We are now in Istaravshan. We stopped here for some visits and lunch on our way from Khujand to Dushanbe. Istaravshan has a long and glorious history. It was founded by king Cyrus of the Parthian empire in the 6th century BC. It started as a trade center on the Silk Road. Alexander the Great conquered it. It prospered greatly under the Tajik Samanid dynasty in the 9th and 10th centuries. Genghis Khan razed it to the ground in the 13th century. Timur took it over and it lived a second golden age until the 16th century when trade routes started bypassing it for Bukhara. Russia took it over in 1886. The city’s name was changed many times over all those centuries.

Istaravshan was famous in the past for its handicrafts, particularly carving, glazed pottery, embroidery, gold and silver ornaments, and more. My own guess is that since it lies in the northern foothills of the Turkistan Mountain range, it probably was never much of a farming or agriculture town. But since it was on the Silk Road back then, it probably developed into a handicraft village. Today, Istaravshan does fruit processing and wine making but it still has many crafts people.

Since Istaravshan has a long history for handicrafts, we visited a number of crafts people. I found them quite interesting but will limit it to one posting.

We visited the guy in the first photo at his home compound which is also his shop. This time of year, he works outside, right next to where he is standing. His whole family helps him out and that’s his grandson next to him. He is a master craftsman and he makes combs. He and his family have been making combs for 150 years. This is how they earn their living. He gathers and cuts all his own wood from local trees. He cuts up trees and boards with mechanical tools but he makes all of his combs strictly with hand tools. He told us that his combs last more or less forever and in fact, people put them in their wills and hand them down after they die. It’s hard to believe.

You can see some of his combs in the second photo. He says they are virtually unbreakable. The animals are just something he makes for entertainment when he has a piece of wood that would not work for a comb.

You can see a knife-maker in the third photo. He too is a master craftsman. His family has been making knives for 350 years and he learned the craft from his father. He told us that there are 70 steps to make a knife. Most of his work today is with stainless steel, because that is what his customers want. His two sons were in the shop working with him. You can see a few of their knives in the fourth photo.

My last photo was not a tour stop. These young ladies had a shop very near to the knife-maker. While some people in our group were buying knives, a few of us wandered over here. They seemed pleased and flattered and perhaps a bit embarrassed that we were so interested in their work. They have a small dress shop. There were four of them and this is their whole shop.