I
learn from this book that the Kyrgyz territory was formally incorporated into
the Russian Empire in 1876. In Kyrgyz tradition the living does not visit the
graves of the dead. There is a popular Kyrgyz saying that ‘a Kyrgyz is born in
the yurt and will die in the yurt.’ Yurt
is the traditional home of the nomadic Kyrgyz people
Due
to Stalin’s sedentarization policy the Kyrgyz and the other nomadic peoples of
Central Asia were forced to give up their nomadic life. While reading the book,
I also came across many words in Kyrgyz language which are commonly used by
other mountain societies in Central Asia. For instance, Boorsok in Krygyz language is referred to a particular type of
bread. It is also used by other communities in the region.
On
page seven of the book, one of the authors named Elmira says that for many
Kyrgyz their ethnic identity overrides their religious identity as Muslim. Overall
the hybrid nature of Kyrgyz cultural identity can be summed up in the following
expression: “We are born as a Kyrgyz, we live as a Russian, but we die as an
Arab.”. Furthermore, in the book I see the transition in the Gumbez structure. Gumbez is the traditional Kyrgyz burial marker.
The
book has a lot of pictures and less text. The different ways in which Gumbez were constructed is shown. The
most interesting thing for me is the yurt
structure around the graves during the Soviet period. Metal replaced the
original yurt material. This book
gives me an idea of working in the change in burial rites and sites in my native
district and region.
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