دفتر روشن

Paraw Bibi: This site is one of the most impressive. It is located in western Turkmenistan approximately 20 kilometers northwest of Gïzïlarbat in the village of Paraw. The actual shrine is set some 100 meters up a rocky mountainside overlooking the village and consists of a white mausoleum-like structure (described in historical sources as a mosque). Next to the shrine is an adjoining chamber with an outside entrance. At the foot of the mountain is a large one-story building which serves as a guest house (mïhmanhana, mïhman jayï). A roofed platform (bassïrma) located nearby the guest house serves as a place where pilgrims congregate and have meals.
Near the guest house and adjacent to the village are the remains of the town Ferava/Afraw dating from the ninth century. Sources (Materialy po istorii turkmen i turkmenii 1939: 176, 201) indicate that the town originated as an Arab border fortress (rabat) directed against the Oghuz and developed into an important town on the road leading to Khorezm. Among the ruins of the town are the remains of a shrine-mausoleum to a Paraw Ata dating from the twelfth century.
Turkmen anti-religious specialists such as Ataev (1989) note that the mountain shrine has long been active and considered it an important shrine contributing to harmful beliefs among the population. According to legends recorded in Soviet literature, Paraw Bibi was a beautiful and virtuous maiden who was the object of jealousy of many women. During a period of infidel military threat a jealous woman wanted to turn Paraw Bibi over to the invaders in exchange for promises from the enemy not to carry out the attack. Upon hearing this, Paraw Bibi cursed the woman causing her to turn into black stone. Soon thereafter, while on the mountainside, Paraw Bibi saw the enemy party approaching. With this she realized the hopelessness of her situation and ordered the mountain to split open so that she might enter into it, thus preserving her purity and virtue. After the miraculous event the locals were commanded by God to build a shrine to Paraw Bibi at the site where she opened the mountain. They believed, because of her bravery and refusal to submit, Paraw Bibi was a true hero (batïr) who had been blessed by the holy breath of the prophets.
Ataev also describes how, in the final decades of the Soviet era, pilgrims came from all over western Turkmenistan to the shrine seeking fertility and a cure for insanity. He also writes that in and around the complex were many "miracle working" stones and impressions of Paraw Bibi's hands and knees left in stone. One stone is said to be a watermelon that Paraw Bibi had been about to eat. According to legend, at the moment when Paraw Bibi was to cut the melon the enemies attacked and thus she threw it down in haste. At that moment it turned into stone. Ataev notes that a watermelon-shaped stone said to be that same stone from the time of Paraw Bibi was used by pilgrims as a "detector of sin." It was placed on the thumbs of two people; if the stone rotates no sin had been committed by those balancing it.
While visiting the shrine in April 1995 we filmed the site, rites being performed, and interviewed numerous pilgrims. We were struck by the large number of visitors (approximately 100 in the course of an hour) at the complex and by the intense activity and rather festive atmosphere. While there were male visitors, the majority of those present were girls and young women (ages 5 - 30). As numerous young women explained, Paraw Bibijan[25] was a beautiful maiden whose virtue, purity, and courage were unmatched. Furthermore, she was a devout Muslim who never failed to perform her Islamic duties. In the moments when attack[26] was imminent and at great risk Paraw Bibi performed her prayers; and due to her "burning with faith" she left behind the impressions of her knees and hands in the rock. They also told of the legend of the melon and demonstrated how "stones from the time of Paraw Bibi" or "stones seen by Paraw Bibi" may be used in predicting the future and detecting sin. Inside the shrine itself we met with several mothers (with their infant children) and young women who showed us the many dozens of votive offerings brought by visitors, including hundreds of cloth strips, miniature cradles, and large quilt curtains sewn by women hoping for children.[27] Leading out of the main chamber into the mountain is a niche-cave through which Paraw Bibi is said to have entered into the mountain and it is here where young women recite prayers to the spirit of Paraw Bibi.[28] The young women also pointed out the adjoining chamber known as Paraw Bibi's bath house to which she is said to visit each Friday to comb her hair and bathe; it too contains numerous objects and offerings. Outside the shrine, along the path, we also saw a small overhang under which Paraw Bibi is said to have hidden from the raiders for seven days; it is believed that crawling into the space will result in fertility.[29]
At the guest house and roofed picnic area located at the foot of the path leading up to the shrine, we discussed with a group of young people from the nearby town Gïzïlarbat the significance of the shrine, the personage of Paraw Bibi, and the meaning they attached to her and pilgrimage to her shrine. They explained that they were all members of the Gïzïlarbat Paraw Bibi Youth Club. They had chosen Paraw Bibi as the club's namesake because she "is an example for all young Muslim women to follow" as her bravery and steadfast conviction in the face of death coupled with her purity, honor, and unwavering performance of Islamic duties make her worthy of emulation. Some of the club's mentors included older women who told of how pilgrimage to the site was constant in the Soviet era in spite of the possible punishments. They explained that they understood such pilgrimage to have even more significance now and to be a sort of patriotic duty in this era of freedom and independence.
Elements of the legend of Paraw Bibi are evident in other legends concerning numerous other "Turkmen" saints and heroines and are not limited to one specific region. The transformation of a melon into stone at the moment when one is about to cut it and at the moment when the hero(ine) catches sight of an approaching enemy, the splitting of rock by and the disappearance of the heroine into a mountainside or cave never to return, as well as the indentations and impressions left in rock by the hero are all fairly common to legends concerning figures associated with holy sites. The sites of these types of saints generally lack a tomb or burial place and thus are atypical öwlüyä; consequently there are no cemeteries. Furthermore, the figures to whom the sites are dedicated are usually ahistorical and are placed in a mythical setting where the struggle between Islam and non-Islamic forces are simplified and clearly discerned.
Khoja Yusup Baba (Hemedanï) is a large complex located in southeastern Turkmenistan near the city of Bairam Alï and on the territory of the ancient city-state of Merv. The shrine complex contains basic features that make it not unlike other saints' shrines in the Islamic world.
Khoja Yusuf Hamadani is a well known figure in Islamic history and is credited as the first in a line of Sufi masters from which evolved the Naqshbandi and Yasavi lineages, the two most important Sufi traditions in Central Asia. Accounts portray Hamadani as an exemplary Muslim, pious and unpretentious, devoted to Islamic scholarship and deeply inspired in his work of propagating Islam (Algar 1976: 131-132; Zhukovskii 1894: 169-173). He was well traveled but was most active in Mawarannahr (Transoxiana) and Khorasan. After his death (1140), his body was interred in Merv, presumably at the site carrying his name.
In the Soviet period the mosque at Khoja Yusup Baba was designated as one of the four official-legal mosques in all of Turkmenistan. The site had also long been declared an official architectural monument. These designations entailed the constant presence of state officials, informants, tourists, scholars and restorators. In spite of Soviet efforts to tightly control and co-opt it, anti-religious activists continuously noted the complex's very negative influence among the population. Popular belief asserted that two pilgrimages to Khoja Yusup Baba would equal one to Mecca. Demidov (1978: 154) noted that the shrine had a caretaker-imam, Atanepes Ishan, who had "no religious training."
In three trips to the shrine (1993-1995) I met on each occasion a man born and raised in the northeastern province of Dashhowuz who had come on a pilgrimage to the shrine several years before and stayed on as the caretaker-imam after he was made well by the power and miracles (gudrat we keramat) of Khoja Yusup Baba. He was a laborer and farmer by trade who had learned most of what he knew about Islam from pilgrims visiting during his tenure at the site. He had learned, for example, the Arabic script, how to pray, and conduct the various ceremonies and blessings connected with visitation by groups of pilgrims. The site consisted of recently restored buildings: a mosque, large guest house, a cooking and eating area, a roofed but open tomb, and a group of smaller adjoining rooms and small buildings used for specific purposes (meditation; for those seeking a cure for physical ailments; for young brides desiring fertility; and for those having mental disorders).
The caretaker was overjoyed at my visits and especially happy to find out that I knew a little of the history of Khoja Yusup Baba and that it coincided with what he had heard.[30] During all my visits I also saw large groups of pilgrims, who in many cases had been bused in from neighboring villages. From what I observed, a group pilgrimage could last several hours to one or two days. The visitors brought the food and the animals to be slaughtered. After greeting, the caretaker offered an initial blessing and the group broke up with women and children going to the tomb or off to prepare the lodging and cooking areas. Many of the men, on the other hand, went to sit together with the caretaker. Others saw to the livestock to be slaughtered. Some individuals, both men and women, went in the guest house to rest and sleep. The guest house was well maintained and had enough bedding, plates and utensils, and cradles to accommodate dozens of visitors.[31]
Actual pilgrimage to the tomb itself was usually done in small groups and consisted of circumambulating (from right to left) the wall surrounding the tomb three times. During the trips around the tomb, most of the people would repeatedly touch the wall with both hands and bring their hands to their face. Some would kiss the wall. After everyone completed the circling, the caretaker would come over next to the group at the tomb. There they would squat while the caretaker recited a blessing. Upon the completion of the blessing individuals gave the caretaker offerings of money. While most of the visitors then would go back to the guest house area to make preparations for the meal, others went off to other parts of the complex. Around the complex is a large cemetery and running throughout it, behind the complex, are narrow foot paths. It was common for women especially to go along these paths to a well said to contain holy medicinal water. Aside from drinking the water, the women would tie on small strips of cloth on to the branches of the bushes or small trees that lined the paths leading to the well. As pilgrims explained, the strips (sometimes called älem)[32] signify one's prayer or wish to the saint. Aside from attaching strips of cloth, many pilgrims also set up two old bricks on the ground in the form of an upside-down "V" for similar reasons. Thus, behind the complex there are hundreds and even thousands of such "tie-ons" and brick configurations. Another commonly seen object on the ground along the path is miniature imitation cradles made from sticks and cloth. These are set up by women hoping for Khoja Yusup Baba's aid in becoming fertile.
In the complex itself individuals may visit the various rooms and areas noted above and utilize them for their specific purposes. Pilgrims explained that people with mental problems should sit in one corner room and wait for a miracle from the power of Khoja Yusup Baba. Those with sick children should go with the child to a specific area and there leave behind an article of the child's clothing or other belonging. In doing so the ailment would leave the child and remain with the object. Thus, here it is possible to see piles of infants' socks, sweaters, shirts, head coverings, combs, toys, and pacifiers. Another common practice involves the pilgrims' placing in specific places items which, after a period of time, will become blessed by the power of Khoja Yusup Baba. Numerous pilgrims offered me such "good luck charms" as gifts: combs, knives, metal objects, etc. Another commonly dispensed item was salt which is said to have been blessed by the spirit of Khoja Yusup Baba.
Baba Gambar: Some Soviet ethnographers present the figure of Baba Gambar as a clear example of how a pre-Islamic shaman deity was transformed into an Islamic saint (Basilov 1970: 55-68).[33] According to stock Islamic legend, Ganbar was the stableman of Ali and caretaker of his horse, Duldul. Among the Kyrgyz he is the patron (pir) of horse breeders while in Turkmen legends he is seen as the patron of musicians and the creator of the first dutar (traditional two-stringed instrument common to Central Asia). Versions of the legend current in Turkmenistan describe the devil as helping Gambar in the creation of the dutar and affirm its music was so sweet that it caused animals fall in a state of melancholy and stop eating. When Duldul appears to Ali to be ill and underfed, Ali questions Gambar but Gambar evades answering. Later Ali spies Gambar playing the dutar to a saddened Duldul. Ali confronts Gambar; upon this Gambar commands the earth to swallow him up and flees underground to Mecca and Medina saying that the two will meet on judgment day.[34]
There is more than one shrine to Baba Gambar in Central Asia. The largest and most widely known is located in southeastern Turkmenistan near the Murgap river some 120 kilometers south of Marï (ancient Merv). While there is a tomb located in the shrine, some elder Turkmen claim that he is not buried at the site and that he in fact never died. They explain that the site is the place where he entered into the earth. Soviet-era sources tell us that the site was very active in the Soviet period and that its major significance had to do with the fact that budding musicians (bagshï) came to the site to spend prolonged periods in order to receive a blessing (pata) from Baba Gambar and with it the necessary musical skills.
During our visit in 1995 we saw that aside from the shrine-mausoleum itself the site consisted of a chile agach (see below) and a tree in a fenced off plot said to be unique in that its leaves are in the shape of dutar tuning pegs. It was also claimed that the tree grew from Baba Gambar's original dutar and that its roots led to the underground passageway through which Baba Gambar fled. A large cemetery surrounds the shrine and across a nearby stream is a large guest house and sitting area where musicians practice and play the dutar. The pilgrims on the day of our visit had come from Marï and they explained that they often come to relax and congregate with other musicians. They also said that young musicians still come to receive Baba Gambar's blessing and that accomplished players make the pilgrimage to perform for inspiration and in honor of their patron.
Hazret(i) Alï: This site is located some dozen kilometers southwest of Ashgabat near the village of Bagïr and the archeological site of Nusai (Nisa), the ancient capital of the Parthian state. Demidov (1988: 93-94) writes that in local accounts residents of Nisa conducted mass prayers at the site (before the coming of Islam). I visited this holy place numerous times during 1993-1995. It is located on a sloping plain at the foothills of the Kopetdag and consists of a small clay mosque, a tomb-shrine,[35] a burial plot with no structure, and a guest house. Integral to the site as well are several small boulders. The small mosque, referred to as namazga (place of prayer), is considered a place where Ali prayed when he was in the region propagating Islam. Impressions in the rocks and boulders at the site are said to have come from Ali's hands and from the hooves of his horse, Duldul. On one larger boulder, where pilgrims believe Ali lay and rested, is an indentation loosely fitting the form left by someone in a fetal-like position.
One object that is part of the complex and a standard element of holy sites in specific areas of Turkmenistan is the chile agach or chile agajï (tree of the chile).[36] Throughout Central Asia the concept of chilla/chille/chile signifies a specific forty-day period connected with various events and periods of the year.[37] Demidov, citing this tradition, describes the chile as an ancient concept which manifests itself as negative force after one breaks a taboo concerning new mothers or the care for newborns (under forty days old). Inappropriate behavior in this period thus may result in sickness for the child or mother.[38]
While the chile agach at some holy sights may actually be a tree[39], the majority of chile agach we saw were constructed out of wood (planks, dried out pieces of trees, etc.) and took the form of either a large tripod, post-like structure with an overhang, or a sort of doorway-threshold. In some cases they were large and easily passed through; others were constructed low to the ground and one would have to crawl in order to pass. While details concerning the power and purpose of the chile agach differed according to site and informant, central to all accounts was its ability to promote fertility and rid individuals of ailments and sickness, especially those affecting very young children and new mothers. Another feature offered by the chile agach was its protection (for babies) from the evil eye and other negative forces. Thus young mothers would pass through the structure carrying their infants as both healing and preventive measure. Attached to these pieces of wood one can find multitudes of the cloth tie-on strips, articles of clothing, and toys. As in the case of specific rooms at the Hemedanï complex, it is believed that an ailment will remain with the object left on the chile agach.
A middle-aged woman who lives in the village nearby and who comes to Hazret Alï on a regular basis to take care of the site and facilitate pilgrimage graciously showed us around, explained some of the rituals and the significance of some of the objects, and introduced us to a family of Turkmen pilgrims. It turned out that the family was from Ashgabat and that they had long been making visits to the site. Two of the family members, teenage daughters, explained that they hoped that the visit would assist them to enter into the city's pedagogical institute. All the members stressed that visits to the site resulted in better health and the easing of other problems and pressures.
On one of my visits to Hazret Alï I met a lone young Kurdish man who explained that he was having trouble in life and was trying to "find his place." He had been at the site for three days and planned to stay several more until he felt better. He mentioned that he had visited the site since childhood and knew of its benefit to the body and soul. He said that during his visits he spent much of the time resting and praying in the namazga. He said he also made a point to circumambulate around the burial sites and chile agach, as well as lie in the impression left by Ali.
Khoja Älem Baba is an excellent example of a typical small "local" öwlüyä that apparently serves the population of one specific collective farm village (clan lineage).[40] Located not far from the Kopetdag Mountains near the town Kaka (some 130 kilometers east and south of Ashgabat), Khoja Älem Baba is the gonambashï of the village cemetery and undoubtedly attained such status, in part, because of his being of an öwlat lineage.[41] The tomb is housed in a clay mausoleum consisting of two chambers: an entrance way or sitting area and the tomb chamber. The tomb itself and its chamber are adorned with dozens of objects; apparently these items consist of both votive offerings and objects considered to be connected with Khoja Älem Baba: horns at the tomb's head, coins and paper money, metal objects, jewelry, various types of cloth and fabric draped over the tomb, stones in uncommon shapes, as well as a small wooden frame-like structure to which cloth and articles of clothing are attached. It is clear from the care given to the shrine and number of objects inside that the site is very significant to the local population and is visited on a regular basis.
While time did not permit us to speak with locals knowledgeable about the figure Khoja Älem Baba during our visit to the site in May 1995, residents of a neighboring village recalled that Khoja Älem Baba was said to have been an Arab and was considered instrumental in the local population's conversion to Islam. They also mentioned that they had never actually been to the shrine because Khoja Älem Baba "was not theirs" (i.e. not their ancestor and part of their local tradition).
Sites such as Khoja Älem Baba are evidently the most common in Turkmenistan and probably number in the hundreds and perhaps there are over a thousand. Indeed, it appears that Turkmen tradition stipulated that each community possess an öwlüyä and thus have access to the power and protection it provided. Leading Soviet ethnographers stress little more than the tradition's links to Sufism, the "cult of ancestors," and, in many cases, totemism. While the figures to which the shrines are dedicated are usually strictly local saints whose significance is limited to members of a specific locale or lineage, they typify the concept of öwlüyä as it has developed in Turkmenistan and as a whole serve the spiritual needs of the largest number of Turkmen on an every-day basis.[42]

While the rituals and practices connected with veneration and prayer are central to pilgrimage, another defining aspect of the act is the preparation of the memorial meal at the site. Among the Turkmen, like many other Muslim peoples, the concept of sadaka and kurban (offering and sacrifice) are considered exemplary Islamic practices. While both these terms are current in the Turkmen language, there is a more common term used in reference to the ceremony of the giving of a meal at shrines -- hudaiyolï ("the path of God"). Depending on the context, the hudaiyolï may signify the memorial meal and gathering conducted by individual families (in their homes) on prescribed days after a relative's death; it also may be given after the favorable outcome of a specific event: a loved-one's recovery from an illness, a son's return from the army, or a young person's graduation. All involve the inviting of friends and relatives, the slaughtering of an animal(s), and the preparation of a meal as an expression of honor for the deceased or, in the case of the successful outcome, thanks to God.[43] In the case of shrine and pilgrimage the hudaiyolï is conducted at the site in the name of the saint to whom the shrine has been erected.[44] Indeed, the standard set-up at shrines includes the guest house and a cooking area complete with hearths, cooking caldrons, and utensils. Those we interviewed explained that the hudaiyolï is usually given during a pilgrimage when one is requesting assistance from a saint or after one has conducted a pilgrimage to request a saint's intercession and assistance and the outcome had been favorable.[45] Pilgrims also noted as well that there did not have to be a specific reason and that such a meal was given simply to honor the saint and further cement the bonds between the individual or community and the saint.[46] In another case, at a large site (Ismamut Ata) in Turkmenistan's northeastern Dashhowuz province, we witnessed a mass hudaiyolï just prior to the spring (cotton) planting. As the caretaker explained, each spring on the first day of planting and each fall just prior to the harvest, members of entire state farms come on their tractors and trucks to gain the blessing of the saint in their endeavor. The meals themselves (rice pilaf -- a traditional Central Asian dish) and the actual visit are very short, usually lasting only twenty minutes to a half hour and are staggered by hour and day so to allow each state farm group to come separately.
While the meals prepared at the shrines are usually prepared by one group or party, pilgrims stress that the offering of such food to other visitors (who did not come with food) is a sogap ish (a good deed that will be rewarded by God) and results in greater blessing and sure acceptance (of the memorial meal) by the saint. It is also common for pilgrims, upon their return home, to pass out any remaining food to neighbors and relatives who did not make the trip. Aside from the idea that the food is blessed, the consuming of the food signifies that the person eating it made the pilgrimage "in his heart."

Today in an independent Turkmenistan in the midst of a cultural revival the concept of zïyarat has received official government sanction and the practice has flourished.[47] In the Turkmen media, and indeed in the opinions of many Turkmen, it is part of the larger tradition and concept known as hatïra which literally means "respect" and "honor" but is often used in a more specific sense and refers to honoring and paying respect to one's ancestors, especially victims of war, natural disasters, etc. Thus zïyarat has been officially acknowledged by Turkmenistan's president Saparmïrat Nïyazov (Türkmenbashï) as an expression of patriotism and an integral part of being Turkmen.[48] And while this recognition does not mean that all Turkmen take part in pilgrimage or give credence to the total complex of belief and behavior connected with it, the recognition reflects society's awareness that the tradition is "sacred" and part and parcel of Turkmen identity. During our visits to Turkmenistan we met numerous individuals who did not acknowledge (at least in our presence) shrines and saints as sources of power to heal, fulfill prayers, etc. Almost without exception, however, even these people displayed the accepted signs of reverence when passing a cemetery in a car or while present at a shrine. They also invariably spoke of the sites with respect and deference couching their explanation in terms of proper courtesy and "Turkmen" behavior.
As in other Islamic countries, more orthodox Islamic elements, and in this case, the state-run official Islamic establishment in Turkmenistan, may look upon the pilgrimage tradition with some consternation. Indeed, the perceived tension between "normative" and "folk" Islam supposedly evident throughout the Islamic world is known by some in Turkmenistan as well. Turkmenistan's chief religious official, however, Kazï Nasrulla ibn Ibadulla, said in our interview with him in April 1995 that the problems the people of Turkmenistan face as Muslims are very basic.[49] While acknowledging that the veneration of saints (in the place of God) and certain rituals carried out at holy sites are not condoned by Islamic teaching, the fact that many Turkmen continue to seek miracles at shrines bothers him little, in the capacity of the chief religious official, as compared with other problems his countrymen currently face. He noted that the respect and honor for one's ancestors and other elements of the zïyarat concept are sanctioned in Islam and quoted a hadith as proof. He said only after the population learns and practices basic Islamic tenets should peripheral issues such as the niceties of pilgrimage be addressed.

The importance of the holy-site tradition to the Muslims of Turkmenistan as it compares to other Islamic beliefs and practices may be debated. However, the role that it played in the population's adoption of and transition to Islam coupled with its significance as one of the few religious traditions that remained viable and accessible to large numbers of Turkmen in the Soviet era indicate that it is central to that which made and makes the Turkmen Muslims. That mosques and madrasas, with their accompanying "formal" functions such as providing venues to carry out Islamic duties and to acquire education and training, are critical in serving the needs of Muslims is not debatable. However, such institutions are literally half the equation. In many Muslim societies, especially those having large rural populations, the role of so-called "popular Islam" and in this case, shrine-based activity, is difficult to exaggerate. This is especially true in the former Soviet Union where such activity was one of the few aspects of Soviet-era Islam that was not completely sanitized and extensively controlled by the state. While other Islamic institutions, were either destroyed outright or deprived of their abilities to function, holy sites continued to provide their client communities with a way to continue to be Muslim. Even if one accepts the "criticism" of Soviet scholars and, increasingly, Western observers and other formally trained Muslims that shrine-based activity in Turkmenistan is a "vulgarized" form of Islamic religiosity, one cannot deny its sustaining role in the Soviet period and its formative one in the era of independence when national and religious aspirations are being recreated and recast.
Written sources coupled with information gleaned from field work demonstrate that holy sites continue to contribute to the definition and delineation of social boundaries and the generation and preservation of communal (and Islamic) identity. From individual pilgrimages undertaken to seek a cure from sickness to the mass hudaiyolï prior to planting and harvesting, and from local shrines limited to serving one lineage or community to widely known and popular sites visited by hundreds of pilgrims weekly, the shrine complex serves fundamental spiritual and cultural needs and defines concepts of power and identity on both the local and national scale. At these sites people not only learn, take part in, and pass down rituals, they learn about and discuss issues of power, piety, virtue, and proper behavior along with other Islamic values and teachings. And although it cannot be said that the sites in the Soviet period were hotbeds of underground Islamic anti-Soviet activity, as had been asserted by some influential Western scholars, the fact that aspects of the pilgrimage tradition generally remained outside the pale of both the Soviet government and the official Islamic establishment provide ample evidence that the pilgrimage tradition may incorporate popular feelings and sensibilities that are largely unknown to outside observers. Now, while there are attempts by the governments of the newly independent states of Central Asia to oversee and co-opt some especially popular sites and while the official religious establishments of these countries are trying to "Islamically sanitize" specific shrines and educate the population in mosques and madrasas, this tradition of the shrines being somehow autonomous local entities persists. Admittedly, while the new "antagonists" are not nearly as opposed to, and brutal toward, shrine worship and pilgrimage, they are keenly aware that shrines continue to provide a forum for popular discussion in an environment where public debate and discourse are usually otherwise closely monitored and tightly controlled. And while all the information we have gathered and activity we have witnessed have been apolitical, one may speculate as to the potential such a religiously-charged forum has.
In many ways then, shrine pilgrimage is a metaphor for the fate of Islam in Turkmenistan and in much of former Soviet Central Asia. It represents an Islam highly influenced by local tradition and sensibilities; one greatly affected by Soviet rule, but also one which has reemerged with new vigor and significance in an era when national and religious aspirations are being rediscovered and recast. Thus, whatever the perception or approach, shrine and pilgrimage in Turkmenistan deserve special attention as focal points for popular Islam and for their role in local and national identity. Their study offers an excellent avenue for providing insights into understanding Turkmen culture and religious belief in both historical and contemporary contexts.

Algar, Hamid, 1976, The Naqshbandi Order: A Preliminary Survey of its History and Significance, Studia Islamica, vol 44.
Ataev, T., 1989, "Keramatlï" yerler zïyarat edilmegining sotsial-psikhologik sebäpleri ve olarï yengip gechmeging yollarï. Ashgabat.

Basilov, V., 1970, Kul't sviatykh v islame. Moscow., 1975, O proiskhozhdenii turkmen-ata, in Domusulmanskie verovaniia i obriady v Srednei Azii. Moscow.
Bennigsen, Alexandre and Broxup, Marie, 1983, The Islamic threat to the Soviet State. New York, St. Martin's Press.
Bennigsen, Alexandre and Wimbush, S. Enders, 1985, Mystics and commissars: Sufism in the Soviet Union. London, Hurst., 1986, Muslims of the Soviet Empire : a guide. Bloomington, Indiana, Indiana University Press.
Demidov, Sergei, 1976, Turkmenskie ovliadi. Ashkhabad., 1978, Sufizm v Turkmenii: Evoliutsiia i perezhitki. Ashkhabad., 1988, Legendy i pravda o "sviatykh" mestakh. Ashkhabad.

DeWeese, Devin, 1994, Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde: Baba, Tukles and Conversion to Islam in Historical and Epic Tradition., Pennsylvania State University Press.

forthcoming The Yasavi Tradition.
Golden, Peter, 1992, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz.
Goldzhier, Ignaz, 1971, Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien). vol 2, edited by S.M. Stern.
Hudud al-Alam 'The Regions of the World', 1982, (A Persian Geography 372 A.H.-982 A.D.) translated and explained by V. Minorsky, 2nd edition. London, Gibb Memorial Series.
Khaiïdov, A. and Tuvakbaeva, M., 1986, "Keramatlï yerler" khakïnda, in"Keramatlï yerler", khakïnda khakïkat, Ashgabat.
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McChesney, Robert, 1991, Waqf in Central Asia: Four Hundred Years in the History of a Muslim Shrine, 1480-1889. Princeton, Princeton University Press.
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Tüliev, A., 1973, Yashlar, ateizm, metbugat, Ashgabat.

Vambery, Arminius, 1970, Travels in Central Asia. New York, Praeger.
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[ ]

* The author received an MA in Russian and East European studies and an MA in Central Asian Studies in 1993 from Indiana University, where he is now a PhD candidate in the Department of Central Eurasian Studies. He taught Central Asian culture and languages at Indiana from 1991 to 1996 and has spent nearly two years in Central Asia pursuing ethnographic and linguistic studies.
[1] The spellings of the majority of italicized words are transliterations from standard Turkmen (in the Cyrillic script).
[2] The work on saint veneration, shrines, and sacred places of Goldziher (1971) first published in the late nineteenth century, exemplifies some of the fundamental scholarship on the subject.
[3] Except for the works of Soviet specialists which will be discussed below, there have been virtually no in-depth studies on Soviet Central Asian shrine activity. The only detailed non-Soviet work done on Muslim shrines in Central Asia is McChesney (1991) which focuses on a shrine in northern Afghanistan and presents an excellent study of the history of a shrine and its critical role in the social, political, and economic life of an entire region.
[4] Five trips were made to Turkmenistan and a total of eight months were spent there. On my most recent trip (1995) I accompanied Dr. Devin DeWeese (Indiana University) to conduct field research in Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan on the shrine and pilgrimage tradition. I am very greatful to Dr. DeWeese for allowing me to take part in his work on the topic and for his constant help and inspiration in conducting my research.
[5] In the Soviet period Turkmen tribal history became a sensitive topic and one fettered by ideological constraints. Soviet scholars generally had to emphasize the ancient unity of Turkmen tribes and thus were precluded from objectively and comprehensively writing about the varying elements making up the Turkmen people.
[6] Soviet ethnographers generally maintain that the tribes and groups in the mountain areas possess features and traditions (with the exception of language) similar to those of the Pamir peoples in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. See, for example, Vasil'eva (1954).
[7] The word öwlat comes from the Arabic walad -- "heir, son, child." In standard Turkmen the word designates "holy group" and does not refer to "descendants" or "generation" as in the languages of other Central Asian peoples.
[8] Four öwlat groups claim Ali, one Osman, and one Abu Bakr. The genealogies often ultimately end with Adam.
[9] The term ishan (from Persian "they") in the Central Asian context gives clear reference to Sufism as ishans were synonymous with Sufi adepts and shaykhs while aga/aka is a form of address used for older males and literally means "uncle" or "older brother." Other forms of address for males include öwlat aga, khoja aga, shïkh aga, etc.
[10] The terms in Turkmen to designate those of non-öwlat origin are garamayak or garachï which may be translated as "commoners" or "common folk."
[11] It was common practice for non-öwlat groups to offer öwlat families special parcels of land and access to all-important sources of water (as well as other privileges). The practice has evidently continued into the present day as anti-religious literature in the Soviet period presented accounts of how öwlat members were recruited by communities and enticed with property and wealth to move and take up residence within a community. For example, see Khaiïdov and M. Tuvakbaeva (1986: 17).
[12] In the cases of older cemeteries, the figure is also often ascribed the status of community head or founder and thought to have been from Arabistan.
[13] In Arabic öwlüyä is the plural of wali "companion, friend (of God), saint."
[14] Roadside signs put up next to cemeteries are of two types in Turkmenistan. On one type it is noted "such and such's gonamchïlïk" (named for the non-öwlat gonambashï) while on the other it is noted as "such and such's öwlüyä" (named for the öwlüyä/öwlat member who is gonambashï).
[15] Demidov (1978) offers some analysis on this hypothesis but describes the process using the the terms "denigration" and "vulgarization" (of Sufism), thus presenting more evidence for the so-called "illegitimacy" of virtually all aspects of present-day Turkmen Islamic belief and activity, especially the öwlat groups and shrine pilgrimage.
[16] It is interesting to note here that many older men we met at shrines spoke not only of the destruction caused by the brutal Soviet anti-religious programs but also of the damage caused by World War Two. A large percentage of the generation of men now in their 50's and 60's -- the age of the men most likely to be engaged in officiating shrine activity and taking care of shrines today -- lost their fathers in World War Two. These men claim that much of the local knowledge of the "intellectual traditions" associated with the shrines died with their fathers. While women kept alive the practices that came with actual pilgrimage, they were not able to pass down the knowledge possessed by their husbands (except for general information connected with legends, etc.).
[17] The vast majority of the caretakers we met said they had been newly appointed (since Turkmenistan's independence in 1991) and that prior to their coming there was no permanent caretaker at the shrine.
[18] Many of the caretakers with whom we met with knew little more than vague legends about their shrine and the individual to which it was dedicated.
[19] Aside from an outright attack on individuals attempting to utilize their status as öwlat members in ways deemed socially harmful by the state, scholarship in Turkmenistan attempted to portray öwlat groups as "ordinary" Turkmen lineage groups whose sacred origins were constructs devised to exploit others. This was not only part of an effort to designed to combat religious belief but also part of a larger attempt by official scholarship to play-down tribal differences and to promote the concept of a unified Turkmen nation.
[20] Much information supplied by Soviet specialists such as Demidov was used by Western Sovietologists and specialists in Soviet Islam, especially in their efforts to portray Central Asia as a hotbed of organized anti-Soviet Islamic activity. The best examples of this are found in Bennigsen (1983, 1985, 1986).
[21] It must be noted that an apparent contradiction of Soviet scholarship and the anti-religious struggle was to "unmask" the pre-Islamic links with such activity and brand it as "un-Islamic" (thus carrying on the tradition as discussed above found in Vambery, etc.) Therefore, shrine pilgrimage was depicted as an ancient survival of the past having dubious links with Islam and as an activity engaged by ignorant folk who were unwitting victims of the inertia of traditionalism (aside from Demidov, see Poliakov: 1992).
[22] Anti-religious literature consistently cites circumcision, Muslim marriages, the offering of blessings, the tradition of slaughtering animals for meals in the name of God, and pilgrimage to holy sites as the most "visible and destructive" "vestiges of the past" in Turkmen society (see for example, Tüliev, 1973: 16-27). Anti-religious literature published in the other Central Asian republics contains similar assertions.
[23] Soviet scholarship (see, for example, the works of Basilov and Demidov) typically asserts that the veneration of these objects dates back millenia and is closely related to animism and other ancient beliefs.
[24] Dr. DeWeese and I have compiled a list of some three hundred holy sites in Turkmenistan, of which I have visited approximately ninety. There are undoubtedly many more.
[25] The affix -jan is common in Turkic languages and denotes affection and endearment.
[26] It is worth noting that the "enemies" (yagï) and "raiders" (garakchï) described in legends at this and many other sites are seen as Iranians or at least coming from Iran. Thus, Kurds are also often portrayed as the attackers.
[27] It is common for visitors to untie the strips of cloth and attach them to their wrists as a means of protection from illness, bad luck, and the evil eye. The strips then must never be taken off of the wrist; they must wear-out and fall off by themselves.
[28] The young women noted there are numerous prayers recited at the shrine like the one below:
Dushmanïng gaharïndan gachan -
One who has escaped the enemy's wrath,
Ulï dagdan gapï achan -
One who has opened a door into a great mountain,
Jenneding törüne gechen -
One who has passed to heaven's place of honor,
Parawbibi senden kömek -
[I ask] of you, Paraw Bibi, assistance.
[29] It is clear that while many of the rituals and activities are designed to assist young brides to become fertile, young women who are not wishing for children conduct the same rites as for other purposes. Thus the various elements of such activity make up a pilgrimage; their completion allows the pilgrim to receive a blessing (pata almak) from Paraw Bibi.
[30] To his great pleasure he was treated to a more in-depth account of who Khoja Yusup Baba was and why he is significant in April 1995 when Dr. Devin DeWeese gave him a great deal of historical information. The caretaker said it was his duty to record in writing what he had heard.
[31] Here, like at most other sites, all such items and materials were donations left by pilgrims. Tradition stipulates that donations made to facilitate pilgrimage are sogap ishler (acts for which reward will be given by God -- Arabic thawab).
[32] The etymology of the term is unclear and little studied; no specialists have used the term in connection with the Arabic word for "banner" (alam). Many Turkmen use the term mata or mata bölegi (cloth or piece of cloth) to describe the strips.
[33] Basilov (1970: 64-65) notes the shrine's existence since the mid 15th century.
[34] Basilov considers the figure of Baba Gambar and the legend of rivalry that existed between him and Ali to reflect a stage in the religious development among the Turkmen when Islam began to absorb and Islamify previous pre-Islamic religious belief and practice. In this case, a pre-Islamic shaman-like figure took on an Islamic identity but acted out a competition and show of power with Ali, a quintessential Islamic figure in Central Asia. Basilov asserts that as time went on the pre-Islamic figures in such legends gradually lost in the competitions and even disappeared in the legends all together, thus signaling a more complete Islamization of the population and their beliefs.
[35] This mausoleum was built between my visits in 1994 and 1995. Prior to 1994 it was a low burial mound surrounded by stones.
[36] It is evident from our findings that the chile agach is particular almost exclusively to areas in central-south Turkmenistan.
[37] These include the hottest and coldest periods of the year as well as the 40-day period after a child's birth. The term may also be used in some areas in connection with adherents of Sufism, namely the period of isolated prayer and meditation.
[38] While numerous informants spoke of the rules regarding chile, possible consequences, and remedies, we have found no written reference to or explanation of the chile agach other than that of Demidov (1988: 77-78).
[39] Tree size, shape, genus in themselves apparently are not what makes a tree or piece(s) of wood a chile agach.
[40] In the case of Turkmenistan and much of former Soviet Central Asia the tremendous changes brought about by Soviet rule and policies such as collectivization did not destroy all elements of traditional living patterns. The majority of collective and state farms -- the basic administrative units created in rural-agricultural areas -- remain largely inhabited by members of one or related lineages, clans, etc.
[41] I have so far been unable to locate any mention of Khoja Älem Baba or his öwlüyä in any written source.
[42] A standard Soviet interpretation of the tradition in its local character is summed up by Ataev (1989: 9, 61): "As clear from Turkmenistan history, religious officials created 'miraculous' places connected with the places inhabited by each Turkmen tribal clan and used their cult [of the holy sites] for their own benefit."
[43] In their analyses of such traditions, many Soviet ethnographers and historians invariably stress only the primitive links with animal sacrifice to both the dead and deities, and in the case of the Turkmen, they invariably discuss the tradition as a vestige ceremony connected with the "cult of ancestors."
[44] In Turkmen, a typical way of explaining the undertaking was: "Biz Shuwlan babanyng yoluna chebish öldürip, hudaiyoly ediäris. " -- We are killing (slaughtering) a young goat in the name of/to Shuwlan Baba (a saint/shrine in southwestern Turkmenistan) and conducting a hudaiyolï.
[45] Many individuals also noted that the meal may also be given after one had promised "in his heart" (without making a pilgrimage) to conduct the hudaiyolï if God or a saint granted his/her wish.
In some cases hudaiyolï are conducted in the home as well. As one elderly women explained to me, the venue of the hudaiyolï is not as important as the intention behind it and the actual act of the offering. Other informants in the city of Ashgabat claimed that hudaiyolï were conducted in homes because they, as members of the Teke tribe, do not make pilgrimages to shrines as much as members of other tribes. Many rural Teke, however, scoffed at this and remarked that the lack of pilgrimage on the part of city-dwellers reflected their loss of tradition and knowledge of turkmenchilik -- "Turkmenness."
[46] Apparently time and other constraints do not always allow for the preparation of a meal during pilgrimage, especially at smaller sites which lack cooking facilities. In such cases pilgrims may bring with them bread and other prepared food items.
[47] Virtually all the sites we had noted on lists compiled prior to our 1995 visit to Turkmenistan have been or are being renovated (or reconstructed) and signs of regular pilgrimage activity are clear. In some cases "new" sites have been (re)discovered. On the whole, this is characteristic in Uzbekistan and southern Kazakstan as well and probably in all of the former republics of Soviet Central Asia. The situation in Uzbekistan is particularly interesting because of the state's eagerness to co-opt shrines and be seen as the chief sponsor of aspects of the traditions connected with the shrines. The state, for example, has taken control of the popular shrines Zangi Ota (Tashkent), Baha ad-Din Naqshband (Bukhara), and Muhammad al-Bukhari (near Samarqand). Many observers see this activity as both simply part of the government's effort to control all elements of Uzbek life and a reflection of its uneasiness with "popular" Islam.
[48] See, for example, "Din ïnsan kalbïnï tämizleyän ulï güychdür," Watan, 20 Sept. 1994, p.2-3. Dozens of articles have been published in popular Turkmen-language newspapers and journals in recent years lauding the pilgrimage tradition and detailing the histories of specific shrines and the figures to which they are dedicated. Such treatments, however, have been careful to refrain from condoning all aspects of belief and practice connected with shrine-based activity, especially healing conducted by holy men, custodians, etc.
[49] He is sometimes referred to in the press as Nasrulla Ibadulla oglï as well. The interview took place in his Dashhowuz office located in one of Turkmenistan's three madrasas. He is an Uzbek by nationality. He graduated from Bukhara's Mir Arab Madrasa and studied in Egypt for four years