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Cambridge University Press, 1997 Volume 2: Cultures and Habitats Entry by: Samia Rab, Ph.D. |
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2.1.2.c KASHI (Xinjiang) Kashi (also called, Kashgar) is located on the North-western edge of the Taklimakan desert in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China. It is the largest oasis settlement in the Chinese Turkestan and is historically significant due to its location on the ancient Silk Road that connected North-eastern China to the Indian sub-continent. Kashi presents a unique mixture of Chinese, Russian, British, Muslim and indigenous nomadic cultures. It has been at the cross currents of varied cultural influences. The people who inhabit this oasis settlement and its environs mainly consist of five subgroups: the Turki of Chinese Turkestan, the T'uang-kan, the Han Chinese. The Turki are predominantly Muslim and can be further subdivided into various ethnic communities. Like most desert oases in the Chinese Turkestan, Kashgar is divided into two towns: the old Muslim city, Shu-fu, and the new city, Shu-leh . This entry specifically discusses the architecture of the Muslim neighborhoods in Kashgar. Until 1945, when the Kashgar was inhabited by about 40,000 people, both these cities were surrounded by moats and their thick walls were pierced by gates. The main feature of the Muslim old city is the Friday mosque (Eid Gah) located in the main market place. The minarets of this mosque act as orienting elements for the various Muslim neighborhoods around this mosque. The main streets in Kashgar are more or less straight, wide paved and lined with buildings dating back to the 1950's. The streets feeding the residential quarters behind emerge from in between the shops that line the main roads. Once behind the main roads, the streets in these quarters are flanked by single and double storied houses; hardly any commercial activity penetrates into them from the main roads. From the main connector streets, smaller cul-de-sacs branch off which become the domain of the houses that open into it. Each house in these neighborhoods fits into the urban landscape like a piece that solves a jigsaw puzzle. The plot shape and size are generally irregular, probably due to generations of subdivision in each inherited property. Each house is articulated around an open courtyard which is accessed directly from the street. This arrangement facilitates the residents to incorporate part of the street in front of their houses as a functional space. Only one or two rooms face the courtyard; the other rooms leading off from those facing the courtyard are lit indirectly through skylights. The courtyard is the focus of most activities; cooking of food, preparation, afternoon relaxation, playing, informal entertainment of guests occurs here. The rooms are usually used for sleeping purposes, where a part of the floor is raised to form a platform arranged with many rich and multicolored carpets. Below the platform is an ingenious method of heating the bed by burning coal in one corner and channeling the generated hot air. During winter, fodder for the cattle and sheep is stored on the roof as insulating material. The upper floors of these houses mostly contain a visitor's room with an elaborate wooden balcony. The roof is used intensively for various activities such as, drying crop, fruits, vegetables and, in some cases, by women who make embroidered caps sold in the market place. The room dimensions are limited to the length of the available poplar trunk. The roof is spanned by poplar logs, filled by twigs and covered with a layer of straw and then a thick layer of mud. The walls are constructed by poplar columns reinforcing the length of the wall and filled either by mud-bricks or rammed earth, depending on the number of inhabitants available for constructing the house. The poplar columns are usually placed at equal distances on the street side of the wall. These streets are partially covered by rooms added to the houses on either side. This results in a dramatic play of light and shade that accentuates the harsh sun. It also provides additional space for some houses. This characteristic feature of streets in the Muslim neighborhoods of Kashgar is achieved through a unique process of negotiation amongst the respective house owners and needs further research, especially in terms of the Islamic law, the Shariah, that governs public and private property rights in the cities of the Islamic world. | |