The Region of Badakhshan
Geography of the Region of Badakhshan
Badakhshan is situated in the Eastern part of Tajikistan and North-Eastern Afghanistan. The terrain is almost entirely mountainous, featuring the beautiful, but very difficult and tugged Pamir Mountains. Narrow and fertile valleys lie around the many rivers that cut into the Pamirs. The area is vast – Tajik Badakhshan takes almost half of Tajikistan’s territory. However, it is very sparsely populated –around 200,000 people, versus 7.5 million for the entire country of Tajikistan.
History of Badakhshan
Like many of the neighboring Central Asian territories, Badakhshan was an emirate prior to the 20thcentury. After the Soviets drew the new political boundaries in the 1920s, Badakhshan was attached to the Republic of Tajikistan and the various ethnic groups and clans populating the area acquired their new Tajik nationality. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union two large provinces, Garm and Gorno-Badakhshan, tried to secede from Tajikistan. A five-year civil war followed. More than 50,000 people were killed.
Religious and Ethnic Identity of the Badakhshani People
The people of Badakhshan, known also as Pamiris, include various groups living throughout the region who share a common religious and ethnic identity. Based on that identity, they view themselves as a minority living within Tajikistan (O'Connell 2004: 5). After nearly a century of sharing a political state, the Badakhshanis hold on to roots much deeper than those the Soviets tried to impose through the Nationality policies of Stalin.
Most people in Badakhshan adhere to the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. Throughout the centuries, the Badakhshanis, as an Ismaili community living in Badakhshan, have been able to maintain their unique religious identity through the informal transmission of Ismaili doctrine and through the informal presentation of Ismaili rituals. Orality is preferred over literacy. This reflects a larger Ismaili concern for speech, where speech symbolizes a humanizing character free of the controlling potential of the written source (Belle 1998). This is why old Pamiri languages, such as Shognani and Roshani, are still in use, and are being revered today, even though they are only spoken. This explains why the poet/singer of the madoh, a religious vocal genre, occupies such an esteemed position in the Badakhshani’s life (ibid.).
The religious affinity of the Badakhshani people plays a big role in the way they identify themselves ethnically (O'Connell 2004: 5). They view themselves as different from the Tajiks and that difference can be observed in the variety of genres and forms in their musical traditions, both religious and folkloric (ibid.). For the Badakhshani people, maintaining their traditions is equal to maintaining their identity. Both religious and ethnic identities are narrowly related to music through religious vocal genres, such as the madoh, and through the rich and unique body of songs, dances, and instruments. Given the fact that the Badakhshanis are a minority in the country they live in (ibid.), they do not rely on sponsorship by a government to maintain their cultural heritage. The responsibility for maintaining the traditions falls on musicians such as those of the Badakhshan ensemble, who present and popularize the unique musical heritage of their region.
Most people in Badakhshan adhere to the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam. Throughout the centuries, the Badakhshanis, as an Ismaili community living in Badakhshan, have been able to maintain their unique religious identity through the informal transmission of Ismaili doctrine and through the informal presentation of Ismaili rituals. Orality is preferred over literacy. This reflects a larger Ismaili concern for speech, where speech symbolizes a humanizing character free of the controlling potential of the written source (Belle 1998). This is why old Pamiri languages, such as Shognani and Roshani, are still in use, and are being revered today, even though they are only spoken. This explains why the poet/singer of the madoh, a religious vocal genre, occupies such an esteemed position in the Badakhshani’s life (ibid.).
The religious affinity of the Badakhshani people plays a big role in the way they identify themselves ethnically (O'Connell 2004: 5). They view themselves as different from the Tajiks and that difference can be observed in the variety of genres and forms in their musical traditions, both religious and folkloric (ibid.). For the Badakhshani people, maintaining their traditions is equal to maintaining their identity. Both religious and ethnic identities are narrowly related to music through religious vocal genres, such as the madoh, and through the rich and unique body of songs, dances, and instruments. Given the fact that the Badakhshanis are a minority in the country they live in (ibid.), they do not rely on sponsorship by a government to maintain their cultural heritage. The responsibility for maintaining the traditions falls on musicians such as those of the Badakhshan ensemble, who present and popularize the unique musical heritage of their region.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
References
The Badakhshan Ensemble: Song and dance from the Pamir Mountains. DVD.Produced by Theodore Levin. 2007; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Belle, Jan van. 1998. The Music of Tajik Badakhshan. The Ismaili United Kingdom, No 33 (December): 18-19.http://www.iis.ac.uk/SiteAssets/pdf/van_belle_badakhshan.pdf (accessed June 8, 2012).
O’Connell, John Morgan “Sustaining Difference: Theorising Minority Music in Badakhshan.” In Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities, edited by Ursula Hemetek, Gerda Lechleitner, Inna Naroditskaya and Anna Czekanowska, 1-19. Buckinghamshire UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2004
References
The Badakhshan Ensemble: Song and dance from the Pamir Mountains. DVD.Produced by Theodore Levin. 2007; Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Belle, Jan van. 1998. The Music of Tajik Badakhshan. The Ismaili United Kingdom, No 33 (December): 18-19.http://www.iis.ac.uk/SiteAssets/pdf/van_belle_badakhshan.pdf (accessed June 8, 2012).
O’Connell, John Morgan “Sustaining Difference: Theorising Minority Music in Badakhshan.” In Manifold Identities: Studies on Music and Minorities, edited by Ursula Hemetek, Gerda Lechleitner, Inna Naroditskaya and Anna Czekanowska, 1-19. Buckinghamshire UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2004