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840 UZBEK (AFGHANISTAN)
and milk. The pasta complex that stretches from the Far East to Italy and beyond
had its origin somewhere along the Silk Route. Possibly the complex developed
because it was easier for caravaneers to transport food grains in pasta form rather
than as flour. Among the pasta dishes enjoyed by the Uzbek, Tajik and others
in northern Afghanistan are: ash (minestrone-type noodles and vegetable soup)
and ashak (ravioli with meat, cheese or leek filling). A steamed meat dumpling
called mantu is a winter favorite, and similar dishes with identical names are
found across the Himalayas to Tibet. As among the Tajik, dairy products are
popular.
The classic, free enterprise-through-bargaining Central Asian bazaar exists in
towns throughout northern Afghanistan and even in Soviet Central Asia. Traditionally,
towns have two bazaar days a week, Monday and Thursday. Many
Uzbek have become skillful bazaar artisans (silver- and goldsmiths, leatherworkers,
woodcarvers and rug makers), but no matter how competent, the artisan
always leaves one flaw in his work to conform to the idea that only Allah can
produce a perfect thing.
The social structure of the Uzbek is more stratified and hierarchical than that
of the Tajik, and their leaders (begs, boyers) have more authoritarian power, a
reflection of the disciplined nomadic past of the Uzbek. In addition, they still
refer to themselves by old tribal names of the days of the Golden Horde: Laka,
Haraki, Kamaki, Mangit, Ming, Taimus, Durman, Chinaki, Toghul. Others,
such as the Dasht-i Kipchak, have lived in the area since the time of the Shaibani
Khan (sixteenth century).
The general mixing of the Uzbek and Tajik in both Afghanistan and Soviet
Central Asia has affected kinship terms in both groups. The basic terms dealing
with marriage relationships will normally be those of the dominant group, usually
Tajiki Farsi in the east and south and Uzbeki Turkic in the west and north.
Interethnic marriages tend to identify the dominant group in any given area; if
Uzbek dominate, Uzbek males will marry Tajik females, and vice versa if Tajik
dominate. Since World War II, this pattern has been breaking down, but more
slowly in rural areas.
The brideprice, which really refers to an economic exchange, still exists in
most areas. The bride's dowry should equal the so-called brideprice given to
her family, and in any event, most marriages take place within close kin lineages.
In addition to the usual square and rectangular, or domed-roof, sun-dried and
mud-brick houses, a special type of Uzbek house is found in Afghanistan. It is
an oblong, rectangular hut with individual rooms leading off from a long, covered
porch and situated inside a walled compound. The Central Asian yurt is also
common in northern Afghanistan, used by most semi-sedentary groups when
they seasonally migrate to yayla (summer quarters) with their herds or move to
highland fields to reap wheat or pick melons. The classic portable yurt has a
latticework wooden frame covered with reed matting, with a number of colorful
woven woolen bands wound around the latticework outside the matting. A series
of long poles tied with special knots support the structure at the top of the wooden