Uzbekistan - Cuisine & Food: What kind of food does Uzbekistan eat? What is the most popular food in Uzbekistan? List of main Uzbek dishes with photos

Iranians celebrate the National Mount Damavand Day on July 4 to attract the public’s attention to the importance of mountains in the country’s history and nature.

Uzbekistan - Cuisine & Food: What kind of food does Uzbekistan eat? What is the most popular food in Uzbekistan? List of main Uzbek dishes with photos

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We’ve been travelling in Central Asia for a couple of months now, and in particular, a month in Tajikistan. We love meeting and connecting with the local people of whichever country we’re in and Tajikistan has some fantastic people! It’s a magnificent melting pot of people from all over the region. What I find most ... Read more

When the great hero and general, Alexander, who was as great as the god Apollo and Zeus, left his troops here, he asked them to stay here in this land without changing their Hellenic beliefs…

JOIN US IN AN INTERVIEW WITH YALDA MOHSEN FROM KABUL, AFGHANISTAN! Yalda Mohsen is a Pianist, writer and artist from Afghanistan who was born and raised in Kabul. She is currently studying f…

1st photo, Kabul in 1970 2nd photo, the same intersection in 1993 during the civil war. Taken in 1994 Kabul Traffic Photograph by John Moore/Getty Images This 2006 photo of the old district in Kabul, Afghanistan, shows one of the effects of the influx of foreign capital following the expulsion of the Taliban. Thousands of people have bought cars with their newfound wealth, leading to hours-long traffic snarls on streets previously plied mainly by donkey carts and bicycles. At top: Darul Aman palace in the 70's. At bottom: After the fall of the Taliban - notice the trees are all gone? At top: The Queen's palace in the 70's. At bottom: After the fall of the Taliban. (is this the Queen's palace or the museum? Let me know if my caption needs correcting) Kabul (and other cities) used to have movie theaters that were popular to go to. At bottom is a photo taken recently of what used to be a theater in Kabul. Unfortunately the theater has turned into something negative, and respectable people no longer go to theaters. Paghman Gardens used to be a nice and relaxing place to get out of the city and have a picnic. This top picture is actually a postcard showing what it looked like in the 70's. The 2nd picture is an aerial view of Paghman- note the monument. The 3rd photo shows all that remains of the monument in the gardens today after the Russians, Mujahideen, and Taliban were through using the area as a battleground. I'm not sure what gardens these are. The two women in this photo are tourists. Notice how the trees are all gone. You can see what 30 years of war does to this kind of place.  This is looking toward downtown Kabul from the fort of Bala Hissar. The first one was taken after the civil war and possibly during the Taliban regime - probably in the 90's. The 2nd one was taken sometime after that, and the third was taken in the past 3 or 4 years. If you look carefully you can see some of the houses in each picture. To see some Afghan fashion from the 60's-80's - click here. To see information about Afghanistan's mineral resources, and how you can purchase Afghan jewelry click here. To see Kabul in the 80's click here. Please click here to visit the Facebook page for the current Afghan Women's National Basketball Team. *please 'like' their page*

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Polish folk culture cultivates bread and grains in a special manner, rooted in old-Slavic beliefs and agrarian mythology syncretized with Christianity in Poland over the centuries. The great import…

Portrait Pakistan

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The Karakum Desert, also spelled Kara-Kum and Gara Gum (“Black Sand”) (Turkmen: Garagum, Russian: Каракумы) is a desert in Central Asia. It occupies about 70 percent, or 350,000 km², of the area of Turkmenistan (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakum_Desert).

Read our complete travel guide to Uzbekistan, including our recommendations for the best activities, food, accommodation, and more!

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************************** Click Here to View the Main Index ************************** "February 2014……"The Pakistani Taliban have announced an "armed struggle" against an indigenous tribe and Ismaili Muslims in the picturesque northern Chitral valley, calling on Sunnis to support their cause in a video…..The valley was once dominated by moderate Ismailis and is also home to the Kalash, a polytheistic people who claim descent from Alexander the Great and who have maintained separate cultural traditions in the predominantly Muslim country."……http://www.theguardian.com/global/2014/feb/13/pakistan-taliban-video-warning-chitral-valley "February 2014……The Kalash people of Pakistan were found to have chunks of DNA from an ancient European population. Statistical analysis suggests a mixing event before 210 B.C., possibly from the army of Alexander the Great."…..http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/science/tracing-ancestry-team-produces-genetic-atlas-of-human-mixing-events.html?_r=0 The Kalasha of Chitral….. Kalasha (Kalasha: Kaĺaśa, Nuristani: Kasivo) or Kalash, are a Dardic indigenous people residing in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. They speak the Kalasha language, from the Dardic family of the Indo-Aryan branch, and are considered a unique tribe among the Indo-Aryan peoples of Pakistan. Total population…….ca. 4,100 Chitral District, Pakistan Languages: Kalashamondr….Urdu and Pashto as second languages Religion: Kalash Religion, Islam Related ethnic groups:Nuristani "History contains references to "Siah-Posh Kafirs"……Alexander the Great encountered them….Siah-Posh (black-Robed) Kafirs was the former designation of the major and dominant group of the Hindu Kush Kafirs inhabiting the Bashgul (Kam) valley of the Kafiristan, now called Nuristan. They were so-called because of the color of the robes they wore. They were distinguished from the Sped-Posh (white-robed) Kafirs (sometimes also called Lal-Posh or Red robed) by reason of the color of their dress as also because of their language, customs and other characteristics. The Siah-Posh Kafirs (Nuristanis) have sometimes been erroneously confused with Kalasha people, though they are not directly related to the Kalash of the neighboring Chitral Province in Pakistan."…. "Racial Origin……Some earlier writers had speculated and propagated the myth that the Kafirs of Hindukush may have descended from the army of Alexander the Great. The Pakistani Tourist Bureau still continues to propagate that the peoples in the mountains are descendants of soldiers from the army of Alexander but Greek descent of Kafirs has been discounted by H. W. Bellew, George Scott Robertson and many later scholars…… However many other scholars do believe in the authenticity of this tale that the Kalash themselves claim as being descedants of Alexander's army. This list of scholars who propagate the Kalash's ancestry claim is true includes Sir George Scott Robertson, and Eric S. Margolis."….. "The neighboring Nuristani people of the adjacent Nuristan (historically known as Kafiristan) province of Afghanistan once practiced the same polytheistic religion as the Kalash. By the late 19th century much of Nuristan had been converted to Islam, although some evidence has shown the people continued to practice their customs. Over the years, the Nuristan region has also been the site of numerous war activity that has led to the death of many endemic Nuristanis and has seen an inflow of surrounding Afghans to claim the vacant region, who have since admixed with the remaining natives. The Kalash of Chitral maintained their own separate cultural traditions."….Newby, Eric. A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. 2008. The Kalash people of Pakistan were found to have chunks of DNA from an ancient European population. Statistical analysis suggests a mixing event before 210 B.C., possibly from the army of Alexander the Great.….Circles show the apparent sources of DNA within the two parent populations, one European and one Asian…..http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/14/ Connection with Kambojas………" The Kambojas are also described as a royal clan of the Sakas.…..Parts of Kafiristan (Nuristan) formed a portion of the Greek strapy of the Paropamisadae in the fourth and third century BCE. The people of the region were then called Kambojas and described as of mixed Indo-Iranian descent. Possibly, they occupied much wider area then and were gradually forced to their present mountainous fastnesses by the Muslim onslaught during medieval era. One of their dominant clans is still known as Kam or Kamoz, while the other is called Kamtoz, which remind us of the name Kamboja" …….The Kamoz tribe of Kafirs are fairly supposed to be the surviving representatives of the Kambojas of primeval Indian literature, a name with which scholars have connected that of Cambyses....In two other Kafir tribes — the Asphins and Ashkins (Ashkuns) — one is tempted to trace remnants of the Aspasii and Assaceni of Alexander's historians"…..Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medieval India and several other authorities note that the Siah-Posh tribe living in Hindukush mountains descended from the ancient Kambojas ." "The Kambojas (Sanskrit: कम्बोज, Kamboja; Persian: کمبوہ‎, Kambūh) were a Kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Modern scholars conclude that the Kambojas were an Avestan speaking Eastern Iranian tribe who later settled in at the boundary of the ancient India. The Kambojas are classified as a Mleccha or barbarous tribe by the Vedic Inhabitants of India. Indologists believe that Kambojas have adopted Hinduism in a late Vedic Period."….In the Mahabharata and in Pali literature, Kambojas appear in the characteristic Iranian roles of horsemen and breeders of notable horses. "The Siah-posh Kafirs of the Hindukush ranges, who till recently were collectively known as Kamoges or Kamojis (Sanskrit Kambojis or Kambojas) are stated to have been a remain of a considerable ancient people among whom were original Kashmerians and a greater part of Badakshan and Kabol as far as Deggan tribes...and on the southern face of the higher ridges of Himalaya extending to an unknown distance...Though whole of their pristine population being subjected to Muslim conquerors in the Middle Ages, and having mixed with them, they have now lost their pristine individuality of national character but still among the Kabulis, in particular, it is still not infrequent to observe heads and figures that might serve for models to the sculptors who would portray a Jupiter or a Mars according to the refined idealism of the ancient Greeks. The Kafirs have oval faces, their brows are well-arched and the nose and mouth even more refined than the Greeks. They are still fairer, generally, with lighter hair and gray eyes. Blending with the nearest black-haired tribes, the ancestors of the Kamoges are believed to have given rise to ancient Persians and with the faired-haired on the north, they are said to have produced the handsome tribes of the Goths. The name Kamoges or Kamojis apparently reminds one of the ancient Kambojas living in Hindukush, Pamirs as well as in Badakshan. The Siah-Posh clans of Kams, Kamoz/Kamoges and Kamtoz, as stated above, are said to have descended from the ancient Kambojas "The physical characteristics of the Kafir Kamoges wonderfully remind us of the physical charactersitcs of the ancient Kambojs who have especially been described as exceedingly handsome race (Mahabharata 7.23.43). Ancient Kamboj princes have also been noted as tall like towers, exceedingly handsome and of gaura varna (See: Mahabharata 8.56.113-114; Mahabharata ; MBH 7.92.72-76), having faces illustrious like the full moon (Mahabharata 8/56/111), lotus eyed (Mahabharata 8/56/110-114), handsome like the lord-moon among the stars (Mahabharata 1/67/31). Even Ramayana calls the Kambojas as ravisanibha i.e with faces illustrious like the Sun ( Ramayana 1/55/2). Besides, there are also ancient references, Buddhist as well as Brahmanical, which speak very high of the beauty of the Kamboj women." "...the Kafir (Infidel) of the Sanskrit Kambojia are said to be Koresh from a people of that name (Kuresh Perian, and Keruch Rajput) known to have anciently inhabited these eastern districts of the Paropamisus of the Greeks" …… "The name Koresh or Kurush is said to be national designation of Kafir tribes north of Lughman; and it is not impossible that it may have been family name of Cyrus, king of Persia who was born in Cabul country"…..H. W. Bellew Aryan idols: Indo-European mythology as ideology and science, 2006, p 53, fn 109, Stefan Arvidsson, Sonia Wichmann - Social Science. The Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush by Sir George Scott Robertson War at the top of the world: the struggle for Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Tibet By Eric S. Margolis " An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan: Prepared and Presented to the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists (London, September, 1891) pp 35, 47, 87, 134, 141, 144, 195, Henry Walter Bellew - Afghanistan. The Káfirs of the Hindu-Kush, 1896, p 158, George Scott Robertson, Arthur David McCormick. **************************

A Uyghur family pray at the grave of a loved one on the morning of the Corban Festival on September 12, 2016 at a local shrine and cemetery in Turpan County, in the far western Xinjiang province,...

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Khutulun Mongol, alternatively known as Aigiarne, Aiyurag, Khotol Tsagaan, Ay Yaruq,¹ and in fiction as Turandot, was a warrior princess of the Chagatai Khanate in the late 13th, and early 14th centuries. Her father, the warmongering Kaidu, trusted her as one of his chief military and political experts. He would have made her the next khan, but possessors of y chromosomes disagreed. Today, Khutulun is best known for refusing to marry any man who couldn't beat her in a wrestling match. Khutulun wrestling a potential suitor. Painted by an Italian more than a century after her death, it seems unlikely that this is an accurate likeness. At the time of Khutulun's birth in 1260, Genghis Khan's massive empire had been split into several, less massive parts. Kublai Khan, the preeminent of his successors, was ruling Yuan China in decadent luxury. Kublai had, for all intents and purposes, abandoned his nomadic Mongolian roots, something that irritated the lesser khans sworn to him. Kaidu, leader of the Chagatai Khanate, was chief among the irritated. He didn't believe in settled existence, and instead spent his time making war with the peoples around his empire. The Chagatai Khanate, which encompasses modern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Western China, was as nomadic and warlike as Genghis Khan had been. As such, they considered it their duty to make war on Kublai Khan and Yuan China as much as possible. Enter Khutulun. The youngest and only girl of Kaidu's fifteen children, she was her father's favorite. Renowned for her skills in the three Mongol sports--archery, wrestling, and horse racing--Khutulun accompanied her father into battle, terrifying their enemies with her unique, but inefficient style of warfare. According to Marco Polo, one of the two contemporaries who wrote about her: "...the damsel rushed into the midst of the enemy, and seizing upon a horseman, carried him off to her own people." This daring do, along with her other victories, terrified her enemies, and made people believe that Khutulun was blessed by the gods. Khutulun is best known, however, for her skill in wrestling. She was undefeated, taking down wrestlers of all shapes and sizes. It's not surprising, Marco Polo described her as: "...so well-made in all her limbs, and so tall and strongly built, that she might almost be taken for a giantess" The Chagatai Khanate Khutulun was a prime prize on the marriage market, but she made her father promise her, in writing, that she could choose her own husband. She then issued the challenge: she would marry any man who could beat her in a wrestling match, but to wrestle her, a man had to wager 100 horses. If he lost, she kept the horses. If he won, she'd marry him. No one quite measured up. By the time of her death, Khutulun had 10,000 horses.² This served to increase Khutulun's popularity among her people, after all, victors in war and sports were considered blessed and favored, but it didn't get her married, something her parents weren't too happy about. In 1280, a rich and attractive prince came riding up. Cocksure, he wagered 1,000 horses that he would beat and marry Khutulun. Kaidu and Khutulun's mother begged her to throw the match. After all, the prince was young, handsome, rich, and a fierce warrior. Khutulun refused. She not only defeated the prince and took his horses, she so thoroughly defeated him that he slunk away, humiliated, in the night. Khutulun did eventually get married, though not to a man who defeated her. Some sources hold that she married to stave off rumors that she and her father were getting biblical. Other sources say that she fell in love. That Khutulun married is not in doubt, who she married, on the other hand, is. According to contemporary sources and the legends that grew up around her, Khutulun may have married: A man who failed to assassinate her father An attractive man who had been taken as a war prisoner A good looking soldier A friend of her father Ghazan Mongol, the ruler of Persia Who she married is uncertain, but it seems that she stayed close to home, because her father tried to make her his successor as khan. However, as might be expected, despite her qualifications people objected on the grounds of her gender. Kaidu was instead succeeded by Duwa, the son of a rival. Though Khutulun supported her brother Orus in his attempts to become khan, she was unsuccessful. Khutulun died in 1306 Modern traditional Mongolian wrestlers. In Khutulun's time wrestling consisted of two people grappling. The first to drive the other to the ground was the winner. Aside from brief mentions in Marco Polo's travel diaries, and the letters of Rashad al-Din, Khutulun barely makes a mark in the historical narrative. She is known best in the west as the basis for the character of Turandot, but among the Mongolians she is remembered as the best wrestler to ever live. She influence is evident in the costume of Mongolian wrestlers--a vest that leaves the chest bare, boots, and briefs. Since her death, women have not been allowed to wrestle, this costume, along with the victory dance performed after a match, proves that the wrestler is male. Centuries later, Khutulun's athletic exploits are remembered, even if her name is not. ¹All of these mean something to the effect of "moonlight". ² In Mongolian tradition "10,000" doesn't really mean 10,000. It means "so many I didn't want to count". The real number of Khutulun's horses may be higher or lower, but either way, she won a LOT of horses. Sources The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford The Travels of Marco Polo: the Venetian by Marco Polo From the Oxus Rivers to the Syriac Shore by Li Tang and Dietmar W. Winkler The Wrestler Princess Khutulun: Descendant of Genghis Khan and Asia's Fiercest Female Badass Khutulun: the Undefeated Badass Mongolian Warrior Princess Khutulun: the Wrestler Princess

Azerbaijan attempting to Eradicate Iranian-Talysh According to a highly disputed 1926 census, there were 77,039 in the "Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan" - a fictitious country made from stolen Iranian land. From 1959 to 1989, the Talysh were not included as a separate ethnic group in any census, but rather they were included as part of the Turkic-speaking Azerbaijani's, although the Talysh speak an Iranian language. In 1999, the Azerbaijani government again falsely claimed there were only 76,800 Talysh in Azerbaijan, but this is believed to be a gross under-representation given the political problems with registering as a Talysh. Some claim that the population of the Talysh inhabiting the southern regions of Azerbaijan is 500,000. [See Hema Kotecha, Islamic and Ethnic Identities in Azerbaijan: Emerging trends and tensions, OSCE, Baku, July 2006.] Talysh leaders have always asserted that the number of Talysh in Azerbaijan is substantially higher than the official statistics, perhaps as high as 800,000. See “Talysh”, in: Ethnologue.com http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tly ; Reasons for the dispute around the number of Talysh in Azerbaijan: One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, by James Minahan, Greenwood, 2000, ISBN 0313309841, ISBN 9780313309847, p. 674 (viewable on Google Books). Obtaining accurate statistics is difficult, due to the unavailability of reliable sources, due to forced assimilation by Azerbaijan in an effort to ethnically cleanse speakers of Iranian languages, such as the Talysh. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have voiced their concerns about the arrest of Novruzali Mamedov, Chairman of the Talysh Cultural Centre and editor-in-chief of the "Tolyshi Sado" newspaper. He was arrested and tried in the court of 'grave crimes,' after the newspaper published articles showing well known Persian poet Nezami, and Iranian historical hero Babak Khoramdin as Talysh. "AZERBAIJANI AUTHORITIES ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATING AGAINST ETHNIC MINORITIES: In a statement addressed to foreign diplomatic representations in Baku, Khilal Mamedov, who heads a committee to defend the right of Novruzali Mamedov, the arrested editor of the Talysh-language newspaper "Tolyshi sado," accused the Azerbaijani leadership of Turkic nationalism and of seeking to suppress non-Turkic minorities, including the Talysh, an Iranian ethnic group, day.az reported on July 10. He said the Azerbaijani leadership seeks to minimize contacts between the Talysh communities in Azerbaijan and Iran and to run Azerbaijan into a monoethnic state. Novruzali Mamedov was arrested five months ago and has been formally charged with spying for Iran (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 20, 2007)." (http://www.hri.org/news/balkans/rferl/2007/07-07-11.rferl.html#11) Talysh -- an Iranian People at Risk By Fascist Policies in The Republic of Azerbaijan, which is land stolen from Iran: LINKS * ORIGINS OF IRANIAN PEOPLE * Do the Talysh and Tat Languages Have a Future in Azerbaijan * Azerbaijan's Talysh 'ancients' under threat - BBC VIDEO * Talysh Information Link

The pagan tribes of Hindu Kush "Kalash" still a mystery..

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I got a chance to see another side of these women who are otherwise known for their rich culture and beaming beauty.