Ethnic Minorities and Marginality in the Pamirian Knot: Survival of Wakhi and Kirghiz

in a Harsh Environment and Global Contexts

Author(s): Hermann Kreutzmann
Source: The Geographical Journal , Sep., 2003, Vol. 169, No. 3, Environment and
Development in High Mountain Environments (Sep., 2003), pp. 215-235
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of
British Geographers)

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3451448

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The Geographical Journal, Vol. 169, No. 3, September 2003, pp. 215-235

Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian

Knot: survival of Wakhi and Kirghiz in a harsh
environment and global contexts
HERMANN KREUTZMANN
Institute of Geography, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Kochstr. 4
D-91054 Erlangen, Germany
E-mail: hkreutzm@geographie.uni-erlangen.de
Accepted for publication in February 2003

This paper challenges the thesis that mountain areas are regions of refuge. The refuge conce
attributes irrelevant exchange and limited communication to isolated mountain habitat
which mainly depend on production for home consumption. In contrast, it is shown tha
exchange relations in all walks of life have been affected not only recently but for near
two centuries in Central Asia, although the continued importance of subsistence strate
gies in the agricultural sector can be observed. The Pamirian Knot provides the moun
tainous interface between South and Central Asia for case studies of two ethnic communities
- Wakhi mountain farmers and Kirghiz pastoralists - in order to exemplify socio-political
developments in similar mountain environments. Examples are presented from
Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China. The territories have
been separated since the late nineteenth century by international boundaries conceived
as the result of the imperial 'Great Game'. Emphasis is placed on developments in the
livestock sector and it is shown that adaptation to changing socio-political frameworks
has affected the livelihood strategies of nomads and mountain farmers alike.

KEY WORDS: Pamir, Central Asia, survival strategies, ethnicity, colonialism and
post-colonialism, mountain pastoralism, Kirghiz, Wakhi

Introduction unique communities characterized by their

religious belief systems, relict or archaic languages,
he remote valleys and plateaux of High Asia and certain behavioural patterns. According to the
are well known for their inhabitants who refuge concept these communities have chosen
survive under harsh conditions at high their lifestyle, but are also marginal groups in the
altitudes. For example, the ecologically defined
context of nation states and market participation. In
upper limits of wheat and barley are found here.contrast,
In this paper argues that strategies for
addition, people who have chosen to live here are
'security enhancement' (Thompson 1997) in remote
frequently identified as inhabiting 'regions of
locations can be based on agro-pastoral strategies
refuge' (Skeldon 1985) because conventional think-with a high degree of self-support, but which, at
the same time, incorporate non-agrarian income
ing suggested that only external pressures, persecu-
tion and poverty could drive people to live at theopportunities such as mining, trade, porterage,
highest possible locations. The refuge concept is
smuggling and raiding. Nevertheless, the agricul-
based on agrarian strategies and interrelatedtural sector - either in supplying goods for domes-
subsistence production by explicitly excluding tic consumption or for barter trade and markets
- has undergone tremendous changes initiated
supra-regional exchange relations. It is argued that
mainly by external socio-political developments in
this search for security is responsible for seclusion
from the outside world and for the creation of a similar manner as all other means of survival (cf.

0016-7398/03/0003-0215/$00.20/0 ? 2003 The Royal Geographical Society

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216 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

Funnell and Parish 2001; Humphrey and Sneath

great deserts of Chinese Turkestan and the huge desolate
1999; Kreutzmann 1998 2003; Ortner 1989; van plateau of Tibet separate the Khirghiz from India and
Spengen 2000). One of the key areas of overlapall outside influences in that direction. On the east
between the remoteness of mountain livelihoods
and west they are also shut in by deserts so that they
come
and integration into world markets seems to be thein contact only with nomads like themselves.
Inner Asian mountain belt. Huntington and Cushing 1924, 12
Our knowledge about the people of the Pamirs,
Hindukush and Karakoram is based on contempo- Consequently they feature prominently as non-
rary narratives, and is influenced by travelogues
modern people when it comes to progress:
from early nineteenth-century 'explorers' and
subsequent travellers who personally faced the Among nomads like the Khirghiz education and
difficult environmental conditions by traversing thescience are even less developed than government...
roof of the world (bam-e dunya). In addition, The absence of contact with outside people and their
archived documents from colonial administrators,own lack of inquisitiveness prevent the Kirghiz from
messengers, surveyors and spies exist which need making scientific discoveries . . Thus civilization remains
to be interpreted in the context of imperial interests stationary. The Khirghiz are not savages, but the gulf
in 'spheres of influence'. Two ethnic groups between them and the more enlightened nations is
predominantly feature in these reports: the Wakhi growing wider. The influence of European civilization
and the Kirghiz. In the most remote locations they has begun to reach them, but their mode of life will
provided transport by yaks (Bos grunniens), probably change only a little so long as they depend
Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus) and horses to chiefly upon grass of the plains and high plateaus.
the rare travellers and trans-montane traders to Huntington and Cushing 1924, 21
safeguard their journeys across high passes. Geo-
Huntington was one of the first geographers to do
graphical research in the Pamirs has a long tradition,
especially during colonial times and during the
fieldwork among the Kirghiz and placed their case
'Great Game' when this area was the focus of the quite prominently in a textbook (Huntington and
then two super powers - Russia and Great Britain Cushing 1924). His assessments influenced theories
(cf. among others Bobrinskiy 1908; Gordon 1876; about remoteness and development in the moun-
Dunmore 1983; Jaworskij 1885; Olufsen 1904; tainous periphery, although he visited the area
Snyesreff 1909; Wood 1841). Lord Curzon published, at the peak of the 'Great Game'.
in The Geographical journal, a three-piece treatise The aim of this paper is to challenge the thesis
on The Pamirs and the source of the Oxus (Curzon that physical remoteness goes hand in hand with
1896) in which he summarized the state of the absence of political interference and negligible
knowledge at the end of the nineteenth century, commercial exchange relations. The varied spec-
highlighting the remoteness, the harsh living con-
trum of possible developments is exemplified in five
ditions and the geopolitical characteristics of brief
thecase studies from Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
area. For a long period his advocacy of the 'forwardPeople's Republic of China (hereafter China) and
Pakistan in which structural developments are
policy' influenced the basis of imperial dealings
with this part of the world. His compilation emphasized
was in an environment that experienced
of special interest to the Foreign Office in London international boundaries for the first time a little
due to the establishment of Pamirski Post, the more than a century ago, but where ecological
Russian outpost in the Pamirs, in 1891. This garrisonconditions are not that variable across these borders.
was partly given up in June 2002 when RussianTo contrast earlier views the local actors are the
soldiers were meant to evacuate Murghab - the Wakhi and Kirghiz mountain dwellers who have
modern name for Pamirski Post. Most recent develop- responded in different ways to external pressures
ments in the wake of the Iraq War suggest that their and their incorporation in nation states (Figure 1)
presence on the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border The twentieth century brought even stronger 'wind
might continue. of change' than the previous century. The stand-
Nearly a century ago Ellsworth Huntington (1905 ards of living, mobility and levels of political and
1907) identified the inhabitants of Central Asia, commercial participation were modified by socio-
and especially the Kirghiz nomads, as the antipodes political systems which significantly influenced life
of Western civilization: styles, levels of educational attainment and surviva
conditions in remote mountain locations such as
So low are they in the scale of civilization that they
the Pamirs. The 'Cold War' created hermetically
know almost nothing of manufacturing, science closed
or frontiers and stifled exchange across borders
art... According to our standards the Khirghiz are Separate societies with affiliated cultural expression
dirty, lazy, and unprogressive... On the south the and economic options came into being. Only after

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 Teshkent Kokad
A KY Z' S T
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Wakhi settlement region administrative border * important settlement 9 lake reg

Kirghiz settlement region truckable road A pasture settlement of Kir

--- international boundary .. jeepable track 7485 peak (altitude in m) pass Source based o

Figure 1 The Pamirian Knot separated by international bo

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218 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

1989 did regular exchange and communications

poplar plantations. The specific attraction of this
altitudinal
appear in the frameworks of independence and ecological belt is the availability of
globalization. water stored in glaciers and snow. Meltwater feeds
The communities represent the two major the irrigation systems made for cultivation. While
language groups - Iranian and Turkic - of this partthe Wakhi grow crops, the Kirghiz have tradition-
of Central Asia. Wakhi is a branch of the eastern ally refrained from any form of settled agriculture.
Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian group, Both groups utilize high pastures which are found
while Kirghiz is a Turkic language belonging towherethe groundwater and runoff create seasonal
Altaic group. While Kirghiz has a written Cyrillic meadows. Kirghiz grazing grounds are generally
form, Wakhi still only exists as a non-written located above 3500 m.a.s.I. Marco Polo high-
language and is limited to phonetic notation. lighted the nutritional properties of the Pamir pastures
Today 50 000 Wakhi live in remote parts of and game from these pastures such as Marco Polo
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Xinjiangsheep (Ovis ammon) and ibex (Capra ibex), and
(China). There are about the same number of livestock (yak, fat-tailed sheep and goats) became
Kirghiz in the study area, but in China and in famous
the as sources of high-quality meat among
Turkic-speaking Central Asian Republics, most consumers in the low-lying Central Asian oasis
towns along the Southern Silk Route.
notably in Kyrgyzstan, there are about three million
ethnic Kirghiz. This article focuses on the KirghizThe Wakhi term pamer is specific to the fertile
and Wakhi living in the high mountains separat- high mountain pastures and was taken as a defining
ing Central and South Asia. Besides language feature in describing natural grazing grounds of sub-
differences, Wakhi and Kirghiz follow different stantial extent as Pamirs. Four Pamirs - Kargushi,
belief systems. Kirghiz communities traditionally Rang K61l, Sariz and Alichur - are located in the Eastern
comprise Sunni Muslims, while the Wakhi almost Pamirs of Gorno Badakhshanskaja Avtonomnaja
exclusively belong to the Shia Ismaili sect whichOblast (Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast,
acknowledges the Aga Khan as their spiritual head.GBAO; Gorno Badakhshan) in the Republic of
The religious practices influence daily life and Tajikistan. Afghanistan contains the Little (Kichik)
local cultures as religious festivals and rituals play Pamir (Kirg.)' or Pamir-e Khurd (Pers.) and the Great
prominent roles beyond rites of passage. Kirghiz Pamir (Chong Pamir (Kirg.) or Pamir-e Kalan (Pers.))
culture is characterized by the lifestyle of migrating in the northeastern part of the remote Wakhan
pastoralists including transitory dwellings in the strip. The Taghdumbash Pamir in the adjacent Tajik
form of the round felt-covered yurts displaying Autonomous County of China is the seventh of the
artifacts of local folklore (cf. Dor and Naumann major Pamirs (cf. Curzon 1896; Dor and Naumann
1978; Shahrani 1979). In contrast, Wakhi houses 1978). In addition to the seven large Pamirs (each
are built of stone and mud-plastered walls and are of which has at least 300 km2 of pasture) there are
scattered among the village lands in irrigated smaller Pamirs such as the Pamir-e Bugrumal
mountain oases. Wakhi herders migrate to high (upper Gunt Valley, Gorno-Badakhshan), Mariang
mountain pastures where simple houses provide Pamir (Sarikol), Tagarma Pamir (Sarikol) and Shimshal
shelter. The majority of household members remain Pamir (in the northern area of Pakistan). The natural
in the villages where cultural life is centred at this grazing of the Pamirs is their major asset though it
time (cf. Felmy 1997; Kreutzmann 1996). Both life- is augmented by cultivation in a few places.
styles exhibit close affinities to the different traditions The overall setting is characterized by three
and affiliations of the two groups. areas. The valley bottoms are mainly inhabited by
Wakhi and other Pamirian mountain farmers who

The Pamirian Knot live in permanent villages and who seasonally

access nearby pastures in the side valleys. Above
The Pamirian Knot is characterized by high 3500 m.a.s.l., the main valleys widen, become
mountain valleys and plateaux. Altitude and aridity flatter and form extensive Pamir pastures which are
cause natural thermal and hydrological gradients utilized by the Wakhi and the Kirghiz. Wakhi
and thresholds. Wakhi villages are located between retreat to their homesteads during the winter while
2150 and 3500 m.a.s.l. Arid and semi-arid condi- the Kirghiz do not migrate. The third area - the
high plateaux - is dominated by Kirghiz nomads.
tions prevail, resulting in irrigated single-cropping
agriculture (barley, wheat, potatoes, beans The and high plateaux favour mobile pastoralists as the
peas), which is always supplemented by animal distance to the permanent dwellings in the river
husbandry. With a few exceptions, natural vegeta-
valleys is great. Nevertheless, growing demand for
tion is scarce and forests are more or less absent. A natural grazing and mutual dependency have re-
few fruit trees, e.g. apples, apricots, walnuts and
sulted in changing patterns of utilization, mobility
mulberries, are found and wood is harvested from and political interference.

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 219

to themselves as khik for people and khik zik f

Traditional subsistence strategies and their
transformations their language. Why this discrepancy? Their neig
bours and visitors identify the Wakhi as the peo
Two major strategies are used to utilize the living
pasturein Wakhan (wukh watan). Until 1883 Wakh
potential of Western High Asia given the ecological
was a principality on both banks of the upper Am
constraints and socio-political circumstances. They
Darya and the Wakhan and Pamir Darya (cf. Figure
are nomadic animal husbandry and combinedItmoun- was ruled by a hereditary ruler (mir) who co
tain agriculture (Ehlers and Kreutzmann 2000).trolled a territory in which sedentary mountain fa
mers and Kirghiz nomads lived. Both communit
1 Nomadism incorporates the advantage of mobility.
paid taxes and tributes in cash and in kind. T
Traditionally nomadic groups were able to exploit
Wakhi society consisted of an upper stratum: th
natural resources at dispersed locations. Great dis-
ruling family (mir), some religious leaders (pir, say
tances, in the order of several hundred kilometres,
khuja) and a few better-off families (sana, khayba
separate economically valuable mountain pastures
The vast majority of the people (>95%) belong
from winter camp sites, with areas of less economic
to the ordinary people (khik), who practiced com
interest lying between them. Functional migration
bined mountain agriculture and were obliged
cycles can be recognized in the region. They gen-
deliver taxes and services such as load-carriers and
erally comprise long stays in high-altitude pastures
soldiers (cf. Kreutzmann 1996; Shahrani 1979).
during the summer with winter grazing in low-lying
Social structure followed a patri-lineal system,
basins in the northern foothills or the plains of the
while female family backgrounds played a bilateral
Inner Asian mountain arc. The nomads depend on
role when marriages were negotiated. Children were
being tolerated as a mobile group and being able
predominantly regarded as belonging to the father's
to pay grazing fees, if applicable, in both areas.
family. Female influences and responsibilities were
2 Combined mountain agriculture has the advantage
mainly restricted to the domestic sphere, although
of simultaneous fodder production in the permanent
these limitations have broken down in recent years
homesteads for herds which are grazed in the high
(cf. Felmy 1997).
pastures during the summers. The limiting factor
Wakhan was no exception in Western High Asia,
here is the provision of up to nine months of feed
where many valleys were more or less identical;
which has to be produced on private or common
being principalities which had strong links to
property village lands. The Wakhi houses are usually
their mighty neighbours: the Amir of Afghanistan,
located at the upper levels of permanent settlements
the Emir of Bokhara (later replaced by Tsarist
in single-crop farming areas. Consequently access
Russia/Soviet Union), the Chinese Emperor and
to the Pamir pastures involves shorter migrations
British India. The competition between these major
and some mobility within the summer habitations.
players affected diplomatic relations, taxation,
Fodder here is comparatively plentiful but only
conscription policies, local politics and economies,
available for a short period; feed storage and trans-
and finally resulted in the delineation of inter-
port to the homesteads are of limited importance.
national boundaries and the termination of their
Both approaches can result in competition for independence.
natural
The Kirghiz not only lived within Wakhi admin-
resources in the same location and they have frequently
istration. Their mobility enabled them to shift to
been discussed from that perspective. The ecological
aspect has been expanded to include the debate grazing
about grounds in areas with favourable condi-
tions, of
conflicting economic strategies. In the discourse i.e. low taxation and tolerable political
modernization and social change nomadism's pressure.
place The family histories of Kirghiz clans
aboundofin stories about leaving some territories
is usurped by agriculture. The extensive utilization
marginal resources is superseded by intensification
and starting a new life under different conditions,
and increasing external inputs. Thus, it is not masters
surpris- and/or protectors. But the search for suit-
ing that mountain farmers and nomads have able
beenpastures
a and low outside interference was
prime target for development aimed at reducing always guided by socio-economic principles while
subsistence levels by integrating people from political
the pressures could lead to the loss of lives,
periphery into the mainstream of nation states. captivity,
When deprivation and deportation (cf. Kreutz-
this occurs traditional lifestyles and locallymanndevel-1996, 352-75). Among themselves the
oped economic strategies become endangered. Kirghiz were organized in a tribal structure. Migra-
tory groups were headed by a camp elder (beg,
khan) who normally represented the most affluent
Social and political organization: ethnicity and actors
family. Within their communities a highly stratified
Outsiders call the Wakhi by this ethnonym,hierarchy
which evolved in which the poorest yurts were
determines their language as well; though they occupied
referby shepherds servicing the big herd

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220 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

owners. The affluent leaders and rich households the 'Great Game' as well as the Islamization and
profited from the system of renting (amanat) the theirexpansion programme of the Afghan Amir
livestock to shepherds (cf. Shahrani 1979). Kirghiz
threatened the autonomy of the small principalitie
communities formed their own microcosms in the in the Hindukush, Pamir and Karakoram. Wakhan
Pamirian pastures with generally strong relation-was one of the principalities whose rulers were
ships with their neighbours. Common goals were taken hostage or threatened. In 1883, the Mir o
the defence of grazing grounds and the avoidance Wakhan, Ali Mardan Shah, organized a preventive
of interference by outsiders. exodus for his family and about one-quarter of the
Wakhi and Kirghiz represent communities population took refuge in his father-in-law's terri-
competing for the same resources. Competition tory in Chitral. Subsequently his fears materialized
was ubiquitous and relations between neighbouringand Wakhan was divided into two parts as were
groups was not always amicable. Both were other principalities along the Amu Darya (Oxus).
involved in a power struggle for survival where
The northern part was controlled by Russia while
threats came from direct and distant neighbours the as southern part became an extension of the Amir
much as from raiders, slave traders, representativesof Afghanistan's territory. The Wakhan strip (cf.
of administrations, conscriptors and tax officials. Figure 1) was created as a buffer zone between
Russia and British India as the superpowers of the
time had decided that they should not have
Demographic trends affected by external
common boundaries. The demarcation took place
developments
at the end of the nineteenth century and it remains
An analysis of population changes among the the current international boundary. The division of
Wakhi indicates fluctuations in space and time.
Wakhan led to a refugee crisis and the population
of Wakhi decreased by one-sixth (Kreutzmann
Demographic trends show an increase in popula-
1996, 136). The low point in the population was
tion from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century
almost everywhere in High Asia. An early popula- reached by 1900 and since then demographic
tion peak of the Wakhi people was reached around trends have been upwards. Currently 50 000
1880 when the population in the mirdom of Wakhi reside in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Xinjiang
Wakhan was estimated at 6000. Shortly afterwardsand Pakistan (Figures 1 and 2). Each of these
a major crisis occurred. The geopolitical confronta- populations exhibit demographic patterns that are
tion between British India and Tsarist Russia duringlinked to the countries and mobility. The twentieth

TAJIKISTAN XINJIANG (PR of China)

F- Dushanbe
- CGorno
Kueshev - Badakhshanskaja
Avtonomnaja Oblast
Kilian / Sanju
2000 inh.
Tajik Autonomous I
Ishkashim County Taxkorgan
12000 inh. " " Sarikol
WAKHAN........ 1400 inh.

...... " Wakhan Woluswali

9500 inh.
S BaroghilGojal (Hunza)
(Chitral) 6400 inh.
1000 inh."l- Karambar
Badakhshan Yasin (Ishkoman)
Badakhshan 3100inh. NWFP
Northern Areas

AF G H AN IS TAN PAKISTAN

250 Wakhi inhabitants Design H. Kreutzmann

Figure 2 Distribution of Wakhi communities today

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 221

the urban oases of the Southern Silk Route or those

century appears to have been a time of migration,
infrom
with Pakistan being the major refuge. Refugees the Fergana Basin offered opportunities for
Afghanistan still seek shelter and work in keeping
Chitral. their herds on agricultural fields after
Migrant workers from Tajikistan usuallyharvest.
end upThe animals grazed on crop residues
in Gojal (Hunza, Pakistan) and expect supportand grass while improving the irrigated lands in
from
local Wakhi residents whose forefathers took the oases through manuring. At the same time the
refuge there over 200 years ago. The Gojali Kirghiz
Wakhipursued business and trade before retreat-
themselves participate in trans-border trade ing to the high pastures for the summer. This
with
system has long since died out as the low-lying
their Chinese neighbours. Thus, Wakhi communities
winter pastures have been replaced by the expan-
are found in four countries with different political
systems, market and state-controlled economies,
sion of cultivation around irrigated oases and the
and in regions of contrasting infrastructuresintroduction
and of sedentary livestock at oases. In
welfare and educational institutions. addition, increasing urbanization has led to the
exclusion of nomadic entrepreneurs and their
Kirghiz nomads have been affected by the same
geopolitical developments, though estimates of
herds. Furthermore, political changes such as
collectivization and central planning affected
demographic trends are more complicated because
of the nomadic context. The seasonal grazinglong-established patterns of animal husbandry. In
grounds of the Kirghiz were often in locations summary, the accessible pastures that can be
which belonged to different countries after the found currently are in areas where modernized
delineation of international boundaries. While in agriculture failed or where political circum-
earlier times border crossing was possible for them
stances permitted. Those pastures are generally to
be found in remote locations above 3500 m.a.s.l.
it became next to impossible during the Cold War,
and the term 'closed frontier nomadism' was intro- altitude.
duced (Shahrani 1979). The Amu Darya became For the Wakhi mountain farmers the situation
the most controlled boundary between the Soviethas been modified by the introduction of irrigated
crop farming. The expansion of households
Union and Afghanistan in contrast to its previous
more open nature. The border dispute between thepredominantly engaged in agriculture resulted in a
USSR and China led to the introduction of the
higher demand for natural resources which, in
so-called 'system' as late as the 1980s (Plate 1).
themselves, are rather limited. Although there is
The 'system' was a demilitarized zone which includes
competition with Kirghiz nomads for high pastures
a 30 km wide border strip with metal fences duringon
summer the real constraint occurs in winter,
both sides. Thus, communication and grazing
when fodder production in the homesteads
across boundaries and within the 'system' became competes with food production. This is because the
impossible. Kirghiz communities were restricted villageto
lands are rather limited, being on average
their respective countries. <1 ha per household. Moreover, cultivation at the
The current situation is that the Eastern Pamirs of upper altitudinal limit not only faces the vagaries
present-day Tajikistan are predominantly Kirghiz of climate, but also gives comparatively less return
territory, as are the Little and Great Pamirs of and little scope for expansion. Consequently
Afghanistan. China introduced a Kirghiz Autono- animal husbandry has gained in overall importance
mous District by the name of Kizil Su (red river), in the regional production system. Of course, the
while some Kirghiz live in the Tajik Autonomous changes outlined above have major consequences
County of Taxkorgan. for the livelihood conditions of the people
concerned.

Diminishing environmental assets and growing legal

restrictions Divergent developments under changing political
conditions
For nomads the extensive use of wide-ranging
pastures is essential. From their perspective any The complexity of socio-cultural problems and
restriction of migration and limitations on acces- the manifestation of transformation processes in
sible pastures is perceived as an environmental societies with economies based on pastoralism
crisis. In the case of high mountain nomadism varies from region to region. The cases presented
the principle of maximum utilization of natural below emphasize reorganization of the livestock
pastures is linked to grazing flocks at high altitudes sectors initiated by external interventions. The five
(>3500 m.a.s.I.) during summer and to keeping examples (Figure 3) show how political frameworks
herds in low-lying pastures (around 1200 m.a.s.I.) have affected the livelihood conditions of Kirghiz
during winter. The Kirghiz strategy in the Pamirs and Wakhi in Western High Asia during the twentieth
was based on such an approach. During winter century.

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222 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

T'4'4
OW'j
1'xa~ 99~:~T .

NOr ~ ?~o~~:
?, f"':`";~% ~ 000

.rpza,

~" L ?h? ~~c~~ b i;,: ~ ~ ~ ~ Ad

?-l~~sT1?~~r r:r~46

rI

Plate 1 The
south of K
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

nomads during the Stalinist modernization programm

Soviet sedentarization programmes and recent
in the 1930s. Autonomous republics and district
developments in Middle Asia
were created in order to uplift the pre-modern str
As the majority of the Pamirs are located within
of the
society, hence the Autonomous Soviet Socialis
Republic of Tajikistan was carved out as a new
GBAO of the Tajikistan Republic, the people living
there were involved in the sedentarization of political entity. At this time nomadic productio

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 223

location of 72'E Sary Tash, 76 E

case studies KYRGYZST- Irkeshtam Ulug
a) Ishkashim Kyzylart
b Murghab
Kashga
Kashgar N
42 Sarikol Upal
SKara Kol Aqto .Yengisar
4 Afghan Pamirs Markit

4:b5
Go Gojal @)h Wakha(Shache)
vanch , i XINJIANG
GORNO - BADAKHSHAN Ulugh Robat (PRof China) Posgamrn
38N Roshan (Tajikistan) Murghab (Zepu

BADAKH- Taxkorgan (Yecheng)

SHAN 4) Tagarm _ Karg
(Afghanistan) *Khorog a a
n Dafdar Kokyar
Faizabad Wakhjir KiMik Mintaka
/ -Oal'a-i Paja Baroghil itaka " Khunjerab
Vrang i PaA ?o
hkashim N BozaN Gumbaz_,Kilik
Irshad
SKhandut.-a Darko Kar
" " Darkot
Zebak mit
Mastuj Yasin Gulmit
Karimabad
CHITRAL NORTHERd NN HN
36'N Dorah ~ Gupis Gakuch AREAS Aghil
Chitral ilgit (Pakistan)

a important town / city = metalled r

? village jeepable or mule track = pass Source: H. Kreutzmann 1998
Figure 3 Location of case studies

systems and lifestyles were declaredinto

backwards.
a form of mobile animal husbandry under
Consequently the system of pasture utilization
conditions of collective resource management.
Wakhi combined
under Kirghiz begs was replaced by kolchoz (kolle- mountain agriculture was also
ktivnoe chozjajstvo - collective economy) and
adjusted to the prevailing socio-economic system.
sovchoz (sovetskoe chozjajstvo - Soviet economy)
Under Soviet rule Tajikistan's economy was
settlement-centred seasonal migration of herds.
completely integrated into the centrally planned
union
Collective and/or Soviet state farming here system
meant and subjected to decrees from the
that winter quarters were established where
centre. This the
had significant effects on even the
collectivized herds were brought to remotest
pasture.mountain
Theareas as Gorno-Badkhshan reveals.
flocks were controlled by shepherds of the
The respect-
Soviet state-run economy had selected the Eastern
ive units while, during the summer, yurt Pamirs primarily as a sheep and yak-producing
encamp-
ments remained as filial branches of the unit. region. All other agricultural activities prevalent
Where feasible, fodder production was increased
before were subordinated to the dominant livestock
and attempts to improve the breeds and the sector.
healthA number of examples confirm this.
of the herds were made. Permanent winter stables
* Irrigated village lands formerly utilized for grain pro-
with adequate infrastructure, veterinary treatment
and sufficient fodder contributed to the formation duction were converted into fodder production
zones.
of new settlement cells which in some aspects * The Wakhi members of sovchos roi kommunizm
resemble those of contemporary Pamirian pastoral-
in Rajon Ishkashim kept a sizeable yak herd in
ism in the Eastern Pamirs. Here Kirghiz shepherds
the upper parts of the Amu Darya valley and in
and a few Wakhi keep yak, sheep and goat herds
Khargushi Pamir.
around well-established supply stations from which
they undertake seasonal migrations to high summer In low-lying Wakhi villages, alfalfa and other
pastures. Basically Kirghiz nomadism was converted fodder crops replaced barley, wheat and beans and

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224 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

their entire agricultural system was devoted byfor this sudden change. Most are gradu-
prepared
decree to animal husbandry. Other food ates
supplies
of the most sophisticated education system in
Western High Asia and they lack experience in
were imported from outside. Even high-protein
fodder (about 50 tons each year) was brought in
stock breeding and farming because of the profes-
from Sary Mogol in Kyrgyzstan to sustain asions
herd they
of adopted during the Soviet era. The
450 yaks year round on the Pamirs. present socio-economic transformation has forced
With the independence of Tajikistan and theits
majority of Kirghiz and Wakhi to follow an
subsequent transformation, individual ownership agricultural
of subsistence strategy based on crops
land and cattle was re-introduced between 1996 and livestock. It appears to many to be a return to
and 1999. Yak herding is organized through the
their parent's survival strategies, though the global
farmers' association, and the shepherds keepand 70%regional conditions are different. The present
of their production while the rest belongs to income
the levels are far below previous ones and it
association. The Wakhi of Ishkashim still control a remains to be seen if this resource-based strategy
herd of 300 yaks as well as 15 700 sheep and will be sustainable. The local levels of economic
goats. In neighbouring Kirghiz-dominated Rajon depression and household income deficiencies are
Murghab, nearly 14 000 yaks and 38 000 sheep high and as a consequence young people have
and goats are kept today (cf. Herbers 2001; migrated and are seeking low-level employment i
Lambertin 2001; Mamadsaid and Bliss 1998). The Russia and Pakistan. During fieldwork in 2001
majority of herds are controlled by diminishing established that on average 75-90% of all house
state-run enterprises or dominant private farmers' holds in Gorno-Badakhshan had a migrant in
associations - the organizations that have Russia. Close to 300 Wakhi were seeking employ-
succeeded kolchoz and gozchoz (state farms). mentThein Moscow with a smaller number looking for
adverse economic conditions of the current trans-
work in Pakistan. Out-migration currently seems to
formation period have impoverished the Kirghiz be the most successful strategy to alleviate the
herdsmen because remaining herds are too smallsevere
to local cash deficiency.
sustain a household. Food supplies are meagre and
additional food bought from the markets is expen-
Competition between nomads and mountain
sive. As a consequence, the vast majority of
agriculturists in the Pamirs (Sarikol, Tajik
agriculturists in Gorno Badakhshan are currently
Autonomous County)
dependent on humanitarian aid, although the
degree of local self-sufficiency seems to have The Taxkorgan or Sarikol (the former name of the
increased from 25% in 1996 to 69% in 2001 (Aga principality) area comprises three different ethnic
Khan Development Network 2002). The level ofgroups: the Sariqoli, Wakhi and Kirghiz (which
self-sufficiency seems high compared with otherhere are <5% of the population). The first two
mountain regions if we take into account that in groups, which comprise more than 80% of the
mountainous areas of industrialized countries less inhabitants, practice combined mountain agricul-
than half of the goods consumed are produced ture composed of crop cultivation and animal
locally. This was also the case in the mountain husbandry with seasonal utilization of Pamir
regions of the Soviet Union and China where 40- pastures, while the Kirghiz specialize in livestock.
90% were imported from other regions, while in All three groups traditionally move their flocks
the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya - with some within the Taghdumbash Pamir and have been
regional exceptions - subsistence levels are higher tributary to the Mir of Hunza who exercised control
(Aga Khan Rural Support Programme 2000, 37; over these pastures until 1937. While the Kirghiz
Kreutzmann 1996, 219; 2000, 496; 2003; Streef- lived at higher elevations, the Sariqoli approached
land et al. 1995, 84-5). This is a global feature asthis area from the northern low-lying villages. The
it corresponds to higher self-sufficiency levels in Wakhi, who were stranded as refugees from
poorer regions while affluent mountain areas tendAfghanistan about a century ago, founded the
to import substantial amounts of basic food. settlement of Dafdar at 3400 m.a.s.l. in the heart of
After the failure of the Soviet model of modern-
the Taghdumbash Pamir with the consent of the
ization the area experienced a reversal in its Chinese authorities (Kreutzmann 1996). All three
development path. Two to three generations ago groups compete for the fodder resources within the
the Kirghiz nomads and Wakhi mountain farmers Taghdumbash Pamir (Figure 4).
were expropriated and their property was collect-Since the Chinese Revolution in 1949 and the
ivized. Subsequently they became workers information of the Tajik Taxkorgan Autonomous
cooperatives and state employees. Now their County in 1954, collectivization has taken place
resources and their property have been returned,and
at rural communes (gungshe) were established in
least in part. However, the people were ill- the villages. The role model, from the neighbouring

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 225

i Taxkorgan 75'30'E

N 5700
o Kulumalik x

' SSazekejilga
x5871
5871 Tulikejilga
I Piilg

\ Pislng ? Dafdar
5262 -
ChatJ p

p iTikakurghanaf

Tsehka

Changjailan un sChukur
Tula
Paik
SAtajaila x 5470
x 5487 Mazar

Sikhtikae

K arar CHhrwk Kashgasu

rpeople's commune 500 m"

[ permanent settlement
summer camps with yurt

irrigated land: crops and pastures Khunjerab

S summer pasture Pass"

Sregion above 5000 m Sost

Karakoram Highway 5940m x 5524

Figure 4 Dafdar. Competition for pastures and their utilization

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226 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

Plate 2 Wakhi women preparing ijin (felt) as a side product during their stay in the high pasture, Kashgasu, D
County, Xinjiang, China (5 August 1991)
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

republics, was implemented by Chinese revolution- gungshe) have been equipped with a veterinary
aries and their Soviet advisors. Basic infrastructural
station supplying vaccines and extension services
assets such as schools, police stations, post offices,
to the farmers. Experiments with fat-tailed sheep
health posts and barefoot doctors, commune (dumba, dumbash) have been executed and their
administrations, shops and mosques have been proportion in the regional flocks has increased. A
provided in all communities of the Taghdumbash veterinary station specializing in yak breeding was
Pamir. established in Mazar in the heart of the Taghdum-
In post-revolutionary times the number of live-bash Pamir, which utilizes the local knowledge of
stock increased by a factor of 4.75 to reach Sariqoli, Wakhi and Kirghiz shepherds who are
128 800 head in 1984. During the following decade employed there. About 400 people live at the
growth slowed down and in 1994, the number of Mazar breeding station which accommodates
livestock (Bactrian camels, horses, donkeys, yaks, about 5000 sheep and 500 yaks. Much bigger
cattle, sheep and goats) was 147 586. Natural herds of yaks are kept by the Wakhi (Plate 2) and
grazing provides the most important local re- Kirghiz of the Kara Chukur Valley which drains the
source for animal husbandry: the area covered by westernmost Taghdumbash Pamir. This side valley
grasslands extends to 6.09 million mu (1 mu = has become the only Kirghiz-dominated pasture
0.067 ha of which 97.6% is natural grazing region in Taxkorgan County. Recently livestock
while 0.13 million mu are irrigated meadows). production has become more profitable and has
More than two-thirds of the overall economic found a ready regional market at Taxkorgan bazaar.
turnover of Taxkorgan County is derived from
Modernization has reached the Wakhi and
animal husbandry. Kirghiz here in a 'Chinese' way. Economic lib
In 1960, self-sufficiency in food and fodder ization and political authoritarianism remain
production was achieved in Taxkorgan Countyconceptual bases. Consequently both groups r
(Xinjiang) for the first time since the Chinese ing in Xinjiang cannot profit from their locat
Revolution. Since 1982 the majority of the 11 a border region. Although positioned along
townships and former people's communes (renmin Karakoram (KKH) or Pak-China Friendship Hig

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 227

severe travel restrictions apply to Chinese citizens,

through irrigation and fencing of meadows. Grass
and a metal fence was erected along the Khunjerab is cut by scythe and winter fodder is stored to
Pass section to restrict clandestine movements and cover the long period of meagre natural grazing in
smuggling. Thus, generating additional income from the winter settlement (kishlok) of Subashi at an
altitude of 3600 m.a.s.l.
non-agrarian resources in this peripheral region
In Aqto County about a quarter of the population
is extremely difficult. This is particularly problematic
class themselves as Kirghiz (approximately 38 000
because of the low degree of participation of Kirghiz
and Wakhi in education programmes and profes- people in 1993), while three-quarters of the
sional training. Given the overall levels of economic
residents in the high mountain pastures claim to be
growth in China these communities are less Kirghiz pastoralists (25 500 people, cf. Friederich
affected by this growth than Wakhi and Kirghiz and Kreutzmann 2000, 50). Aqto County borders
in other countries in Central Asia (Kreutzmann the outskirts of the city of Kashgar, and the former
1996, 215-34). and present migration routes from the Pamirs to
Kashgar bazaar lie within the county. The kishlok
of Subashi is like other former communes (dadOy),
Kirghiz pastoralists in Kara Kl61 (Kizil Su Autonomous
equipped with similar infrastructure and institutions
District, China)
to those in Tajik Taxkorgan Autonomous County
The Kirghiz of Kizil Su traditionally followedand a with a veterinary post to control the quality
long-distance nomadic migration cycle between and health of animals. Despite the harsh environ-
the summer grazing grounds in the Pamirs and the mental conditions the animals raised in these
irrigated oases of the mountain forelands. Their
productive pastures compete very well in th
winters were occupied with herding and otherprofitable markets of the urban oases along
business opportunities in the towns of Kashgar Southern Silk Route in the Tarim Basin. The Kirg
and Yarkand. This migration pattern has been are respected as one of the most affluent livesto
breeding communities of the region (Plate 3)
interrupted within the last 50 years and nowadays
the Kirghiz nomads and their herds are confined several
to interviews it was stated that recent devel
the Pamirs all year round (Figure 5); they only leave
ments have permitted them to operate successfu
the Pamirs to bring their flocks to Sunday marketsand that there was no cause for them to be envious
at Kashgar or Yarkand. of Kirghiz in neighbouring states.
The pasture system has been adjusted to the
prevailing economic and political conditions. The
Kirghiz exodus from, and return to, the Afghan
herds of the Kara K6l Kirghiz average 12.2 yaks,Pamirs
98.2 sheep and 40.1 goats, as well as 1.5 horses,
1.4 donkeys and 2.5 Bactrian camels. In com- The Great and Little Pamir, within Wakhan
parison, in 1976, the people's commune of Subashi Woluswali of Badakhshan Province (Afghanistan),
(Karakul) owned, on average, 0.5 horses, 0.3 have been studied extensively up to the 'last
camels, 3.5 yaks and 74.9 sheep and goats per exodus' of the Kirghiz nomads to Pakistan in 1978
household. The total number of livestock in this (cf. Shahrani 1984). Their fate is one of the more
period was around 10 300 animals. Besides state prominent cases where border delineation has
ownership of flocks, private property rights for a interrupted traditional migration patterns.
limited number of animals had been assured for In 1978, nearly all Kirghiz (the inhabitants of
the pastoralists. The carrying capacity of accessible
280 yurts) fled to Pakistan in the aftermath of the
pastures was estimated at 40 000 animals, but Afghan
by Saur Revolution and prior to the invasion by
1991 the total head of livestock exceeded 30 000. the Soviet Army. When the Kirghiz left the Afghan
In comparison with the overall livestock develop- Pamirs they left their wealth behind as only a small
ment in Aqto County2, where livestock numbers herd of 6000 animals was taken across the high
grew by a factor of 1.3 from 1976 to 1991 passes and to Pakistan. Rahman Kul alone left behind
cattle numbers by 1.65, the growth in Kara K6l 16 000
is sheep and goats and more than 700 yaks,
out of proportion to the county as a whole15 (cf.
horses and 18 Bactrian camels; while the whole
Friederich and Kreutzmann 2000). Here in a community in the Afghan Pamirs possessed more
remote high-altitude yak- and sheep-breeding area,than 42 000 animals (Dor and Naumann 1978;
livestock numbers grew three times faster. It
Shahrani 1979). By comparison, the majority of
appears that in this area the relaxed attitudes of Wakhi
the existed on a much lower economic level.
Chinese authorities towards agricultural and Wakhi farmers utilizing the Pamirs for summer
livestock production, especially since the 1978 grazing had to compete with rich Kirghiz nomads
reforms, have led to increased market orientation. who controlled most of these Pamirs and some
The quality of pastures has also been improved impoverished Wakhi took up jobs as shepherd

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228 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

m Muztagh Ata Kongur

7546 7719
7000 -

5000

3000

Gez gorge - ---------- Kashgar

1000 -

Karak61l Pamir Kashgar Oasis

I Traditional mobility pattern (pre - 1949)

O O *------------------------------- O Kashgar Bazaar

0 0-- -O - ------------ O
O - - - - -Thursday
market
summer camp

I1 People's commune (1958 - 1976)

-- -prefecture seat
o Kashgar
o0-- f '--A
.. " People's
Production Bulunkul countycommune
headquarter
brigade Subashi Aqto

III Production responsibility system (

O --- Kashgar Bazaar

" O A Sunday
Karakol Aqto market
*---~ migration routes 0 yurt camp A people's commune urban bazaar
(economy, administration)

- exchange relations N permanent dwellings A people's commune 0 we

(administration)
0 50 km
I I

Figur

Kirg
Tu
nomth
beco
19
In A
so
Anat
m
Dorag
wasof
menho
hous
th
thre
fu

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 229

Plate 3 Once a year Kirghiz shepherds drive down their sheep flocks from the Kara K6l Pamir to Kashgar via
Highway, Bulunkul, Kizil Su, Xinjiang, China (7 September 1995)
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

itarian aid from outside is regularly needed to

Almost unnoticed, a small group of 200 Kirghiz
meet basic food requirements. Abdurrashid Khan
refused to follow their khan to Turkey and returned
to the Afghan Little Pamir in October 1979. Underremembers the period of Soviet occupation in the
the leadership of Abdurrashid Khan who utilized Afghan Pamirs as the most comfortable period of
his life. Prospects for the future are bleak and
previous ties to the KGB, and a permission granted
negotiations with the Government of Kyrgyzstan
by Pakistan's President Zia-ul Haq, they established
themselves in Soviet-occupied Wakhan and have have started. Up to now, the majority of Kirghiz
remained there since. The community had grown have refused to leave the fertile Pamir pastures
to 102 yurts in Pamir-e Kalan (Great Pamir) and for an uncertain future in the Alai Valley of
135 yurts in Pamir-e Khurd (Little Pamir) by 1999Kyrgyzstan. Among all the Kirghiz groups studied,
(Plate 4). The number of yaks is around 1400 and the least change in survival strategies has occurred
there are 9000 sheep and goats, 160 horses andamongst
90 these Kirghiz. No school and no dispen-
Bactrian camels. Any form of animal husbandry sary or hospital are located in the Afghan Pamirs,
neither are there any bazaars or shops. Bartering
has been limited to subsistence survival strategies
in recent years as traditional exchange lines have
of livestock products and animal husbandry organ-
been interrupted due to the adverse political ized through a migratory cycle between winter and
climate. Presently these Kirghiz are engaged in
summer camps remain the prime occupations of
livestock breeding and in limited barter trade with
this community.
entrepreneurs from neighbouring Hunza in Pakistan
(Figure 6). The itinerant traders supply basic nec-
Wakhi mountain farmers in Gojal (Hunza, Pakistan)
essities in exchange for yaks and sheep, and live-
and Wakhan (Afghanistan)
stock products such as wool, hides, yak tails and
qurut (protein-rich cake from boiled-down and There could be no bigger contrast than that
dehydrated butter milk). Nevertheless, human- between the Wakhi mountain farmers of Pakistan

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230 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

Badakhshan Wakhan Woluswali prior to 1978

opium dealers
from Jurm, Wakhi
Warduj, Zebak Wakhi -- (Baroghil)

urban bazaar itinerant

merchants traders

*.A
Sfrom
hu n Kirghiz Hunza
amerchants

Kabul
bazaar
(abridged on the basis of Shahrani 1979:197)

humanitarian aid distributed

from Tajikistan present - day (2000)

itinerant (Chitral
traders I Hunza

merchants
****... ******................;* Kirghiz ******>from Hunza

international boundary
district border

Design based on fieldwork 2000: H. Kreutzmann

goods imported into Wakhan goods and services available in Wakhan

opium livestock and livestock products
tea wheat flour

cloth **********o horses

consumer goods services, wage labour

Figure 6 e x(hIng(' r('lalions infn lh n W<kh n prio( r t) il' (r

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 231

Plate 4 Kirghiz women in the Kichik Pamir (Little Pamir) discussing whether to leave their pastures for an
Kyrgyzstan, Kara Jilga, Little Pamir, Afghanistan (10 June 2000)
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

and Afghanistan. High mountain farmers in Locally the situation is characterized by production
Wakhan (Afghanistan) follow a strict subsistence strategies which have been known for a long time.
strategy and are barely able to survive on the basis The exchange partners for barter trade (cf. Figure 6)
of their fields (Plate 5) and pastures. The old are missing due to interrupted and declining ex-
capital of the Wakhi, Qala-i Panja, is located in change relations. Thus the population of 1050 house-
Afghan Wakhan within the agricultural fields (cf. holds and 9300 people (1999) is currently heavily
Figure 1). The ruined fort symbolizes the declining self-dependent and subsistence-orientated. Conse-
autonomy and there is currently little state author- quently a very important component of Wakhi live-
ity. For example, local warlords still expropriate lihoods - the non-agrarian part of the household
livestock and food grains from local farmers, whilst income - is absent in the present political and
simultaneously profiting from the barter of opium economic conditions, thereby critically endangering
against livestock. Before the Afghan crisis bureau- subsistence livelihoods. People from here regularly
crats from Kabul were sent to Khandut, the admin- cross the border into Pakistan to offer livestock and
istrative centre of Wakhan. Nowadays, however, the their personal services as wage labourers in exchange
spiritual authority of Wakhan, Pir Ismail Shah, has for basic necessities like flour. Here mobility again is
replaced outside players and is only accountable used as a coping strategy. Without these opportun-
to the secular commander-cum-warlord of Eastern ities and strategies survival could not be guaranteed
Badakhshan, Sador, and his sub-commander Jan in isolated and remote Wakhan.
Mamad from Warduj. Pir Ismail Shah represented To a lesser degree we find poor Wakhi commu-
Wakhan in the Loya Jirga in Kabul in 2002. Hisnities in Pakistan: in Baroghil (Yarkhun Valley,
representation was enabled by UN interventionChitral), in Darkot (Yasin) and Ishkoman (Figure 1);
and not by regional support of the armed self-but in Gojal (Hunza) levels of development are
appointed mujahedin rulers. very different. The Wakhi living here have profited

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232 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

Plate 5 Wakhi farmers have harvested their staple food grains in a predominantly subsistence economy in
Woluswali, Afghanistan (12 October 1999)
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

substantially from the development efforts of expand

the their sources of income and to build a
Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) and from more diversified foundation for survival in these
harsh environments (Kreutzmann 1994). Compara-
migration. As a long-term strategy the AKDN tried
ble external support could only be found in the
to improve the infrastructure by setting up a health
former Soviet Union where basic infrastructure was
network, and educational and rural development
funded from the centre and provided to even the
institutions in addition to efforts by the Govern-
ment of Pakistan. The Wakhi of Gojal adopted remotest locations. In principle the same strategy
was followed in China, although the success rate
educational goals in an impressive manner. Nearly
all boys and girls nowadays attend schools, has
andbeen lower than in the USSR, especially in the
many have experienced further education which field of education.
has resulted in them taking up professional careers,Animal husbandry as part of combined mountain
reducing their dependency on agriculture (Felmy agriculture has ceased to be the major survival
1997). Many Wakhi are working in urban centres strategy in Gojal. Nevertheless, the pastoral property
in northern Pakistan such as Gilgit, as well as cities
rights are a major cause for disputes (Plate 6) among
like Islamabad and Karachi. Some have migrated neighbouring
to villages. Cash crop production of
the Gulf States, the USA and Canada. Education potatoes promises much higher returns and is less
and entrepreneurship are the role models here, time-consuming. Access to the Karakoram Highway
although after the events of 11 September 2001- thethe major artery linking Pakistan with China - has
become an additional asset (Kreutzmann 1995 2000)
prospects for tourism and trade have reached their
lowest levels for more than two decades. and Gojali Wakhi are involved in the Pakistan-
China trade as much as they are in commercial
In Gojal we find a case where outside interven-
tion and subsidies support different communitiesand
to professional enterprises elsewhere in Pakistan.

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 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot 233

Plate 6 Wakhi mountain farmers have assembled to defend their pastoral property rights against the neighb
Gulmit, Gojal, Hunza, Pakistan (29 April 1990)
Source: Hermann Kreutzmann

mainly in terms of political pressure and external

Future prospects: continuity of challenge and
domination of peripheral regions. The Wakhi and
response
Kirghiz communities have come under political
The challenges to the Kirghiz and Wakhi have control from nation states with varied levels of
been many and the responses have been quite (vested) interest in their resource bases. In the econo-
varied. Challenges from outside have occurred mic sphere, concepts of modernization - whether

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234 Ethnic minorities and marginality in the Pamirian Knot

Curzon G
capitalist or communist - were implemented inN 1896 The Pamirs and the source of the Oxus The
the name of development and improvements in
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living conditions. In the face of these external
Dor R 1987 Return to Karagunduz. With the Kirghiz in Turkey
Central
influences, the Wakhi and Kirghiz seem to stick toAsian Survey 6 61-72
elements of their pastoral traditions whileDor R and Naumann C M 1978 Die Kirghisen des
at the
same time exploring new opportunities. afghanischen Pamir (The Kirghiz of the Afghan Pamir
The positions and experiences of Wakhi Akademische
and Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz
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Dunmoreas Earl of (Murray C A) 1893 The Pamirs: being a narra-
the boundaries between the scattered community
tive of a year's expedition on horseback and on foot through
territories indicate, but they have never been a Western Tibet, Chinese Tartary, and Russian Centr
Kashmir,
Asia
coherent unit. Geopolitical events have forced 2 vols John Murray, London (reprint Vanguard Book
both
Lahore 1996)
communities to adjust frequently to altered circum-
Ehlers E and Kreutzmann H eds 2000 High mountain pastora
stances and they have developed coping strategies
to do so. The observation that the effects of inter- ism in Northern Pakistan Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart
national politics reach deep into the peripheral
Felmy S 1997 The voice of the nightingale. A personal accou
valleys and plateaux of remote high mountainof the Wakhi culture in Hunza Oxford University Press, Oxford
Friederich M and Kreutzmann H 2000 Oytagh - Sozio-
regions might be surprising for some, but confirms
that the concept of security survival overrides theokonomische Transformationsprozesse in der Peripherie:
idea of these areas as refugia. Their struggle for Produktion und Gesellschaft im westlichen Kun Lun Shan
survival appears to be in pursuit of territorial(Oytagh - socioeconomic transformation processes in the
control. The search for security takes place in periphery:
a production systems and society in the western Kun
Lun Shan mountains) Unpublished report to the Deutsche
familiar mountain habitat and pastures they claim
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The author gratefully acknowledges the generous of a journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian
support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir Edmonston and
(German Research Council, DFG) and Max-Planck- Douglas, Edinburgh
Gesellschaft (MPG) for past and present fieldworkHerbers H 2001 Transformation in the Tajik Pamirs: Gornyi-
in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China. Badakhshan - an example of successful restructuring? Central
Locally we are indebted to Pir Ismail Shah (Qala-i Asian Survey 20 367-81
Panja, Wakhan), Abdurrashid Khan (Kara Jilga, Humphrey C and Sneath D ed 1999 The end of nomadism?
Little Pamir), Ghulam-ud-din (Gulmit, Gojal, Hunza), Society, state and the environment in Inner Asia Duke Uni-
Mamadsaidov Mamadsaid (Khorog), Alimamad versity Press, Durham NC
(Murghab), Tash Bai (Karakul, Kizil Su) and SabzHuntington E 1905 The mountains of Turkestan The Geograph-
Ali (Dafdar, Taxkorgan) representing numerous ical journal 25 22-41, 139-158
other supporters and informed persons. Huntington E 1907 The pulse of Asia. A journey in Central Asia
illustrating the geographic basis of history A. Constable, London

Notes
Huntington E and Cushing S W 1924 Principles of human
geography John Wiley, London
1 Kirg. refers to the Kirghiz names, Pers. to the Persian names.
Jaworskij J L ed 1885 Reise der russischen Gesandtschaft in
2 Administratively, the Kara Kil grazing zone forms part of Afghanistan und Buchara in den Jahren 1878-79 (Journey of
Aqto County, which is one of the four sub-units of the Kizilthe Russian Embassy to Afghanistan and Buchara during
Su Autonomous Oblast. 1878-79) Costenoble, Jena
Kreutzmann H 1994 Habitat conditions and settlement proc-
esses in the Hindukush-Karakoram Petermanns Geogra-
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