Central Asia Images

Geography, ethnography and scenery
Nomads and Nomadism
Scythians and Sakas
Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu)
Bactria, Kushana
Tarim Basin and Silk Road Connections
Turkic Khaghanate and other Turkic States
The Mongols
Islamic Central Eurasia
Tibet
The Qing (Ch'ing) Empire

Geography, Ethnography and Scenery

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Relief map of Eurasia

Modern Central Asia

"Tartary"

Land and sea east-west trade routes. (SRCS26)

Empire of Alexander the Great and the routes of conquest (SRCS6)

"Hunnic Central Asia." 135 BC, after Gumilev, 1960. (NE42)

"Turkic peoples and their neighbors." Late 6th to early 7th c. AD. (NE58)

Tang China with Buddhist routes and sites (SRCS49)

The Mongol Empire ca. 1280

From late 15th c., voyages of discovery prompted by European desire to circumvent Muslim blockade of overland access to East Asia (SRCS103)

The Qing Empire in China and Inner Asia in the mid-19th c.

Russia in Asia, 1815-1900 (WH84)

Mongolian steppe

Hexi or Gansu Corridor

Gobi tan (cobble desert surface near Turfan)

Tianshan Mountains

Kirghiz caravan in sandstorm, Wakhan (CT3)

Two-humped bactrian camels, Wakhan (CT1)

Encampment at Aq Djelga, Wakhan. Stone animal enclosure protects against predators and cold (CT14)

Nomads and Nomadism

Kirghiz embroidered felt. Late 19th c. 82x61 cm. Note predominance of geometric figures, showing post-Islamic eschewing of animal, people, gods as subjects.

Shaman’s caftan. Fabric, fur, metal. 19th c., Altai. Such costumes would be first described in a dream by tutelary spirit, then made by women of the family and neighbors. Made of sheep of deerskin and covered with pendants. Depictions of helping spirits occupied an important place. For example, small dots representing the daughters of the supreme god, Ulgen, the sky-dweller, who would aid the shaman in ascending to the upper world, were sewn to the back of the collar. A belt with a dense braided fringe representing snakes was sewn to the cloak. Obligatory appurtenances of the cloak were two plaques symbolizing the sun and moon. As shaman gathered experiences through life and new spirit helpers, he would add pendants. (NE162)

Early 20th c. Mongolian scene

Kirghiz family

R17 Tibetan black tent; compare with yurt (ger). Note similarity of Tibetan tent to nomad tents in SW Asia (Arabia): woven wool sheet, not felted. Suggestive of SW Asian origins of nomadism on the Tibetan plateau.

B
Bedouin black tent

Bactrian Camel

Fat-tailed sheep

Mongol pony

Yak or Yak-Cow hybrid

Reindeer harnessed to sleigh (Siberia)

Making felt

Butter and Cheese

Erecting a yurt
Kazaks, Tianshan, 1990 (photos all by James Millward)

Scythians and Sakas

Bronze age chariot grave at Kriove Ozero, Siberia (just n. of Kazakhstan). Contains 1) horse skull, three pots, two bridle cheek pieces, points of spears or arrows; 2) charioteer; 3)bone cheekpieces; 4) stains of rotting wood outline wheel and axel fragments, hubs over axel terminals; 5) yellow lines mark location of spokes and exteriof of a hub. C. 2100-1700 BC, Sintashta-Petrovka culture, ancestor of Androvno Horizon, which was the first prehistoric culture to extend from Urals to Tianshan. This in cluster of sites on upper Tobol R., southeast of Magnitogorsk. These two-wheeled chariots like those described in Rig Vedas; designs on cheek pieces similar to those found at Mycenae (1650-1100 BC). But this culture predates the Mycenaean (Bones dated to average of 2026 BC.) Archaeology, March/April 1995, 39.

Bronze three-legged kettle. Alma-Ata, southe kazakhstan, 5th or 4th c. BC, Sakas, 11.2 cm. (NE13)

Ceremonial lamp, copper, Alma-Ata, 4th-2nd c. BC, early nomads. 30 cm in diameter. From distinctive steppe “fire temple” excavation. Sanctuary had round clay platform with remains of hearth, animal bones. Significant in the fire cult; rider with bow is Iranian sun god, Mithra, known in vedas as “master of cattle and possessor of broad pastures." Mithra lived on summit of World Mountain.

Coiled panther plaque, bronze. Arzhan kurgan, Tuva. 8th c. BC, early nomads. 25cm in diam. Breast ornament from horse’s harness. One of the earliest known examples of Scythian or Saka art; shape is determined by object’s intended use. (NE23)

Golden man’s headress ornaments. Gold, goldleaf, wood. Issyk Kurgan, SE Kazakhstan. 5ht-4th c. BC, Sakas. Winged animals, birds in trees, arrows pointed upward are symbolic of the heavens; similar iconography found in 19-20th c. Siberian shamans’ costumes. (NE28-29)

Horse from Golden man’s costume decorations. Gold, Issyk Kurgan, SE Kazakhstan, 5th-4th c. BC. Sakas. Horse (and elk) decorations for dagger sheath. Among over 4000 such gold ornaments found in grave. Early nomadic animal style often featured twisted torsos, as in the horse (and deer) here. Tension, impulsiveness.(NE32-33)

Golden man’s ring, depicting a god-king, possibly the Sun God, Mithra, with radiant crown. (NE37)

Burial chamber of Golden Man. 4th-5th c. BC. Issyk Burial site, near Almaty. 2.9 by 1.5 meters, of dressed fir logs. Dishes to the south and west, body lying on wood floor to the north. Gold articles were preserved in original position. (NE 27)

Golden Man reconstruction. 1969-1970 discovery, 4th-5th c. BC. Sakian aristocrat, 215 centimeters tall (NE)

Saka Man (AKA Golden Man) statue in square in Almaty, Kazakstan. (Michael Rouland, 1998)

Closer view of Saka man. Note sun disk on side of pillar; standing on flying panther. Original of the Golden Man artifacts said to be kept in Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev’s presidential palace (Michael Rouland, 1998)

Gold plaque, animal style. West Siberia or Altai, 5th or 4th c. BC. “Scythian wild-animal style in representational art.” (NE31)

For comparison of "animal style": Hexagonal gold-plated wooden box from Shaft-grave V. Plates decorated with scenes of lions attacking their prey, “the crude and barbarous execution of which indicates indigenous Mycenaean manufacture.” Example of Aminal Style outside of Central Asia. (MMpl.85)

Decoration from ivory cosmetics box from tomb at Athens of fourteenth c. BC. Winged griffins hunting deer; two small lions are crouched near the top, seen from above. (Eg. of animal style) (MMpl.161)

Oldest known knotted carpet, from frozen Scythian tombs in Pazyryk, Altai Mts. Ca. 5th c. BC

Reconstriction of Scythian

Xiongnu (Hsiung-nu)

Ancient Slab grave. Tuva (discovered 1970s) (NE 6)

Embroidered silk material. Noin-Ula, N. Mongolia, 1st c. AD. Huns [sic. i.e. Xiongnu] 19x10 cm. (NE40)

Detail of fragment of applique rug. Wool, felt. Noin-Ula, N. Mongolia, 1st c. AD. Huns [Xiongnu]. 229x73 cm. Scene of predators attacking deer reminiscent of Scythian and Sakian era animal style (NE49)

Bactria, Kushana

Tarim Basin and Silk Road Connections

Turkic Khaghanate and other Turkic States

Grave monument, Barlyk steppes, Tuva. Ancient Turks

Headless gravestone holding bird of prey. 7th or 8th c. AD, Turkish, Central Asia. Indication of falconry practiced by Turks in CA in middle ages. (NE150)

Stele, Kherbisbaar’ site, Tuva. 9th c., inscriptions on 4 sides. Pictured text reads: “For / valorous / men of the people, I procured three blessings. Of life / with my people and my khan, o creator. Alas I did not get my fill.” Turks

Reconstruction of ancient Turk (NE64)

Mongols

Mongol horseman. Seraglio album, 15th c. Topkapi Museum, Istanbul

Compare with previous: Silver dish from Soghdia, decorated with hunting scene (Parthian shot); Sassanian production. 7th c. (TTR101)

Saddle arch, facings, silver, gilt. Village of Ternenis, Melitopol’ region, late 12th /early 13th c. Good eg. of level of Mongol silverwork in united empire before fragmentation from 1250s. Animals would suggest official of middle rank; Chinggis Khan’s saddle decorated with coiled dragons. (NE68)

Paizi. Silver, gilt. Village of Grushevka (near modern Dnepropetrovsk). Silver/gilt paizi given to high-ranked officials; lower ranks got bronze. Bears name of ‘Abd Ullah, ruler of the Golden Horde from 1362-1370. (NE82)

Belt ornament with deer. Gold. Gashun Usta site, n. Caucasus, late 13th, early 14th c. Other pieces of the belt include a charm bearing heraldic crest of house of Batu (Chinggis’ grandson, founder of the Golden Horde), indicating that first owner was member of that house. Mixed cultural traditions represented in the belt: deer and flowering trees have known prototype in late 12th c. Jurchen art; flower itself in Arabian style, indicating Souwest Asia crafts influence. (NE84)

Portrait of Chinggis Khan, National Palace Museum, Taipei (RM63)

Temujin proclaimed Chinggis Khan, from a manuscript of Rashid al-Din. Attended by courtiers, and sons Jochi and Ogedei stand on the right. (RM31)

Depiction of Gog and Magog, horrible giants thought to be ancestors of the Mongols. From Romance of Alexander, Trinity College, Cambridge. (RM122)

Illustration by Mathew Paris from Chronica Majora, showing Mongols cooking and eating their victims and a woman prisoner awaiting a fiendish punishment. (RM138) Words in Latin include: tartari, humani carnibus; Equi tartarorum. . . .

Persian drawing of Hülegü taking a drink. Although he is leaning on a mace, holding his bow, with arrows scattered about, still, the artist conveys a very peaceful moment. (RM171)

Persian painting of Hülegü’s army beseiging a city. Note use of the seige engine. (RM179)

Khubilai Khan, National Palace Museum, Taipei. (RM203)

Khubilai’s principal wife, Chabi, wearing the baqtaq, Mongol married woman’s headdress. National Palace Museum, Taipei. (RM206)

Khubilai on a hunt, by Yuan painter Liu Guandao (Kuan-tao). Note falcon, hunting cat, black attendants? carrying spears, and the presence of a woman, perhaps Chabi. (RM219)

Khubilai’s failed invasion of Japan, painting from Japanese Imperial Collection. One third of the army was drowned when a typhoon struck the invading navy. (RM221)

Bust of Tamerlane, made from his exhumed skull. (RM239)

Babur, descendent of both Timur and Chinggis Khan, founder of Moghul Empire in India (RM242)

Mongol Family

Girl, Siziwangqi, 1990

Islamic Central Eurasia

Tibet

The Qing (Ch'ing) Empire