Ethnicity and Islam in the Post Soviet Central Asia

Abstract

Central Asia is heir to many traditions. Chief among these traditions are Islamic and Sovietism. During the Islamic period a great many traditions of the people of the area such as Zoroastrianism and Buddhism gave way to Islam and the functionaries in the Soviet era destroyed a great many of the Islamic traditions and rituals. The paper is based on readings on the area and field works and tries to explain the persistence of Islamic traditions as means of self-identity and authentication in the face of the onslaught of a monolithic Soviet system.