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As a reporter, I've traveled
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around the Middle East for many years.
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It's an area that has always fascinated me,
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but in my work, I've mainly covered its war zones,
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its crises and its tragedies.
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This journey, which takes me down the Silk Road
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in the footsteps of Marco Polo,
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gives me the opportunity to explore
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the great historical and cultural significance
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of this part of the world,
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its ancient melting pot of peoples and civilizations
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that have contributed so much to our own.
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(Middle Eastern music)
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Uzbekistan was one of the major hubs
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of the Silk Road.
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Back in the days of the caravan,
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travelers going from Persia to as far as China
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began their journey by skirting the Karakorum,
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the Black Sand Desert.
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After a week of arduous travel, we came to Amu Darya,
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or the Oxus River, as it was known to ancient geographers.
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After this stop, an immense step,
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dotted by oasis cities, spread out eastward.
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For many centuries these cities were some
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of the most prosperous in the world.
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(exotic music)
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After crossing the Amu Darya, travelers on the Silk Road
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found themselves in Transoxania, an historical region
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including present day Uzbekistan.
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And soon entered the legendary city of Bukhara,
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a metropolis that has inspired generations
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of adventurers, and finally rest their caravans
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here on Registan Square, where the camels finally
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got to kneel down in comfort on the soft sand
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and unload their cargo.
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There's something in the very word Transoxania,
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that rouses the call of adventure.
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The name is still charged with the same promise
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and exoticism that captivated Alexander the Great
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two thousand three hundred years ago.
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And enchants explorers and adventurers to this day.
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This mausoleum is Bukhara's oldest monument.
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It dates from the Samanids Dynasty in the ninth
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and tenth centuries.
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(exotic music)
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This mausoleum was the Samanid family tomb,
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and it didn't take long for it to become a
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sight of pilgrimage.
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Pilgrims would travel here and confide their
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troubles within the tomb.
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An imam hid on the other side of the grate here
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and responded to the pilgrims.
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It's kind of like the confessional in a Catholic church.
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At the start of the 13th century,
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Genghis Kahn pillaged Bukhara.
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The mausoleum, however, was spared,
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and for a simple reason.
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Over time, immense dunes of desert sand had
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blown in and completely buried the tomb,
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hiding it from the Mongol conqueror.
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(sitar music)
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Bukhara's gem, the Po-i-Kalyan mosque,
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sits in the center of the old town.
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The area is normally bustling,
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but on a day like today,
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at 45 degrees in the shade,
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Bukharans would rather stay at home.
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Only a few art students are about,
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braving the heat to paint their water colors.
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(sitar music)
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This incredible minaret was built in the early 12th century.
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It's so beautiful that Genghis Kahn decided to spare
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it when he sacked the city.
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It's fifteen meter deep foundation makes it so sturdy
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that the tower has withstood centuries of earthquakes.
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Despite its many architectural splendors,
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Bukhara isn't a museum city.
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The oasis is still a prospering town with
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two hundred fifty thousand inhabitants.
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Most residents are Uzbec, a Turkic ethnic group.
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Uzbeks still speak variants of Persian.
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They foster a character and a way of life
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that's unlike anywhere else.
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Semi legendary figure Nasruddin Hoja,
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from 13th century Turkey,
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is one of the celebrities of the Silk Road.
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He's remembered as the Useful Idiot,
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the Wise Fool, and the True Sage.
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He's a soothing mystic when it suits him,
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but above all he's the hero of countless comic,
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and sometimes mischievous tales,
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from which he earned his fame.
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While Bukharans are happy to visit the statue
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of Nasruddin, they also come here to enjoy the
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cool fountains in the surrounding gardens.
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This is where I meet Sanja Bovukalanov,
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a history professor and Bukhara enthusiast.
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Sanja, we're in a chikana.
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What is a chikana?
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It's a local Persian word that means salon.
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Here it means tea room.
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He wanted to introduce us to the tea ceremony.
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What is it?
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We have a culture of paying tribute.
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The tea ceremony is a central part of Uzbec culture
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and Uzbec hospitality.
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You have to cycle the tea through the pot three times.
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The first cycle is for earth, or clay.
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Because God created man out of clay.
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That's a tenet of Islam.
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I guess it's the same in the Bible.
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Adam is made from clay.
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Okay, so it's symbolic.
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The second time symbolizes oil.
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Since we use oil to make all the best things we eat,
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and serve to guests.
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And the third time, is for the tea itself.
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So the tea cycles through the pot three times.
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In Bukhara, especially we drink green tea from China.
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Next, comes the first service.
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Whoever pours the tea serves himself first,
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to show that it's all right.
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And not poisonous?
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Exactly.
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And not poisonous.
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When he drinks, you know you're safe.
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And now we drink.
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Cheers.
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Welcome.
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Thank you.
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So you're a historian.
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You know Bukhara.
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Apart from this tea ceremony,
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how would define the Bukharan mentality?
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Conviviality, which comes through hospitality.
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Bukhara is at one of the two great crossroads
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of the Silk Road.
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It saw a lot of traffic with people passing through
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from China, Persia, and India, and Russia.
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People here love to meet travelers,
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and invite them home regardless of their
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ethnicity or religion.
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How do Bukharans uphold and preserve
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the spirit of the Silk Road?
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It's really thanks to tourism.
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And the recent influx of westerners.
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And over the last five to ten years,
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the Chinese and Indians have also started to travel.
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So Bukhara is becoming a crossroads
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between India, China, and the west again.
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It's amazing.
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History repeating itself.
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Bukhara is not just a trade city.
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It's also an intellectual beacon of the East.
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This was the homeland of Avicenna,
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the Prince of Scholars,
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who in the 11th century published an encyclopedia,
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that gathered together all the teachings
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from ancient Greece and China.
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Holy Bukhara, as it was known to Muslims,
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was defined by its religious diversity.
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Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Nestorians,
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and Manicheans all converged on here,
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so it has always been a place of knowledge and learning.
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Bukhara is still, to this day, a producer of
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illuminated manuscripts.
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Proof is in these miniaturist studios,
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following the great Persian tradition.
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(piano music)
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Sanja, are these miniatures a Bukhara tradition?
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For millennia, they're made to decorate
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books and poetry and such.
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And each miniature tells a story.
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This miniature is called a shekel.
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It depicts a hunting scene.
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Each one of these miniatures tells a true story
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from ancient times.
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And the girls to his left are students
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or family.
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This is my daughter,
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this is my daughter,
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and the other girl is my student.
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The best is to start painting as young as possible.
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Painting miniatures isn't just a hobby or a job.
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It requires an entire frame of mind.
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That's what makes it so attractive to kids
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and young people.
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My daughter has been successful with her art so far,
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because of her passion for it.
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I hope that in a few years she'll want to
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make it her profession.
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Bukhara's miniatures illuminate poems
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and recount moral tales of Sufi mysticism,
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but they're also an archive of Silk Road tradition.
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Take for example, this scene depicting caravans
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of musicians and acrobats riding Bactrian camels.
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Works like these take meticulous care and patience.
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It seems I feel like exploding.
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Just finish this day and spring to go play
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football or scream out loud.
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When you've learned this craft from childhood,
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you get a particular pleasure from it.
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That's why this art has been such an integral
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part of my life.
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Sure, sometimes you're short on inspiration,
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and the miniature doesn't come out the way you want it.
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That's when I get tired of it,
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and I feel unsatisfied.
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However, I can't imagine my life without this craft.
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Without this work.
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Leaving the miniaturist's shop,
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we head to the textile stores.
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This is very interesting.
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Now we're in full blown cultural dialogue.
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This is a Suzani, the traditional Bukharan embroidery.
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It comes from the Persian word suzana,
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which means needle, and so embroiderer.
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The technique came from the captain of the
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Persian empire, Suza, around 600 B.C.
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That's where we got the name Susan, and Susanna.
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What was Suzanis historically used for?
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For weddings.
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Ah, for weddings.
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As a wedding gift?
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Yes.
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Before her marriage, each girl had to prepare a dowry,
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with her family.
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We call that the trousseau.
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The bride-to-be would prepare it as a gift
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for the married couple.
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You had separate ceremonies before,
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during, and after the marriage,
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and when the first child was born.
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You'd have seven large cloths on the wall,
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depicting the tree of life, happiness, the sun, etc.
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Ah, each stage is a different
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motif on the Suzani.
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A different motif, the family, and especially
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the girl herself, were the ones made it.
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I'm in the seventh phase.
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I'm expecting my first child.
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So I'll get the seventh Suzani when I get home.
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Okay, I'll take this one.
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Ah, a pretty bag too.
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Thank you.
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Welcome to our city.
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Ah, that's nice.
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Wait a minute.
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A little gift for you.
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Ah, that's nice.
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It's handmade.
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Did you make it?
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Yes, yes.
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There are three spices inside,
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representing happiness..
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The three spices are wormwood seed,
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pepper for bad spirits, and black sesson.
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And what is it?
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A pendant, an amulet?
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To protect against the evil eye.
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For the baby.
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Ah, is it for the baby?
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For the baby, and for you too.
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Thank you.
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It's for your family.
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Welcome to our city.
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Thank you.
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00:13:10,970 --> 00:13:11,803
I'll keep it safe.
269
00:13:11,803 --> 00:13:13,386
Have a good trip.
270
00:13:13,386 --> 00:13:14,886
Thanks.
271
00:13:16,580 --> 00:13:18,550
Stepping out from the shade of Malacha's shop,
272
00:13:18,550 --> 00:13:20,920
it's suddenly clear that it's still getting hotter.
273
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,033
This afternoon, it's 47 degrees.
274
00:13:28,060 --> 00:13:29,570
A wedding, nice.
275
00:13:29,570 --> 00:13:31,340
Seems like there are many today.
276
00:13:31,340 --> 00:13:33,540
And this is a telpak.
277
00:13:33,540 --> 00:13:35,490
It's the chapka of the Nomadic Turkmen.
278
00:13:37,370 --> 00:13:38,470
Looks like dreadlocks.
279
00:13:39,426 --> 00:13:40,630
And think that it is super warm,
280
00:13:40,630 --> 00:13:43,190
like a whole sheep wrapped around your head.
281
00:13:43,190 --> 00:13:45,000
Actually, nomads wear it all year round,
282
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:46,070
even in summer,
283
00:13:46,070 --> 00:13:48,420
because it makes great sun protection.
284
00:13:50,650 --> 00:13:52,800
This one here is made from lamb.
285
00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,380
That's the famous Persian lamb,
286
00:13:54,380 --> 00:13:56,060
known here as Karakul.
287
00:13:57,820 --> 00:14:00,100
Karakul was brought here from Russia by nomads
288
00:14:00,100 --> 00:14:01,653
from north of the Caspian Sea.
289
00:14:03,214 --> 00:14:04,080
It's prime for the climate here,
290
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,813
which runs between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius.
291
00:14:08,020 --> 00:14:09,980
It's a bit gory, but the finest and most expensive
292
00:14:09,980 --> 00:14:12,333
pelts are taken from lamb fetuses.
293
00:14:14,734 --> 00:14:17,067
(whistling)
294
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,730
The Nadea de van Begge is an ancient caravansarai
295
00:14:21,730 --> 00:14:24,643
that was converted into a madrassa, or religious school,
296
00:14:25,845 --> 00:14:27,918
during Bukhara's decline when the Silk Road
297
00:14:27,918 --> 00:14:29,423
disintegrated in the 16th century.
298
00:14:30,943 --> 00:14:31,776
The arrival of tourists though, has recently
299
00:14:31,776 --> 00:14:34,460
given the Nadea de van Begge new commercial life.
300
00:14:34,460 --> 00:14:36,510
It's former students chambers now become
301
00:14:36,510 --> 00:14:37,623
souvenir shops.
302
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,641
The famous madrassa is set apart by the fantastic
303
00:14:40,641 --> 00:14:42,793
birds that adorn its entryway.
304
00:14:45,082 --> 00:14:47,582
(sitar music)
305
00:14:56,630 --> 00:14:59,290
One more craft tradition, known all along the Silk Road,
306
00:14:59,290 --> 00:15:00,480
remains to be seen.
307
00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:02,243
The famous blades of Bukhara.
308
00:15:05,197 --> 00:15:08,197
(suspenseful music)
309
00:15:18,740 --> 00:15:21,163
The entire world loves our knives.
310
00:15:23,270 --> 00:15:25,420
Our knives are famous
311
00:15:25,420 --> 00:15:26,670
because they're handmade.
312
00:15:29,392 --> 00:15:31,888
(metal on metal clanking)
313
00:15:31,888 --> 00:15:33,360
Worked on by hand is not the same as what
314
00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:34,510
you get from a factory.
315
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,453
That's why the whole world loves our knives.
316
00:15:41,503 --> 00:15:44,253
(metal clanking)
317
00:15:51,479 --> 00:15:52,620
The highest quality metal is
318
00:15:52,620 --> 00:15:54,980
Damascus steel, which involves hammering multiple
319
00:15:54,980 --> 00:15:56,863
strips of metal into a single blade.
320
00:15:58,610 --> 00:16:00,950
This is Damascus steel.
321
00:16:00,950 --> 00:16:03,380
Pure, genuine Damascus steel.
322
00:16:03,380 --> 00:16:05,140
When you strike it on metal,
323
00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:07,180
it doesn't even damage the blade.
324
00:16:07,180 --> 00:16:08,801
Look, not a mark.
325
00:16:08,801 --> 00:16:09,960
It's not even damaged.
326
00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:11,250
Even after striking metal,
327
00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:12,603
the blade is flawless.
328
00:16:27,610 --> 00:16:30,120
The gun slinging cowboy really fits in with
329
00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,130
the soldiers, but anyhow, they're clearly very
330
00:16:32,130 --> 00:16:33,280
proud of their history.
331
00:16:35,820 --> 00:16:38,050
Bukhara went quiet with the decline of the Silk Road,
332
00:16:38,050 --> 00:16:39,590
sinking slowly into oblivion,
333
00:16:39,590 --> 00:16:41,580
until it was turned into a Russian protectorate
334
00:16:41,580 --> 00:16:42,890
in the 19th century,
335
00:16:42,890 --> 00:16:45,673
Followed by outright annexation by the USSR.
336
00:16:49,333 --> 00:16:52,770
This is interesting.
337
00:16:52,770 --> 00:16:55,140
These are postcards from the Emirate of Bukhara,
338
00:16:55,140 --> 00:16:57,290
pre-Soviet annexation.
339
00:16:57,290 --> 00:16:59,300
1912.
340
00:16:59,300 --> 00:17:00,293
1889.
341
00:17:01,290 --> 00:17:02,713
Photos of regular life.
342
00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:06,610
They're really touching.
343
00:17:06,610 --> 00:17:08,600
They seem to be on a silicon paper,
344
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:09,953
or old mulberry paper.
345
00:17:11,850 --> 00:17:13,460
This is amazing.
346
00:17:13,460 --> 00:17:17,713
He's being executed by flaying, 1893.
347
00:17:24,263 --> 00:17:28,870
That's what happening now in northern Iraq and Syria.
348
00:17:28,870 --> 00:17:30,623
Musicians of the Emmaus Harrin.
349
00:17:31,750 --> 00:17:34,110
Interesting how varied their features are.
350
00:17:34,110 --> 00:17:36,370
One's Chinese, well one's more Chinese,
351
00:17:36,370 --> 00:17:37,483
one's more Turkic.
352
00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:44,930
These are the famous Uzbec robes that used
353
00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:45,913
to be mandatory.
354
00:17:46,916 --> 00:17:47,810
This is a Chapan.
355
00:17:47,810 --> 00:17:49,410
It's somewhere between a caftan,
356
00:17:50,407 --> 00:17:51,383
like Arabs would have worn,
357
00:17:51,383 --> 00:17:52,216
and a Chinese robe.
358
00:17:54,180 --> 00:17:56,180
This one seems quite old.
359
00:17:56,180 --> 00:17:58,340
Normally it goes along with a duppi,
360
00:17:58,340 --> 00:18:00,640
which is the little skullcap that Uzbeks wear.
361
00:18:01,727 --> 00:18:02,643
Probably have some in here.
362
00:18:05,516 --> 00:18:08,516
(traditional music)
363
00:18:11,930 --> 00:18:14,250
One especially ancient remnant remains from
364
00:18:14,250 --> 00:18:16,113
Bukhara's great cultural melting pot.
365
00:18:16,980 --> 00:18:18,380
It lies deep in the old town,
366
00:18:18,380 --> 00:18:20,143
tucked away by a maze of alleys.
367
00:18:21,730 --> 00:18:23,730
It's a synagogue of Bukharin Jews that
368
00:18:23,730 --> 00:18:25,760
traces back to antiquity.
369
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:27,813
I'm met by the Rabbi's son, Daniel.
370
00:18:28,820 --> 00:18:30,980
Bukhara's Jewish community is another testament
371
00:18:30,980 --> 00:18:32,900
to the religious and cultural tolerance
372
00:18:32,900 --> 00:18:34,959
that has flourished along Silk Road since ancient times.
373
00:18:34,959 --> 00:18:37,876
(slow sitar music)
374
00:18:55,350 --> 00:18:57,730
Rabbi, can you tell us how long Jews have been
375
00:18:57,730 --> 00:19:00,547
in Bukhara, and how many are here today?
376
00:19:00,547 --> 00:19:03,930
We still have 280 Jews in Bukhara.
377
00:19:03,930 --> 00:19:05,700
About 50 families.
378
00:19:05,700 --> 00:19:08,513
They came to Bukhara from Iran in the 4th century.
379
00:19:09,899 --> 00:19:12,010
Since we're on the Silk Road, is this the
380
00:19:12,010 --> 00:19:14,090
eastern most Jewish community you know of?
381
00:19:14,090 --> 00:19:16,130
Or are there other communities even further east,
382
00:19:16,130 --> 00:19:16,963
towards China?
383
00:19:19,740 --> 00:19:22,700
As far as I know, most Jews are in Bukhara.
384
00:19:22,700 --> 00:19:26,464
But you also find Jews in Samarkand, Tashkent,
385
00:19:26,464 --> 00:19:30,380
Fergana, Namangan, and Khorezm.
386
00:19:30,380 --> 00:19:32,450
How do these Jewish communities get by?
387
00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:34,100
What were their professions living on what
388
00:19:34,100 --> 00:19:35,450
would become the Silk Road?
389
00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:40,943
Many Jews dealt in leather making and other goods.
390
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,893
They were artists, many Jews were artists.
391
00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,428
What religions were historically
392
00:19:54,428 --> 00:19:56,150
found in Bukhara, and which of these remain today?
393
00:19:56,150 --> 00:19:58,880
There are many religions in Bukhara these days.
394
00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,010
You have Judaism, Christianity, and Buddhism.
395
00:20:02,010 --> 00:20:04,640
There is also a German Protestant center.
396
00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:07,390
There are a lot of religious and cultural centers here.
397
00:20:08,510 --> 00:20:10,260
Religious practice is now allowed again
398
00:20:10,260 --> 00:20:12,170
since the fall of the Soviet Union.
399
00:20:12,170 --> 00:20:14,173
How do Bukhara's communities get along?
400
00:20:16,310 --> 00:20:17,840
The Jews are fine here.
401
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:20,550
We never experienced oppression from other peoples
402
00:20:20,550 --> 00:20:22,240
or ethnicities.
403
00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:24,290
We like to celebrate their holidays,
404
00:20:24,290 --> 00:20:25,943
and they celebrate ours too.
405
00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:35,440
Like other major hubs of the Silk Road,
406
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,700
Bukhara is also a city for rugs.
407
00:20:37,700 --> 00:20:39,820
What's special about this place is that rugs
408
00:20:39,820 --> 00:20:41,970
aren't just sold, they've kept the tradition
409
00:20:41,970 --> 00:20:44,703
of weaving them onsite, in the back rooms of shops.
410
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,460
This is a silk rug, thousands and thousands of
411
00:20:53,460 --> 00:20:54,560
patiently woven knots.
412
00:20:56,902 --> 00:20:58,902
(flute)
413
00:21:16,444 --> 00:21:18,523
The work is both incredibly meticulous, and rapid.
414
00:21:20,590 --> 00:21:21,890
Here we see the Tree of Life,
415
00:21:21,890 --> 00:21:24,163
which is one of the most motifs in Bukhara.
416
00:21:25,300 --> 00:21:27,670
The girls weave 70 knots per square centimeter,
417
00:21:27,670 --> 00:21:29,630
and a rug like this will be about three meters
418
00:21:29,630 --> 00:21:30,463
by one meter.
419
00:21:32,602 --> 00:21:34,952
That's two million, one hundred thousand knots.
420
00:21:36,180 --> 00:21:38,150
It takes two of them over two months,
421
00:21:38,150 --> 00:21:41,200
and as you see, they're going very, very fast.
422
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,080
The workshop is permeated by a sense of discipline.
423
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,153
It's enjoyable, but it's no joke either.
424
00:21:51,650 --> 00:21:53,470
Bukhara remains an important place in the
425
00:21:53,470 --> 00:21:54,700
Eastern imagination,
426
00:21:54,700 --> 00:21:56,690
not just for its exceptional crafts,
427
00:21:56,690 --> 00:21:58,273
but also for its spirituality.
428
00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:01,800
It's time to visit the home of the Naqshbandi
429
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,720
Dervish's mystical movement.
430
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,683
This major Sufi order reaches from India to Morocco.
431
00:22:12,351 --> 00:22:14,684
(footsteps)
432
00:22:17,450 --> 00:22:19,170
I am ten kilometers outside Bukhara,
433
00:22:19,170 --> 00:22:22,020
the mausoleum of the 13th century Sufi leader,
434
00:22:22,020 --> 00:22:24,340
Baha-ud-Din Naqshband.
435
00:22:24,340 --> 00:22:26,540
Sufism is an open branch of Mystical Islam,
436
00:22:26,540 --> 00:22:28,380
which focuses on forging an intimate
437
00:22:28,380 --> 00:22:29,563
relationship with God.
438
00:22:30,550 --> 00:22:32,479
Even though hard line Islam looks negatively
439
00:22:32,479 --> 00:22:35,650
upon Sufism, the Holy Dervish's tomb has become
440
00:22:35,650 --> 00:22:37,396
one of the most popular pilgrimage sights
441
00:22:37,396 --> 00:22:38,633
in central Asia.
442
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,510
Historian Theros Kabinoff was educated at the
443
00:22:43,510 --> 00:22:45,660
Russian school, and studied Sufi mysticism
444
00:22:45,660 --> 00:22:48,823
with the clinical eye of a scientist.
445
00:22:49,940 --> 00:22:52,040
How many Naqshbandi are there in the world?
446
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,003
And how are they different from other movements?
447
00:22:55,686 --> 00:22:58,470
We don't have precise figures, but we know that
448
00:22:59,347 --> 00:23:01,700
Taregot Naqshbandia has followers spread across
449
00:23:01,700 --> 00:23:04,090
a great deal of the Muslim world,
450
00:23:04,090 --> 00:23:07,763
including India, Pakistan, Asia Minor, and Turkey.
451
00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:10,702
In my opinion, we're talking in the hundreds
452
00:23:10,702 --> 00:23:12,283
of thousands of followers.
453
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:17,745
Another thing is you can't say a Sufi isn't a Muslim,
454
00:23:17,745 --> 00:23:19,613
or that a Muslim can't be a Sufi.
455
00:23:20,540 --> 00:23:22,090
These things are complementary.
456
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:26,250
A person who chooses the Sufi way is taking a vow
457
00:23:26,250 --> 00:23:28,750
that they will respect for the rest of their life.
458
00:23:31,500 --> 00:23:34,390
You mentioned certain particularities of Sufi Islam.
459
00:23:34,390 --> 00:23:35,650
Could you explain what those are?
460
00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:37,350
In terms of prayer and meditation.
461
00:23:40,030 --> 00:23:42,500
Whether you're talking about the Naqshbandi order
462
00:23:42,500 --> 00:23:46,020
we mentioned, or the Mevlevi order in Turkey,
463
00:23:46,020 --> 00:23:48,740
the ultimate goal is always to achieve a state
464
00:23:51,063 --> 00:23:52,330
of total submission in the presence of the Devine.
465
00:23:52,330 --> 00:23:54,940
So meditation has always been central to this.
466
00:23:55,945 --> 00:23:58,060
It's an important tool.
467
00:23:58,060 --> 00:24:01,413
Meditation helps free oneself from material bonds.
468
00:24:04,637 --> 00:24:07,960
And was there maybe an earlier school of meditation
469
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:09,327
that influenced Sufism?
470
00:24:10,300 --> 00:24:12,173
Like Buddhism, or Shamanism?
471
00:24:13,980 --> 00:24:17,210
It's very clear that Islam and Sufism were
472
00:24:17,210 --> 00:24:20,120
inspired by the diverse philosophies and ideologies
473
00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:22,500
that existed here before Islam.
474
00:24:22,500 --> 00:24:24,750
This region is very culturally rich,
475
00:24:24,750 --> 00:24:27,183
and its civilization is thousands of years old.
476
00:24:28,149 --> 00:24:31,440
Sufis were influenced by Buddhism and Shamanism,
477
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,500
and by Zoroastrianism, which was very widespread
478
00:24:34,500 --> 00:24:35,610
in the region.
479
00:24:43,128 --> 00:24:45,079
Although we only have art works and
480
00:24:45,079 --> 00:24:46,040
architecture to help us picture the Silk Road
481
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,510
of the past, we have to remember that the centuries
482
00:24:48,510 --> 00:24:50,700
of the caravans transported more than just
483
00:24:50,700 --> 00:24:51,853
material goods.
484
00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:56,863
It also spread philosophies, religions,
485
00:24:57,880 --> 00:24:59,173
and mystical doctrines like Sufism,
486
00:25:00,900 --> 00:25:03,233
showing us that the most essential part of the
487
00:25:05,019 --> 00:25:05,852
Silk Road is in fact invisible to the eye.
488
00:25:06,994 --> 00:25:09,690
(soft piano music)
489
00:25:09,690 --> 00:25:11,280
It's time to leave Bukhara,
490
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,230
and head to the other mythic city of
491
00:25:13,230 --> 00:25:16,318
Transoxania, Samarkand.
492
00:25:16,318 --> 00:25:19,485
(speaking in Bukhari)
493
00:25:22,514 --> 00:25:25,681
(calming piano music)
494
00:25:31,427 --> 00:25:33,677
(chanting)
36637
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