Paranja , paranji, or faranji (from ; , , ; ; ) is a traditional

Central Asian Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

robe for women and girls that covers the head and body. It is also known as " burqa" in Arabic. It is similar in basic style and function to other regional styles such as the Afghan chadari. The part that covered the face, known as the chachvan (; ) or chashmband (, , ), was heavy in weight and made from horsehair. It was especially prevalent among urban

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

and

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

, but was not commonly worn by people in the mountainous regions of Tajikistan. It was also worn during the

Shaybanids The Shibanids or Shaybanids, more accurately known as the Abul-Khayrid-Shibanids, were a dynasty of Uzbek ( Turko-Mongol) origin who ruled over the Khanate of Bukhara (from 1505 to 1598), the Khanate of Khwarezm (Khiva) (from 1511 to 1695), a ...

' rule (1510–1600). In the 1800s, Tajik and Uzbek Muslim women were required to wear paranja when outside their home. Paranji and chachvon were by 1917 common among urban Uzbek women of the southern river basins. This was less frequently worn in the rural areas, and scarcely at all on the nomadic steppe. One historical account of the paranja is from Lord Curzon, who travelled to

Bukhara Bukhara ( ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan by population, with 280,187 residents . It is the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and t ...

in 1886. During his time there he never saw a woman between the ages of 10 and 50, for they were all concealed. The heavy black horsehair veils were "too bad and coarse for a seive", the women walking in loosely wrapped blue gowns with the empty sleeves pinned could have been "mistaken for clothes wandering about", and big leather boots covered their feet.archivedPDF
Curzon noted that "Ladies of rank and good character never venture to show themselves in any public place or bazaar." He condemned this as a kind of tyranny, an exaggerated and erroneous notion of morality found everywhere in the East, but nowhere so striking as in Bukhara.archived
/ref> In the beginning of the Soviet Union under Lenin's leadership, following

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

which brought about

state atheism State atheism or atheist state is the incorporation of hard atheism or non-theism into Forms of government, political regimes. It is considered the opposite of theocracy and may also refer to large-scale secularization attempts by governments ...

, Soviet officials accepted the covered women since Muslims were seen as allies with early communists of Russia against the old regime and the Russian Orthodox Church. Later under Stalin, however, Soviets sought to discourage or ban the

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

and the paranja. The unveiling by the Soviets was called the hujum in the

Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic The Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (, ), also known as Soviet Uzbekistan, the Uzbek SSR, UzSSR, or simply Uzbekistan and rarely Uzbekia, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, union republic of the Soviet Union. It was governed by the Communist ...

(SSR). As the Soviet Communists secured their control of Central Asia, chachvans and paranjas were banned. The paranjas were burned on orders of the Communists, who upheld the doctrine of Marxist-Leninist atheism. In the 1920s, the government "brought gangs of militant young atheists to

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

who physically

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

ed women, often tearing the veil from their faces in the streets of Tashkent, Samarkand, and other cities." However, some veil-wearing Muslim women responded by killing the women who were sent to take their veils off. Some Uzbeks violently opposed the anti-paranja, anti-child marriage and anti-polygamy campaign which was started by the Soviet Union. Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, Tajikistan President Emomali has claimed that veils were not part of Tajik culture. The veil was attacked by the government of Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev. https://youtu . be/8QjZIRFi2n4 They are seldom worn now in Central Asia while most devout Muslim women prefer hijab or headscarf.

See also

References

Further reading