Istravashan

Mirzo and I have been reading and learning about Sogd culture.  Yesterday i was given a tour by a local historian of a 2500 year old town named Istravashan, which featured prominently in the region’s history.  The half hour drive there shot through barren fields occasionally punctuated by cotton fields.  Cotton, the primary export of 

Tajikistan, was introduced by the Soviets and is inappropriately suited for the barren fields here in Tajikistan.  It takes 60 tons of water to produce 1 pound of cotton, a requirement that has Tajikistan at the mercy of Kyrgystan’s supply of water. I have been asking people what they imagine would be a more appropriate crop to switch towards but I’m never given a very good answer…

In Istravashan, a local historian (see left), a man in his 50's in an oversized suit with a thick head of hair, bounded around, offering Mirzo and I stories of the city's infamous battle with Alexander the Great. Although Istravashan boasts the craftsmanship of their local metalworking and woodworking guilds, perhaps what it will be known for through time is the fact that its stalwart denizens wounded Alexander twice in about 326 BCE. In fact, thse were the only two times that Alexander was ever wounded, which apparently sent him into a fury and incited him to chase his opponent northbound—a pursuit which was what brought him as north as Khojand. 

Mirzo and I scrambled around the fortress and dug outs, recalling the video we’d watched about the plucky valor of those young Sogd men who were known at the time for forging the strongest of weapons and the resiliant of bows.

Perhaps the most lively vignette that Mirzo and I both agree upon was a visit through the most was a drive through the vineyards 

where the sweetest of grapes lay grounding in mounds along the ground (a technique which makes the best use of water as opposed to the elevated growing method used in California, for example). The farmers there make 3-4 times more than the average Tajik, and surrounding him are pears, melons, persimmons, nuts, and other Mediterranean splendors. We were invited for tea – or rather, I was invited to take tea – my hosts and the farmers are all fasting for a few more days since it’s still Ramadan.