“Caspian News” has already written about the peculiarities of tea drinking in Kazakhstan. But their neighbors in the Caspian - the Turkmens - can argue with the Kazakhs about the love of tea. It is not without reason that one of the most popular sayings in Turkmenistan says - "Drink tea - have fun!" It is difficult to find a family in this country where a guest who enters the house is not offered a "tea bowl". So is tea drinking a pleasure or a ritual for a Turkmen?

Journalist Valentin Bayukansky conducted his own "tea" study of Turkmenistan in his book. The author collected stories and memoirs of Turkmen scientists about the tea traditions of their native country.

Thus, Professor Ovez Gundogdyev says that in Central Asia tea appeared in the early Middle Ages - it was delivered along the Great Silk Road by Chinese merchants along with silk, gunpowder and porcelain. The find, which resembles a modern teapot in shape (dates back to the XII-XIII centuries - at the time when almost the entire territory of Central Asia was part of the Kunyaurgench state of the Turkmen), tells about this. The kettle is spherical and weighs 1.5 kg. It is made of whole piece stone and decorated with "carpet" ornaments. To date, this is the only find of this kind so far.

Turkmen people consume tea in large quantities. And it is no coincidence. This drink is an excellent body thermoregulator. Here is what the German ethnographer Richard Karutz, who visited at the beginning of the 20th century, says about this. among the Turkmens and Kazakhs of Mangyshlak. He noted that the locals drink an incredible amount of tea - from seven to ten glasses in the morning, afternoon and evening. Richard Karutz writes: “... people were right when they said:“ Today we need a drink more tea, very hot"; they deliberately drink such quantities of this imported product, as in the old days they drank the same quantities for the same purpose hot water with lard loose in it. And I find that cold water, milk or beer never completely quenches thirst and does not pour over the whole body such an intense pleasant sensation as hot tea. "

Turkmens have always been great lovers of green tea. In the late XIX - early XX centuries. Ashgabat was an important trade center from where goods were transported from Bukhara, Khiva and Persia to Russia, including large quantities of green tea. Russian researcher Evgeny Markov, who at the end of the 19th century. trip to Turkmenistan, wrote: “Bazaars are an ordinary nationwide club of an oriental person, where he sees everyone with whom he needs and does not need, where he finds out all the news of the day. That is why kitchenettes, tea shops, sales of sweets are here at every step, right in the open air, under the shade of broken tents, under the shade of a tree. Dozens of them sit in a row in the shade of the sun striped robes and slowly sip from large porcelain cups without saucers; unimaginably liquid, but at the same time inevitably cheap green tea, which in huge quantities is brought for native consumption by Persians from India ... ".

Tea became such a necessary daily drink of the steppe Turkman that many wore a round leather case with a tea cup on their belts. These cases were made from cheap lamb skin.

The Turkmen could not do without green tea even on the fronts of the First and Second World Wars. For example, the riders of the Tekin Horse Regiment, who participated in 1914-1917. in the First World War, they constantly received parcels from their homeland with green tea... Here is one of the letters from the front for February 1916 to the address of the Ladies' Committee in Askhabad: “The Turkmen cavalry regiment expresses deep gratitude to the committee for the generous gifts delivered to the regiment ... The gifts consisted of two poods (1 pood -16 kg.) Twenty-five pounds of green tea and two poods of local sugar candies. "

At first glance, the Turkmen do not have a clearly defined tea ceremony or customs associated with drinking tea, writes biologist and ecologist Gochmurad Kutliev. But there is still one ritual. As soon as freshly brewed tea is brought in, a bowl is poured and thrown back into the kettle. And so it is obligatory three times. Then they will put them aside with the words “demini alsyn” (let him breathe) and only after a while they start savoring the drink. And here and there the first kyase (dishes similar to a bowl, but larger - approx. KN) is poured to the owner - to make sure how well the tea is brewed.

Despite the fact that the majority of Turkmens prefer green tea, in the west of the country they drink black tea with camel milk. But among the Saryks of the Mary velayat, it was customary to prepare a kind of drink from the milk of a camel of the first milk - "shir chai". Green tea and a little fat tail fat were added to the milk to taste and distributed to neighbors.

By the way, there is no common style of tea drinking between the Turkmen tribes, if the Teke (one of the largest tribal groups within the Turkmen people - KN) drink tea after a meal, then the Caspian Iomuds do the opposite.

The folk wisdom of the Turkmen people is inextricably linked with tea. Thus, a Turkmen proverb gives a very accurate description of an extremely inhospitable person: "He will not pour even one bowl of tea." Or very disapprovingly of the miser - "He will not give tea to the one suffering from thirst." About the weak, lonely people can say - "There is no one to serve them a cup of tea" - this is an emphasis on absolute loneliness.

Drinking tea to a large number of guests in Turkmenistan - for example, at a wedding - is a responsible and difficult business. “At any major event, somewhere to the side of the cauldrons, there will be huge titans“ gup ”of one hundred to one hundred and fifty liters, and batteries of teapots and teapots will be lined up nearby,” says Gochmurad Kutliev. - Dzhigits will walk around the ranks of celebrating guests, in an undertone (so as not to interfere with the conversation) asking: "Should I bring freshly brewed tea?" This is where special artistry and skill will be needed - try to keep in your memory who and what tea to bring ... ”.

During tea drinking in Turkmenistan there is a flexible selective approach to guests: the most revered are porcelain or earthenware teapots and a porcelain bowl, as well as a saucer with sweets (raisins, honey, peanuts); others, for the back rows - metal teapots for several people and lollipops. Thus, the “status” of the guest is recognized by the sweets accompanying the tea - one is honey, and the other is ordinary sugar.

Based on materials from the Internet

Tea in Central Asia is more than just a drink that quenches your thirst. This is the "item" of prime necessity! Any meal opens and ends with tea, guests are greeted with tea, during the day and in between meals, tea can be served as a "separate dish", and every time it is always brewed fresh. “Brew once, thickly and for a whole week, adding only boiling water” - this is not about Central Asia, they simply do not understand HOW one can live like this. There is no day that would pass in a Central Asian family without tea (if these are fasting days, then tea consumption is more than replenished at night).

Tea is drunk from national dishes - bowls (accent on the last syllable and in no case "piAlushki" or "piala"). It is customary to treat each guest with tea. Almost every indigenous inhabitant of Central Asia, even regardless of nationality, has this in his blood: a guest came - immediately put in front of him freshly brewed teapot and bowl (bowl). Refusing tea is also considered impolite.... Together with the kettle, bowls are served one piece more than the number of guests. The extra pialushka is used for the kaytar. Kaitar (from the verb "kaytmok" - "to return") is needed in order for the tea to brew better: the tea is poured into a bowl and again poured into the teapot - and so on three times. A very effective mixing is obtained. Tea is served with various colorful oriental sweets, fruits and, of course,.

If you came to visit, and you were served a bowl, and a little less than half of the tea was poured in it, do not be surprised and do not think that the owner is greedy, - so it should beso that the guest during the conversation can drink hot tea all the time and not get scalded. You must admit that during the conversation, the tea in the cup quickly cools down and becomes quite an amateur, but after all, according to etiquette, you have to finish it. And here it is convenient: the conversation is not interrupted, and all the time there is a sip of hot tea, and the lips are not scalded by too much boiling water. Therefore, if suddenly teahouse (those who pour tea in bowls) will introduce themselves to you, remember this obligatory the rule of tea - pour no more than half a bowl of tea (this is popularly called " with respect"). If you suddenly pour a full bowl of scalding tea, a person may be offended. The teahouse takes each bowl in his hands, fills it and gives it to the guest. There are no special rules for holding a pialushka, so you can drink here as your hand is comfortable and your heart desires. Away tea is poured by daughter-in-law or mistress (if there is no daughter-in-law) - if this is a woman's tea party. In the meeting of men the owner of the house pours, and the youngest in the company should pour tea.

In different regions Central Asia love different tea. For example, in Tashkent they drink mainly green tea, but more like black with milk... There are still many similar nuances in hot Asia, but one thing is invariably - tea is a favorite drink here!

Especially relevant tea drinking during chilli´. Chill´ - these are the 40 hottest days of summer, from the end of June to 5-10 August. These are the days when the thermometer easily flies over the + 40 ° C mark and boldly strives further upward. For an unusual person, this is quite difficult to bear. Therefore, we advise you to avoid going outside in the afternoon and drink as much hot green tea as possible.

Tea has become favorite drink in the East for a long time. It was transported along the Great Silk Road, and given the fact that the delivery of such valuable tea took a long time, the price of many varieties was colossal. An alternative natural tea people had dried herbs, various roots and leaves in loose and pressed (tea-brick) form. Global reforms tea history in Central Asia began in the second half of the 19th century (after 1865) - after the formation of the Turkestan General Government and the colonization of Central Asia. The Russian Empire had its own economic plans in these territories, therefore, for most countries that exported tea to Central Asia, especially indian tea, the conditions were tightened as much as possible. It is also interesting that the varieties of tea that were used in Central Asia were not known and used in Russia before the colonization of the Turkestan Territory. They were mainly chinese, indian green teas and indian black tea, while in Russia the Slavs from ancient times used Blooming Sally... Green tea "stuck" most of all, it was available to any segment of the population. For example, a copper jug \u200b\u200bof green tea at the end of the 19th century cost one penny. Green tea he saved well in the heat, so he took a worthy place national drink in Central Asia.

Tea in all countries of the world has passed a long history of development. Cultivation and drying methods, development of varieties, brewing technology tea - everything gradually changes over time and progress.

Since ancient times, the main place for rest and tea reception in Central Asia has been teahouse... The sanitary control has legalized the ban on the reuse of tea leaves, therefore tea in the teahouse served and served exceptionally fresh. Curious and way of brewing tea in past centuries. Tea was boiled directly in teapots or in a cauldron, added milk and butter and all this was spiced up salt and pepper... Considering that from visitors all year round there was no end, we can assume that it was a very tasty tea. Various sweets and cakes were served with tea.

Dear guests Central Asia! Be sure to visit the real teahouse, where you can not only sit on the trestle bed near the dastarkhan with a bowl of hot green tea, but also understand the true meaning traditions of leisurely tea drinking in the East! It is at a bowl of hot tea that long sincere conversations are best conducted and the main questions of life are resolved.

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Tea in Central Asia: the history of the drink in the 18th-19th centuries.

Abashin S.N.

Tea - amazing drink... So they say about his gustatory and healing properties the same can be said about its cultural and social role. Among all modern peoples who include tea in their cuisine, the drink is mystified, endowed with sacred qualities, it is considered a "soul", a symbol of the people. Such an attitude is all the more surprising since tea appeared among the majority of peoples by historical standards rather late.

The history of tea is the history of cultural and social changes in society. At the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. it was known only to the southern Chinese. Only in the VIII-X centuries, having received recognition in Buddhism as a sacred drink, tea penetrates into China, Tibet and Japan and becomes an item of export. In most other Asian countries, tea penetrates as early as the 2nd millennium AD, first to the regions of Buddhism, and then Islam and Christianity. At the same time, there is an interesting pattern: where coffee is drunk, tea is less popular - thus the world is conventionally divided into those who prefer tea and those who give priority to coffee. This remarkable fact has a social and cultural explanation rather than a biological one, since coffee and tea are not at all interchangeable in terms of their properties.

The Portuguese brought tea to Europe in 1517 from China, and for about 100 years only representatives of the Portuguese nobility drank it. In 1610 tea appeared in Holland. In 1664 the Portuguese princess became the wife of the English king, with her the custom of drinking tea came to the royal court, after which the new English fashion began to spread rapidly in Europe among the nobility, merchants and townspeople. The drink became extremely popular, and trade in it turned into a profitable economic enterprise. It was precisely because of the trade duties on tea that the "Boston Tea Party" took place in 1773, which began the war between Great Britain and its North American colonies, which ended with the formation of a new state - the United States.

Tea was first brought to Russia in 1638 by Ambassador Vasily Starkov as a gift from a West Mongolian ruler. The tsar and the boyars liked the drink, and already in the 1670s it was imported to Moscow. Until the end of the 18th century. tea was a "city" drink and was widely sold only in Moscow. As noted by the researcher of the cuisine of the peoples of the world V.V. Pokhlebkin, there are many factors that should have hindered the distribution of tea - the presence of competing drinks, other people's raw materials, the need for special knowledge and equipment, high cost, conservatism of customs: "... but a miracle - tea, despite all these material obstacles, of everyday, psychological and cultural nature on its way to spread among the people, managed to turn into a truly Russian (...) national drink, moreover, such, the absence of which became simply unthinkable in Russian society, and the sudden disappearance of which from everyday life, say, at the end of the 19th century could lead, without any exaggeration, to a national catastrophe (...) tea, appearing in Russia in the 30s years of the XVII century and began to turn into a folk drink in Moscow already 50 years later, it became by the beginning of the XIX century, i.e. for some one and a half hundred years, absolutely indispensable, obligatory ... ".

In 1714 tea was drunk in Kazan, although it was still an expensive pleasure, and by the 19th century. tea drinking "... has become such a part of Tatar life that no holiday could be imagined without it ...". Thus, there is a general pattern: in most cases, tea becomes a "folk" drink only in the 19th-20th centuries, having made its way first from the chambers of the nobility to city shops, and then to the countryside. Tea has gone all this way in Central Asia.

The first news about tea is found in the traveler A. Olearius, who wrote that in the capital of Persia Isfahan in the 1630s there were "Tzai Chattai Chane", i.e. "... taverns in which they drink foreign warm water (...) black (darkish) water, a decoction from a plant brought by the Uzbek Tatars to Persia from China (...) This is exactly the plant that the Chinese call tea (...) Persians boil it in clean water, add there anise, dill, and some a little cloves ... "This message directly indicates that already at the beginning of the 17th century tea was known not only to the Persians, but also to the" Uzbek Tatars ", that is, the inhabitants of Central Asia. this is almost the only indication in written sources, which confirms such an early acquaintance of the inhabitants of the region of interest to us with the drink. the spread of tea (...) then, with the exception of Bukhara, for the cities of Central Asia this time falls on the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, for rural areas on the plain - at the very end of the 19th century. and for the mountainous regions of Tajikistan - in the XX century. "In Bukhara, tea was drunk already in the 18th century, and only to know. Besides the question" when ", the question of" where "is of interest. It is worth dwelling on this problem in more detail.

The origins of the spread of tea in Central Asia could have been the Chinese. There is quite obvious evidence of this. Written sources mention that in the middle of the XVIII century. Chinese ambassadors brought "satin fabrics and tea" to the Kokand ruler Irdan. China and Chinese culture have always influenced the regions of Central Asia. At the beginning of the 1st millennium A.D. the Chinese have repeatedly tried to assert their dominance there. Throughout the Middle Ages, Sino-Central Asian relations were periodically renewed and then again interrupted for a long time. These relations were quite intense in the 18th-19th centuries. In the XVIII century. The Manchu Qing dynasty rushed westward. In the middle of the century, China captures the Dzungar Khanate, under the de facto rule of which many regions of Central Asia were. The Chinese tried to assert their influence throughout the territory that belonged to the Dzungars. This was done in East Turkestan (present-day Chinese province of Xinjiang). In 1758, the Kyrgyz sent ambassadors to Beijing, effectively recognizing the Chinese protectorate. In the same year, the Kokand ruler Irdan-biy also recognized the patronage of the Chinese, which was then confirmed by the next ruler, Norbuta-biy. This recognition was not entirely voluntary and was accompanied by military campaigns by the Chinese in the Fergana Valley. For example, there is a report about the invasion of the 9,000-strong Chinese army in 1759 (or 1760), which, however, ended in the defeat of the Qing troops. In the very center of the Fergana Valley, on the banks of the Yazyavan-say, near the city of Margelan, according to local residents, there was a bloody battle with the Chinese. In the XIX century. In the Fergana Valley, there were few Chinese who were captured as a result of the series of wars that took place in this century between China and Kokand. These captives converted to Islam and merged with the surrounding peoples. Diplomatic contacts were less intense. According to Ch. Valikhanov, the last Chinese in Kokand was when Sherali Khan ascended the throne in 1842, then he came to the funeral ceremony - to the funeral fire for the murdered Modali Khan, after which "indigenous persons" became envoys of China in Kokand.

Despite all that has been said, it is unlikely that the Chinese could be the main distributors of tea fashion in Central Asia. Direct contacts between the population of the two regions were not very long and were carried out mainly in the form of political, ideological and military confrontation. China's influence on the penetration of tea into Central Asia was most likely indirect. First of all, we are talking about trade. At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century. Chinese tea in the form of pressed tiles was very popular in Central Asian cities. According to Ch. Valikhanov, at the beginning of the XIX century. "the whole of Central Asia and Afghanistan used tea brought through Kokand from Kashgar, and the use of tea" became widespread, and when the Chinese closed the border, then in 1829 "the Kokand people decided to open a trade for themselves with arms in their hands." This influence was reflected in one of the names of tea whitened with milk - "sinchoi" (Chinese tea), as well as in the popularity of Chinese tea ware.

Rejecting the point of view of direct borrowing of tea from the Chinese, E.M. Peshreva suggests that tea in Central Asia was distributed by the Mongols, who were in much closer relations with the Central Asian population than the Chinese. In modern legends of the Ferghana inhabitants, Kalmyks are often regarded as the indigenous, most ancient population of Fergana. True, in this case Kalmyks are confused with "mugs" (kal-mug), the ancient non-Muslim population of Central Asia. Nevertheless, despite this confusion, the legends reflect the really huge role that the Kalmyks played in the history of the Fergana Valley and all of Central Asia in the late Middle Ages.

The Kalmyks belong to the Western Mongol tribes, which, according to written sources, are also known as "Dzungars" or "Oirats". Already in the XVI century. Kalmyks fought with Kazakhs, and in the 17th century. attacked Khorezm and Tashkent, negotiated a military alliance with the Bukhara rulers and raided the outskirts of Bukhara. At the beginning of the 17th century. in the hands of the Kalmyks was Mangyshlak, where the future Khiva ruler Abulgazi was hiding. In the middle of the 17th century. the Kalmyks took over "some of the Turkmen uluses", after which they attacked the Astrabad region (northeastern Iran) and sent ambassadors to the Persian shah. In the middle of the 17th century. the so-called Dzungar Khanate was formed, which began expansion to the west. In the 1680s, the Dzungarian ruler Galdan captured the entire East Turkestan, made campaigns to Sairam (present-day South Kazakhstan), fought with the Kyrgyz and residents of Fergana. In 1723, the Dzungarian troops captured the cities of Sairam, Tashkent, Turkestan, Suzak, etc. In the same year, the Dzungar ruler sent ambassadors to the Bukhara ruler from the Ashtarkhanid dynasty and threatened to seize Samarkand and even Bukhara itself. According to contradictory information, the Dzungars actually owned at the beginning of the 18th century. Khujand, Jizzakh, Margelan. There is information that under their nominal authority were "some lands of Desht-i Kipchak (the territory of modern Kazakhstan and the northern part of Turkmenistan, some southern regions of Russia. - S.A.) and Iran, as well as Badakhshan (modern northeastern regions of Afghanistan. - S.A.), Tashkent, Kuram (Kurama. - S.A.) and Pskent ... ". The Dzungars repeatedly sent troops to conquer Chitral, Badakhshan, Darvaz and Karategin. The influence of the Dzungars was so significant that in the first half of the 18th century. In Bukhara, predictions were popular: power in Maverannahr should pass from the Uzbeks to the Kalmyks, as it once passed to the Uzbeks from the Timurids.

Unlike the Chinese, the West Mongol tribes were not "strangers" for the inhabitants of Central Asia. Moreover, they were aware of their distant kinship, since the genealogies of many Turkic tribes, who by that time lived in Central Asia, were Mongolian in origin. These included, for example, the Barlas, from whose midst came the Timurids, the Mangyts, whose representatives ruled since the 18th century in Bukhara, the Kungrats, whose representatives ruled in Khiva at the same time. The Mongols, as well as the peoples of Central Asia, developed the cult of Genghis Khan, his relatives and descendants, forming a special class for both of them, which had exclusive rights to power. It is no coincidence that the Dzungars justified their conquests in Central Asia by referring to the "Chinggis tradition". The only significant difference between the Kalmyks and the inhabitants of Central Asia was their belonging to different religions: the former were Buddhists, the latter were Muslims. True, unlike the confrontation with the "infidel" Chinese, which was a war of mutual destruction, the confrontation of the Central Asian population with the Mongols had another important component - the desire to convert the "infidel" Kalmyks to Islam. This phenomenon was widespread, as indicated, in particular, by numerous historical and folklore monuments.

Part of the Dzungars under the name "Kalmok" settled in Central Asia and converted to Islam. Kalmyks converted to Islam in the 17th-19th centuries constituted the service class and were part of the elite of the Central Asian states. Kalmyk slaves were presented to the rulers of Bukhara, and they willingly used them as an armed force in internecine wars. In 1611, Muhammad-Baki-Kalmok participated in the enthronement of Imamkuli-khan to the khan's throne. At the beginning of the 18th century. Kalmyks played an important role in the Bukhara court. The faithful servant of Ubaydulla Khan was Aflatun-kurchi-Kalmok, who died defending his master, to which many poetic lines are dedicated in the sources. In the conspiracy against Ubaydulla Khan and his murder, the "murderer of princes, the sinister" Javshan Kalmok, who elevated Abulfayz Khan to the throne of Bukhara, took part; under the new ruler, Javshan-Kalmok received the highest positions of "inak" and "supreme kushbegi" and actually usurped power by distributing important government posts to relatives and friends; later Abulfayz Khan executed Javshan Kalmok and his brother Muhammad Malakh Kurchi. At the beginning of the 18th century. at the Bukhara court of Ubaydulla Khan and Abulfayz Khan, such representatives of the nobility as Emir-Taramtai-haji-Kalmok, Bakaul-Kalmok, Muhammad-Salah-kurchi-Kalmok and his son Abulkasim-kurchi were also known.

According to F. Beneveni, who at the beginning of the 18th century. visited Bukhara, "the khan (Bukhara ruler Abulfayz - SA) does not rely on anyone as much as on his Kalmyk slaves", of whom he had 350 people. During the internecine struggle at the beginning of the XVIII century. on the side of the Bukhara ruler Abulfayz-khan was a detachment of "khan's Kalmyks", which was headed by Karchigai-i Hisari, Shahbaz-Kicha, Karchigai, Lachin-i Hisari, and on the side of his rival - the Samarkand impostor ruler Rajab-khan - the commander Tashi-Kalmok ... In the middle and in the second half of the 18th century. notable Bukharian nobles are mentioned Rakhimkul-Mirakhur-Kalmok, Bahodur-biy-Kalmok and Buriboy-Kalmok. In the middle of the XIX century. among the Bukhara nobility was Adil-parvanchi-Kalmok, appointed the specific ruler of Samarkand. The fact that the Kalmyks played in Bukhara important role, evidenced by the fact that in the ceremony of enthronement of the Bukhara emir Muzaffar Khan, along with three mangits and two farses (Persians), Abduraim-biy-Kalmok participated.

In Bukhara, there was a Kalmok quarter, where Kalmyks lived, who belonged to the military class of siphs. E. Meyendorf, who visited Bukhara at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote that "several hundred Kalmyks live here, some of them own the land around the city, but the majority are military", and they "have almost completely forgotten their language and speak among themselves Tatar, they can only be recognized by their physiognomy. They are known for their bravery, adopted the customs of the Uzbeks and live among them in special villages in Miankala and other areas of Bukharin "; in total there are about 20 thousand people. In the Bukhara Emirate at the beginning of the XX century. the Kalmok tribe numbered about 9 thousand people, they lived in the Bukhara oasis, partly on the Amu Darya and in Shakhrisabz.

Besides Bukhara, Kalmyks lived in other cities and regions of Central Asia. So, in the middle of the 18th century. ruler Kasym-Khoja arrived in Tashkent from Samarkand, accompanied by 500 Kalmyk soldiers. Someone Kobil from the Kara-Kalmok clan made the village of Bogistan, which belongs to the Tashkent district, as his bet. At the end of the 18th century. Kalmyks appeared at the court of Afghan rulers in Kabul.

The influence of the Kalmyks on Fergana was significant. There is evidence that already at the end of the 17th century. the Dzungars made a trip to Fergana and captured Osh. In the 1720s, they captured Andijan. In 1741-1745. the Dzungars made three campaigns against the Kokand ruler Abdukarim: in the first and second campaigns 10 thousand soldiers participated, in the third - 30 thousand. According to other sources, it is known that in the middle of the 18th century. Kalmyks besieged Kokand, took Baba-bek hostage, a close relative of the Kokand ruler Abdukarim, and then, after the death of Abdukarim, tried to put Baba-bek as ruler in Kokand. Sources mention that Baba-bek was among the Kalmyks near Kokand, i.e. Kalmyks already then lived in the Fergana Valley. Undoubted Mongol influence is evident in the name of the next Kokand ruler - Irdan-biy (the term "erdene", translated from Mongolian "jewel", was often used as a title of the Dzungarian nobility). The next ruler, Narbuta-biy, was married to a Kalmyk woman.

In 1759-1760, when the Dzungar Khanate was defeated and conquered by the Chinese - the Qing Empire, a significant part of the Dzungars fled to Central Asia, where "... they assimilated with the local inhabitants, retaining only the tribal name Kalmak". According to one source, 12,000 families of Kashgar and Kalmyks left East Turkestan, 9,000 of them settled in Fergana, and 3,000 in Badakhshan Faizabad. In the second half of the 18th century. during the reign of Irdan-biy, "several thousand" Kalmyks lived in Fergana, from whom Irdana, suspecting treason in the event of the invasion of the Qing troops, took away weapons and horses. Mir Izzet Ulla, who at the beginning of the 19th century. made a trip to the Kokand Khanate, mentions the Muslim Kalmyks who lived in southeastern Fergana. In the XIX century. a group of Kalmyk nomads, which was considered one of the local tribes, actively participated in political events in the Kokand Khanate. According to censuses, at the beginning of the XX century. from 200 to 600 Kalmyks lived in the Fergana region.

The role played by the Fergana Kalmyks-Muslims in the political structure of the Kokand Khanate is shown by the lists of 92 "ilatiya" tribes, i.e. nomads. One of the lists is given in the essay "Majmu at-tavarih". The work itself was written in the 16th century, but its last copies date back to the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. and, apparently, the compilation of the list of 92 tribes should be dated to the same era, proceeding at least from the fact that the Ming tribe is in the first place, the Yuz tribe in the second, and the Kyrk tribe in the third. All of them rose only in the XVIII century. In one of the lists of "Majmu at-tavarikh" Kalmyks occupy quite an honorable eleventh place in this list, right after the Kipchaks, in another list - sixteenth. In the essay "Tukhfat at-tavarih-i khani", written in the middle of the 19th century, the Kalmyks are relegated to the sixty-ninth place, which clearly indicates a decrease in the level of their influence.

A significant part of the Kalmyks ended up in the "Uzbek people". Some of them became part of the "Kirghiz": Ch. Valikhanov, for example, mentions the Kirghiz of the Kalmyk tribe living in the Tien Shan, who are very rich, they explain their wealth by the fact that their ancestors served the Eastern Turkestan rulers - the brothers Burkhaniddin-Khoja and Khan-khoja. The Kirghiz also included a group of Sart-Kalmyks. The Pamir-Afghan Kalmyks also mixed with the Kirghiz. The Kalmok group was a part of the Uzbeks-Kuram, the Turkmen-Yomuds, the Stavropol Turkmen and the Nogays.

In East Turkestan, the conversion of Kalmyks to Islam was even more widespread. An important role in this was played by the teachers of the Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhood, who very actively disseminated the Muslim doctrine. There is, for example, a message that in the middle of the XVIII century. the ruler of Kashgar, Yusuf-Khoja, converted 300 Kalmyk merchants to Islam. A little later, the brothers Burkhaniddin-Khodja and Khan-Khodja, relatives of Yusuf-Khodja and his rivals in the struggle for power, forced 15 thousand Kalmyks to convert to Islam.

All the data presented indicate that the ties between the Kalmyks and the inhabitants of Central Asia were very close. The peculiarity of the position of the Kalmyks who had converted to Islam was that they did not have their own "lot" and were mainly urban, capital residents. Being close to the rulers and being among the nobility, the Kalmyks could directly influence the habits and tastes of the Central Asian elite. One of these habits may have been an addiction to tea. A quite convincing argument in favor of this point of view is the fact that, according to many sources, in the 19th century. the population of Central Asia used special kind tea - "shir-choy" (tea with milk), also known as "Kalmyk tea". Unlike ordinary tea, which is brewed and drunk with sugar and other aromatic additives, shir-choy is more likely not a drink, but a special dish. The recipe for its preparation is quite standard for different regions of Central Asia: tea is brewed in a boiler, then salt, milk, cream (rim) or melted butter (mine), sometimes mutton fat is melted in the cauldron. The chowder is poured into cups, greaves from lamb fat (jiz) are put there, cakes are crumbled and eaten. Sometimes tea, butter and cream are served separately with food. Often, when preparing shir-choy, they add (sometimes instead of tea) sprigs of quince, brushes of grapes, leaves of bitter almonds, rose hips, cloves, cinnamon, peppers, various plants or crushed walnuts to boiling water (sometimes instead of tea).

In the XIX century. shir-choi was quite a significant competitor to ordinary tea. According to F. Beneveni, at the beginning of the 18th century. in Bukhara they drank sweet, i.e. regular tea. According to F. Efremov, who lived for several years in Bukhara at the end of the 18th century, they drank tea there with sugar. According to P.I. Demezon, at the beginning of the XIX century some tea lovers drank tea 2-3 times a day for 5-6 cups at once. In all cases, we are talking about ordinary tea. But traveling around Bukharin in 1820-1821. E.K. Meyendorff wrote about the people of Bukhara: "... after the morning prayer, they drink tea, which is boiled with milk and salt, which makes it something like soup. They dine no earlier than 4-5 hours (...) Now in the afternoon they drink tea brewed like in Europe ... ". According to the Russian prisoner Grushin, in Khiva at the beginning of the 19th century. tea was drunk only by the khan: Kalmyk tea - daily, ordinary tea with sugar - twice a week.

According to E.M. Peshrevoy, shir-toi were widely used in the Zeravshan and Kashka-Darya basins. F.D. Lyushkevich: the sedentary population of Bukhara and Kashka-Darya in autumn and winter cannot do without a drink called shir-choi. At the end of the 19th century, according to the spouses V. and M. Nalivkin, the shir-choi was well known to the Uzbeks (nomads and semi-nomads) of Fergana, which, incidentally, contradicts the data of S.S. Gubaeva, who claims that "... the indigenous inhabitants of the Fergana Valley did not drink shir-choi." Kipchaks at the beginning of the XX century. preferred sutli-choy (tea with milk, salt, fried bacon or ghee) and moili-choy (a cake was crumbled into cups, they put fried bacon or ghee, poured salt and poured hot brewed tea). The same type of tea was consumed by the Kirghiz.

At the beginning of the XX century. shir-choi, according to L.F. Monogarova, spread to Rushan and Shugnan, and later to Yazgulem, where it was served to guests in wealthy houses. In the Khuf valley, according to M.A. Andreev, tea began to be widely used in 1924, and before that it was drunk in the houses of the Ishans and some families of the "most experienced Khufs". According to M.A. Khamidzhanova in the Upper Zeravshan in the mornings "ate" shir-choi. N.N. Ershov: in Karategin and Darvaz in autumn and winter they make shir-choy in the mornings, which is considered "intoxicating" and satisfying. S.S. Gubaeva believes that the shir-choy got to the southern regions of Fergana from Karategin. Shir-choy was drunk almost everywhere in Afghanistan. This type of tea is also known in the North Caucasus: among the Stavropol Turkmen, among the Nogais (Nogai-shoy) and in Dagestan (Karmuk-tea).

Outside the Muslim world, this version of tea was widespread in the Buddhist world: it is preferred by the Mongols, Kalmyks, Buryats, South Siberian Turks (Altai, Tuvinians), as well as Tanguts who live in Northern Tibet, and the population of the Himalayan regions of India, Kashmir, Nepal. These regions have their own options for making tea: crumbled tea is placed in boiling water, milk, salt, butter, sometimes lamb fat, ram bone marrow, crushed jerky or dumplings are added; sometimes fried in butter or animal lard is added to the stew white flour, sometimes - nutmeg in oil. There are two ways to consume this tea: as a drink (with salt and milk) and food (with dry fried millet, butter and fat tail fat). Instead of a tea drink, tanguts use a decoction of a certain herb and a head of yellow onion, and in tea food (dzamba), which is eaten without fat, flour from fried barley grainscooked with tea brought to a boil. Tea drinking among Buddhist peoples is an indispensable element of religious rituals. At the end of the XVI-XVII centuries. tea firmly entered the diet of the Mongols and became for them "... the only food for many days ...".

All the above data indicate that the shir-choy and its varieties were popular primarily among the steppe and mountain nomads. This is understandable, since the preparation of such tea requires animal products. In one of his articles, N.L. Zhukovskaya noted: "... with the advent of tea, the entire free supply fresh milk began to be used for making tea with milk. "Shir-choi got to the cities of Central Asia precisely because the local nobility belonged to the elite of nomadic tribes - hence the habits and tastes left over from the nomadic way of life. the nomads of Central and Central Asia, a dish consisting of milk, butter and fat, as well as a broth of herbs and leaves was widespread.Later, tea began to be added to this dish, which may have been associated with the adoption of Buddhism by the Mongol peoples: by this time, Buddhists had already considered tea a sacred drink. In any case, in the cuisine of the peoples of Central Asia, along with "Kalmyk tea", there are other dishes in which tea is replaced by various herbs. In Central Asia, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a famous khoshak tea, which consisted of five elements (two varieties of dried herbs, grain pepper, cinnamon and chub-tea, ie dormant tea, sometimes with the addition of quince, almond, rose petals and pomegranate.) Often milk, salt and lard were added to the tea.

One of the most interesting questions cultural and social history of tea - how tea penetrated into the daily diet of the sedentary population of Central Asia. Apparently, this process first affected the "Kashgharts" of East Turkestan (who were renamed Uyghurs in the 20th century). The fact that the population of this region was in close contact with the Western Mongols played a role here. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the share of the urban population in East Turkestan was very high, which means that the fashion for tea spread here faster, and preference was given. " kalmyk tea", which among the sedentary population of East Turkestan, according to IV Zakharova, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries was known as" etkan-choy ".

In this regard, an interesting legend of the 19th century, popular among the Tatars: a certain Sufi, whose name is not named, being in Turkestan, tired on the road, drove into one of the villages near the Chinese border; the owner of the house gave the traveler a hot drink and the fatigue immediately passed; the Sufi exclaimed: "This is a drink! His place is in paradise! This is a gift from the Almighty! - and hurried on his way - to tell people about tea; this Sufi has lived thanks to tea for 100 years." Two details deserve attention in this story: 1) the events developed at the "Chinese border", i.e. in East Turkestan, 2) the main character is a Sufi, i.e. follower of the mystical direction in Islam.

The connection of "Kalmyk tea" with the religious beliefs of the Kashgarians is indicated by the ritual "sokyt" (which means "to free from difficulties"), which has survived to this day, according to the informants S.S. Gubaeva, - "sukut" (silence). This ritual, surrounded by secrecy, during which it is sometimes even forbidden to pronounce the very word "sokyt", is performed in Fergana only by immigrants from East Turkestan. It is done if you have a bad dream, when there are no children, when someone is sick, or when there is some difficult task ahead, etc. The inhabitants of the village choose from among the believers (sometimes from among the poor) a person - an okytvoshi, who organizes the ritual. By vow, making wishes, the neighbors bring this person money, food (lamb fat, flour, tea), and when they have enough of them, he prepares "juice". The ritual is performed 2-4 times a year. Previously, it was attended by men, today - mostly elderly and middle-aged women, usually 10-15 people. Only "clean" (pok) people who do not drink, do not smoke, and perform namaz can participate in the ritual.

Sokyt is a cake, sacrificial food, therefore, during the ritual, several sokyts are prepared - according to the number of people who brought food or money and made a wish. Participants sit in a circle in front of a leather tablecloth (surpa), on which food is placed, and read a prayer. Then the women who have performed the ritual ablution prepare up to 50-70 pieces of thin cakes like pancakes, which are fried in lamb lard in a separate pot. Having prepared the cakes, milk is poured into the cauldron, tea and salt are added, boiled, making ok-choy (sin-choy, shir-choy). Then each cake is folded in half twice and put on the bread, on top they are fried bacon. This food is divided equally between the participants in the ceremony, part of it is eaten right there along with ok-choi, and part is wrapped in scarves and taken home, where they eat up the last crumb, after having performed a preliminary ritual ablution. Then the cauldron, in which cakes were fried and tea was brewed, is thoroughly washed, and the leftovers are poured out where people do not go and where dirt is not drained. After eating, be sure to wash.

The "sokyt" ritual is dedicated to the holy Afak-Khodja, and only followers of this saint can participate in it. Afak-Khoja (Ofok-Khoja, Appak-Khoja, Oppok-Khoja) is a historical person, his real name and title are Khozrat-Khoja-Hidayatulla. He lived in East Turkestan in the second half of the 17th century. and was known as a saint. Afak-Khoja belonged to the offspring of the head of the Central Asian branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi brotherhood - Mahdumi-Agzam, who died in the middle of the 16th century. and buried in Samarkand. The clan of Makhdumi-Agzam was considered very noble, and the older branch of the clan had rights equal to those of the Bukhara emir and the Kokand khan. In the XVI-XIX centuries. many descendants of Makhdumi-Agzam were the spiritual mentors of Central Asian rulers from the Chagataids, Shibanids, Ashtarkhanids dynasties, as well as later rulers of Bukhara and Kokand from the Uzbek dynasties of Mangyt and Ming. Afak-Khoja, intervening in the internecine struggle of the Chagataids for power in East Turkestan, turned to the Dzungars for help. There is a legend that the saint met with the leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, the V Dalai Lama, who became famous for his scholarship and reformism, and enlisted his support. The Dzungars, who considered themselves followers of the Dalai Lama, supported Afak-Khoja and with his help actually seized power in East Turkestan, making this state their vassal region. Over time, Afak-Khoja began to be revered as the spiritual patron of the entire East Turkestan. By the way, the ancestors of the Fergana Kalmyks who converted to Islam "were warriors and served the patron of the Belogorsk party, Appak-Khoja. Together with Appak-Khoja, they allegedly arrived in Fergana."

The people of Kashgar tell the following story: as if they had not cooked flat cakes on lamb fat before, but someone did it, and Afak-Khoja liked these cakes, after which they began to make them in memory of the saint. Along with the flatbreads, the followers of Afak-Khoja joined the "Kalmyk tea". Thus, it can be assumed that it was precisely thanks to the glory of Saint Afak-Khodja, who had close ties with the Dzungars, i.e. Kalmyks, tea became popular among the sedentary Muslims of East Turkestan.

In turn, the Kashgarians could become the conductors of the habit of drinking tea directly in Central Asia, at least in the Fergana Valley, which in the 19th century. was "the largest consumer of tea". Migration to Fergana in the 18th-19th centuries the indigenous Muslim population from East Turkestan is one of the reasons for the popularity of tea here. There is ample evidence of the enormous scale of this resettlement. It began at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, when Eastern Turkestan was engulfed in the most severe internecine wars, which ended in the subordination of the region to the Dzungar Khanate. The main flow of migrants was then directed to the Fergana Valley. It was mentioned above that at the end of the 1750s, 9 thousand families migrated from East Turkestan to Fergana, i.e. about 40 thousand Kashgharts and Kalmyks. The total number of the sedentary population of Fergana, according to sources, was at that time about 300 thousand people.

By the beginning of the 19th century. the descendants of these Kashgarians were already considered the indigenous inhabitants of Fergana and, apparently, have lost the name "Kashgarians". Thus, in the Namangan region, residents of a number of villages speak a dialect of the Uzbek language, in which a strong "Uyghur" influence is noticeable. Meanwhile, there is no data on residence in the 19th century. in these areas there are "Uighurs" or Kashgarians. In the XIX century. mass migration of residents of East Turkestan to Central Asia continued. Wars against the Chinese, which invariably ended in defeats, were accompanied by migrations of different scales in 1816, 1820, 1826-1827, 1830, 1857-1858, 1877. Thus, according to Mirza Shems Bukhari, before the invasion of the Kokand troops into East Turkestan in 1830, "(...) from ten to twelve thousand Kashgars lived in Kokand." After the defeat of the next uprising in 1830, up to 70 thousand people moved from East Turkestan to Fergana (according to other sources - 70 thousand families). True, Ch. Valikhanov specified that 25 thousand people returned later. In 1847, more than 20 thousand people migrated from Kashgar (according to other sources - 100 thousand people), who, according to the chronicles, mostly died in the cold in the mountains. In 1857, after the defeat of the uprising of Vali-khan-tur, up to 15 thousand people migrated from Kashgar (according to other information, 15 thousand families).

In 1877, the Chinese defeated the state founded by Yakub-bek, after which "thousands of residents with families" again fled to Central Asia. In the report of the Russian official, we read: "... at the end of 1877, about 12 thousand people of Kashgar and Dungans emigrated to our borders (...). Of these, about 7 thousand went to the Semirechensk region (...), and the rest came through the city of Osh to the Fergana region ". According to Ch. Valikhanov, in the middle of the XIX century. Kashgarians lived in villages near Andijan, Shakhrikhan, Karasu with a total of 50 thousand families (or people?). The same Ch. Valikhanov gives a different figure: in the middle of the XIX century. in the Fergana Valley, 300 thousand people from East Turkestan lived. According to the report of 1868 by Mulla Musulman, up to 70 thousand Kashgarians lived in the Fergana Valley, mainly near Andijan. A certain number of immigrants from East Turkestan settled in other regions of Central Asia: according to written and ethnographic data, traces of their stay can be found in Tashkent, Kanibadam, Khojent, Samarkand and its environs, in Bukhara, Karategin, Eastern Bukhara, Khorezm, etc. etc.

The opinions of modern researchers about the number of migrants from East Turkestan diverged. SS Gubaeva (who, apparently, repeats the data of Ch. Valikhanov) believes that in the middle of the XIX century. in the Fergana Valley, there were about 300 thousand people from Kashgar. A. Kaidarov believes that by 1860 250 thousand immigrants from East Turkestan had moved to Central Asia. According to I.V. Zakharova, until 1860, 200-250 thousand Uighurs lived in the Kokand Khanate. G.M. Iskhakov, A.M. Reshetov and A.N. Sedlovskaya believe that in the XVIII-XIX centuries. from 85 thousand to 160 thousand immigrants from East Turkestan moved to Central Asia. G.B. Nikolskaya believes that from the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th century. 85-165 thousand Kashgarians moved to Fergana.

Natives of Kashgar were part of the elite of the Kokand Khanate. At the beginning of the XIX century. a special group of "taglyks" consisted of them. An influential dignitary under Umar Khan was Yusuf-mingbashi-Kashgari (or Yusuf-taglyk), to whose daughter Madali Khan was married. An important role at the court of the Kokand khans was played by the clergy from East Turkestan, which included a large, several hundred people, a family of Kashgar Khodjas. One of the wives of Khudoyar Khan was the daughter of a Kashgarian. The natives of Kashgar included the military leader Yunus-taglyk, an influential official under Khudoyar-khan - Isa-Avliya, as well as Ishan Madali-Khalifa, who raised an uprising against the Russians in 1898.

Migrants from East Turkestan had a tremendous influence on the formation of the sedentary group of the population of the Fergana Valley, known as "Sart". So, according to information dated 1840s, "the city of Shegerikhan (...) and its environs are almost exclusively inhabited by Kashgars. They are considered here by 20,000 families in one place." In 1890, in Shakhrikhan, the Russian authorities counted only 304 Kashgarians, the rest were "Sarts". You can find a lot of such evidence. In the 1870s, the total population of the Fergana Valley was at most about 1 million people, including about 2/3 or even 3/4 of the sedentary population. This is indicated not only by the information of contemporaries, but also by statistical calculations: in 1897, about 1.5 million people lived in the Fergana region, over a quarter of a century the population could have increased by no more than 160%. If we take as a basis the minimum number of immigrants from East Turkestan - 85 thousand people, it turns out that in the 1870s, 11-14% of the sedentary inhabitants of Fergana were Kashgarians. If we focus on average estimates and assume that the number of East Turkestan migrants reached about 160 thousand people, then the share of Kashgarians increases to 22-28% of the total number of Sarts. If we agree with the figure of 300 thousand immigrants from East Turkestan, then the share of Kashgarians becomes simply colossal - 40-50%. These percentages will increase if we recognize that the population of the Fergana Valley at the time of the Russian conquest fluctuated between 700-800 thousand people. As a rule, Kashgars did not settle compactly: for example, according to the data on the "ethnographic composition" of the population of the Margelan district of the Fergana region in 1890, they fully or partially inhabited 111 out of 251 villages. Thanks to this settlement, the Kashghar people very quickly merged with the surrounding population.

Undoubtedly, the arrival of migrants from East Turkestan could not but affect the culture of the sedentary inhabitants of the Fergana Valley, in particular, tea, apparently, largely spread thanks to the Kashgarians. The widespread penetration of this drink into the life of the sedentary population has changed the ratio different types tea: the usual method of brewing it has become more popular, while shir-choy has been drunk less often. There were reasons for that. First, in the 19th century. and especially at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, as a result of joining Russia, the nomads switched to a sedentary lifestyle, which entailed a reduction in their diet of livestock products. Secondly, at the beginning of the XIX century. a samovar was borrowed from Russia, with the advent of which tea brewing turned into a quick and uncomplicated business. Having visited Bukhara in 1836, I.V. Vitkevich wrote: "... here in the shop there is also a Russian samovar, of which many have been brought here now." As Russian influence intensified, the fashion of brewing tea in samovars spread. So, in Khojent, the first teahouse appeared in the middle of the 19th century, and in 1888 there were already 94 teahouses in the city, in 1910 - 207. With the annexation of a part of Central Asia to Russia, the samovar became a necessity not only in cities, but also in rural areas, where communal houses turned into teahouses (choikhona), which the local population called "samovars". Information E.M. The picture of the social history of tea is added to the picture of the social history of tea: at first it was drunk in public places or on special occasions only by men, later they began to drink tea every day at home, including women and children.

By the way, an interesting fact: at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. teahouses with samovars became so widespread in Central Asia that an attempt was made to formalize the work of teahouses into a special profession with all its inherent attributes - charter (rice), social hierarchy and training procedure, special rituals for initiating students into masters and commemorating saints, etc. One of the elements of "professionalization" was the choice of the spiritual patron of the teahouse and the creation of a legend about the ancient origin of the craft. According to the charter of the "teahouse keepers", the story looked like this: once the Prophet Muhammad went with an army of companions to war with the "infidels"; in the desert people were tormented by thirst and Allah, at the prayer of the prophet, gave water, but it was unfit for use; then another prophet, Davud (the biblical David), appeared to Muhammad and showed him a stone that had the shape of a samovar; thanks to the samovar stone, the soldiers boiled water and quenched their thirst. However, it should be noted that the final transformation of teahouse work into one of the traditional professions did not happen. In modern Central Asia, each community has its own teahouse who serves guests on big holidays and maintains a teahouse, but, as a rule, residents of a particular village choose him from among the community members.

A consequence of the settling of nomads and the spread of the samovar was the appearance of types of tea with a reduced set of livestock products. One of the Bukhara recipes includes tea, salt, fried bacon, pepper, but since it is without milk, it is called "choi-siyoh" (black tea). Kazakhs drink black tea with milk, without any fat. Some groups of Kirghiz drink the same tea, sometimes adding salt and sugar to it. Western Kazakhs add ground millet to tea. Brewed tea with salt and milk is known to the inhabitants of East Turkestan.

At the end of the XIX century. in Fergana they already drank mostly ordinary tea, which was brewed in teapots and samovars. Here, as in Khorezm, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashka-Darya and Surkhan-Darya, green tea (kuk-choy, choi-kabud) has become popular. Green tea in the late 19th - early 20th centuries "came into use everywhere" among the Kipchaks and Karluks, although, as K.Sh. Shaniyazov, "... and now many Karluks do not like tea." In Tashkent and the surrounding districts, they preferred and still prefer black tea - kara-choy, choi-siyokh, pardoned (fomil) -choy - the family one, since the names of producers were previously indicated on tea bags. Kazakhs also drink mostly black tea. Northern Kyrgyz drink black tea, southern - green. The same types of tea began to be drunk in East Turkestan. In Verkhniy Zeravshan, Karategin and Darvaz they drink green tea, which appeared in Soviet times (at first only among wealthy people), and only occasionally - black tea. Only in the XX century. green tea is widely distributed among the Turkmens: as M.S. Berdyev, "... today tea is an indispensable attribute of all meals without exception."

One or another preference in choosing black or green tea in the popular mind is often explained by the traditional division of food into "cold" (sovuk) and "hot" (Issyk): green tea is one of the "cold" drinks, it is useful in the heat, while black tea, classified as "hot", has better frost protection. Therefore, black tea is drunk in more northern regions, green - in southern ones. According to another explanation, black tea is drunk only with "black" water, which comes from the ground, and green - with "white", which is formed from the melting of mountain snow.

So, the social history of tea in Central Asia can be divided into several stages:

1) Western Mongols (Dzungars or Kalmyks), partly Chinese, become the main conductors of the fashion for tea; tea is distributed primarily among the Central Asian elite, among nomads and townspeople; tea is consumed together with dairy and fatty products, traditional for nomads;

2) migrants from East Turkestan become the main conductors of the wide distribution of tea: tea is gaining popularity in the countryside; tea is consumed mainly without additional animal products.

At the first stage, tea was transformed from a "foreign" drink or dish into a "friend". This transformation could only happen if people considered tea to be prestigious. In Muslim society, the main condition for this transformation is the consent of religious leaders. This aspect has so far been little studied, but one can point to the significant role of Sufi mentors in this process.

At the second stage, tea was transformed from an "elite" into a "folk" drink. This transformation could happen if he became available to everyone. The main condition for this is the transition from an agricultural, natural or semi-natural economy, closed in local regions, to an industrial, commodity economy that links local markets into one global market. This transition was due to a number of factors, including: first, organized in the middle of the 19th century. the British in India plantation production of tea, and secondly, the widespread construction of railways. If at the beginning and middle of the XIX century. in Central Asia, they knew mainly Chinese tea, then already at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. the most popular was green tea, which was brought from Bombay. These factors led to a sharp drop in tea prices. As noted by E.M. Caves, tea became available to the general public only when prices for it fell, which happened as a result of the appearance of Russians in Central Asia, the construction of railways in the region, and the opening of new trade routes.

What conclusions can be drawn from all that has been said? First, in the past, some elements of culture that are today perceived as important symbols of the "national tradition" were associated more with religious values \u200b\u200band were part of ideas about prestige and power. Second: some elements of culture have in fact become popular over the past 100-150 years, and their "folk" character has been associated with the development of industrial, international forms of life.

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Some events in Bukhara, Khokand and Kashgar. Notes of Mirza-Shems Bukhari, published by V.V. Grigoriev. Kazan, 1861, p. 36.

Valikhanov Ch.Ch. About the state of Altyshar. P. 156; V.V. Grigoriev Comments // About some events in Bukhara, Khokand and Kashgar. P. 106; Review of the Kokand Khanate in its current state // Zap. Russian Geographical Society. SPb., 1849.T. 3.S. 196.

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Valikhanov Ch.Ch. About the state of Altyshar. P. 159.

In the same place. P. 164; Nalivkin V. Decree. op. P. 185; Kuropatkin A.N. Decree. op. S. 125-126.

Centre. state archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan (TsGA RU). F. 1. On. 11.D. 205.L. 16.

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Bababekov Kh.I. Decree. op. C.7.

Mallitsky N.G. Tashkent mahalla and mausa // V.V. Barthold: Turkestan friends. P. 113; Reshetov A.M. Uighurs in Tajikistan // Ethnic history and traditional culture of the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Nukus, 1989.S. 195; Abramov M. Guzars of Samarkand. Tashkent, 1989.S. 34; Karmysheva B.Kh. Essays on the ethnic history of the southern regions of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (based on ethnographic data). M., 1976.S. 166; Kislyakov N.A. Essays on the history of Karategin: On the history of Tajikistan. Stalinbod, 1954.S. 38, 89; Valikhanov Ch.Ch. About the western edge of the Chinese empire. P. 222.

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Zakharova I.V. Decree. op. S. 223-224.

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Nalivkin V. Decree. op. P. 205.

Review of the Kokand Khanate. P. 196.

Gubaeva S.S. Uighurs and Dungans of the Fergana Valley. P. 126.

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E.M. Peshreva Decree. op. S. 283, 284.

Gavrilov M. Risol of Sart craftsmen. Tashkent, 1912.S. 13-20.

E.M. Peshreva Decree. op. P. 281; Abramzon S.M. Decree. op. P.144.

Nalivkin V., Nalivkina M. Decree. op. P. 126; Shaniyazov K. On the ethnic history of the Uzbek people. P. 279; He's the same. Uzbeks-Karluks (Historical and ethnographic sketch). Tashkent, 1964, p. 127.

Ershov N. Decree. op. P. 290. Note. 25.

Abramzon S.M. Decree. op. P. 144; Zakharova I.V. Decree. op. S. 282-283.

Khamidzhanoea M.A. Decree. op. P. 169; Ershov N. Decree. op. P.244.

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Information was kindly provided by V.I. Bushkov.

Shishov A. Decree. op. P. 173; E.M. Peshreva Decree. op. P.288.

Kazakhstanis alone drink up to three billion liters of tea annually! If such statistics were kept in other countries of Central Asia, then, perhaps, our region could become one of the most drinkers in the world. Tea drinkers, of course. Residents of Central Asia consume this drink in winter and summer, hot and cold, black and green, herbal and even onion.

On International Tea Day, which is celebrated in the world today, December 15, "Open Asia Online" looked into Central Asian teahouses and learned about our special tea-drinking ceremonies.

In fact, this holiday is celebrated primarily in the world's tea-producing countries: India, China, Vietnam and other countries. This date was set by the tea magnates in 2005, after the next World Public Forum dedicated to the problems of this production. The purpose of the appearance International Day the desire of tea producers to draw attention to the problems of the tea industry, and, of course, to popularize this drink.

It makes no sense to popularize tea in our region. For example, several years ago, when the international exhibition "Tea. Coffee. Cocoa" was held in Astana, it was noted that annually only Kazakhstanis drink up to three billion liters of tea! We drink tea in the morning and evening, on holidays and weekdays; we brew it with herbs and add milk to the drink. Therefore, International Tea Day is definitely our holiday. And each Central Asian country has its own special attitude towards it. However, there are general rules for all.

First: The owner of the house will fill the bowls of guests only half so that they do not get burnt, and in order to pour tea for the guests more often, showing his hospitality and attention.

Second: The owner of the house, before serving tea to the guests, pours tea into a bowl three times and pours it back into the kettle to make the tea better brew, then fills his bowl, takes a sip and only then pours the drink to the rest. Previously, in this way, the owner of the house demonstrated to the guests that the tea was not poisoned. Now it is just a tradition.

Third: in summer in our region, thirst is quenched with hot green tea. It is believed that it contains elements that reduce body temperature and are activated exactly when the tea is hot. In winter, Central Asian residents prefer black tea.

Tajikistan

As in all of Central Asia, tea drinking in Tajikistan is a special ritual. No event takes place here without this drink: weddings and funerals begin with it, it is drunk for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Naturally, all sorts of experiments are carried out with this drink - they add mountain herbs to it, dried fruits or brew tea on onion skins. They say it's useful. Even in Tajikistan, tea is not always just a drink: for example, for the residents of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region - the Pamiris - tea with milk is a full-fledged dish. It is called shirchay (tea with milk - approx. OA) and is prepared as follows: tea leaves are thrown into milk, boiled over a fire, and then butter, nuts or spices are added to taste. It turns out a very rich drink, if you add cakes to it, then in front of you hearty breakfast... By the way, only the Pamiris have a tradition to drink tea in this way in Tajikistan, but in Central Asia there are other regions where it is brewed with milk.

The place where you can drink tea from the heart is, of course, a teahouse. Men can sit here for hours and always have a hot teapot filled with a fragrant drink. By the way, all visiting tourists note that tea is especially good in Tajikistan, it really is, and the secret of this taste lies in the purest Tajik water. Therefore, in the main Dushanbe teahouse called "Rohat" (pleasure, - approx. OA) foreign visitors are far from uncommon.

In addition to tea, they receive a portion of national art here, because the building is decorated with original ornaments, carved columns - all handmade by local craftsmen. Dushanbe residents love this teahouse incredibly, hundreds of memories are associated with it, local writers even write works about it.

For example, an excerpt from Eleonora Kasymova's story "Chaikhana": "I went to the trestle bed, which was the third, to the right of the theater, as I remember now. My grandfather was sitting with his back to me. His friends, the same seventy-eighty-year-olds, sat in a square. In the middle of the trestle bed was a white dostarkhan, on it was tea in a large teapot with a broken-off edge, a bowl of various calibers, flat cakes, sweets randomly and pechak. Pechak - sweet rectangular candies that were previously present at every dostarkhan. Pechak is soft, fragrant and amazingly tasty, although it was made without any additives. The meager dostarkhan was more of a decoration. The main thing was people, as on stage. More precisely, communication, playing in the past. Every morning the regulars, about ten o'clock, occupied their places on the trestle beds. Old people brought sweets from home in bags, whoever could, and ordered only tea ... "

A couple of years ago, the Dushanbe authorities announced that they were preparing this teahouse for demolition, but such a noise arose in the society that it was decided to abandon this idea. The Rohat teahouse will remain in the capital and will continue to receive guests, as it has done since 1958.

Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, poems are written about tea and teahouse. Yes, such that people who were completely far from tea, and even more so teahouses, once sang about these sacred things for our region. Do you remember: "In the east, in the east, what is the sky without the moon, in the east, in the east what is life without a teahouse?" - the Uzbek group "Yalla" performed its hit, and they sang along with it, and they sing along now, all the inhabitants - then the USSR, now the post-Soviet space.

"Open Asia Online" has prepared a video about Central Asian teahouses, modern and those that no longer exist, to this music.

It was not by chance that the artists from the Yalla group chose the teahouse as the theme of their hit - it is this institution that is able to convey the spirit of Uzbekistan, as well as of the whole of Central Asia. For Uzbeks, tea is also a cult. The chaikhana keeper here also pours the drink from the teapot into the bowl and back three times, but he explains it this way: "The first bowl is a muddy sai (small river, - approx. OA), the second bowl - meet the aroma, the third bowl is real tea - treat your friends ".

But not everywhere in Uzbekistan, in tribute to you, you will be offered a quarter of tea in a bowl; for example, in the north of this country - on the contrary, so as not to embarrass the guest, each of them is brewed tea in small teapots and placed next to each on the right side. So that guests can decide for themselves when and how much to pour themselves tea.

In addition to the Yalla group, the popularity of the teahouse far beyond the borders of our region was also ensured by a businessman with Uzbek roots - Timur Lanskoy, who in 2000 opened an Uzbek cuisine establishment in Moscow, which eventually grew into a chain of restaurants under the Chaikhana No. 1 brand. Now these are prestigious, expensive restaurants, but in theory the teahouse should be an institution accessible to everyone.

"It (the teahouse) was cheap: a three kopeck teapot, five kopecks a flatbread, and sit as long as you want, no one rushes you," the artist Alexander Volkov said last year at the State Museum of the East in Moscow about an Uzbek teahouse. "I was lucky: In 1960, I ended up in Margilan, an Uzbek city near Fergana. It was a real Uzbek city with a preserved national way of life. There was an incredible number of teahouses in it, almost on every corner. People went there in the evenings, like to a club, to sit, to talk ... Sometimes, once a week, friends gathered in the teahouse, cooked some food, and everything was so leisurely, calm ... According to Eastern traditions, women were not allowed into the teahouse, and if the husband stayed for a long time, then the wife could not just come in and say "go home" - that would be an insult in the eyes of others. Only a son or daughter could go into the teahouse, summon dad from there and quietly say: "Mom says it's time to go home." That had a certain meaning "...

Kazakhstan

A movie is being made about the peculiarities of the national tea drinking in Kazakhstan. These traditions are still alive and well in the modern "coca-cola" world. Director Nurtas Adambay in his incredibly popular comedy "Kelinka Sabina 2" showed that the daughter-in-law is still judged by her ability to prepare and serve a drink. This sacred duty when receiving guests is entrusted to them.

As you can see, құdaғi (matchmaker) remained dissatisfied. And how does a good kelin (daughter-in-law) "give tea" (such a formulation is used in the republic)? To begin with, she must be able to handle samovars. It is believed that only the water boiled in them can be used to brew a real "shәy". When the guests gather in the house - and there may be 20 or 50 people - the kelin sits down at the edge of the table and starts pouring. The tea should always be hot. And it should never end at Konaktar (guests).

The daughter-in-law is obliged to monitor this. Moreover, no one ever asks for supplements aloud - guests simply serve bowls in silence. A good kelin not only has time to top up, but also to notice - who has already finished and pulls his hand. Respectable people cannot be kept waiting! And God forbid to confuse bowls and return someone else's - although they (all 50!) Can be exactly the same. Do not add tea where there are leftover tea leaves. They are poured into a special dish, which stands right there - near the teapots. And be sure to monitor the volume - there should be exactly two sips of tea in the bowl. In order not to have time to cool down. And then - in a circle. The mother-in-law sits nearby and strictly monitors whether the daughter-in-law is doing everything right. If not, then she may fly in ...

There is another tradition in Kazakhstan. When the guests left, fed, watered and satisfied, and tired after several hours of strenuous fulfillment of their duties, the kelin washed all the dishes, the little girl (mother-in-law), as a rule, says: Al, endi uzimiz ok shuy isheikshi! " let's have a drink! "). And all the household members run to the table with pleasure.

Kyrgyzstan

"Tell me how you drink tea, and I will tell you who you are" - this is how you can characterize the peculiarities of tea drinking in Kyrgyzstan. In the south of the country, they prefer tart green tea, which is brewed in porcelain pot-bellied teapots, preheated, and preferably on charcoal, then the tea acquires an additional aroma. Tea is drunk both at home and at a party, and in the teahouse - all year round.

No matter how strange it may sound, but it is the scalding hot tea that helps to escape from the hot summer heat, which is typical for the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Here they drink tea leisurely, with sedate conversations - without sugar and other additives. When guests come, the owner pours the tea. He pours a bright golden drink into small bowls and so that it only slightly covers the bottom. It is believed that the less tea you have been poured, the more respected.

But in the north of the country - in Talas and Naryn regions - they prefer strong black tea, water for which is boiled in samovars (Kyrgyz interpretation - samovar). Here, lump sugar (kumsheker) and full-fat homemade milk, and sometimes butter (sary may) are added to tea. And the kelin (daughter-in-law) pours it. If the family has not yet had a daughter-in-law, then the younger girl will bring tea to the guests (or even a girl - the main thing is that she can already hold the kettle in her hands).

George Orwell (the same author of Animal Farm and the novel 1984), in his book A Cup of Excellent Tea, wondered: “How can a man call himself a tea-pot if he can kill the taste of tea with sugar? salt. " By the way, in some regions of Kyrgyzstan, tea is drunk with salt.

And in Issyk-Kul, tea is poured into large chyns (bowls similar to bowls), often handmade. In a word, tea accompanies all Kyrgyzstanis without exception throughout their lives. It is served at weddings, christenings, funerals, commemorations ... And, of course, it is an indispensable element of hospitality. In any home in the country, any person - an old friend or a barely familiar guest - will definitely be poured a cup of hot fresh aromatic tea... It will be served with dried fruits, boorsoks, ghee, sour cream and jam.

America

Yes, it’s America! In the city of Boulder (Colorado), a real Central Asian teahouse appeared a few years ago. The people of the United States loved this place - those who want to taste aromatic drink, reclining on a traditional trestle bed, line up. And in spring, citizens of the republics of Central Asia celebrate the Navruz (or Nauryz) holiday here. However, see everything with your own eyes - the Open Asia journalists visited Boulder and filmed a wonderful report.

Acquaintance with tea among the Central Asian peoples took place earlier than England and Europe - there were caravans of the Silk Road, which carried it along with other rarities. Tea in the culture of the peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan takes much more place than in European countries and even England.

Central Asia seems to be one territory, but the traditions are completely different, even tea ones! Green tea from a bowl, tea with butter and salt, with camel milk and even sour cream - all this is Central Asian tea drinking, with its own culture, customs and recipes. But there is one thing in common - a special respect shown to guests who have gathered at a tea table in a teahouse, around a fire in the steppe or on a felt mat in a yurt.

Uzbek teahouse (teahouse): bowls with green tea and famous flatbread, the most cultural rest, because teahouse is first of all communication, unhurried conversation and even business negotiations. Any meal begins with green tea, and ends with it: first, sweets, pastries, dried fruits and tea are served, then pilaf and other dishes, and at the end, tea again.

Uzbek kok-tea. 1 tsp green tea is poured into a heated porcelain teapot. on each bowl plus one more, pour water a quarter and hold over the hearth or in the oven, after a couple of minutes to half, after another 2 minutes pour boiling water over the kettle from above and add water to ¾, after another 3 minutes - to the top. Before drinking tea, they marry at least three times - they pour it into a bowl and pour it back into the kettle.

A distinctive feature of the Uzbek tradition of tea drinking: the more respected the guest, the less tea the host pours him into the bowl. Usually a third of a bowl, but with great respect, they will pour even less. Why is that? The fact is that in Uzbekistan it is considered a manifestation of respect to often turn to the owners for an additive. The host gives the guest such an opportunity by pouring a minimum of tea, at the same time showing that he himself is not a burden to serve the guest once again. Tea is poured in a special way, so that bubbles remain on the surface. A full bowl will be poured only to an uninvited and unwanted guest!

Kazakh tea ceremony - respectfully

If a Russian drinks tea as much as he can, then a Kazakh drinks even more: 5-7 cups for breakfast, lunch and dinner are normal. When do Kazakhs drink tea? Always: before everything and after everything. Tea drinking begins any feast and it ends it, competing with traditional koumiss. Kazakhs prefer black tea, calling it red by the color of the tea leaves - kizil-tea. Specially for storing tea, sweets and sugar, Kazakhs have special chests made of wood with a lock and on legs - shai sandyk.

The Kazakh tea ceremony will not be inferior to the Chinese one: only women who are the host or the eldest daughter can pour tea, the bowls cannot be confused, the bowl should never be empty and there should not be tea leaves in it. From the heart, they also pour it in their own way - exactly one third, because the tea must always be hot! But the daughter-in-law will not be allowed to pour tea at the big ceremony - it is believed that the daughter-in-law does not know how to pour tea! Only if the eldest man in the family wants to praise his daughter-in-law for homemade tea, he will say: “You are pouring tea well!” In addition to jams and cookies, baursaks will certainly be served with tea! If the guest is drunk, he does not talk about it - he shows: he overturns the cup on the saucer, puts the bowl on its side or a spoon on the rim of the cup. And even after that, the owners will persuade you to drink another bowl! They drink tea for a long time, with light conversation and cheerful conversation, and not a word about business!

Kabud tea is Tajik green tea, and milk tea is shirchay. They drink it only from bowls served on trays with sweets and flat cakes. As elsewhere in Central Asia, tea is always: at a meal, at a conversation, and just tea. In Turkmenistan, they drink black charachay and green kokchay, each serving a separate porcelain teapot with a bowl.

Adopted also in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan is based on the need to save water: a large earthenware teapot is heated by burying it in hot sand. Then black tea is poured, about 25 grams per liter, and one glass of boiling water is poured in. When the tea leaves swell enough, pour in hot camel milk and everything is very thoroughly shaken or poured from dish to dish. After 10 minutes, add cream and sugar. Of course, for the lack of camel, you can try this brewing method with ordinary milk of the highest fat content.

- perhaps the most famous of unusual ways drinking tea!

The black long tea brew very hard and add milk 1: 1, salt and let it boil. Vesta with milk add butter, sometimes sour cream and bring to a boil again. Poured into bowls, sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds. This is a very satisfying drink that is usually drunk for breakfast. Etken tea is considered an invention of nomads as food fast food... Kyrgyz people drink tea with flatbreads, baursaks (cut pieces of dough fried in oil), dried fruits, and honey.

Several common features of Central Asian tea drinking: bowls, a low dastarkhan table, low sufa seats, a leisurely conversation and a quilted robe, of course!

Central Asian ways of drinking tea may taste very strange to you, but their health benefits are undeniable.

Good tea!