Projected commonality in Bukhara: A model of Eastern cosmopolitanism

Dr Aptin Khanbaghi, Project Team Leader for the MCA project and Dr Siddharth Saxena, Chairperson of the Cambridge Central Asia Forum (left to right).

On 10th July AKU-ISMC hosted a seminar by Dr Siddharth Saxena, Chairperson of the Cambridge Central Asia Forum. The seminar, entitled ‘Projected commonality in Bukhara: A model of Eastern cosmopolitanism’, explored different levels of interaction and co-existence in Bukhara, Uzbekistan .

The Cambridge Central Asia Forum is an interdisciplinary research forum that brings together scholars from the arts and humanities and the social, natural and biological sciences. The forum conducts research to study and assist development in Central Asia.

During the seminar, Saxena explored the notion of Eastern cosmopolitan cities, using Bukhara as his example. In Western contexts the notion of cosmopolitanism is contextualised as an inter-lingual, inter-religious and inter-cultural hybrid which leads to the construction of systems that foster pluralism.

In Eastern contexts, however, Saxena argued that there is a slightly different notion of cosmopolitanism. People are often grounded in their linguistic or ethnic identities and draw strong boundaries around them, an idea which is counter to the notion of hybridity. Despite this, Saxena found that Eastern cities are also able to provide a platform for peaceful and vibrant interactions between people of different cultures.

Members of the audience included guests, faculty and staff of AKU-ISMC and students.

“The way that I describe the notion of cosmopolitanism in these contexts is a projected commonality, rather than real space commonality. Real space commonality is built through notions of inter-religious, inter-lingual commonality, however, projected commonality is where people don’t easily cross those boundaries but instead build institutions together,” Saxena explained.

Bukhara has been used as a case study for the exploration of this notion of projected commonality. Despite being a small city in present day Uzbekistan, Bukhara has been part of major polities of the East for two millennia. Comprehensive written records exist in Bukhara which describe the rich history of the city.

Saxena’s work links historical ideas with anthropological work conducted in the city. In his research, he found it difficult to get an overall picture simply from written records. In his project, he tries to stay away from larger theories of cosmopolitanism, and looks more closely at how local people theorise their own cosmopolitanism.

Saxena showed an image of a mosque which fascinatingly had also been both a Buddhist and Zoroastrian temple in the past. Archaeological research has shown that rather than a destruction of the previous temple, as would be expected, each layer was well buried before the next one was built. This space has and still is considered to be a holy place by people of many different religions.

Saxena found that Eastern cities and their models of cosmopolitanism are able to provide a platform for peaceful and vibrant interactions between people of different cultures.

Saxena then explored the idea of how we conceive the idea of projected commonality. He explained that one way of doing so has been the building of common institutions, one of which is the institution of trade. Saxena described the production of carpets as an example of this. Different tribes produce different elements of the carpet in order to produce a final product. The role of each tribe is so engrained in the production process that it is possible to identify what parts were made by whom through the patterns on the carpets.

Another example that Saxena provided was that of locals’ responses to the various religious symbols which form part of the façade of the Timuri period mosque. There is a general assumption that this mixture of religious imagery upsets people, Saxena explained. However, it is apparent that people generally feel that it is not representative of Bukharan identity.

Ethnic boundaries in Bukhara are strongly drawn, where for example, rituals of marriage between different groups are seen as a type of social problem. However, there are also examples of an intrinsic linking of rituals between different groups, without the crossing of ethnic lines. In contrast to this, Saxena also looked at exceptions where ethnic boundaries were crossed during the Soviet period.

Saxena noted that some members of the Jewish community had a peculiar status within Bukhara – as the offspring of a Jewish father and a Muslim mother neither community regarded them as their own. During the Soviet period they were better integrated, identifying themselves with the Soviets. This group of people now either hide their identity or celebrate it; however, they are viewed with suspicion by all groups of people. Saxena explained that the project is now exploring how projected commonality translates to these hybrid groups, how they are perceived and how they interact within society.

“Understanding of the notion or Eastern cosmopolitanism or projected commonality is very important for our society today, and I believe that it is applicable for societies from different parts of the world, because when they come to the West, (and) the integration processes expect them to hybridise, something that they totally reject internally… while they are quite happy to integrate, in this context. However, our policy-makers do not have any notion of how projected commonality itself develops, and what its needs and requirements are.”

Saxena noted that through this understanding of projected commonality, new ways of promoting plurality can be understood and implemented.

Audio*

• To listen to a recording (wma) of the seminar, please click here.

External Links**

• Siddharth Saxena's profile Cambridge Central Asia Forum

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