Actual issues associated with ethnocultural traditions of knives utilization by Tajiks are considered especially for the first time; the data being extracted from Russian written sources referring to the period of the XVIII-th – the beginning of the XX-th century and fortified with the information borrowed from scientific literature. The author elucidates the history of utilization of national knives as presents by embassy visits from Bukhara to tsarist Rusia, the geography of well-known centres making knives located in the cities and trading industrial settlements of Middle Asia, contribution of Russian and Europian scientists, travellers, diplomats into the studies of Tajik masters` achievements. Many knives were masterpieces of material culture and applied arts. The author adduces the materials of the unique “Turkestan Album” including canvasses by V.V. Veresshchaghin, photos of O. Kraft, S.M. Duden and other pictures reflecting various manners of utilization of traditional knives.
ethnocultural traditions, phenomenon, universal thing, utilization of knives, Tajiks, social life tenor and culture
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