The Resurgence of Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid

Author:Ahmed Rashid
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2017-07-25T04:00:00+00:00

6. The Cradle of the Earth

Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz nomads, once part of Genghis Khan’s Golden Horde, traditionally produced enough buttermilk, yogurt and cheese to feed the entire Soviet Union. Tucked away in a corner of Central Asia and surrounded on all sides by massive mountain ranges, they are the most isolated of all the former Soviet republics, with the least available resources to create an independent economy. Yet since 1990, well before the demise of the Soviet empire, the revamped Kyrgyz leadership has set in motion the most ambitious economic reforms in Central Asia – moves that could turn Kyrgyzstan into a Central Asian Switzerland.

The capital Beshkeh, formerly Frunze, is surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the world – the Tien Shan and the Alatau ranges. Covered in snow even in June, the mountains tower over the city giving a sense that one is living in a large bowl. During the long winter months, icy winds howl down the streets, which come to an abrupt end at the foot of the mountains. Thick mists that reduce visibility to zero and suspend air traffic can cover Beshkeh for days. When the sun does re-emerge it is a pale, cold shadow of its former self, which forces the locals to fasten more tightly their thick fur jackets.

The Kyrgyz have always called their land ‘Altyn Beshik’ – the Golden Cradle or Homeland. For two thousand years, from their mountaintop pastures, Kyrgyz shepherds have looked down upon a vast cradle made up of snow-covered mountains which they called the Wings of the Earth. Ninety-three per cent of the Republic’s 198,500 square kilometres of territory is made up of mountains, and nowhere does the land surface fall below 500 metres above sea level. The highest mountain is Victory Peak (7,429 metres), which stands in the immense Mustang massif, one of the world’s largest areas of glaciers, which covers 1,570 square kilometres, equivalent to the entire Caucasus. If all the ice in the republic’s territory were melted, it would be under 3 metres of water.[1]

Water is everywhere. As a result of tens of thousands of years of glaciation, there are some 3,000 lakes, continuously filled by rivers flowing down from the mountains. Many of the lakes are more than 3,000 metres above sea level; others, such as Lake Maerzbacker, are so high that huge icebergs move from shore to shore within the lake. Those lakes below the tree line are surrounded by magnificent forests, which in summer climb up the mountain slopes in a profusion of colour. The slow-growing juniper tree is revered by the nomads and called the Queen of the Forest. It takes centuries for junipers to grow: some are 2,000 years old.

The population of Kyrgyzstan has always been vastly outnumbered by its livestock. Today 10 million sheep and goats, 2 million horses, yaks and cattle and half a million pigs feed on the lush grasslands, tended by shepherds and farmers whose lifestyle has changed little over the centuries. Nomadism is such an

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