Fergana Things to Do

Kokand is a big city in Ferghana Valley. It has been the capital of the Kokand Khanat from 18th to 19th century. In this time a big palace was build. I am going to build a separate page for Kokand soon.

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We visited a very interesting pottery in Rishtan. Ceramics from Rishtan are very famous. The pottery we visited belongs to a famous local artist, whose ceramics have been even shown on ExPO2000 in Hannover (Germany).

Researchers unanimously acknowledge the supreme role of Rishtan in the art of ceramics in the XIX - early XX centuries. The small town between Kokand and Ferghana is considered to be "the cradle of the ceramic art of the entire Ferghana valley", once influencing all ceramic centers of the region.

According to the technological and artistic qualities at the end of 19 th c – beginning 20 th c, Rishtan ceramics were the best. Rishtan masters elaborated their own style of painting full of lyricism.

At present such classification loses its meaning - some masters produce both flat products and jugs, vase etc. (I.Kamilov, U.Ashurov, I.Kamilov). At the same time a number of masters basically of the young generation are working on production and decoration of flat dishes – lyagan (S.Jusupov, A.Tairov, R.Usmanov, A.Isanov, N. Kadirov and others).

Meanwhile the techniques of ishkor glaze production have been revived in Rishtan and all Rishtan masters use it for decoration of pottery.

Local art features of Rishtan ceramics are defined by the character of the ornamental maintenance of products. The repertoire of Rishtan ceramics ornamentation is the richest. It includes a whole complex of ornamental patterns used by ceramics of Uzbekistan: geometrical and vegetative patterns, symbols, subject images, zoological and anthropological motives.

I have forgotten the name of the master, whose pottery we visited. I am sorry. But the ceramics produced here were absolutely wonderful!

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Margilan is only a short drive from Ferghana. The city has about 170.000 inhabitants. It is famout for silkproduction. The visit of a silk factory is an interesting highlight. The factory we visited shows in some old rooms the traditional way of the production of silk, silk weavery and carpet knotting. Here you can see old women boiling the silkworms, yound boys showing the technique of dyeing the silk. Girls are weaving and knotting colorful silkr fabrics and carpets. Of yourse you can also buy the products of this silkfactory.

Ferghana is a very beautifull city. I was quite surprised about the wide alleys with old trees giving shadow in the heat of summer. Most buildings in the center show the old Russian architecture of 100 years ago. Ferghana was founded in 1876 as a Russian administration center. Until 1907 the city was called Nowy Margilan. 1907 - 1924 its name was Skobelew.

Today Ferghana has about 250.000 inhabitants and has also a lot of Universities and some industry. IT is a pleasant place to make a stop and explore the valley.

The Ferghana Valley begins in the Osh area in Kirgistan and is about 300km long and 150km wide. There are border-regions between Uzbekistan and Kirgistan or Tajikistan, which are still full of mines and sometimes dangerous.

Ferghana Valley is sometimes called a valley and somtimes called the biggest and richest oasis in Central Asia. When you drive through the valley you'll see neither valley nor oasis. The landscape looks like a wide plain with cotton-fields, fruit-trees and rich cities. The snowcapped mountains of Tianshan and Alay Mountains can be seen in the distance.

This area had been the northern part of the Sogdian kingdom about 2.500 years ago. In the Middle Ages Ferghana Valley has been an important part of the Great Silkroad from Samarkand to Kashgar (China).