or less pejorative, has become acceptable only during the last several decades, particularly as a result of Soviet administration in Central Asia.

The traditional dress of Tajikistan was developed as a part of the Central Asian costume, and differ from region to region in terms of color, embroidered patterns, and style, but there are some common features. The most common traditional garment is a straight dress, widening at the bottom, worn over trousers. Although normally women wear only one dress at a time, in cold weather they may wear more, on festive occasions even seven.

The traditional headdress was a large kerchief. That worn in the plains (Samarkand, Bukhara, Kojand) is a large square or rectangle, whereas in the mountains (Kolāb, Darvāz) it more closely re­sembles a stole, with embroidered ends. For festive occasions the young and middle-aged women of Qarategin and Darvāz have recently taken to wearing the kerchief over a skullcap. In addition, young women in each region wear distinctive head coverings, espe­cially during the first days after a wedding.

In Darvāz and the Pamirs they tie embroidered fillets over the kerchiefs. In Kolāb and Qarategin a silver diadem constructed of alternating stars and pendants is pre­ferred. In Bukhara fillets embroidered with gold thread are worn over the forehead. The diadem worn by women in Ura-Tyube, Ḵojand, and Samarkand is crenellated and encircled with turquoise fillets from which are suspended numerous pendants encrusted with semiprecious stones.

About the stamps
The first stamp, depicting Opera and Ballet Theatre in Dushanbe, was issued in 2004. The second, depicting a copper bucket from the 19th century, is part of the series National Utensils, issued on March 28, 2008.

References
Tajikistan - Clothes - Advantour website
Clothing of Tajikistan - Encyclopaedia Iranica

Sender: Ashuraliev Halimjon (direct swap)
Sent from Shaydan (Asht / Tajikistan), on 31.01.2015

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