Wool, cotton and silk each played a crucial role in the destiny of Central Asia. Wool created the clothing and housing needed for the great nomadic cultures that would dominate Central Asia. Silk was more valuable than gold and was used as currency, creating a network of trade routes that led to the first outbreak of globalisation. Cotton was the cause of Russian and later Soviet colonisation and still causes controversy, as well as human misery and environmental disasters. The felts, carpets, embroideries, robes and veils of the Silk Road layered wealth, showed religious and political entrenchments and changed the destiny of this fascinating part of the world; a meeting place between Mohammed and Marx.
Obout Christopher Aslan Alexander
Chris Aslan was born in Turkey (hence the name Aslan) and spent his childhood there and in war-torn Beirut. After school, Chris spent two years at sea before studying media and journalism at the University of Leicester. He then moved to Khiva, a desert oasis in Uzbekistan, where he founded a UNESCO workshop that revived carpet designs and embroidery from the 15th century and became the city’s largest non-governmental employer. He was thrown out as part of an anti-Western purge and took a year in Cambridge to write A Carpet Ride to Khiva. Chris then spent several years in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, where he trained yak herders to comb their yaks for their cashmere-like down. This was followed by a few more years in Kyrgyzstan, where he lived in the world’s largest natural walnut forest and set up a woodcarving workshop. Since then, Chris has studied and rowed at Oxford and now lives in Cambridge, but has plans to move to northern Cyprus. When not lecturing for The Arts Society, he writes. His latest book, Unravelling the Silk Road, is published by Icon Books. Chris also tours Central Asia and returns when he can, having left much of his heart there.
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