Microsoft Word Thesis Guly Salikhova doc

’, this control was mediated by the mahalla committee or by its leader (referred 
to either as rayis in Uzbek, or as predsedatel' in Russian). For example, the rayis would 
often advise mahalla residents on the amount of food to prepare for ritual ceremonies 
such as weddings and funerals based on the number of people expected to attend. In this 
way, the local leader – wedding consultant might limit the accelerating conspicuous 
68 Ibid 
69 ‘Mahalla’ is Arabic word for ‘place’. The word mahalla is used in reference to neighborhoods and informal neighborhood 
associations from Macedonia to Bengal and western China. It is more widespread and familiar to specialists of Islamic institutions. 
The local community as a form of social organization of a particular neighborhood has been around since olden days. It was known as 
the mahalla (mahalla means neighborhood, locality, or district) and was not only a territorial but also an administrative unit—the basic 
element of an urban or rural subunit. The mahalla in town and in village alike united people regardless of their social or ethnic 
backgrounds. The term “mahalla” has now been adopted in the republic to denote a local community. The mahalla is a form of 
neighborhood organization common throughout Central Asia.

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consumption at such events which began to take off in the 1980s and which the Soviet 
government attempted to arrest. The mahalla's effect was to give bureaucratic institutions 
a ‘human face’.
Generally, the mahalla, overlapped with kin and occupational networks, serves as 
a social foundation and framework for the formation of relationships of solidarity and 
trust. Its form has varied somewhat geographically and according to whether it was 
targeted as a political vehicle for social engineering, as tended to be the case in socialist 
countries. In the Soviet period policy makers and political activists tried to transform 
Uzbek mahallas into local administrative units by formalizing decision-making processes 
and appointing authority figures to committees accountable to municipal and republic-
level governments. Despite these attempts, the mahalla continued to function, 
simultaneously, as a site where a range of social networks – familial, ethnic, and religious 
– could sustain themselves. People identified strongly with their native, or home, mahalla 
and drew on those collective ties to obtain many of the goods and services necessary to 
get by in life. This included access to everything from employment and education to 
building permits, welfare, food, and support for celebrating ritual events such as births, 
weddings, and deaths.
One of the ways in which mahalla solidarity was achieved (and it was by no 
means a perfect system) was through participation in holiday and life-cycle celebrations 
and through the distribution and circulation of food. For example, on the New Year 
holiday of Navruz
70
, when people throw celebration feasts and invite their neighbors. 
Since Central Asia came under Russian imperial and later Soviet rule, many Russians and 
people of other nationalities settled in Central Asia. Most lived in separate neighborhoods, 
forming their own communities and observing their own national, or Soviet, customs.
Since Uzbekistan became independent in 1991, and even earlier, thousands of 
non-Central Asians have emigrated abroad or to other destinations in the former Soviet 
70 In Persian, Navruz means “new day”, or “a new day of the new year”, to be precise. This day is celebrated on March 21st, which is 
on the day of vernal equinox, and it symbolizes the beginning of a calendar year in such countries as Iran, Afghanistan, in Kurdish 
regions of Iraq and Turkey, as well as in some countries of Central Asia. Following old traditions, Navruz is the day when people 
forgive each other’s resentment; make it up with each other. Many people call on those who are poor, lonely or disabled, take care of 
them, and give them small gifts. In fact, the celebration of Navruz lasts the whole month. It was only after Uzbekistan became an 
independent state, that Navruz gained huge popularity.

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Union. Nonetheless, many still remain and are finding themselves in increasing contact 
with Uzbek neighbors and Uzbek mahalla practices. The importance of at least symbolic 
collective participation and respect on the part of resident Russians is exchanged for 
material gifts or assistance from Uzbeks. This exchange helps maintain a sense of 
community and is manifested in social relations beyond the mahalla.