Culture, Languages and Cultural Awareness

The territory of Tajikistan has been part of the Silk Road trade route for millennia and has therefore been exposed to foreign visitors since ancient history. The famed hospitality in Central Asia is deeply rooted in the culture and Tajik people are honoured to receive guests in their home, whether they are friends or complete strangers. By immersing yourself in the local traditions, you will win the respect from your host. It will give you an insight in the local way of life and it makes interaction much easier. Tajik rural life is far simpler than modern-day occidental lifestyle and spending some time in a Tajik mountain village will raise existential questions about what really matters in life. Traditions are homogenous across the country with some slight differences from region to region.

Religion

The predominant religion in Tajikistan is Islam. In the Pamirs, most people are Ismaili, a branch of Shi’a Islam that follows the Aga Khan as its spiritual leader. Elsewhere in Tajikistan people are Sunni. After the collapse of ideological Soviet Union, religion has slowly (re)gained influence in daily life. Ramadan is widely respected among Sunni Muslims and when visiting Tajikistan during Ramadan keep in mind that it could affect your travel plans. Everything slows down in daytime and the celebration at the end of Ramadan (Eid al Fitr) is a national holiday. Especially during this period pay close attention to your driver as they may not have their full attention on the road. Some regions are more religious than others. In general, the deeper you go into the mountains, the stricter people practice their religion. The upper Zerafshan Valley and the Garm and Tavildara areas are known to be religiously very traditional. The people of the Pamirs are Ismaili Muslims, but the religion is interwoven with Sufism and Zoroastrianism. They pray one to three times a day and have always done their prayers at home rather than a designated communal place.

Language

Tajikistan hosts a kaleidoscope of languages and differentiates itself from the Turkic dominated languages elsewhere in Central Asia. Tajik is a Persian language, similar to Dari in Afghanistan and Farsi in Iran. Some argue Tajik and Dari are both local dialects of Farsi. Tajik is spoken nationwide although each region has their own dialect. It evolves constantly as scholars add new words from Farsi and replace the Russian words that have been incorporated during Soviet times. The country was created by merging ethnically different regions together. The remote corners of Tajikistan are often inhabited by non-Tajik speakers. In the very north of the country, the Shugd region, people speak Uzbek while the eastern Rasht Valley and the eastern Pamirs are home to a Kyrgyz minority, speaking Kyrgyz.

In the rest of the Pamirs most people speak Shughni, an older language than Tajik but with the same Persian roots. It’s an oral language and an alphabet in Roman and Cyrillic script was only created 70 years ago. Although some books are being printed in Shughni, the language is not taught in schools and is not recognised as an official language. Most valleys have their own local dialect such as Bartangi in the Bartang Valley and Wakhi in the Wakhan Valley.  Russian is still widely spoken by the generation that went to school in Soviet times and by Tajiks who have spent time in Russia as migrant workers. Gradually English is taking over as the foreign language for the new generation. In the guidebook Trekking in Tajikistan you can find a comprehensive language guide specifically for trekking related topics.

Hospitality

Tajiks welcome their guests very warmly. It is a pleasure and an honour for them to welcome visitors at their homes or to have them around for celebrations and weddings. Travelers are compulsory offered an invitation into the house for a cup of tea, often accompanied with yoghurt, bread and a variety of sweets. You can test the real motivation of your host by refusing three times. If the invitation is offered a fourth time it’s genuine and your encounter will likely be a great cultural experience should you accept the invitation. The hospitality is not limited to short breaks. The Tajik feel obliged to help travelers with food and a shelter for the night. Keep in mind that an invitation may mean that the host cancels other plans for the day to accommodate the unannounced guest. It also involves a lot of work and extra expenses. It is more respectful not to rely on local hospitality when travelling in rural Tajikistan and to plan food and shelter accordingly, while keeping some flexibility in your schedule for a beautiful, unexpected encounter. It is appropriate to leave some money (comparable to the price of a homestay) when staying overnight at a house. If the host doesn’t accept it at first, insist and add some good arguments for example, the money is for the children to buy books and school supplies. This usually breaks the resistance. If not, you can leave the money underneath the tablecloth. A Tajik proverb says that hospitality is granted for three days during which the guest can rest entirely and then must leave or work, often added with the joke that the guest returns the fourth day to rest for another three days.

Food and table rituals

Bread or non is the cornerstone of the Tajik diet. It’s a large, flat bread that is baked in a strongly preheated tandoor oven. It accompanies all meals. To the Tajik, throwing away bread is sacrilege so respect this attitude! Non is carefully laid facing up and your host will share it by breaking it into several pieces. The festive dish is plov (fried meat with rice, carrots and onions) and it is served during important events such as rural weddings, guests visiting and funerals. Kurutob is a traditional dish made of oil, flat bread and dried cheese softened in hot water. In rural villages people still rely heavily on what is produced at home (potatoes, eggs, meat and yoghurt in summertime) and usually have a limited variety of dishes to offer. For vegetarians it’s even a bigger challenge to eat a varied vegetarian diet in rural Tajikistan.

Sitting cross legged on thick carpets (kurpatchas) around a tablecloth spread on the floor (dastaxon) is the most common way to eat. If this is difficult for you, tell your host and they will find a way to accommodate you. Make sure you never step over the dastaxon and avoid pointing the soles of your feet directly towards somebody else. Eating can be done with your hands or with cutlery. Wash your hands in both cases and only eat with your right hand if no cutlery is presented to you. Tajiks, like in many other cultures, prefer to eat with hands as they say it is tastier this way. Give it a try and eat your plov with the right hand! Some dishes are presented on a common plate with everyone sharing the food. The usual way to share a common plate is to take a bite with your spoon, lay the spoon with the back on the rim of the plate and take another bite once you have swallowed the previous spoonful. When sharing a meal it is always appreciated you share some of your personal food that you carry around. It breaks the monotony of the local shepherd’s diet that mainly consists of tea, rice and bread. Chocolate and fruits are highly valued.

In some remote and religious areas, female travelers may be asked to eat with the local women and not to share the meals with men. Food is generally prepared by women and they often don’t join for dinner with guests. It is ok to offer help with picking the vegetables prior to the meal, clearing the dastaxon or cleaning the dishes. It could be a way to connect with the otherwise invisible ladies. When the meal is finished people commonly close dinner time by saying omen, putting the hands together and move them from the top to the bottom of the face. This is to thank for the food.

Tajik homes and staying the night

When you enter a home in Tajikistan, always take off your shoes or boots at the entrance unless the host suggests otherwise. Sometimes there are slippers for guest use, but it is a good idea to bring your own indoor footwear. In rural areas houses often have two rooms: the main (living) room and the guestroom. If guests spend the night, the family sleeps in a separate room. Female guests may be offered to sleep in the company of the grandmother or a young lady, for company or in case something is needed. It is inappropriate if a man offers his company and should be politely rejected. Sleeping is done on kurpatchas that are stacked on the floor and is surprisingly comfortable. The toilet is often a small building outside with a hole on the ground. In some cases it is shared with other villagers. Bring your own (head)torch and toilet paper.

Dress code

The dress code varies from Dushanbe, where life is more liberal, to rural areas, where women still wear modern variations of the traditional dress and trousers combination, known as the kurta. In general, the rule “don’t show too much skin” is well applied in Tajikistan. The culture is modest and women don’t show their legs and shoulders. Tight clothes, shorts and tank tops can feel stared upon in rural Tajikistan. For a woman, it is proper to wear trousers and even better long skirts. Being lightly dressed can be interpreted as being sexually available. From a practical viewpoint, it’s more comfortable to wear light trousers that will prevent sunburn and scratches from the thorny low vegetation. Men may feel uncomfortable wearing shorts in traditional areas as the local men don’t. Some female travelers may feel more at ease wearing a head scarf loosely worn behind the head, but this is absolutely not necessary. Being clean will earn you respect from the locals, expect not to be treated so well when you’re dirty and dusty. It’s not easy to stay clean while trekking so it’s worth packing a clean shirt and light trousers in case you pass a village or city.

Greeting and addressing people

Greeting between men is done by a right handshake and placing the left hand on the heart. Close friends and relatives greet by hugging and kissing the cheek three times, starting on the right side. In the Pamirs, men kiss the hand. Women greet men by placing a hand on the heart and nodding and sometimes by shaking hands if the woman is ok with this. Women shake hands when meeting for the first time and kiss on the cheek when familiar with each other. As a foreign man avoid shaking a local woman’s hand unless she offers a handshake. Kissing between partners is not a public affair and frowned upon. Friends may hold hands.

Tajik culture makes it easy to address people you don’t necessarily know by name. An elderly man with a respectful white beard can be addressed as Bobo (grandfather), an elderly woman as Bibi (grandmother), a man older than you as Aka and an older lady as Apa (which means older sister). Young boys are referred to as Bacha and Duxtar is a young girl.

Women travelers

Travelling by yourself as a female in Tajikistan is safe. People are respectful and will help you as much as they can. It’s still best to behave modestly and follow simple advice like in any other country: avoid drinking with a group of men, avoid sleeping in the same room with men you don’t know and be a little sceptic with people in authoritative positions like police and military. Community sense and social control are very strong and misbehavior won’t go unnoticed. Let people know where you are going to and you’ll be looked after by the community.

Gifts

In general, you should avoid giving small gifts or treats to children. They are well taken care of by their families. If you are interested in engaging in and supporting local communities it is more meaningful to enquire about community projects that are in need of support and you could make a donation to these.