Research Report - Non-Muslim Heritage of Muslim Asia (2025)

Related papersResearch Note: The New Role of a Central Asian DiasporaVera SkvirskajaThe Copenhagen Journal of Asian StudiesOne of the common features of post-Soviet Central Asian diapora is its close connection to the homeland (the independent countries of the former Soviet Central Asia) manifested in various economic ties, including investments into kinship networks and business ventures. This research note discusses the transnational Bukharan Jewish diaspora and its links to Uzbekistan that do not fit into this general pattern. Drawing on the history of Bukharan Jews as a ‘go-between’ minority at the time of Russia colonisation of Central Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it investigates the ways in which this structural role has been actualised after the collapse of the USSR and mass emigration of the Bukharan Jews from Central Asia.

Related papers

Research Note: The New Role of a Central Asian Diaspora

Vera Skvirskaja

The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies

One of the common features of post-Soviet Central Asian diapora is its close connection to the homeland (the independent countries of the former Soviet Central Asia) manifested in various economic ties, including investments into kinship networks and business ventures. This research note discusses the transnational Bukharan Jewish diaspora and its links to Uzbekistan that do not fit into this general pattern. Drawing on the history of Bukharan Jews as a ‘go-between’ minority at the time of Russia colonisation of Central Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it investigates the ways in which this structural role has been actualised after the collapse of the USSR and mass emigration of the Bukharan Jews from Central Asia. While the Bukharan Jewish diaspora do not seem to establish new economic lniks to Uzbekstan, the Bukharan Jewish community ogranisaitons strive to become a recognised player in the field of people’s diplomacy.

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When a neighbourhood falls off the map: Jewish disappearance from Samarkand's Post-Soviet landscape

Alanna Cooper

Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 2022

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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"Prosodic Rhythm in Jewish Sacred Music: Examples from the Persian-Speaking World," Asian Music 47/1 (Winter/Spring 2016): 64-102See Also10 Of Stephen King's Favorite MoviesThe 10 Best David O. Selznick Movies, Ranked

Evan Rapport

Musical rhythms are connected to prosodic principles in many Jewish sacred music practices. For Persian-speaking Jews of Iran and Central Asia, rhythms are especially informed by ingrained habits of interpreting Persian quantitative poetic meters, applied to both Hebrew- and Persian-language texts. For describing and analyzing Jewish sacred music in the Iranian and Central Asian traditions, the term “prosodic rhythm” usefully highlights the importance of syllable length and other rhythmic features of a text, with broader implications for the study of Jewish sacred music and music without a steady pulse in general.

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Iranian, Afghan or Central Asian? Patterns of mobility among Persianate Jews in the 19th and early 20th centuries

Ariane Sadjed

Central Asian Survey, 2024

Focusing on aspects of mobility and daily life, this paper aims to highlight the history of nineteenth century Persian Jews as one of interconnectedness, but also separation. Various forms of interaction such as marriage, trade and the circulation of literature connected communities of Central Asian, Afghan and Iranian Jews, while they at the same time maintained or developed distinct identities. Departing from ideas of Persian Jews as isolated from their environment, I discuss aspects of interaction with different actors such as local Turkmen tribes, governors or religious authorities. The ancient city of Merv in today's Turkmenistan, a former hub for Jews from Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan, challenges notions of 'center' and 'periphery' and points out how Persian speaking Jews contributed to the socioeconomic environments in which they were active. Their movements and activities are crucial for understanding the formation of (transregional) communities and their relevance for global history.

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"On the history of Bukharan-Jewish music" (translated from Russian, preface by Izro Malakov and Levi Levaev)

Michael Nosonovsky

Izro Malakov's Volume on Bukharian-Jewish music, 2008

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Traditional Bukharian Houses and Mahallas: A Shared Vernacular Heritage at Risk

Suhrob Babaev

Proceedings HERITAGE 2022 - International Conference on Vernacular Heritage: Culture, People and Sustainability

Beyond being a form of community expression, the traditional Bukharian houses and mahallas – neighborhoods - illustrate a close relationship with the environment as the use of earthen materials and the design of its urban fabric respond to the harsh desert climate. This World Heritage listed vernacular architecture and mahallas in Uzbekistan are a vulnerable and rapidly changing heritage. Traditional techniques and know-how are getting lost and replaced by new construction techniques that most of the time are causing irreversible changes. In addition, their special attributes that make them unique are also disappearing due to changes of ownership, alterations, and adaptive reuse. In this context, a fragment of this heritage, the Traditional Bukharian Jewish Houses, was identified and included on the 2020 World Monuments Watch program to advocate for their preservation while maintaining the diversity and livelihood of the communities. Since the Watch inclusion, the World Monuments Fu...

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Middle Asia. // Introduction. // Visual Arts.

Barakatullo B Ashurov

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 18, 2020

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2. Multanis and Shikarpuris

Scott Levi

Global Indian Diasporas, 2008

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Judeo-Iranian Languages

Habib Borjian

Handbook of Jewish Languages, 2015

Judeo-Persian Early Judeo-Persian Bukhari Juhuri Judeo-Shirazi Judeo-Kashani Judeo-Isfahani Judeo-Hamadani Judeo-Yazdi Judeo-Kermani Hebraisms Secret jargons “Judeo-Iranian Languages,” in Lily Kahn and Aaron D. Rubin, eds., A Handbook of Jewish Languages, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2015, pp. 234-295; revised paperback edition, 2017, pp. 234-297.

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Dan Shapira, “A Brief History of the Jews of Bukhara and Central Asia,” Tablet Magazine (11 March 2021)

Dan ( D . Y . ) Shapira

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/history/articles/history-jews-bukhara-central-asia

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