Tea in Central Asia: the history of the drink in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Tea Day: Features of the Tea Ceremony in Central Asia

In Uzbekistan, tea is considered a national drink. Historians claim that Uzbeks drank as early as the 19th century. Tea has always been consumed in large quantities. It was drunk in small villages, in big cities. The drink was prepared in a small copper jug ​​(kumgan). Wealthy families drank tea from.

Uzbek tea was expensive then, quality varieties only available to rich people. Poor people drank mixtures that consisted of various herbs and tea leaf Not High Quality. Often used tea with milk, butter, pepper and salt.

Famous brand of Uzbek tea

Uzbek tea, produced under the brand name "Uzbek No. 95", is the most famous tea in Central Asia. It belongs to large-leaf elite teas. It has a characteristic tart taste. This drink cools the body well, quenches thirst, which is very important for the hot climate of the country. The large leaves of this tea are spirally twisted. When brewed, they unfold beautifully.

Once the great Avicenna said that tea should strengthen the spirit, refresh the body, awaken thoughts, soften the heart and drive away laziness. This statement fits perfectly with green tea 95. Tea number 95 is grown on Chinese plantations. But they package it in Uzbekistan itself. Here it is called Kok-choy. Tea production is traditional, it goes through all stages of green tea processing - withering, drying, rolling, final drying.

Useful properties of Uzbek tea

• Thanks to the content of fluorine, it strengthens teeth, nails, bones.
• Improves digestion.
• It has a beneficial effect on the work of the heart and the state of blood vessels.
• Reduces cholesterol levels.
• Calming effect on the nervous system.
• Normalizes metabolism.

Method of making Uzbek tea

To prepare Uzbek green tea 95 take porcelain teapot. It is thoroughly warmed up, dry brewing of green tea is poured. Pour hot water into a quarter of the kettle. The kettle must be placed in the open oven for a few minutes. Then take it out, fill the kettle with water up to half, cover it with a napkin, leave for three minutes.

Then add boiling water to the teapot up to 3/4 of the volume of the teapot, again leave for three minutes under the lid. Only the fourth time the kettle is filled to the brim, after three minutes, it can be poured into cups. The owner, pouring a drink, pour tea a little, than less tea he poured into a cup for a guest, the more desirable this guest is. Each time, adding tea to a cup, he expresses his respect for the guest.

How tea is drunk in Uzbekistan

An integral part of any feast in Uzbekistan is Uzbek green tea. It is brewed and served in accordance with Uzbek traditions. 95 people prefer to drink tea in large companies, for this they gather not only with their families, but also with friends in a teahouse. People come to specially equipped teahouses to relax and chat. To protect visitors from the heat, trees are planted around the teahouse. The construction is painted with patterns, decorated with the sayings of the sages of the East, paintings.

The acquaintance with tea among the Central Asian peoples took place before England and Europe - the caravans of the Silk Road went here, which carried it along with other rarities. Tea in the culture of the peoples of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan takes much more space than in European countries and even England.

Central Asia seems to be one territory, but the traditions are completely different, even tea! Green tea from a bowl, tea with butter and salt, with camel's milk and even with sour cream - all this is a Central Asian tea party, with its own culture, customs and recipes. But there is one thing in common - a special respect given to guests who have gathered at a tea table in a teahouse, by a fire in the steppe or on a felt mat in a yurt.

Uzbek teahouse (teahouse): bowls of green tea and famous cakes, the most cultural recreation, because a teahouse is first of all communication, unhurried conversation and even business negotiations. Any meal begins with green tea, and ends with it: at first, sweets, pastries, dried fruits and tea are served, then pilaf and other dishes, and at the end tea again.

Uzbek coc-tea. Green tea is poured into a warmed porcelain teapot, 1 tsp each. for each bowl plus one more, fill it with water by a quarter and keep it over the hearth or in the oven, after a couple of minutes to half, after another 2 minutes, pour boiling water over the kettle from above and add water to ¾, after another 3 minutes - to the top. Before drinking tea, they marry at least three times - they pour it into a bowl and pour it back into the teapot.

A distinctive feature of the Uzbek tradition of tea drinking is that the more respected the guest is, the less tea the owner pours into the bowl. Usually a third of a third of the bowl, but with great respect they will pour even less. Why is that? The fact is that in Uzbekistan it is considered a sign of respect to often turn to the owners for more. The owner gives the guest such an opportunity by pouring a minimum of tea, at the same time showing that he himself is not a burden to serve the guest once again. Pour tea in a special way, so that bubbles remain on the surface. A full bowl will be poured only to an uninvited and unwanted guest!

Kazakh tea ceremony - Regards

If a Russian person drinks tea as much as he can, then a Kazakh drinks even more: 5-7 bowls for breakfast, lunch and dinner is normal. When do Kazakhs drink tea? Always: before everything and after everything. Tea drinking begins any feast and it also ends it, making competition to traditional koumiss. Kazakhs prefer black tea, calling it red by the color of tea leaves - kyzyl-tea. Especially for storing tea, sweets and sugar, the Kazakhs have special chests made of wood with a lock and legs - shay sandyk.

The Kazakh tea ceremony is not inferior to the Chinese one: only the women of the host or the eldest daughter can pour tea, you can’t mix up the bowls, the bowl should never be empty and there should not be tea leaves in it. From the heart, they also pour it in their own way - exactly by a third, because tea should always be hot! But the daughter-in-law will not be allowed to pour tea at a big ceremony - it is believed that the daughter-in-law does not know how to pour tea! Only if the eldest man in the family wants to praise his daughter-in-law for home tea drinking, he will say: “It’s good to pour tea!”. In addition to jams and cookies, baursaks will certainly be served with tea! If the guest is drunk, he does not talk about it - he shows: he overturns the cup on the saucer, puts the bowl on its side or the spoon on the rim of the cup. And even after that, the owners will persuade you to drink another bowl! They drink tea for a long time, with light conversation and cheerful conversation, and not a word about business!

Kabud tea is Tajik green tea, and tea with milk is shirchay. They drink it only from bowls served on trays with sweets and cakes. As elsewhere in Central Asia, tea is always available: at a meal, at a conversation, and just tea. In Turkmenistan, they drink black charachay and green kokchay, giving each a separate porcelain teapot with a bowl.

Also adopted in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan, it is based on the need to save water: a large faience teapot is heated by burying it in hot sand. Then black tea is poured, about 25 grams per liter, and one glass of boiling water is poured. When the tea swells enough, hot camel milk is poured in and everything is shaken very carefully or poured from dish to dish. After 10 minutes, cream and sugar are added. Of course, for the lack of camel, you can try this method of brewing with ordinary milk of the highest fat content.

- perhaps the most famous of unusual ways drinking tea!

Black long leaf tea brew very strong and add milk 1: 1, salt and let it boil. Butter is added to the vest with milk, sometimes sour cream and brought to a boil again. Poured into bowls, sometimes sprinkled with sesame seeds. This is a very satisfying drink that is usually drunk for breakfast. Etken tea is considered an invention of nomads, like food fast food. The Kyrgyz drink tea with cakes, baursaks (fried pieces of dough in oil), dried fruits, and honey.

A few common features of Central Asian tea drinking: bowls, a low dastarkhan table, low sufa seats, unhurried conversation and a robe, quilted of course!

The ways of drinking tea in Central Asian style may seem very strange to taste to you, but their health benefits are undeniable.

Good tea!

Kazakhstanis alone drink up to three billion liters of tea annually! If such statistics were kept in other countries of Central Asia, then, perhaps, our region could become one of the most drinking in the world. Of course - drinking tea. Residents of Central Asia drink this drink in winter and summer, hot and cold, black and green, herbal and even onion.

On International Tea Day, which the world celebrates today, December 15, Open Asia Online looked into Central Asian teahouses and learned about our special tea drinking ceremonies.

In fact, this holiday is celebrated primarily in the world's tea producing countries: in India, China, Vietnam and other countries. This date was set by the tea magnates in 2005, after the next World Public Forum dedicated to the problems of this production. The purpose of the appearance international day tea was the desire of producers to draw attention to the problems of the tea industry, and, of course, to popularize this drink.

It makes no sense to promote tea in our region. For example, several years ago, when the international exhibition "Tea. Coffee. Cocoa" was held in Astana, it was noted that annually only Kazakhstanis drink up to three billion liters of tea! We drink tea in the morning and in the evening, on holidays and weekdays; brew it on herbs and add milk to the drink. Therefore, International Tea Day is definitely our holiday. And each country of Central Asia has its own special attitude towards it. However, there are general rules for everyone.

First: the owner of the house will fill the bowls of the guests only halfway so that they do not burn themselves, and in order to pour tea to the guests more often, showing their hospitality and attention.

Second: the owner of the house, before serving tea to the guests, pours tea into the bowl three times and pours it back into the teapot so that the tea is better brewed, then fills his bowl, takes a sip and only then pours the drink to the others. Previously, in this way the owner of the house showed the guests that the tea was not poisoned. Now it's just a tradition.

Third: in the summer in our region, thirst is quenched with hot green tea. It is believed that it contains elements that reduce body temperature and are activated when the tea is hot. In winter, Central Asians prefer black tea.

Tajikistan

As in all of Central Asia, tea drinking in Tajikistan is a special ritual. Not a single event takes place here without this drink: weddings and funerals begin with it, they drink it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Naturally, all sorts of experiments are carried out with this drink - mountain herbs are added to it, dried fruits or brew tea on onion skins. They say it's helpful. Even in Tajikistan, tea is not always just a drink: for example, for the inhabitants of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region - the Pamirs - tea with milk is a full-fledged dish. It is called shirchay (tea with milk - approx. OA) and is prepared as follows: tea leaves are thrown into milk, boiled over a fire, and then oil, nuts or spices are added to taste. It turns out a very rich drink, if you add cakes to it, then in front of you hearty breakfast. By the way, only the Pamirs have a tradition of drinking tea in this way in Tajikistan, but in Central Asia there are other regions where it is brewed with milk.

The place where you can drink tea from the heart is, of course, a teahouse. Men can sit here for hours and be sure to have a hot kettle filled with a fragrant drink. By the way, all visiting tourists note that tea is especially good in Tajikistan, this is true, and the secret of this taste lies in the purest Tajik water. Therefore, in the main Dushanbe teahouse called "Rokhat" (pleasure - approx. OA), foreign visitors are far from uncommon.

In addition to tea, here they also get a portion of national art, because the building is decorated with original ornaments, carved columns - everything self made local craftsmen. Dushanbe residents love this teahouse incredibly, hundreds of memories are associated with it, local writers even write works about it.

Here, for example, is an excerpt from Eleonora Kasymova's story "Teahouse": "I went to the trestle bed that stood third, to the right of the theater, as I remember now. My grandfather was sitting with his back to me. His friends, the same seventy-eighty-year-olds, settled down in a square. Dostarkhan was white in the middle of the trestle bed. On it was tea in a large teapot with a broken edge of the lid, bowls of various sizes, flat cakes, scattered sweets and pechak. Pechak are sweet quadrangular sweets that used to be present at every dostarkhan. The old people loved this delicacy, I know from my own. Pechak is soft, fragrant and amazingly tasty, although it was made without any additives. The meager dostarkhan was more of a decoration. The main thing is people, like on stage. More precisely, communication, playing into the past. Every morning, the regulars, around ten o'clock, took their places on the trestle beds. The old people brought sweets from home in bags, whoever could, and ordered only tea ... "

A couple of years ago, the Dushanbe authorities announced that they were preparing this teahouse for demolition, but there was such a fuss in society that it was decided to abandon this idea. Teahouse "Rohat" will remain in the capital and will continue to receive guests, as it has done since 1958.

Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, they compose poems about tea and teahouse. Yes, such that people who were completely far from tea, and even more so teahouses, once sang about these saints for our region. You remember: "In the east, in the east, what is the sky without the moon, in the east, in the east, what is life without a teahouse?" - the Uzbek group "Yalla" performed its hit, and they sang along with it, and they sing along now, all the inhabitants - then the USSR, now the post-Soviet space.

"Open Asia Online" prepared a video about Central Asian teahouses - modern and those that no longer exist, to this music.

It was not by chance that the artists from the Yalla group chose the tea house as the theme of their hit - it is this institution that is able to convey the spirit of Uzbekistan, as well as the whole of Central Asia. For Uzbeks, tea is also a cult. The teahouse keeper here also pours the drink from the teapot into the bowl and back three times, but explains it this way: "The first bowl is a muddy sai (small river, - approx. OA), the second bowl - meet the aroma, the third bowl - real tea- Treat your friends.

But not everywhere in Uzbekistan, as a tribute to you, they will offer you a quarter of tea in a bowl; for example, in the north of this country, on the contrary, in order not to embarrass the guest, tea is brewed for each of them in small teapots and placed next to each on the right side. So that the guests themselves decide when and how much to pour tea for themselves.

In addition to the Yalla group, the popularity of the teahouse far beyond the borders of our region was also ensured by a businessman with Uzbek roots - Timur Lanskoy, who opened an institution back in 2000 Uzbek cuisine in Moscow, which eventually grew into a chain of restaurants under the brand "Teahouse No. 1". Now these are prestigious, expensive restaurants, but in theory a teahouse should be an institution accessible to everyone.

“She (the teahouse) was cheap: a teapot for three kopecks, a flatbread for five kopecks, and sit as long as you want, no one rushes you,” artist Alexander Volkov told the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow last year about the Uzbek teahouse. “I was lucky: In 1960, I ended up in Margilan, an Uzbek city near Fergana. It was a real Uzbek city with a preserved national way of life. There were an incredible number of teahouses in it, almost on every corner. People went there in the evenings, like to a club, to sit, to talk... Sometimes, once a week, friends would gather in the tea house, cook some food, and everything was so leisurely, calm... According to Eastern traditions, women were not allowed in the tea house, and if the husband stayed for a long time, the wife could not just "go home" - that would be an insult in the eyes of others. Only a son or daughter could go into a teahouse, call dad from there and quietly say: "Mom says it's time to go home." There was a certain sense in this "...

Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, films are being made about the peculiarities of the national tea party. These traditions are alive and relevant in the modern "coca-cola" world. Director Nurtas Adambay, in his incredibly popular comedy Kelinka Sabina 2, showed that daughters-in-law are still judged by their ability to prepare and serve a drink. This sacred duty when receiving guests is assigned to them.

As you can see, kudagi (matchmaker) was not satisfied. And how does a good kelin (daughter-in-law) “give tea” (such a wording is used in the republic)? To begin with, she must be able to handle samovars. It is believed that only on the water boiled in them, you can brew a real "shәy". When guests gather in the house - and there may be 20 or 50 people - the kelin sits down at the edge of the table and starts pouring. Tea should always be hot. And it should never end at konaktar (guests).

The daughter-in-law is obliged to follow this. Moreover, no one ever asks for supplements out loud - guests simply serve bowls in silence. A good kelin not only manages to top up, but also notices who has already finished drinking and raises his hand. You can't keep respected people waiting! And Allah forbid to confuse bowls and return someone else's - although they (all 50!) Can be exactly the same. You can not add tea to where there is leftover tea leaves. They are poured into a special dish, standing right there - by the teapots. And by all means follow the volume - there should be exactly two sips of tea in the bowl. To keep from getting cold. And then - in a circle. The mother-in-law sits nearby and strictly monitors whether the daughter-in-law is doing everything right. If not, then she may fly in ...

There is another tradition in Kazakhstan. When the guests left fed, drunk and satisfied, and the kelin, tired after several hours of intense fulfillment of her duties, washed all the dishes, Eneshka (mother-in-law), as a rule, says: Al, endi ozimiz normally shay isheikshi! Let's have a drink!") And all the household members run to the table with pleasure.

Kyrgyzstan

"Tell me how you drink tea, and I'll tell you who you are" - this is how you can characterize the features of tea drinking in Kyrgyzstan. In the south of the country, they prefer tart green tea, which is brewed in pot-bellied porcelain teapots, preheated, and preferably on charcoal, then the tea acquires an additional aroma. They drink tea at home, and at a party, and in a teahouse - all year round.

No matter how strange it may sound, but it is the scalding hot tea that helps to escape from the red-hot summer heat characteristic of the southern regions of Kyrgyzstan. Here they drink tea slowly, with sedate conversations - without sugar and other additives. When guests arrive, the host himself pours tea. He pours a bright golden drink into small bowls and so that it only slightly covers the bottom. It is believed that the less tea you poured, the more respect.

But in the north of the country - in the Talas and Naryn regions - they prefer strong black tea, the water for which is boiled in samovars (the Kyrgyz interpretation is samoor). Here lump sugar (kumsheker) and fat are added to tea. homemade milk and sometimes butter (sary mai). And the kelin (daughter-in-law) pours it. If the family has not yet acquired a daughter-in-law, then the younger girl will bring tea to the guests (or even a girl - the main thing is that she can already hold the teapot in her hands).

George Orwell (the same author of "Animal Farm" and the novel "1984") in his book "A Cup of Excellent Tea" was perplexed: "How can a person who can kill the taste of tea with sugar can call himself a tea drinker? With the same success, you can flavor tea with pepper or salt." By the way, in some regions of Kyrgyzstan tea is drunk with salt.

And in Issyk-Kul, tea is poured into large chyny (bowls that look like bowls), often handmade. In a word, tea accompanies all Kyrgyzstanis without exception throughout their lives. It is served at weddings, christenings, funerals, wakes... And, of course, it is an indispensable element of hospitality. In any house in the country, any person - an old friend or a barely familiar guest - will definitely be poured a cup of hot fresh fragrant tea. Dried fruits, boorsoks, melted butter, sour cream and jam.

America

Yes, that's America! In the city of Boulder (Colorado), a real Central Asian tea house appeared several years ago. Residents of the United States liked this place - those who want to taste a fragrant drink, lying on a traditional trestle bed, line up. And in the spring, citizens of the Central Asian republics celebrate Navruz (or Nauryz) here. However, see everything with your own eyes - the journalists of "Open Asia" visited Boulder and filmed a wonderful report.

In 1714, tea was drunk in Kazan, although it was still an expensive pleasure, and by the 19th century. tea drinking "... has become so part of the Tatar life that not a single holiday was conceived without it ...". Thus, there is a general pattern: in most cases, tea becomes a “folk” drink only in the 19th-20th centuries, having first made its way from the chambers of the nobility to city shops, and then to the countryside. Tea traveled all this way in Central Asia.

The first news about tea is found in the traveler A. Olearius, who wrote that in the capital of Persia, Isfahan, in the 1630s there were “Tzai Chattai Chane”, i.e. “... taverns in which they drink foreign warm water(...) black (darkish) water, a decoction from a plant brought by the Uzbek Tatars to Persia from China (...) This is exactly the plant that the Chinese call tea (...) The Persians boil it in clean water, they add anise, dill, and some a little cloves ... ". This message directly indicates that already at the beginning of the XVII century. tea was known not only to the Persians, but also to the "Uzbek Tatars", i.e. inhabitants of Central Asia. However, this is perhaps the only indication in written sources that confirms such an early acquaintance of the inhabitants of the region of interest to us with a drink. As noted by E.M. Peshchereva, who conducted a special study of this problem, “... if we summarize all our data on the time when tea began to be widely distributed (...), then, with the exception of Bukhara, for the cities of Central Asia, this time falls on the beginning of the second half of the 19th century, for rural areas on plain - at the very end of the XIX century. and for the mountainous regions of Tajikistan — for the 20th century.” . In Bukhara, tea was already drunk in the 18th century, and only the nobility. In addition to the question of "when", the question of "from where" is of interest. It is worth dwelling on this problem in more detail.

The origins of the spread of tea in Central Asia could be the Chinese. There is fairly clear evidence of this. Written sources contain a mention that in the middle of the XVIII century. Chinese ambassadors brought “satin fabrics and tea” to the Kokand ruler Irdan as a gift. China and Chinese culture have always influenced the regions of Central Asia. At the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The Chinese have repeatedly tried to establish their dominance there. Throughout the Middle Ages, Chinese-Central Asian relations were periodically renewed and then again interrupted for a long time. These relations were quite intense in the 18th-19th centuries. In the XVIII century. The Manchu Qing Dynasty rushed to the west. In the middle of the century, China seized the Dzungar Khanate, under whose actual power many regions of Central Asia were. The Chinese tried to assert their influence over the entire territory belonging to the Dzungars. This was done in East Turkestan (the current Chinese province of Xinjiang). In 1758, the Kyrgyz sent ambassadors to Beijing, effectively recognizing a Chinese protectorate. In the same year, the Kokand ruler Irdana-biy also recognized the patronage of the Chinese, which was then confirmed by the next ruler Norbuta-biy. This recognition was not entirely voluntary and was accompanied by Chinese military campaigns in the Ferghana Valley. There is, for example, a message about the invasion of a 9,000-strong Chinese army in 1759 (or 1760), which, however, ended in the defeat of the Qing troops. In the very center of the Fergana Valley, on the banks of the Yazyavan-say, near the city of Margelan, according to local residents, there was a place of a bloody battle with the Chinese. In the 19th century there were few Chinese in the Ferghana Valley, captured as a result of a series of wars that took place in this century between China and Kokand. These captives converted to Islam and merged with the surrounding peoples. Diplomatic contacts were less intense. According to Ch. Valikhanov, the last Chinese in Kokand was during the accession to the throne of Sherali Khan in 1842, then he came to the mourning ceremony - to the funeral pyre for the murdered Khan Modali, after which "native persons" became envoys of China in Kokand.

Despite all the above, it is unlikely that the Chinese could be the main distributors of tea fashion in Central Asia. Direct contacts between the population of the two regions were not very long and were carried out mainly in the form of political, ideological and military confrontation. The influence of China on the penetration of tea into Central Asia was most likely indirect. First of all we are talking about trade. At the end of the XVIII - beginning of the XIX century. Chinese tea in the form of pressed tiles was very popular in Central Asian cities. According to Ch. Valikhanov, at the beginning of the 19th century. “The whole of Central Asia and Afghanistan used tea brought through Kokand from Kashgar, and the use of tea” became widespread, and when the Chinese closed the border, in 1829 “Kokand people decided to open a trade with weapons in their hands.” This influence was reflected in one of the names of tea whitened with milk - "sincha" (Chinese tea), as well as in the popularity of Chinese tea utensils.

Rejecting the point of view about the direct borrowing of tea from the Chinese, E.M. Peshchereva suggests that tea in Central Asia was distributed by the Mongols, who were in much closer relations than the Chinese with the Central Asian population. In modern legends of the Fergana inhabitants, the Kalmyks are often considered as the indigenous, most ancient population of Fergana. True, in this case, the Kalmyks are confused with the "mugs" (kal-mug), the ancient non-Muslim population of Central Asia. Nevertheless, despite this confusion, the legends reflect the really huge role that the Kalmyks played in the history of the Ferghana Valley and all of Central Asia in the late Middle Ages.

The Kalmyks belong to the Western Mongolian tribes, which, according to written sources, are also known as "Dzungars" or "Oirats". Already in the XVI century. Kalmyks fought with the Kazakhs, and in the XVII century. attacked Khorezm and Tashkent, negotiated a military alliance with the Bukhara rulers and raided the outskirts of Bukhara. At the beginning of the XVII century. in the hands of the Kalmyks was Mangyshlak, where they hid the future ruler of Khiva, Abulgazi. In the middle of the XVII century. the Kalmyks took "the upper hand over some Turkmen uluses", after which they attacked the Astrabad region (northeastern Iran) and sent ambassadors to the Persian Shah. In the middle of the XVII century. the so-called Dzungar Khanate is formed, which begins expansion to the west. In the 1680s, the Dzungar ruler Galdan captured the entire East Turkestan, made campaigns against Sairam (present-day South Kazakhstan), fought against the Kirghiz and the inhabitants of Fergana. In 1723, the Dzungarian troops captured the cities of Sairam, Tashkent, Turkestan, Suzak, etc. In the same year, the Dzungar ruler sent ambassadors to the Bukhara ruler from the Ashtarkhanid dynasty and threatened to seize Samarkand and even Bukhara itself. According to conflicting reports, the Dzungars actually owned at the beginning of the 18th century. Khojent, Jizzakh, Margelan. There is evidence that under their nominal authority were “some lands of Desht-i Kipchak (the territory of modern Kazakhstan and the northern part of Turkmenistan, some southern regions of Russia. - S.A.) and Iran, as well as Badakhshan (modern northeastern regions of Afghanistan. - S.A.), Tashkent, Kuram (Kurama. - S.A.) and Pskent ... ". The Dzungars repeatedly sent troops to conquer Chitral, Badakhshan, Darvaz and Karategin. The influence of the Jungars was so significant that in the first half of the 18th century. predictions were popular in Bukhara: power in Maverannakhr should pass from the Uzbeks to the Kalmyks, as it had once passed to the Uzbeks from the Timurids.

Unlike the Chinese, the Western Mongolian tribes were not "strangers" for the inhabitants of Central Asia. Moreover, they were aware of their distant relationship, since the genealogies of many Turkic tribes, who by that time lived in Central Asia, were Mongolian in origin. These included, for example, the Barlas, from whose midst the Timurids emerged, the Mangyts, whose representatives ruled in Bukhara since the 18th century, and the Kungrats, whose representatives then ruled in Khiva. The Mongols, as well as the peoples of Central Asia, developed the cult of Genghis Khan, his relatives and descendants, who formed a special estate among both of them, which had exclusive rights to power. It is no coincidence that the Dzungars justified their conquests in Central Asia with references to the "Chinggis tradition". The only significant difference between the Kalmyks and the inhabitants of Central Asia was their belonging to different faiths: the former were Buddhists, the latter were Muslims. True, unlike the confrontation with the "infidel" Chinese, which was a war of mutual destruction, the confrontation between the Central Asian population and the Mongols had another important component - the desire to convert the "infidel" Kalmyks to Islam. This phenomenon was widespread, which, in particular, is indicated by numerous historical and folklore monuments.

Part of the Dzungars under the name "Kalmok" settled in Central Asia and converted to Islam. Kalmyks converted to Islam in the 17th-19th centuries. constituted the service class and were part of the elite of the Central Asian states. Kalmyk slaves were presented to the rulers of Bukhara, and they willingly used them as an armed force in internecine wars. In 1611, Muhammad-Baki-Kalmok participated in the erection of Imamkuli Khan to the khan's throne. At the beginning of the XVIII century. Kalmyks played an important role in the Bukhara court. A faithful servant of Ubaidulla Khan was Aflatun-Kurchi-Kalmok, who died defending his master, to which many poetic lines are devoted in the sources. In the conspiracy against Ubaidulla Khan and his assassination, the “sinister killer of princes” Javshan Kalmok, who elevated Abulfeyz Khan to the throne of Bukhara, participated; under the new ruler, Javshan-kalmok received the highest positions of “inak” and “supreme kushbegi” and actually usurped power, distributing important government posts to relatives and friends; Later, Abulfeiz-Khan executed Javshan-Kalmok and his brother Muhammad-Malakh-Kurchi. At the beginning of the XVIII century. at the Bukhara court of Ubaydulla Khan and Abulfeyz Khan, such representatives of the nobility as Emir-Taramtai-Khadzhi-Kalmok, Bakaul-Kalmok, Muhammad-Salah-Kurchi-Kalmok and his son Abulkasim-Kurchi were also known.

According to F. Beneveni, who at the beginning of the XVIII century. visited Bukhara, "Khan (the Bukhara ruler Abulfeyz - S.A.) does not rely on anyone so much as on his Kalmyk serfs", of whom there were 350 people with him. During the internecine struggle at the beginning of the XVIII century. on the side of the Bukhara ruler Abulfeyz Khan there was a detachment of "Khan Kalmyks", which was led by Karchigai-i Hisari, Shahbaz-Kicha, Karchigai, Lachin-i Hisari, and on the side of his rival, the self-proclaimed ruler of Samarkand Rajab Khan, the commander Tashi-Kalmok . In the middle and in the second half of the XVIII century. noble Bukhara grandees Rakhimkul-mirakhur-kalmok, Bakhodur-biy-kalmok and Buriboy-kalmok are mentioned. In the middle of the XIX century. Among the Bukhara nobility was Adil-Parvanchi-Kalmok, who was appointed the specific ruler of Samarkand. The fact that the Kalmyks played an important role in Bukhara is evidenced by the fact that along with three mangyts and two farces (Persians), Abduraim-biy-kalmok participated in the ceremony of enthronement of the Bukhara Emir Muzaffar Khan.

There was a Kalmok quarter in Bukhara, where Kalmyks lived, who belonged to the military estate of the Sipokhs. E. Meyendorff, who visited Bukhara at the beginning of the 19th century, wrote that “several hundred Kalmyks live here, some of them own land around the city, but most of them are soldiers,” and they “almost completely forgot their language and speak to each other in Tatar; they can only be recognized by their faces. They are known for their courage, they adopted the customs of the Uzbeks and live among them in special villages in Miankala and other areas of Bukharin”; in total there are about 20 thousand people. In the Bukhara Emirate at the beginning of the 20th century. the Kalmok tribe numbered about 9 thousand people, they lived in the Bukhara oasis, partly on the Amu Darya and in Shakhrisyabz.

In addition to Bukhara, Kalmyks lived in other cities and regions of Central Asia. So, in the middle of the XVIII century. In the 17th century, the ruler Kassym-Khoja arrived in Tashkent from Samarkand, accompanied by 500 Kalmyk soldiers. A certain Kobil from the Kara-Kalmok clan made the village of Bogistan, which belongs to the Tashkent district, his headquarters. At the end of the XVIII century. Kalmyks appeared at the court of the Afghan rulers in Kabul.

The influence of the Kalmyks on Ferghana was significant. There is evidence that already at the end of the XVII century. Dzungars made a campaign to Ferghana and captured Osh. In the 1720s they captured Andijan. In 1741–1745 The Dzungars made three campaigns against the Kokand ruler Abdukarim: 10,000 warriors took part in the first and second campaigns, and 30,000 in the third. According to other sources, it is known that in the middle of the XVIII century. Kalmyks laid siege to Kokand, took hostage Baba-bek, a close relative of the Kokand ruler Abdukarim, and then, after the death of Abdukarim, tried to install Baba-bek as ruler in Kokand. The sources mention that Baba-bek was among the Kalmyks near Kokand, i.e. Kalmyks already lived in the Ferghana Valley then. The undoubted Mongol influence can be seen in the name of the next Kokand ruler - Irdana-bey (the term "erdene", translated from the Mongolian "jewel", was often used as the title of the Dzungarian nobility). The next ruler, Narbuta-biy, was married to a Kalmyk woman.

In 1759–1760, when the Dzungar Khanate was defeated and conquered by the Chinese - the Qing Empire, a significant part of the Dzungars fled to Central Asia, where "... they assimilated with the locals, retaining only the tribal name Kalmak" . According to one source, 12,000 families of Kashgarians and Kalmyks left East Turkestan, 9,000 of them settled in Ferghana, and 3,000 in Badakhshan Fayzabad. In the second half of the XVIII century. under Irdana-biy, “several thousand” Kalmyks lived in Ferghana, from whom Irdana, suspecting treason in the event of an invasion by the Qing troops, took away their weapons and horses. The world of Izzet Ulla, who at the beginning of the 19th century. traveled around the Kokand Khanate, mentions Muslim Kalmyks who lived in southeastern Fergana. In the 19th century a group of Kalmyk nomads, which was considered one of the local tribes, actively participated in political events in the Kokand Khanate. According to censuses, at the beginning of the 20th century. in the Fergana region lived from 200 to 600 Kalmyks.

The role played by the Muslim Kalmyks of Ferghana in the political structure of the Kokand Khanate is shown by the lists of 92 tribes “ilatiya”, i.e. nomads. One of the lists is given in the work “Majmu at-tavarih”. The work itself was written in the 16th century, but its latest copies date back to the turn of the 18th–19th centuries. and, apparently, the compilation of the list of 92 tribes itself should be dated to the same era, based at least on the fact that the Ming tribe is in the honorable first place, the Yuz tribe is in the second, and the Kyrk tribe is in the third. All of them rose only in the XVIII century. In one of the lists of “Majmu at-tavarikh”, the Kalmyks occupy quite an honorable eleventh place in this list, immediately after the Kipchaks, in another list - the sixteenth. In the essay "Tuhfat at-tavarih-i khani", written in the middle of the 19th century, the Kalmyks are moved to sixty-ninth place, which clearly indicates a decrease in their level of influence.

A significant part of the Kalmyks ended up as part of the "Uzbek people". Some of them became part of the "Kirghiz": Ch. Valikhanov, for example, mentions the Kirghiz living in the Tien Shan from the Kalmyk tribe, who are very rich, they explain their wealth by the fact that their ancestors served the East Turkestan rulers - the brothers Burkhaniddin-Khoja and Khan-hodge. The Kyrgyz also included a group of Sart-Kalmyks. Pamir-Afghan Kalmyks also mixed with the Kirghiz. The "Kalmok" group was composed of Uzbeks-Kurama, consisting of Turkmen-Iomuds, Stavropol Turkmens and Nogais.

In East Turkestan, the transition of Kalmyks to Islam was even more massive. An important role in this was played by the mentors of the Sufi brotherhood of Naqshbandiya, who very actively spread the Muslim faith. There is, for example, a message that in the middle of the XVIII century. The ruler of Kashgar, Yusuf-Khoja, converted 300 Kalmyk merchants to Islam. A little later, the brothers Burkhaniddin-Khoja and Khan-Khoja, relatives of Yusuf-Khoja and his rivals in the struggle for power, forced 15,000 Kalmyks to convert to Islam.

All the data presented indicate that the ties between the Kalmyks and the inhabitants of Central Asia were very close. The peculiarity of the position of the Kalmyks converted to Islam was that they did not have their own "destiny" and were mainly urban, metropolitan residents. Being close to the rulers and being among the nobility, the Kalmyks could directly influence the habits and tastes of the Central Asian elite. One such habit may have been a fondness for tea. A completely convincing argument in favor of this point of view is the fact that, according to many sources, in the 19th century. the population of Central Asia used a special kind of tea - “shir-choy” (tea with milk), also known as “Kalmyk tea”. Unlike ordinary tea, which is brewed and drunk with sugar and other aromatic additives, shir choy is rather not a drink, but a special dish. The recipe for its preparation is quite standard for different regions of Central Asia: tea is brewed in a cauldron, then salt, milk, cream (kaimok) or ghee (mine) are added, sometimes mutton fat (yog) is melted in the cauldron. The stew is poured into cups, greaves from lamb fat (jiza) are put there, the cakes are crumbled and eaten. Sometimes tea, butter and cream are served separately with meals. Quince sprigs, grape tassels, bitter almond leaves, rosehip flowers, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, various plants or crushed walnuts are often added to boiling water when preparing shir-choy (sometimes instead of tea).

In the 19th century shir-choi was quite a significant competitor to ordinary tea. According to F. Beneveni, at the beginning of the XVIII century. in Bukhara they drank sweet, i.e. regular tea. According to F. Efremov, who lived for several years in Bukhara at the end of the 18th century, they drank tea with sugar there. According to P.I. Demaison, at the beginning of the XIX century, some lovers drank tea 2-3 times a day, 5-6 cups at a time. In all cases, we are talking about ordinary tea. But traveling around Bukharin in 1820-1821. E.K. Meyendorff wrote about the Bukharians: “... after the morning prayer they drink tea, which is boiled with milk and salt, which makes it something like soup. They dine no earlier than 4–5 o’clock (…) Now after dinner they drink tea brewed like in Europe…”. According to the Russian prisoner Grushin, in Khiva at the beginning of the 19th century. only the khan drank tea: Kalmyk tea - daily, ordinary tea with sugar - twice a week.

According to E.M. Cave, shir-toy were widely used in the Zeravshan and Kashka-Darya basins. F.D. wrote about the same. Lyushkevich: the settled population of Bukhara and Kashka-Darya in autumn and winter cannot do without the drink shir-choi. At the end of the 19th century, according to the data of the spouses V. and M. Nalivkin, shir-choy was well known to the Uzbeks (nomads and semi-nomads) of Fergana, which, by the way, contradicts the data of S.S. Gubaeva, who claims that "... the indigenous inhabitants of the Ferghana Valley did not drink shir-choi". Kipchaks at the beginning of the 20th century. they preferred sutli-choi (tea with milk, salt, fried bacon or melted butter) and moili-choi (a cake was crumbled into cups, they put fried lard or ghee, poured salt and poured hot brewed tea). The same type of tea was consumed by the Kirghiz.

All the above data indicate that shir-choy and its varieties were popular primarily among the steppe and mountain nomads. This is understandable, since animal products are needed to make such tea. In one of his articles, N.L. Zhukovskaya noted: "... with the advent of tea, the entire free supply of fresh milk began to be used to make tea with milk." Shir-choi came to the cities of Central Asia precisely because the local nobility belonged to the elite of nomadic tribes - hence the habits and tastes left over from the nomadic lifestyle. It can be assumed that before the appearance of shir-choy, the nomads of Central and Central Asia had a dish consisting of milk, butter and fat, as well as a brew of herbs and leaves. Later, tea was added to this dish, which may have been associated with the adoption of Buddhism by the Mongolian peoples: by this time, Buddhists already considered tea a sacred drink. In any case, in the cuisine of the peoples of Central Asia, along with "Kalmyk tea", there are other dishes in which tea is replaced with various kinds of herbs. In Central Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. Khoshak tea was known, consisting of five elements (two varieties of dried grass, grain pepper, cinnamon and chub-tea, that is, drunk tea, sometimes with the addition of quince, almonds, rose petals and pomegranate). Often milk, salt and lard were added to the tea.

One of the most interesting questions cultural and social history of tea – how did tea enter the daily diet settled population of Central Asia. Apparently, this process first affected the “Kashgarians” of East Turkestan (who were renamed Uighurs in the 20th century). The fact that the population of this region was in close contact with the Western Mongols played a role here. In addition, it must be borne in mind that the proportion of the urban population in East Turkestan was very high, which means that the fashion for tea spread faster here, and preference was given to “Kalmyk tea”, which, according to I.V. Zakharova, at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. was known as "etkan-choy".

The ritual “sokyt” is dedicated to Saint Afak-Khoja, and only the followers of this saint can participate in it. Afak-Khoja (Ofok-Khoja, Appak-Khoja, Oppok-Khoja) - historical figure, his real name and title is Khozrat-Khoja-Khidayatulla. He lived in East Turkestan in the second half of the 17th century. and was considered a saint. Afak-Khoja belonged to the offspring of the head of the Central Asian branch of the Sufi brotherhood of Naqshbandi, Makhdumi-Agzam, who died in the middle of the 16th century. and buried in Samarkand. The clan of Makhdumi-Agzam was considered very noble, and the elder branch of the clan had rights equal to those of the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Kokand. In the XVI-XIX centuries. many descendants of Makhdumi-Agzam were spiritual mentors of Central Asian rulers from the Chagataid, Shibanid, Ashtarkhanid dynasties, as well as later rulers of Bukhara and Kokand from the Uzbek Mangyt and Ming dynasties. Afak-Khoja, intervening in the internecine struggle of the Chagataids for power in East Turkestan, turned to the Dzungars for help. There is a legend that the saint met with the leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama V, who became famous for his learning and reformism, and enlisted his support. The Dzungars, who considered themselves followers of the Dalai Lama, supported Afak-Khoja and, with his help, actually seized power in East Turkestan, making this state their vassal region. Over time, Afak-Khoja began to be revered as the spiritual patron of the entire East Turkestan. By the way, the ancestors of the Ferghana Kalmyks converted to Islam "were warriors and served as the patron of the Belogorsk party, Appak-Khoja. Together with Appak-Khoja, they allegedly arrived in Fergana.

The people of Kashgar tell the following story: as if they had not cooked cakes with mutton fat before, but someone did it, and Afak-Khodja liked these cakes, after which they began to make them in memory of the saint. Together with flat cakes, the followers of Afak-Khoja joined the "Kalmyk tea". Thus, it can be assumed that it was thanks to the glory of Saint Afak-Khoja, who had close ties with the Dzungars, i.e. Kalmyks, tea became popular among the settled Muslims of East Turkestan.

At the end of the XIX century. in Ferghana, they already drank mostly ordinary tea, which was brewed in teapots and samovars. Here, as in Khorezm, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashka-Darya and Surkhan-Darya, green tea (kuk-choy, choi-kabud) became popular. Green tea in the late XIX - early XX century. “came into use everywhere” among the Kipchaks and Karluks, although, as K.Sh. Shaniyazov, "... and now many Karluks do not like tea". In Tashkent and adjacent areas, they preferred and still prefer black tea - kara-choi, choi-siyoh, pardoned (fomil)-choi - family tea, since the names of the producers were previously indicated on tea bags. Kazakhs also drink mainly black tea. Northern Kyrgyz drink black tea, southern - green. The same types of tea began to be drunk in East Turkestan. In the Upper Zeravshan, Karategin and Darvaz they drink green tea, which appeared in Soviet time(at first only among wealthy people), and only occasionally - black tea. Only in the XX century. green tea is widely distributed among Turkmens: as noted by M.S. Berdyev, "... in our days, tea is an indispensable attribute of all meals without exception" .

1) Western Mongols (Dzungars or Kalmyks), partly Chinese, become the main conductors of the fashion for tea; tea is distributed primarily among the Central Asian elite, among nomads and townspeople; tea is consumed together with dairy and fat products traditional for nomads;
2) migrants from East Turkestan become the main contributors to the wide distribution of tea: tea is gaining popularity in rural areas; tea is consumed mostly additional products animal husbandry.
At the first stage, tea from a "foreign" drink or dish turned into "one's own". This transformation could only happen if people thought that tea was prestigious. In Muslim society, the main condition for this transformation is the consent of religious leaders. This aspect is still little studied, but one can point to the significant role of Sufi mentors in this process.

At the beginning of the XX century. shir-choy, according to L.F. Monogarova, spread in Rushan and Shugnan, later in Yazgulem, where it was served to guests in wealthy houses. In the Huf valley, according to M.A. Andreev, tea began to be widely used in 1924, and before that it was drunk in the houses of the Ishans and some families of the “most experienced Khufs”. According to M.A. Khamidzhanova in the Upper Zeravshan "ate" shir-choy in the morning. N.N. wrote about the same. Ershov: in Karategin and Darvaz in autumn and winter they make shir-choy in the morning, which is considered "hot" and satisfying. S.S. Gubaeva believes that shir-choi came to the southern regions of Ferghana precisely from Karategin. Shir-choy was almost universally drunk in Afghanistan. This type of tea is also known in the North Caucasus: among the Stavropol Turkmen, among the Nogais (nogai-shoi) and in Dagestan (karmuk-chai).

Outside the Muslim world, this version of tea was widely distributed in the Buddhist world: it is preferred by the Mongols, Kalmyks, Buryats, South Siberian Turks (Altaians, Tuvans), as well as the Tanguts who live in Northern Tibet, and the population of the Himalayan regions of India, Kashmir, Nepal. These regions have their own ways of making tea: crushed tea is placed in boiling water, milk, salt, butter, and sometimes lard are added. lamb tail, bone marrow of a ram, chopped jerky or dumplings; sometimes fried on butter or animal fat white flour, sometimes nutmeg in oil. There are two ways to consume this tea: as a drink (with salt and milk) and as a meal (with dry roasted millet, butter and fat tail fat) . Instead of a tea-drink, Tanguts use a decoction of a certain herb and a head of yellow onion, and in tea-food (zamba), which is eaten without fat, they add flour from roasted barley grains scalded with tea brought to a boil. Tea drinking among Buddhist peoples is an indispensable element of religious rituals. At the end of the XVI-XVII century. tea firmly entered the diet of the Mongols and became for them "... the only food for many days ...".

All the above data indicate that shir-choy and its varieties were popular primarily among the steppe and mountain nomads. This is understandable, since animal products are needed to make such tea. In one of his articles, N.L. Zhukovskaya noted: "... with the advent of tea, the entire free supply of fresh milk began to be used to make tea with milk." Shir-choi came to the cities of Central Asia precisely because the local nobility belonged to the elite of nomadic tribes - hence the habits and tastes left over from the nomadic lifestyle. It can be assumed that before the appearance of shir-choy, the nomads of Central and Central Asia had a dish consisting of milk, butter and fat, as well as a brew of herbs and leaves. Later, tea was added to this dish, which may have been associated with the adoption of Buddhism by the Mongolian peoples: by this time, Buddhists already considered tea a sacred drink. In any case, in the cuisine of the peoples of Central Asia, along with “Kalmyk tea”, there are other dishes in which tea is replaced with various kinds of herbs. In Central Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. Khoshak tea was known, consisting of five elements (two varieties of dried grass, grain pepper, cinnamon and chub-tea, that is, drunk tea, sometimes with the addition of quince, almonds, rose petals and pomegranate). Often milk, salt and lard were added to the tea.

One of the most interesting questions of the cultural and social history of tea is how tea entered the daily diet of the settled population of Central Asia. Apparently, this process first affected the “Kashgarians” of East Turkestan (who were renamed Uighurs in the 20th century). The fact that the population of this region was in close contact with the Western Mongols played a role here. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the proportion of the urban population in East Turkestan was very high, which means that the fashion for tea spread faster here, and preference was given to "Kalmyk tea", which, according to I.V. Zakharova, at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. was known as "etkan-choy".

In this regard, a legend of the 19th century, popular among the Tatars, is interesting: a certain Sufi, whose name is not mentioned, being in Turkestan, tired on the road, drove into one of the villages near the Chinese border; the owner of the house gave the traveler hot drink and fatigue immediately passed; the Sufi exclaimed: “This is a drink! His place is in heaven! This is a gift from God! - and hurried on his way - to tell people about tea; this Sufi lived for 100 years thanks to tea.” In this story, two details deserve attention: 1) events developed near the "Chinese border", i.e. in East Turkestan, 2) the main character is a Sufi, i.e. follower of the mystical trend in Islam.

The connection between “Kalmyk tea” and the religious beliefs of the Kashgarians is indicated by the ritual “sokyt” (which means “liberate from difficulties”), which has survived to this day, according to informants S.S. Gubaeva, - "sukut" (silence). This ritual, surrounded by mystery, during which it is sometimes even forbidden to pronounce the word “sokyt” itself, is performed in Fergana only by people from East Turkestan. It is performed if you have a bad dream, when there are no children, when someone is sick or when some difficult task is ahead, etc. The inhabitants of the village choose from among the believers (sometimes from among the poor) a person - okytvoshi, who organizes the ritual. According to a vow, making wishes, the neighbors bring this person money, food (mutton fat, flour, tea), and when there is enough of them, he prepares a “juice”. The ritual is performed 2-4 times a year. Previously, it was attended by men, today - mostly elderly and middle-aged women, usually 10-15 people. Only “pure” (pok) people who do not drink, do not smoke, and perform prayers can participate in the ritual.

Sokyt is a flatbread, sacrificial food, therefore, during the ritual, several sokyts are prepared - according to the number of people who brought food or money and made a wish. Participants sit in a circle in front of a leather tablecloth (surpa), on which food is placed, and read a prayer. Then the women who have performed the ritual ablution cook up to 50-70 pieces thin cakes like pancakes, which are fried in lamb fat in a separate boiler. After preparing the cakes, milk is poured into the cauldron, tea and salt are put, boiled, preparing ok-choy (sin-choy, shir-choy). Then each cake is folded in half twice and placed on bread, lard fried is placed on top. This food is divided equally between the participants of the ceremony, part of it is eaten right there with ok-choy, and part is wrapped in scarves and taken home, where they eat to the last crumb, having previously performed a ritual ablution. Then the cauldron, in which the cakes were fried and tea was brewed, is thoroughly washed, and the remains are poured into places where people do not go and where dirt is not poured. After eating, be sure to wash.

The ritual “sokyt” is dedicated to Saint Afak-Khoja, and only the followers of this saint can participate in it. Afak-Khoja (Ofok-Khoja, Appak-Khoja, Oppok-Khoja) is a historical figure, his real name and title is Khozrat-Khoja-Khidayatulla. He lived in East Turkestan in the second half of the 17th century. and was considered a saint. Afak-Khoja belonged to the offspring of the head of the Central Asian branch of the Sufi brotherhood of Naqshbandi, Makhdumi-Agzam, who died in the middle of the 16th century. and buried in Samarkand. The clan of Makhdumi-Agzam was considered very noble, and the elder branch of the clan had rights equal to those of the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Kokand. In the XVI-XIX centuries. many descendants of Makhdumi-Agzam were spiritual mentors of Central Asian rulers from the Chagataid, Shibanid, Ashtarkhanid dynasties, as well as later rulers of Bukhara and Kokand from the Uzbek Mangyt and Ming dynasties. Afak-Khoja, intervening in the internecine struggle of the Chagataids for power in East Turkestan, turned to the Dzungars for help. There is a legend that the saint met with the leader of the Tibetan Buddhists, the Dalai Lama V, who became famous for his learning and reformism, and enlisted his support. The Dzungars, who considered themselves followers of the Dalai Lama, supported Afak-Khoja and, with his help, actually seized power in East Turkestan, making this state their vassal region. Over time, Afak-Khoja began to be revered as the spiritual patron of the entire East Turkestan. By the way, the ancestors of the Ferghana Kalmyks converted to Islam “were warriors and served as the patron of the Belogorsk party, Appak-Khodja. Together with Appak-Khoja, they allegedly arrived in Fergana.

The people of Kashgar tell the following story: as if they had not cooked cakes with mutton fat before, but someone did it, and Afak-Khodja liked these cakes, after which they began to make them in memory of the saint. Together with flat cakes, the followers of Afak-Khoja joined the “Kalmyk tea”. Thus, it can be assumed that it was thanks to the glory of Saint Afak-Khoja, who had close ties with the Dzungars, i.e. Kalmyks, tea became popular among the settled Muslims of East Turkestan.

In turn, the Kashgarians could become conductors of the habit of drinking tea directly in Central Asia, at least in the Fergana Valley, which in the 19th century. was the "biggest consumer of tea". Migration to Ferghana in the 18th–19th centuries. indigenous Muslim population from East Turkestan is one of the reasons for the popularity of tea here. There is ample evidence of the enormous scale of this migration. It began at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, when East Turkestan was engulfed in the most severe internecine wars, culminating in the subordination of the region to the Dzungar Khanate. The main flow of migrants then went to the Ferghana Valley. It was mentioned above that in the late 1750s, 9,000 families migrated from Eastern Turkestan to Ferghana, i.e. about 40 thousand Kashgarians and Kalmyks. The total number of the settled population of Ferghana, according to sources, was at that time about 300 thousand people.

By the beginning of the XIX century. the descendants of these Kashgarians were already considered the indigenous inhabitants of Fergana and, apparently, lost the name "Kashgarians". So, in the Namangan region, residents of a number of villages speak a dialect of the Uzbek language, in which a strong “Uighur” influence is noticeable. Meanwhile, there is no data on living in the 19th century. in these areas "Uighurs" or Kashgarians. In the 19th century mass migration of the inhabitants of East Turkestan to Central Asia continued. Wars against the Chinese, which invariably ended in defeat, were accompanied by migrations of various sizes in 1816, 1820, 1826–1827, 1830, 1857–1858, and 1877. So, according to Mirza Shems Bukhari, before the invasion of Kokand troops into East Turkestan in 1830, “from ten to twelve thousand Kashgarians lived in Kokand” . After the defeat of another uprising in 1830, up to 70 thousand people moved from East Turkestan to Fergana (according to other sources - 70 thousand families). True, Ch. Valikhanov specified that 25,000 people later returned. In 1847, more than 20 thousand people migrated from Kashgar (according to other sources - 100 thousand people), who, according to chronicles, for the most part died in the cold in the mountains. In 1857, after the defeat of the uprising of Vali-khan-tur, up to 15 thousand people migrated from Kashgar (according to other information - 15 thousand families).

In 1877, the Chinese defeated the state founded by Yakub-bek, after which again "thousands of residents with families" fled to Central Asia. In the report of a Russian official we read: “... at the end of 1877, about 12 thousand Kashgarians and Dungans emigrated to our borders (...). Of these, about 7 thousand went to the Semirechensk region (...), and the rest came through the city of Osh to the Fergana region. According to Ch. Valikhanov, in the middle of the XIX century. Kashgarians lived in villages near Andijan, Shahrikhan, Karasu with a total of 50 thousand families (or people?). The same Ch. Valikhanov gives a different figure: in the middle of the 19th century. 300 thousand people from East Turkestan lived in the Ferghana Valley. According to an 1868 report by Mulla Muslim, up to 70 thousand Kashgarians lived in the Ferghana Valley, mainly near Andijan. A certain number of immigrants from East Turkestan settled in other regions of Central Asia: according to written and ethnographic data, traces of their stay can be found in Tashkent, Kanibadam, Khujand, Samarkand and its environs, in Bukhara, Karategin, Eastern Bukhara, Khorezm, etc. d.

Opinions of modern researchers on the number of migrants from East Turkestan differed. S. S. Gubaeva (who, apparently, repeats the data of Ch. Valikhanov) believes that in the middle of the 19th century. about 300 thousand people from Kashgar lived in the Ferghana Valley. A. Kaidarov believes that by 1860 250 thousand people from East Turkestan had moved to Central Asia. According to I.V. Zakharova, until 1860, 200-250 thousand Uighurs lived in the Kokand Khanate. G.M. Iskhakov, A.M. Reshetov and A.N. Sedlovskaya believe that in the XVIII-XIX centuries. From 85 thousand to 160 thousand people from East Turkestan moved to Central Asia. G.B. Nikolskaya believes that from the end of the XVIII and the first half of the XIX century. 85-165 thousand Kashgarians moved to Ferghana.

Natives of Kashgar were part of the elite of the Kokand Khanate. At the beginning of the XIX century. of them consisted of a special detachment of "taglyks". An influential dignitary under Umar Khan was Yusuf-Mingbashi-Kashgari (or Yusuf-Taghlyk), whose daughter Madali Khan was married to. An important role at the court of the Kokand khans was played by the clergy, originally from East Turkestan, which included a numerous, several hundred people, family of Kashgar Khodjas. One of the wives of Khudoyar Khan was the daughter of a Kashgarian. The military commander Yunus-taghlyk, an influential official under Khudoyar Khan - Isa-Avliya, as well as the Ishan Madali-Khalifa, who raised an uprising against the Russians in 1898, belonged to the natives of Kashgar.

Migrants from East Turkestan had a huge impact on the formation of a settled group of the population of the Fergana Valley, known as the Sarts. So, according to information dated to the 1840s, “the city of Shegerikhan (…) and its environs are almost exclusively populated by Kashgarians. They are considered here by 20,000 families in one place. In 1890, the Russian authorities counted only 304 Kashgarians in Shakhrikhan, the rest were "Sarts". There are many such testimonies. In the 1870s, the total population of the Fergana Valley was at most about 1 million people, including about 2/3 or even 3/4 of the settled population. This is indicated not only by the information of contemporaries, but also by statistical calculations: in 1897, about 1.5 million people lived in the Fergana region, in a quarter of a century the population could increase by no more than 160%. If we take as a basis the minimum number of immigrants from Eastern Turkestan - 85 thousand people, then it turns out that in the 1870s 11-14% of the settled inhabitants of Fergana were Kashgarians. If we focus on average estimates and assume that the number of East Turkestan migrants reached approximately 160 thousand people, then the share of Kashgarians increases to 22–28% of the total number of Sarts. If we agree with the figure of 300 thousand people from East Turkestan, then the share of Kashgarians becomes simply colossal - 40-50%. These percentages will increase if we admit that the population of the Fergana Valley at the time of the Russian conquest fluctuated between 700-800 thousand people. Kashgarians, as a rule, did not settle compactly: for example, according to the data on the “ethnographic composition” of the population of the Margelan district of the Fergana region for 1890, they fully or partially inhabited 111 out of 251 villages. Thanks to this settlement, the Kashgarians very quickly merged with the surrounding population.

Undoubtedly, the arrival of migrants from East Turkestan could not but affect the culture of the settled inhabitants of the Ferghana Valley, in particular, tea, apparently, was largely spread thanks to the Kashgarians. The widespread penetration of this drink into the life of the settled population changed the ratio different types tea: the usual way its brews became more popular, while shir choi became less popular. There were reasons for that. First, in the 19th century and especially at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, as a result of joining Russia, the nomads switched to a settled way of life, which entailed a reduction in the diet of animal products in their diet. Secondly, at the beginning of the XIX century. From Russia, the samovar was borrowed, with the advent of which the brewing of tea turned into a quick and uncomplicated matter. I.V., who visited Bukhara in 1836 Vitkevich wrote: "...here, in the shop, there is also a Russian samovar, of which many have now been brought here." As Russian influence intensified, the fashion for brewing tea in samovars spread. So, in Khujand, the first tea house appeared in the middle of the 19th century, and in 1888 there were already 94 tea houses in the city, in 1910 - 207. With the accession of a part of Central Asia to Russia, the samovar became an essential item not only in cities, but also in rural areas, where communal houses turned into tea houses (choikhona), which the local population called "samovars". Information from E.M. Peshchereva complete the picture of the social history of tea: at first it was drunk in public places or on solemn occasions only by men, later tea began to be drunk daily in home environment, including women and children.

By the way, interesting fact: at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. teahouses with samovars became so widespread in Central Asia that an attempt was made to formalize the work of teahouse workers into a special profession with all its inherent attributes - a charter (risolya), a social hierarchy and training procedure, special rituals for initiating students into masters and commemorating saints, etc. One of the elements of "professionalization" was the choice of the spiritual patron of teahouse workers and the creation of a legend about the ancient origin of the craft. According to the charter of the “tea-keepers”, the story looked like this: once the Prophet Muhammad went with an army of companions to war with the “infidels”; in the desert, people were tormented by thirst and Allah, through the prayer of the prophet, gave water, but it was unusable; then another prophet, Davud (biblical David), appeared to Muhammad and showed him a stone that had the shape of a samovar; Thanks to the samovar stone, the warriors boiled water and quenched their thirst. However, it should be noted that the final transformation of the work of teahouse workers into one of the traditional professions did not happen. In modern Central Asia, each community has its own chaikhana man, who serves guests at big holidays and keeps a chaikhana, but, as a rule, the inhabitants of a particular village choose him from among the members of the community.

As a result of the settlement of nomads and the spread of the samovar, tea types with a reduced set of livestock products appeared. One of Bukhara recipes includes tea, salt, lard, pepper, but since it is without milk, it is called "choi-siyoh" (black tea). Kazakhs drink black tea with milk, without any fat. Some groups of the Kirghiz drink the same tea, sometimes adding salt and sugar to it. Western Kazakhs add ground millet to tea. Brewed tea with salt and milk is known to the inhabitants of East Turkestan.

At the end of the XIX century. in Ferghana, they already drank mostly ordinary tea, which was brewed in teapots and samovars. Here, as in Khorezm, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashka-Darya and Surkhan-Darya, green tea (kuk-choy, choi-kabud) became popular. Green tea in the late XIX - early XX century. “came into use everywhere” among the Kipchaks and Karluks, although, as K.Sh. Shaniyazov, "... and now many Karluks do not like tea" . In Tashkent and adjacent areas, they preferred and still prefer black tea - kara-choi, choi-siyoh, pardoned (fomil)-choi - family tea, since the names of the producers were previously indicated on tea bags. Kazakhs also drink mainly black tea. Northern Kyrgyz drink black tea, southern - green. The same types of tea began to be drunk in East Turkestan. In the Upper Zeravshan, Karategin and Darvaz they drink green tea, which appeared in the Soviet era (at first only among wealthy people), and only occasionally - black tea. Only in the XX century. green tea is widely distributed among Turkmens: as noted by M.S. Berdyev, "... in our days, tea is an indispensable attribute of all meals without exception" .

Certain preferences in choosing black or green tea in the popular mind are often explained by the traditional division of food into “cold” (sovuk) and “hot” (issyk): green tea is one of the “cold” drinks, it is useful in the heat, while black tea, classified as "hot", is better at protecting against frost. Therefore, black tea is drunk in more northern regions, green - in the south. According to another explanation, black tea is drunk only with "black" water, which comes from underground, and green tea with "white" water, which is formed from the melting of mountain snows.

So, the social history of tea in Central Asia can be divided into several stages:

• 1) Western Mongols (Dzungars or Kalmyks), partly Chinese, become the main conductors of the fashion for tea; tea is distributed primarily among the Central Asian elite, among nomads and townspeople; tea is consumed together with dairy and fat products traditional for nomads;
• 2) migrants from East Turkestan become the main contributors to the wide distribution of tea: tea is gaining popularity in rural areas; tea is consumed mainly without additional livestock products.

At the first stage, tea from a "foreign" drink or dish turned into "one's own". This transformation could only happen if people thought that tea was prestigious. In Muslim society, the main condition for this transformation is the consent of religious leaders. This aspect is still little studied, but one can point to the significant role of Sufi mentors in this process.

At the second stage, tea from "elite" turned into a "folk" drink. This transformation could happen if it became available to everyone. The main condition for this is the transition from an agrarian, subsistence or semi-subsistence economy, closed in local regions, to an industrial, commodity economy that links local markets into one global market. This transition was due to a number of factors, including: firstly, organized in the middle of the XIX century. by the British in India plantation production of tea, and secondly, the widespread construction of railways. If in the beginning and middle of the XIX century. in Central Asia they knew mainly Chinese tea, then already at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. The most popular was green tea, which was brought from Bombay. These factors have led to sharp drop tea prices. As noted by E.M. Peshcherev, tea became available to the general public only when its prices fell, which happened as a result of the appearance of Russians in Central Asia, the construction of railways in the region, and the opening of new trade routes.

What conclusions can be drawn from all that has been said? First, in the past, certain elements of culture that today are perceived as important symbols of “national tradition” were associated more with religious values ​​and were part of ideas of prestige and power. Secondly, some elements of culture have actually become folk during the last 100-150 years, and their "folk" character has been associated with the development of industrial, international forms of life.

Abashin S.N. From the book " traditional food as an expression of ethnic identity. — M.: Nauka, 2001.

The Georgian market has a fairly large share, approximately 75% is occupied by cheap and low-quality imported tea. For some reason, the consumer still prefers it, meanwhile, its quality indicators cannot even be compared with tea. A simple laboratory test shows that the products are saturated with dyes and flavors.

Approximately 3,000 tons of tea is produced in Georgia per year, and a large share of it is exported, including in the form of raw materials. For example, raw tea is exported from Georgia to Azerbaijan, and from there Georgian tea is returned to us packaged like an Azerbaijani product. In recent years, they have been trying to create and introduce brands of Georgian tea in the local market. One of them is Shemokmedi.

Georgy Maisuradze, director of Milmart LLC: "In Guria, in the village of Shemokmedi, back in 1975, an experimental enterprise" Shemokmedi "was created, where local tea was processed. Then, as you know, everything stopped, including tea production and tea the "Shemokmedi" factory has not worked for decades.

In 2011, we decided to revive a new production on its basis, but we fundamentally changed our approach, and if in the Soviet period during the production of tea the main emphasis was on quantity, we took a focus on quality.

We bought the enterprise, or rather, what was left of it, re-equipped the production line and began to accept local raw materials. The units are predominantly made of wood, which minimizes the contact between products and metal. And this gives us the opportunity to produce high quality tea. In addition, since the 1990s, almost no one has applied fertilizer to local tea plantations, and this has also become a prerequisite for obtaining high quality products. We raised the enterprise entirely with our own funds, we did not need a bank loan. In Guria, even today, they regretfully remember the time when everyone was involved in the collection of tea, and the population had income from this. Therefore, everyone was happy to meet what our factory has earned.

The first products for domestic market we delivered in 2011. At first we just called it Georgian tea. Georgian tea was so scarce on the market that we calculated our strategy on this - to indicate to the consumer that the products are Georgian. The calculation was justified. "Shemokmedi" tea was known before both in Georgia and abroad, and soon our tea appeared on the market under this name. We still pack half of our products. In the future, we intend to bring an automatic packaging machine from Europe, but this requires a solid investment. And our products need more popularization so that local consumers know what advantage Georgian tea has in comparison with imported ones. Tea of ​​high quality, premium class, imported into Georgia is quite small, and is expensive, three to four times more expensive than tea of ​​the same quality produced by us. And those imported products that are sold cheaply are of very low quality, and possibly environmentally polluted. Imported products put us in conditions of unhealthy competition. Customs clearance of tea takes place on preferential terms, while our products in the local market are taxed. There is evidence that smuggled and counterfeit tea products are included.

At this stage, our company's production capacity is approximately 10 tons, but we have the potential to double production. Only half of the total production is sold on the local market, the rest goes abroad in small batches.

IN Lately The popularity of green tea has increased both here and abroad. Meanwhile, there is a shortage of high-quality green tea in the world. For example, in the markets of Central Asia, Georgian tea was replaced by Chinese tea during the crisis. There it is customary to drink more than ten glasses of green tea a day, and those who drank Chinese green tea heavily developed cardiovascular problems. And Georgian green tea is low in tannin and delicate aroma. After that, the demand for Georgian tea reappeared, despite the fact that it is more expensive than Chinese. Tea production is quite difficult process, but quality products are quite profitable, since the shelf life of tea is three years.