Central Asian region and the Great Silk Road being in direct connection with it were in the focus of attention of European travelers and scientists. Since the times of Marco Polo Europeans strove to reach this region not infrequently risking their lives. It was accounted for by the closure of states, legends about countless wealth, wonderful people inhabiting this territory. There are a lot of historic evidences, ethnographical collections in the museums of European countries which tell about geography, climate, flora and fauna, culture, customs and traditions of the people residing this region. And today this interest hasn’t ebbed, it is vividly displayed by the fundamentals scientific work in two volumes “Explorations over Central Asia” (Collection of artifacts and description of cultures of the peoples of Central Asia from steppes up to the Pamirs, 1896-1899) published recently by Carlsberg Fund in Copenhagen.
The author of the work Ester Fill, Professor’s assistant of Copenhagen university, expounds and analyses the materials of two Danish (called Pamir) expeditions to Central Asia in 1890s from the historical-ethnographical point of view; “Olufsen’s Collection” kept in the National museum of Denmark in Copenhagen being paid special attention.
The political map of Central Asia of that period looked quite otherwise than today. Russia colonized the territories between the Caspian Sea in the west and the Chinese frontier in the east. In the south the rivalry with the British Empire aggravated in Hindukush. These two expeditions carried out on the initiative of prime-lieutenant Ole Olufsen were working under these conditions.
It was the time when Europeans seemed to discover this territory anew. The first expedition moved through Samarkand, the Ferghana Valley and Osh where Olufsen equipped a caravan for the trip through the Pamirs; further on they were to follow in the direction of the Panj to the border with Afghanistan. Olufsen was the first European who crossed this road having composed a map of the valleys on the northern bank of the Panj river. On returning to Ferghana he went back through Samarkand, Bukhara and Merv. The second expedition followed approximately the same way as the first one.
In the course of the two expeditions one managed to collect and export over 700 artifacts of Central Asian culture: complete sets of clothes consisting of coats, hats, footwear, garments for horse-riding and etc. why did Olufsen export these subjects mainly and not any other ones? Already since the middle of the XIX-th century in the ethnographical circles of Denmark they looked upon artifacts proceeding form their own cultural-geographical context. Therefore, ordinary insignificant things which might give an idea of the degree of people’s development and level of culture founded the collection of the Ethnography museum simply characterizing diverse non-European cultures.
When exploring Central Asia Olufsen singled out five cultural-geographical zones: the mountainous Pamirs, the Panj river valley, Merv oasis, Khiva kaganat and Bukhara emirate. Collecting artifacts in one of zones he tried to elicit regularities which might be correlated with those ones which were established in other zones. Thus, thanks to the collected objects Olufsen managed to reproduce a peculiar picture of Central Asia. That part of Central Asia which was visited by the expeditions is described from the point of view of economy intensive agriculture in oases based on irrigation.
However, Olufsen remarked that the cultural traditions and material culture of Kyrgyzes, Turkmens and some groups of Uzbeks, just as the political structure of their tribes and clans were closely linked with the nomad way of life. Hereby, these groups of population differed traditionally from Tajiks who had much more features of the Iranian cultural region in historic, linguistic and cultural respects and whose traditions were related to their modus vivendi based on agriculture and handicrafts.
But in spite of it the elements of Turkish, Mongolian and Iranian cultures in big oasis cities merged and coalesced into a unified urban culture. According to Olufsen Tajiks and Uzbeks were the primary bearers of this culture, but other groups also made their contribution into this process.
The influence of geographical and historic conditions upon the development of society and culture were in the focus of attention on the part of Olufsen. Due to geographical and historic conditions life is presented as motley mosaic of peasants, nomads and urban citizens, but not as that one of people divided on the principle of ethnical/national appurtenance or affiliation to this or that clan/state. Olufsen showed these peoples as different in regard to origin, language, local political system and, to some extent - to economy and religion. But at the same time he stressed that being in mutual economic and political interdependence they fused together to such an extent that in many fields of culture they were hardly differentiated.
The inferences made by Olufsen are congenial with nowadays when frontiers and politicians divided peoples who from times immemorial had been living in the unified economic and territorial space.