Too far from roots, Amman's Bukhari community struggles to revive heritage

By Muath Freij

AMMAN - A geographically scattered minority, Jordan’s Bukhari community is coming together to preserve its unique traditions and language amidst a changing way of life.

A community that hails from Bukhara in Uzbekistan, a city located on the Silk Road and famous for its medieval old town and its iconic minaret, the Bukharis have a story to tell.

Many of the city’s residents fled following the Bolshevik revolution and the absorption of Bukhara into the new Soviet Union, heading towards Mecca, Istanbul and Jerusalem, according to the Bukhari Charity Society.

When the Bukhari community first arrived in Amman as merchants and traders in the 1920s from their Uzbek homeland, they brought with them a host of traditional foods, dress and dance.

By the 1940s, a mini Bukhari neighborhood had spouted up in Raghadan, and the merchant-minded community opened Souk Bukhari across from Al Husseini Mosque in the 1940s, according to community members.

According to Fuad Bukhari, historian and Bukhari author who penned a book on Amman in the 1940s and 1950s, said the community’s position as traders allowed them to befriend people of all different backgrounds and quickly became a part of the Kingdom’s social fabric.

However, in the 21st century, the younger generation of Bukharis are losing touch with their roots due to a “busier” modern way of life and a loss of Uzbek dialect, according to community leaders.

As families grew in size, the community moved out from its Raghadan and spread out across west Amman, opting for neighborhoods such as Sweifieh, Dabouk and the Fourth Circle, according to the Bukhari Charity Society. There are no statistics regarding the number of Bukharis in the Kingdom, with unofficial estimates standing in “the thousands”.

Abdullah Bukhari, founder of the society, said the 83-strong group is looking to strengthen the younger generation’s awareness of their roots and cultural traditions.

Chaikhuna was one of Bukharia’s social get-togethers that used to be a staple in downtown Amman. According to the society’s director, in Chaikhuna, men gather to recite the Koran and hadith as they drink green tea from a bala, a Bukhari ceramic cup.

But now many of Jordan’s Bukharis say they are too busy for Chaikhuna, opting for longer workdays rather than stopping for a cup of green tea and tradition.

Gone too are the community’s unique traditional clothes such as the chaban and women’s tyubiteikas which were once commonplace in Raghadan, according to the society. The silk garments are too expensive to be imported from Uzbekistan, they said, and women now opt for more conservative clothing when leaving the house. One has to scour Souk Bukharia to find an old timer who still wears the fur kalbak hat during the winter months.

Mahmoud Bukharia, 35, said the generation is too caught up with the requirements of daily life to keep family and community-based traditions alive.

“This is the traditions of our grandfathers, not our generation,” he said.

Abu Mahmoud, a merchant from Souk Bukharia, said young people have little affinity for Uzbek traditions and shun their fathers’ trades for university studies, often going on to other professions in the private sector than working as merchants.

According to the society, the road to Bukhara culture runs through the stomach. The community serves a host of specific dishes to mark the various passages of life and highlight the strong bonds between the Uzbek community and their Islamic faith, which remains the last link between Jordanian Bukharis and their past.

Bukharia dishes are an important element during Eid holidays, for example. According to Mohammed Bukhari of Al Husseini Mosque Committee, Bukhari families serve numerous sweet dishes such as hala watar, chekchek and halorika.

The most famous and common staple dish “ruz Bukhari” (Bukhari rice), consisting of rice, boiled chickpeas, lamb and vegetables, is served on two occasions, according to Abdullah Bukhari.

According to the community, one type of ruz Bukhari is served on weddings and consists of raisins and yellow carrots. Typically, hungry guests eat the rice at 5:00am at the end of the wedding party in a final celebration of the holy union of the bride and groom.

Although the second type of Bukhari rice is served as a household dinner, Abdullah said the preparation of the traditional dish is a pure communal activity.

“Bukhari men used to gather at night to cut vegetables and sing traditional songs while preparing ruz Bukhari,” Abdullah explained, adding that now the Bukharis rarely gather to slice vegetables or sing ballads of yore.

According to the society, the major barrier for the younger generation is language.

With intermarriage and little use of the Uzbek language at home, younger generations have little understanding of Bukhari, a gateway to folk songs, art and traditions, they said.

Some 55 per cent of Bukharis in Jordan still know their mother tongue, according to the society, which is planning to organize Uzbek language courses for the new generation of Bukharis.

Ghazi Bukhari, 55, said that he is among many who would like to learn the language but is too busy with work to revive old traditions.

Mahmoud said that Bukhari community has little use for the language.

“The younger generation does not have a background on the traditions; we just don’t understand them,” he said.

But the society has some hope: Many female Bukhari community members have expressed interest in reviving their culture and learning the language.

Ahmed Bukhari is also one of several young Bukharis interested in learning the language of the community, but has little background in his roots.

The 25-year-old trader in downtown Amman follows the footsteps of his forefathers by embracing his culture as part of the Kingdom’s diverse community.

“I want to learn how my ancestors lived, where we come from,” he said.

“I want to find my own Silk Road to my culture,” he said.

28 December 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/?news=32980.