After seeing three amazing Silk Road cities, we were now headed to Nukus.
You may be wondering, Where in the world is Nukus? And why in the world would someone go there? I asked myself the same questions.
First, to answer the “where” question, I looked my map of Uzbekistan and saw that Nukus was in the northwestern part of the country. Then I discovered that it was actually located within the Republic of Karakalpakstan, a “stan” I’d never heard of.
A little online research revealed that the Republic of Karakalpakstan is an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan. In other words, it’s a “stan” within a “stan.” I’m not sure exactly what that means in practical terms. But I do now know that it has its own flag and its own official language (Karakalpak, a Turkic language). Much of the (former) Aral Sea lies within its borders. Its population of about 2 million people is ethnically mixed, consisting primarily of Karakalpaks (a Turkic people), Uzbeks, and Kazakhs.
Karakalpakstan’s economy is based on agriculture. In the desert-like conditions of the east, cattle and sheep are raised in the east. Crops such as cotton, alfalfa, rice, and corn are grown in the central area, where water from the Amu Darya River is available for irrigation.
The capital, Nukus, is located a little less than fifty miles northwest of Khiva, near the border with Turkmenistan. Until the early 20th century, when the Soviets took control of the area, the Karakalpaks were part of the Khanate of Khiva.
Now, to the second question, why were we going to Nukus? It’s true that the Silk Road passed through Karakalpakstan, but Nukus wasn’t settled until 1932. By the 1950s, it was a large, modern Soviet city. Batir had even told us that during the Soviet era, Nukus was a “closed” city. Only residents were allowed to enter it because the Soviet army researched and tested its chemical and biological weapons on nearby islands in the Aral Sea.
One online source I found referred to Nukus as the “grimmest” city in Uzbekistan, but there were two good reasons Nukus was included on our tour. The first reason was practical. We needed to get back to Tashkent in order to get our international flights out of Uzbekistan. Traveling overland would take too long. We’d have to fly, but there are limited domestic flights. While it’s very difficult to get a flight to Tashkent out of Khiva, it’s much easier to get one from Nukus.
The second reason is much more interesting. Oddly enough, there’s a world-class museum in Nukus that attracts visitors from around the world. It’s officially named the State Museum of Arts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, but it’s popularly referred to as the Savitsky Museum, after its founder, Russian artist, archaeologist, and collector Igor Savitsky.
The museum houses Savitsky’s enormous (over 10,000 works) collection of avant-garde art that was suppressed by Stalin. During the Stalinist period and continuing through the 1960s, any art that showed a western influence was condemned as bourgeois and counter-revolutionary by the government. The only approved style was Social Realism, which was easily understood by the masses and glorified life in the Soviet Union. Artists whose work was deemed unacceptable by the Soviet authorities faced imprisonment, exile, or even execution, and their works were supposed to be destroyed.
Beginning in the mid-1960s, Savitsky managed to save thousands of these banned works, acquiring them from artists themselves or their heirs. He archived and displayed the pieces in the city of Nukus, far from the center of the Soviet regime. By doing so, he risked arrest as “an enemy of the people.” At the same time, he began collecting the works of Central Asian artists.
Savitsky was born in Kviv (Ukraine) in 1915 and first came to Karakalpakstan in 1950 to participate in an archaeological expedition, and later settled permanently in Nukus. He also amassed important collections of archaeological artifacts and traditional Karakalpak handicrafts (jewelry, carpets, clothing, etc). In 1966, Savitsky became the curator of Karakalpak’s State Museum of Art, which he helped found.
So, off to Nukus we went! It was a sunny afternoon when we departed Khiva but within an hour, clouds had started to obscure the blue sky. At first, we drove through the Khorezm region. From the windows of the bus, we looked out at fields of corn, rice, and cotton.
After about an hour, we made a brief rest stop – very brief, when we discovered that all the toilets were eastern-style – but long enough to take a photo of a group of local women who invited me to join their social gathering.
Once we crossed the bridge over the once-mighty Oxus River, we were in Karakalpakstan. During earlier times, the Oxus River formed the border between the nomadic people, such as the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, to the north and the settled population, such as the Uzbeks and Tajiks, to the south.
On the Karalpakstan side of the river, the landscape appeared desolate and desert-like. Batir explained that the river, which fed the former Aral Sea, changed course many times over the centuries. In recent decades, it also increased in salinity. During the Soviet era, large amounts of toxic pesticides were used on the fields. These chemicals flowed into the Oxus River and eventually ended up in the Aral Sea, causing it to shrink. Lack of water is a serious problem in this region.
When an ancient (1st century CE) Zoroastrian necropolis, known as a Tower of Silence, came into view in the distance, we made a stop to take photos. According to Zoroastrian tradition, the body of a person who died was brought to a designated area and left to be consumed by vultures. The bones were then collected and placed in an ossuary.
The Zoroastrian religion, which goes back to the 6th century BCE, is sometimes considered the first monotheistic religion. After the majority of the population converted to Islam, this particular Tower of Silence was used as a watch tower on the Silk Road. More interesting bits of information: Zarathustra was a Zoroastrian prophet; fire was an important part of Zoroastrian rituals; the Persian “Now Ruz” celebration traces its origin to Zoroastrian custom; small numbers of people continue to follow the Zoroastrian religion today in Iran, India, and Azerbaijan.
Not long afterwards, we arrived in Nukus. The first thing I wanted to do, after checking in and using a western-style toilet, was go for a walk and take a look at this supposedly “grim” city.
Our hotel, the Jipek Joli (“Silk Road” in the Karakalpak language) was a couple of short blocks from the main avenue of the city (and one of the few streets with sidewalks). There were numerous small shops, but very little was on display in their windows. Tired and drab were the words that came to mind. I also noticed that much of the signage was in Russian.
Since it was late afternoon, the sidewalks were crowded with people on their way home from work and school. Almost everyone was dressed in western clothing although many of the women were wearing scarves over their hair. I later learned that this indicated that they were married. The faces looked more Asian than those I’d seen in other parts of Uzbekistan. I was often met with curious stares from school children.
The day had turned sunny and warm, so I was surprised and delighted to find a soft ice cream stand and even more surprised when the young man serving me enthusiastically started a conversation in English. Oh, and the ice cream cone cost me all of 8000 som, the equivalent of seventy-five cents.
We had a simple dinner in the hotel’s dining room and retired for the night.
Even though the sun was shining the next morning, I felt a dark and heavy presence hanging over the city because of what I knew about its history. Putting those thoughts aside, I focused on our morning activity, a visit to the Savitsky Museum.
As soon as the museum opened its doors, groups of tourists from other countries rushed in. I overheard guides giving directions in a variety of languages.
I was amazed – actually thrilled – to discover so many exceptional works of art by artists who were previously unknown to me. I’ll highlight just a few of the many artists whose work I saw.
There was Savitsky himself. Here are a couple of his paintings.
Flower Garden 
Khiva, Gray Evening
Alexander Volkov is one of the avant-garde artists whose work Savitsky is responsible for saving.
Before Tempest 
Arba 
Hot Land of Uzbekistan
Elena Korovay (b. 1901) is a painter I was especially interested because she painted scenes of Jewish life.
In the Former Ghetto
I found two paintings by Alisa Poret quite charming.
Buffo 
Woman in Pink
Several paintings by Vasily Rozhdestvensky impressed me. (4341 and 4342)
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| An Uzbek Man |
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| Wall of a House |
Robert Falk (yes, he was Russian), a teacher of Savitsky's, was represented with two paintings.
Winter Landscape, Roofs 
Double Portrait
I was especially captivated by these 2 paintings by N.P. Tarasov.
Angel on a White Horse 
Pushkin
Likewise, I found these paintings by Mikhail Kurzin delightful.
Old and New 
Provincial Artists in Bukhara
A large painting entitled The Bull by Lysenko, completed in 1929, is perhaps the museum’s best known work. The eyes of the blue bull, staring straight at the viewer, look like shotgun barrels. When it was completed in 1929, the work was immediately condemned by Soviet authorities as counter-revolutionary and Lysenko was sent to a mental asylum for 6 years.
The Bull
There were so many more artists, too numerous to feature in this post.
In addition to showcasing avant-garde art, the museum also displays items from Savitsky’s extensive ethnographic collection. Here are several examples of traditional handicrafts.
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| Silver jewelry with coral, turquoise, and carnelian |
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| detail of wedding clothing showing cross stitch embroidery |
Among the archaeological artifacts was a 3rd century sarcophagus from the necropolis at Mizdakhan. The unusually shaped ossuary box contained the bones of a young woman along with her jewelry.
It was a lot for one morning – but I could easily have spent several more hours in the museum. My mind kept going back to the images of the paintings I’d seen. I’m so grateful for this introduction to so many exciting artists who were previously unknown to me and the visit to the Savitsky Museum was truly one of the highlights of my trip.
For a completely different kind of experience, we went to the biggest shopping area (both indoor and outdoor) in the city. Because it was a Saturday, it was mobbed.
The Western-style mall was frankly disappointing. Very little is imported, and it made me realize how limited the options are for the local people.
But the vast outdoor area was bustling with activity as local families were out doing their weekly shopping. There was quite a festive atmosphere.
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| Woman selling dried fish |
Local girls often wanted to have their pictures taken with us.
There was quite an array of items under cover, ranging from produce, plants, and prepared foods to noodles, fancy cakes, and kimchi.
When we saw the man in the marketplace with the chart, I remembered what Batir had told us about the nomadic practice of bride kidnapping. The custom, which was outlawed by the Soviets, still occasionally occurs, often with tragic results. The tradition arose because according to nomadic tradition, a man can’t marry someone within his own clan. The reason, as explained by the man selling the chart of clans, was “to keep the bloodline clean.” I’m not sure exactly what that meant. Did they know back then about genetics and potential problems caused by inbreeding?
We had completely different kind of experience later in the day. The sky had gradually become more overcast and the wind had picked up when we set out for a visit to the Mizdahkhan Necropolis, about half an hour from Nukus. This “city of the dead” covers a vast area comprised of three large hills.
The necropolis is located near an ancient settlement that went back to the 4th century BCE. The settlement came under attack by the Arabs in the 8th century and by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in the early 13thcentury. After Timur’s invasion in the late 14th century, the settlement was abandoned but the necropolis remained in use.
The oldest burials that archaeologists have found date back around 2000 years, and burials continue to this day. The custom is to bring the body of the deceased on a ladder and after the burial, to place the ladder horizontally over the burial site.
Also, since the site contains several mazars (Muslim shrines or tombs to saints or religious leaders), it has become a place of pilgrimage for Muslim believers.
Outside the 18th century Mausoleum of Shamun Nabi, a legendary magician and healer who supposedly had supernatural powers, we met a man who is the tomb’s self-appointed guardian. (4459, 60, 61)
The Mazlumkhan Sulu Mausoleum dates back to the 12th-14th century. The main part of the monument is underground. Inside the square chamber are two tombs, supposedly those of a princess and her lover who chose death when they were prevented from marrying.
The highest point in the necropolis is the Djumart Kassab Mound. It’s an enormous artificial mound first used by Zoroastrians beginning in the 2nd century CE and later by Muslim nomads. The Zoroastrians brought their dead here and left the body exposed to the birds and the elements. Once the body was “cleansed,” the bones were placed in an ossuary container. By the 9th century, Muslims were burying their dead in tombs on the mound. The mound got its name from a folk legend about a butcher (kassab) named Djumart who provided the poor with free meat during a famine.
view as we climbed up the mound
On our bus ride back to Nukus, we ran into an unexpected delay. All traffic was held up by a couple of slow-moving trucks transporting the extremely long blades of a wind turbine.
Once we were back at the hotel, we had to rush off to dinner at a private home where, in addition to enjoying a sumptuous dinner, we were entertained by a family musical group. Two brothers and their young sons, dressed in the costumes of Karakalpak nomads, played traditional instruments and sang in the distinctive nomadic style. (4496, 4473, 5, and 4478, 86, 91)
the women of the family (who prepared the meal)
The next morning, a short flight brought us back to Tashkent where I prepared for my departure from Uzbekistan. My dream of traveling the Silk Road and exploring its legendary cities had become a reality over the past few weeks. Equally important, I discovered that present-day Central Asia is just as interesting as the historical Silk Road of the past.
back home, wearing earrings and
an Ikat scarf from Uzbekistan
