10.6092/issn.1973-9494/17306
application/pdf
1973-9494
17306
en
Gulnur Ravilovna Khusainova
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
stylization
The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity
Text.Serial.Journal
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/
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Articles
2023-07-20
2023-06-20
2023-07-20
2023-07-20
115-128
CSCH
Gulnur Ravilovna Khusainova
2022
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/17306
115
The Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia
1973-9494
stylization
en
128
The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/17306/16522
22
T    HE NATIONAL JEWELRY OF BASHKIR WOMEN:
     TRADITION AND MODERNITY


   Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna * , Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna
   The Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Research
   Center Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

   Keywords: Bashkirs, culture, jewelry, tradition, stylization



   1. Introduction

    The modern polyethnic world lives in the postmodern era, where there is a mosaic
of worldviews, ethical values, aesthetic and artistic views, tastes, styles and trends, a
meeting of the West and the East, a dialogue of modernist innovation with once reject-
ed traditions in almost all spheres of life (everyday life, art, religion, sports, even fash-
ion). Currently, the so-called phenomenon of the “ethnic paradox of modernity” is be-
coming more active: despite the onset of globalization, the ethnic consciousness of
peoples is reviving in various parts of the world. This is especially evident in modern
Russian society, in which more than 190 ethnic groups live: from the search for eth-
noidentity to returning to their historical roots, from adherence to traditional religions
and values to the actualization of the meanings of their own culture in ethnic conscious-
ness, from attention to native languages to the appeal to national motives in sports,
interior design, clothing and jewelry – such is the range of objectification of this phe-
nomenon. In this context the active spread of Russian ethnocultures is of particular
interest, in particular Bashkir; the use of women’s fashion in the traditional experience
of decorative and applied art and the mass revival of interest in stylized national jewel-
ry as one of the bright visual attributes of modern ethnoidentity.
    Investigating the representation of material culture in folklore and modern life is one
of the major current research topics that needs to be addressed in more detail [1-4].
The present article examines such a relationship using the example of the national
jewelry of Bashkir women.



   2. Objective

    The purpose of the work is to study the element of material culture – national wom-
en’s jewelry, which has an unconditional significance for researchers of traditional cul-
ture, since it allows us to confirm the fact of its existence and its active use in the life of
a modern woman.




   * Corresponding author: bashfolk@yandex.ru
                                                                                                                                   3. Methods
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity




                                                                                                                                    The books on the folklore and ethnography of the Bashkirs served as the material
                                                                                                                                for the study, and information contained in publications and studies by pre-revolution-
                                                                                                                                ary and modern scientists was also used.
                                                                                                                                    The work uses a holistic systematic approach that combines historical-cultural and
                                                                                                                                comparative-historical research methods based on a system of universal categories
                                                                                                                                and oppositions, images and symbols.


                                                                                                                                   4. Results and discussion

                                                                                                                                   4.1. Brief historical information

                                                                                                                                     The Bashkirs, Turkic-speaking people with a centuries-old history and a rich spiri-
                                                                                                                                tual and material cultural heritage, are today one of the many ethnic groups that pre-
                                                                                                                                serve and develop their traditional cultural heritage in the modern world of innovations.
                                                                                                                                     In the 19th century, the multifaceted cultural heritage of the Bashkirs became the
                                                                                                                                object of study in the works of a number of Russian researchers: V. A. Arnoldov,
                                                                                                                                I. Kazantsev, M. V. Malakhov, N. Maliev, P. Nazarov, D. P. Nikolsky, S. G. Rybakov,
                                                                                                                                V. M. Cheremshansky, P. L. Yudin, etc., while other writers and local historians P. I.
                                                                                                                                Dobrotvorsky, N. A. Krasheninnikov, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, F. D. Nefedov, N. V. Remezov,
                                                                                                                                M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. N. Tolstoy, G. I. Uspensky and others, addressed the
                                                                                                                                problems of the contradictory life of the Bashkirs in the context of tsarist autocracy, as
                                                                                                                                well as describing their culture and way of life.
                                                                                                                                     Interesting information about the material culture, lifestyle, clothing and jewelry of
                                                                                                                                the Bashkirs is contained in the works of M. A. Krukovsky, N. V. Nikolsky, and the fa-
                                                                                                                                mous scientist-ethnographer S. I. Rudenko (1885-1965) [5]. The fact that a special
                                                                                                                                place in the records of both ancient travelers and scientists and writers of the 18th and
                                                                                                                                19th centuries is occupied by the theme of Bashkir national ornaments, proves once
                                                                                                                                again that this hypostasis of the material cultural heritage of the people has become
                                                                                                                                one of the most striking visual markers of ethnic identity and mental characteristics of
                                                                                                                                the Bashkirs, their religious beliefs, spiritual orientation, and attitude towards women.
                                                                                                                                     The oral poetic creativity of the people, replete with descriptions of women’s jewelry,
                                                                                                                                and their numerous characteristics, in the works of past scientists, including D. P. Ni-
                                                                                                                                kolsky, S. I. Rudenko on the ethnography of the Bashkirs with their unique photographs
                                                                                                                                depicting the national clothes and jewelry of the Bashkir women belonging to various
                                                                                                                                local groups (Bashkirs of the south-eastern, central, North-eastern-western regions of
                                                                                                                                Bashkortostan and neighboring regions). The fundamental research of modern Bashkir
                                                                                                                                scientists N. V. Bikbulatov, S. N. Shitova, L. I. Nagaeva, etc. [6] allows us to outline the
                                                                                                                                holistic image of Bashkir women’s jewelry, ideology and aesthetics, as well as the
                                                                                                                                practical purpose and cultural meanings embedded in the jewelry, which has passed
                                                                                                                                through centuries of social events and has acquired a new, revived life in today’s mod-
                                                                                                                                ern generations.
                                                                                                                                     As is known, Juluis Evola [7] distinguishes two ways of self-affirmation in a woman
                                                                                                                                in accordance with the two main archetypes: Aphrodite (i.e. mistress) and demetric
                                                                                                                                (i.e. mother) [M. Sagitov, B. Baimov]. The maternal (demetric) aspect has always pre-
                                                                                                                                vailed in Bashkir consciousness and is a type of woman symbolizing life and home.
                                                                                                                                Hence the traditional attentive and respectful attitude in Bashkir society toward the ori-


                                                                                                   116
gins of femininity (mother, wife, sister, daughter). Bashkir women, along with men, shared
the hardships of nomadic life and were indispensable in the household, acting as wise
advisers, and companions in military campaigns. Songs and legends have been preserved
about the participation of Bashkir women, for example, in the Patriotic War of 1812. The
image of a brave and resourceful wife who saved her husband and the detachment that
fell into a French encirclement is drawn by V. Zefirov in “Stories of Bashkir Dzhantyuri”.
The folk song “Iremel” speaks about a woman who, together with her husband, goes to
defend the Motherland from the French: “If the enemy has encroached on the freedom
of the country, do we all have to stay at home?” Many researchers wrote about the ab-
sence of cruelty in the family life of Bashkirs. The adoption of Islam by the people as a
whole did not change the traditional respectful attitude towards the Bashkir woman, al-
though it sacralized some aspects of her unequal position and made some adjustments
to her clothes (dresses covering the body, except for the hands; scarves that do not allow
adult women to show their bare heads to outsiders, etc.) and wearing jewelry.


   4.2. About the national jewelry of the Bashkir woman

     It is generally known that in all cultures, women’s national jewelry is the visible result
of a unique artistic and aesthetic thinking combined with the refined skill of a jewel-
er-craftsman expressing the spirit of his time. Jewelry items were considered bright,
refined and colorful cultural artifacts that captured and transmitted, from generation to
generation, ideological ideas, aesthetic preferences, and even people’s religious beliefs,
as well as their desire to live in a world of beauty and see in women, measure, harmony
and perfection. Jewelry has its own philosophy, in the past it was and today, still is, the
meaning of the life of a real woman who organizes her spiritual world, creates her own
“I” and appearance, according to the laws of beauty, and transfers her inner beauty to
the outside world, to her environment.




                                                                                                    CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
      Bashkir women’s original jewelry was fascinating in its beauty and organically com-
plemented her everyday and festive clothes. If a man can admire women’s clasps, belt
linings and rings, then researchers of women’s jewelry can be surprised by its colorful-
ness, amazing diversity, richness and sophistication and artistic imagination: items in-
clude bibs, shoulder pads, neck clasps, shoulder pads, bone pendants (sulpy) ‒ tradi-
tional jewelry and pendants for clothes, necklaces, beads, rings, bracelets, etc. Women
decorated their bibs not only with silver coins, but also with corals, multicolored glasses,
beads, semiprecious stones like carnelian, agate, amber, turquoise; cowry seashells,
mother-of-pearl plates; earrings, rings, bracelets. Bashkir women liked silver jewelry.
Ethnographers explain the preference of Bashkirs for these materials not only because
of their artistic value, decorativeness and sophistication, but also because, according to
popular belief, they possessed protective, curative, beneficial and magical powers, so
they were traditionally used as amulets and talismans symbolizing fertility and bringing
happiness, good luck and serenity. Bashkir women’s jewelry covered those parts of the
body or slits in clothing that, according to popular beliefs might allow possible negative
influences from the outside (head, back, chest, wrists) to penetrate the body and soul,
thus protecting them from evil spirits; it also acted as a kind of barrier from the evil eye
and the overly intrusive looks of strangers. Accordingly, the edges of the sleeves and
hemlines, collars, cutouts and fasteners of women’s dresses were also complemented
with jewelry. Women’s jewelry had its own specific purpose, with specific cultural mean-
ings and gave information about the age, social status and property status of its mistress;


                                                                                                  117
                                                                                                                                it performed a kind of iconic function and demonstrated her aesthetic preferences, artis-
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity



                                                                                                                                tic and creative capabilities, because most jewelry, in particular necklaces and bracelets
                                                                                                                                were made of coral and colored glass fashioned by female artisans who also taught their
                                                                                                                                art to young people.
                                                                                                                                     The most colorful female decoration for Bashkir women in the past, and in demand
                                                                                                                                today, are bibs (tushelderek, selter, hackal, cookrackse, yaga), which in different local
                                                                                                                                groups were combined with shoulder pads. Numerous silver coins, pendants, cowry
                                                                                                                                shells, beads, mother-of-pearl and carnelian plates, coral mesh, which ended with a
                                                                                                                                fringe, etc. were sewn onto a thick fabric base or thin felt. Bibs were massive and colorful,
                                                                                                                                and were worn mainly by married and adult women. The decoration covered the chest,
                                                                                                                                often falling to below the waist, and was held in place by a belt and straps; it was a very
                                                                                                                                expensive attribute of female beauty: at the end of the 19th century, the cost of richly
                                                                                                                                embroidered silver and coral bibs was equivalent to the price of a cow or a good horse.
                                                                                                                                In May 1942, in response to the appeal of the Supreme Mufti Gabdrakhman Rasulev,
                                                                                                                                Bashkir women, without regret, handed over their silver breastplates, the heaviest of
                                                                                                                                which weighed 3-4 kg., to the fund for the creation of a national cavalry division and the
                                                                                                                                construction of a tank column for the salvation of the Fatherland. Coins were never
                                                                                                                                cleaned to a shine, the touch of antiquity was generated by time. They were silent wit-
                                                                                                                                nesses of a past era, part of the history of an entire nation. This resonates with the tradi-
                                                                                                                                tional Japanese vision of beauty, and with the aesthetic principle of yugen [8].
                                                                                                                                     Each geographically isolated group of Bashkirs had its own version of a female bib
                                                                                                                                with its own name, and it differed from the others in shape, size, color scheme, compo-
                                                                                                                                sition, ratio of silver and coral, etc. So, the bib of the yaga (Figure 1) of the eastern
                                                                                                                                Trans-Ural Bashkirs was less voluminous. Only a coral fringe, sewn sometimes in two
                                                                                                                                or three tiers, descended below the waist. The upper part of the bib (about 1/3) in the
                                                                                                                                shape of the neck was sewn with small coins, the upper row of coins was encircled with
                                                                                                                                corals, denoting the “collar”. D. P. Nikolsky called it a “necklace”. Covering the neck, it
                                                                                                                                seemed to be the main part of the decoration, since it gave the name to the whole bib
                                                                                                                                (yaga). Coins were placed in three or four columns on the sides of the breastplate. The
                                                                                                                                middle part of the fabric base was covered with a coral net; five to seven long pendants
                                                                                                                                of large coins and plaques sewn on the braid were attached on top of it. The Bashkirs
                                                                                                                                of the tribes of the Televs and Inzer-Katai people had a breastplate called һаckаl
                                                                                                                                (Figure 2) and the coins on it occupied the central part, the rows numbering up to
                                                                                                                                twelve. On top of the dense coral stitching in the upper part and along the edges of the
                                                                                                                                breastplate were placed two coins grouped together. In the center of the decoration,
                                                                                                                                among the coins, a place was left for a grid of multicolored beads. Both beaded and
                                                                                                                                coral nets were completed with a fringe. A special feature of the Inzer and Uchalin jewel-
                                                                                                                                ry of the yaga was a cut collar in the form of a semicircle of fabric encircling the neck,
                                                                                                                                surrounded by corals [9]. The bibs of the northeastern women of moyansa (Figure 3)
                                                                                                                                were entirely embroidered with coins, resembling fish scales. In north-western Bashkiria,
                                                                                                                                women did not wear massive bibs, they had a kind of bib with ties, hasite (Figure 4), on
                                                                                                                                the fabric base of which large coins, silver plaques, beads and occasionally corals
                                                                                                                                were also sewn. It was wide, covered the chest and according to traditional beliefs,
                                                                                                                                protected the wearer from the evil eye and evil spirits: it was tied from the left shoulder
                                                                                                                                under the right arm and leather bags with prayers, spells, sayings from the Koran were
                                                                                                                                often hidden among the decorative stripes and plates, emphasizing not only the aes-
                                                                                                                                thetic significance, but also the special magical power of the hasite. They also wore
                                                                                                                                beads made of semiprecious stones and colored glass, the southeastern Bashkir
                                                                                                                                women prefering coral necklaces ‒ from the number of coral threads it was possible to
                                                                                                                                judge the status and wealth of a woman.


                                                                                                  118
           Figure 1. Bib (yaga).                         Figure 2. Bib (һаckаl).




                                                                                            CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE




       Figure 3. Bib (moyansa).                  Figure 4. Bib with ties (hasite)


    In the wardrobe of the Bashkir women there were festive and everyday neck clasps
(Figure 5), “collars” made of jewelry medallions and coins – they were often wide, with
decorative clasps and covered the chest, as required by established canons. Made of
openwork, often encrusted with semiprecious stones, they were extremely colorful,
and today their modernized versions are particularly popular with Bashkir women.


                                                                                          119
                                                                                                                                    A female headdress kashmau (Figure 6) can also be considered an ornament.
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity



                                                                                                                                They were available only in wealthy Bashkir families of the south. Corals played a
                                                                                                                                leading role in its design which were combined with silver stripes. Small circles of coral,
                                                                                                                                then large coins were sewn on the headdress around the hole. The main part of the
                                                                                                                                cap was covered with corals attached with one end at the edge, the other at the open-
                                                                                                                                ing of the headdress. In addition to the long pendants of sulpy, kashmau sugy, there
                                                                                                                                was a forehead sugy pendant descending to the forehead. Long chains with jewelry
                                                                                                                                medallions hung from the massive chin buckle of the kaptyrma on the chest. Between
                                                                                                                                the headdress and the back stripe there was a triangular or round plaque, which was
                                                                                                                                not only an occipital decoration, but also a talisman. At the beginning of the twentieth
                                                                                                                                century in the south of Bashkiria, middle–aged women wore a kashmau on a head-
                                                                                                                                scarf, while elderly women wore a kashmau on a towel-like tacktar [9].




                                                                                                                                           Figure 5.                     Figure 6.                     Figure 7.
                                                                                                                                         Clasp jewelry.            A headscarf (kashmau).       A headscarf (kalyapush).

                                                                                                                                     In the eastern Trans-Urals, women wore a different headdress (Figure 7), which
                                                                                                                                consisted of a rounded cap towering over their heads and a cloth attached to it, covering
                                                                                                                                not only the back of the head and ears, but also the upper part of the back. The crown
                                                                                                                                was 15 cm high and covered with scaly coins, the bottom was covered with concentric
                                                                                                                                rows of corals; at the front there was a mesh falling over the eyes. The upper part of the
                                                                                                                                cloth was covered with rows of coins, and below them the groups of coins were framed
                                                                                                                                with corals; the composition ended with a net of corals and a fringe. On the back of the
                                                                                                                                head, a large plaque with inserts of carnelian and turquoise stood out among the coins.
                                                                                                                                Both headdresses were worn by married women. Girls went bare-headed before getting
                                                                                                                                married [9]. Favorite pieces of jewelry included earpieces and pendants, in particular,
                                                                                                                                special feminine ornaments ‒ elkelek for the back of the head (Figure 8), on the fabric or
                                                                                                                                leather base of which coins, beads, and corals were also sewn in rows. They were of
                                                                                                                                different shapes depending on the location of the Bashkirs. A description of such jewel-
                                                                                                                                ry is given in an article by the Italian researcher S. Sommier, who at the end of the 19th
                                                                                                                                century lived in the village of Tashbulatovo (the territory of the modern Abzelilovsky dis-
                                                                                                                                trict of Bashkortostan) [9]. Adult women wove colorful braids with coins or paired sulpy
                                                                                                                                (Figure 9) pendants into their braids. Silver pendants were a favorite decoration: if Bash-
                                                                                                                                kirs from the north-western and central regions used them mainly as oblique attributes,
                                                                                                                                then Chelyabinsk and Kurgan Bashkirs sewed them on festive dresses, bibs and hats,


                                                                                          120
and modern women often used their stylized versions as an independent decoration.
Beveled pendants made of light silver, less often of other metals, were of different length
and composition, and consisted of several plates fastened with rings or chains; they
were sometimes decorated with Arabic script and floral ornaments, supplemented with
stone and colored glass inserts which, when walking, made a charming, clear, light
ringing sound, scaring away evil spirits, as their wearer usually believed.




    Figure 8. Backhead jewelry (elkelek).               Figure 9. Silver pendants (sulpy).

    Hand jewelry (belezek) was also common. Its width varied from 1.5 cm to 5 cm. and




                                                                                                   CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
included bracelets and rings, which, according to belief, brought happiness and health.
As a rule, Bashkir women wore identical, paired bracelets with rounded, unclosed ends
on both wrists, into which the master-jewelers inserted stones or applied stylized floral
patterns or Arabic script, and rings with carnelian or turquoise (Figure 10). Wealthy
Bashkir women wore rings (yezek) with carnelian or turquoise on their middle fingers
(Figure 11), girls and elderly women wore simple rings (baldak) on different fingers. Girls
and young women liked to wear rings with dangling charms, such as coins (Figure 12),
which, as their wearers believed, had cleansing and protective powers.




   Figure 10. Hand jewelry      Figure 11. Rings with carnelian    Figure 12. Rings with coins
          (belezek).                    (аhаҡ yezek).                       (baldak).


                                                                                                 121
                                                                                                                                    In the past, earrings worn as jewelry were not very common due to objective rea-
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity



                                                                                                                                sons. The opinion of S.N. Shitova is valid in that “head coverings and shawls – head-
                                                                                                                                dresses of married women, which carefully covered their hair and neck – did not en-
                                                                                                                                courage the wearing of ear jewelry. In addition, many hats, both women’s and girls’,
                                                                                                                                had pendants near the ears that excluded the wearing of earrings” [9]. As S. I. Ruden-
                                                                                                                                ko emphasized in his observations, “few Bashkir women wore earrings (аlka) in their
                                                                                                                                ears, especially in the southeastern half of the country” [10]. Nevertheless, communi-
                                                                                                                                cation in a single socio-cultural space with other neighboring peoples gradually intro-
                                                                                                                                duced the Bashkir woman to this popular object of beauty: small earrings in the shape
                                                                                                                                of a ring or a half-moon earring came into use mainly in the north-west. South-eastern
                                                                                                                                Bashkir women wore long earrings with pendants made of coins.
                                                                                                                                    A complete set of jewelry, of course, was massive and heavy; nevertheless, a
                                                                                                                                Bashkir woman in the past wore it daily, both on holidays and on weekdays, never
                                                                                                                                taking it off, even when doing household chores, or milking cows and mares. A Bashkir
                                                                                                                                woman, who was a child of nature and was brought up in the pristine natural beauty of
                                                                                                                                her surroundings, was endowed with a special aestheticism and listened to the call of
                                                                                                                                her ancestors and pagan gods, which Islam was unable to displace from people’s life,
                                                                                                                                and saw in her jewelry not only an organic continuation of her own “I” and an addition
                                                                                                                                to her beauty, but also a force that was able to protect her from invisible dark forces
                                                                                                                                and evil spirits, which inhabited the world around her.
                                                                                                                                    Unfortunately, by the beginning of the 20th century, after adopting the decree of the
                                                                                                                                tsarist government on the closure of workshops and forges in the 18th century, after
                                                                                                                                numerous popular uprisings in the region, Bashkir jewelry stopped its original produc-
                                                                                                                                tion. Despite this however, jewelry continued to be kept in families for centuries, from
                                                                                                                                generation to generation, and women passed their jewelry on to their children, as a
                                                                                                                                sacred relic, much of which has ended up in the collections of numerous foreign and
                                                                                                                                Russian museums, including museums in Bashkortostan and other Russian regions
                                                                                                                                where the Bashkirs historically lived (Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Orenburg, Saratov, Sama-
                                                                                                                                ra region, Perm region).


                                                                                                                                   4.3. National decorations in Bashkir folklore

                                                                                                                                    Folklore, as is known, reflects the life, ways, history and culture of the people, there-
                                                                                                                                fore, along with other objects of material culture (clothing, housing, household utensils,
                                                                                                                                etc.), women’s national ornaments are also included. These characteristics are also
                                                                                                                                found in the mythopoetic and fairy-tale creativity of the Bashkirs, in which aesthetically
                                                                                                                                sublime and morally chaste images of women are drawn. So, even in the archaic epic
                                                                                                                                (“Ural-Batyr”, “Akbuzat”), there is an example indicating that women’s jewelry played
                                                                                                                                an important role in society from a very early time:

                                                                                                                                   Ынйы мән биҙәлгән,				Decorated with pearls
                                                                                                                                   Ебәк мән уранған				                                    And wrapped in silks
                                                                                                                                   Бер һылыу ҡыҙҙы күргән [11].			                         I saw a beautiful girl [12].

                                                                                                                                     In that era, apparently, pearls were a popular stone in women’s jewelry, which is
                                                                                                                                confirmed in the following passage: “Энйе тағыр кемем юҡ” [11] (I don’t have a favor-
                                                                                                                                ite to give pearls to) says the hero.


                                                                                               122
   A maiden’s braids (Humay) were also decorated with a ribbon:

   Кәйтәндәр мән биҙәлгән		                     Her braids are braided with a ribbon.
   Сәс толомо һалынған. [11].

   In the epic “Zayatulyak and Hyuhylu”, the heroine also has hair ornaments, with
which she tries to buy her freedom, after being caught by a Zayatulyak hunter:

   Бына һиңә бүләгем:			                        Here are my gifts for you
   Алтын тараҡ, алтын сәсмәү, –                 Golden comb, golden braid-
   Уны ла һиңә бирәмен [11].		                  I am giving them to you [12].

   And in another version of the epic, she offers the hunter a ring for her freedom:

   Ҡулымдағы көмөш йөҙөк		                      A silver ring on my finger
   Бына һиңә бүләгем! [11].		                   My gift to you! [12].

    The heroine of the epic “Akhak-kula” “селтәр-ҡашмау кейгән” appeared before
the guest in a bib and headdress decorated with coins and beads [11].
    In the following epic work, the heroine Maktymkhylu gives the hero her ring as a
sign of consent to be his wife:

   –Бына, егет, был бүләк –		                   – Here is this gift
   Күрешеүҙең билгеһе” [11].		                  As a sign of our meeting, I give” [12].

   Girls were also given jewelry as gifts, judging by the text of the epic “Kongur Bug”:




                                                                                                CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
   Ҡыҙҙарыңдың һәр беренә		                     “Give rings and the embroidered forehead
   Һарауыс менән йөҙөк бир!” [11].              headdresses to each daughter” [12]

     The decoration on the hair of the heroine of the epic “Alpamysha” is also mentio-
ned: “Barsynhylou, goes to the middle of the square, her hair was braided in two braids,
and the ends of the braids were decorated with pearls gathered on a silk thread”) [13].
     Less often mentioned in the Bashkir epic is the kashmau (female headdress deco-
rated with silver coins and corals): “Буранбикә әсәйемә көмөш ҡашмау сығарып
бирҙе” [13] (Buranbike presented a silver headdress (kashmau)).
     It is the same in fairy tales: you will dress Kashmau with coins, in a silk dress/As a
khan’s daughter you will appear (“Тәңкә, ҡашмау тағырһың,/Ебәк күлдәк кейерһең/
Хан ҡыҙылай йөрөрһөң) [14]. In Bashkir fairy tales, women’s jewelry is most often a
ring (yezek): whistle through the ring and a genie will appear in front of you, who will
fulfill any wish (“Йөҙөк аша әсе итеп һыҙғырт, шунан һинең ҡаршыңа ен-шайтан
килеп баҫыр, һин нәмә кәрәк булһа, шуны һорарһың”) [15]. In another fairy tale: to
make a girl fall in love with you, put on her middle finger the ring that my sister gave
you (“Ҡыҙ һине яратһын өсөн һеңлем биргән балдаҡты уның урта бармағына
кейҙер”) [15]. In these tales, the ring performs the function of assisting the hero in his
task. The girl gives her ring to her boyfriend, who represents her savior. The khan sets
difficult tasks, so the suitor can prove he is worthy of his daughter’s hand, such as look-


                                                                                              123
                                                                                                                                ing for a hidden or lost ring, shooting a bow and arrow to get the ring or remove a ring
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity



                                                                                                                                from a princess’s finger, or less often a golden crest (алтын тараҡ), a silver comb
                                                                                                                                (көмөш тараҡ), some precious jewelry (ҡиммәтле биҙәнеү әйберҙәре)[16]. Wo-
                                                                                                                                men’s jewelry is also mentioned in Bashkir folk songs. According to the observations of
                                                                                                                                A. M. Khakimyanova, they are earrings (alka), bracelets (belezek) and rings (yezek),
                                                                                                                                which are usually lovers’ gifts and symbolize their love [17].
                                                                                                                                    Proverbs and sayings also reflect the moral and aesthetic requirements for a woman
                                                                                                                                as the keeper of the hearth, the source of the spiritual principle, the embodiment of
                                                                                                                                beauty and harmony [18]. “A bad husband will blaspheme the wife he chose for himself,”
                                                                                                                                says a folk proverb. Men took care of their women and made sure that they always
                                                                                                                                looked elegant, and master jewelers made beautiful jewelry in accordance with the
                                                                                                                                wishes of the women and traditional canons.


                                                                                                                                   5. Conclusion

                                                                                                                                    Currently, traditional Bashkir jewelry and, above all, bibs, neck clasps, bracelets and
                                                                                                                                earrings in various stylized versions that preserve the authenticity of ancient products,
                                                                                                                                their meanings and ideological motives, are experiencing a “rebirth”, becoming popular
                                                                                                                                elements in the wardrobe of both adult and younger women, returning not only to every-
                                                                                                                                day life and festive culture, but also in the sphere of official communication, complement-
                                                                                                                                ing and decorating the modern suit of a business woman. Young women, in particular,
                                                                                                                                are happy to use these ornaments. Many famous designers take a great deal of care
                                                                                                                                                                                 over them in their collections. These acces-
                                                                                                                                                                                 sories, moreover, look great with outerwear
                                                                                                                                                                                 and jackets of different types (Figure 13). In
                                                                                                                                                                                 Bashkortostan, professional jewelers work
                                                                                                                                                                                 on the manufacture of national jewelry,
                                                                                                                                                                                 which is in great demand, and numerous
                                                                                                                                                                                 creative workshops in cities and rural areas
                                                                                                                                                                                 are reviving the technique of making jewel-
                                                                                                                                                                                 ry and are introducing those who are inter-
                                                                                                                                                                                 ested to the craft; master jewelers conduct
                                                                                                                                                                                 master classes, organize popular exhibi-
                                                                                                                                                                                 tions and sales of their works. There are
                                                                                                                                                                                 antique jewelry pieces in museum collec-
                                                                                                                                                                                 tions. Colorful photo albums convey the
                                                                                                                                                                                 color scheme in the images of jewelry. Adult
                                                                                                                                                                                 craftswomen protect the traditions of jewel-
                                                                                                                                                                                 ry-making and transfer their experience,
                                                                                                                                                                                 knowledge and skills to young masters,
                                                                                                                                                                                 and there are many other positive factors
                                                                                                                                                                                 that work to generate interest in this topic
                                                                                                                                                                                 and allow us to preserve the spirit of the
                                                                                                                                                                                 Bashkirs in modern products as much as
                                                                                                                                                                                 possible. Modern masters practice various
                                                                                                                                                                                 ways of stylizing bibs, neck clasps and re-
                                                                                                                                Figure 13. Neck clasp-jewelry, bracelets and     movable collars, actively introducing dress-
                                                                                                                                earrings (alka) in various stylized versions.    es and T-shirts with their printed forms


                                                                                            124
                                                                   into the environment of the
                                                                   young (Figure 14) repeating
                                                                   the traditional shape and
                                                                   color scheme of these or-
                                                                   naments. They simultane-
                                                                   ously update this discourse
                                                                   in the studies of ethnogra-
                                                                   phers and art historians
                                                                   and set new trends in mod-
                                                                   ern fashion with their fol-
                                                                   lowers, regardless of their
                                                                   social status and age.
                                                                       Today it is obvious that
                                                                   the traditional jewelry of
                                                                   Bashkir women, as an in-
                     Figure 14. Stylized bibs.                     separable part of the cul-
                                                                   tural heritage of a people
with a centuries-old history, continues to live a new life, inspired by the individual’s search
for their identity and national-spiritual roots, stemming from an intensifying ethnic con-
sciousness. Traditional national jewelry brings new aesthetic and artistic canons, ethical
and philosophical ideas and cultural and ideological content, and retains its deep seman-
tic archetype in modernity, proving to the globalizing world that as a phenomenon of eth-
no- and socio-culture, this phenomenon today is not an object of ethnographic admira-
tion and ethnic nostalgia, but a real force which is reviving the national spirit in individuals.
The national jewelry of Bashkir women in their modern dimension is, first of all, in the touch
of a woman, the keeper of cultural traditions, their origins and their own history. This is the
wish of the people in today’s global world, in a vast faceless space to save their unique
ethno-cultural niche and cultural code, objectified in the language of national jewelry.




                                                                                                      CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
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                                                                                                                                      Biographical notes

                                                                                                                                    Rakhmatullina Zugura Yaganurovna, is a Doctor of Philosophy, Professor, and
                                                                                                                                Director of the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Federal Re-
                                                                                                                                search Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Research interests: philosophy of
                                                                                                                                culture, traditiology, national spirituality and ethnoculture. Author of more than 450 sci-
                                                                                                                                entific papers, including 14 monographs: Bashkir tradition (socio-philosophical analy-
                                                                                                                                sis) (Ufa, 2000), Etiquette as a cultural value (Ufa, 2004), Tradition as a socio-cultural
                                                                                                                                phenomenon (Ufa, 2009), The Right to Spirituality: a Philosophical essay (Ufa, 2011),
                                                                                                                                The World holds on culture: philosophical understanding (Ufa, 2021), etc.

                                                                                                                                  Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna, is a Doctor of Philology and Head of the Depart-
                                                                                                                                ment of Folklore Studies, Institute for History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Re-


                                                                                            126
search Center. Research interests: folklore, history of folklore, study of epic poetry
and fairy tales, mythology. Author of six monographs: Poetics of Bashkir Fairy Tales
(Moscow: Nauka, 2000), Bashkir Fairy Tales: Textology and Poetics (Ufa: Gilem, 2016),
Bashkir Folk Art: Animal Tales (Ufa: Kitap, 2009), including three collective monographs:
History of the Bashkirs. Vol. 6 (Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2011), The Bashkirs
(Moscow: Nauka, 2015), The First Regional Committee Secretary: M. Z. Shakirov
(Ufa, 2016), some 30 research papers in peer-reviewed academic journals. Khusainova
has participated in 40 folklore expeditions and supervised three Ph.D. students.


    Summary

    In Bashkir studies, women’s national jewelry has been considered in the works of
several researchers. However, analysis of the scientific literature and specialized sourc-
es has shown a lack of scientific research and publications on the role of national wom-
en’s jewelry in the life of modern people. A review of the available information about
women’s jewelry can serve as a basis for further in-depth research in this area. The
purpose of this article is to introduce readers to Bashkir women’s jewelry, its philosophy
and spiritual meaning, to emphasize its role and place in modern life. Familiarizing the
reader with the aesthetic and artistic traditions of Bashkir people makes this study rele-
vant for the present and fills a gap in the research of women’s jewelry as elements of
Bashkir material culture and its reflection in the folklore of the people. Based on folklore
and ethnographic materials related to women’s clothing, jewelry, taken from published
and unpublished field notes of the authors, this article aims to show the rich history of
Bashkir women’s jewelry from ancient times to the present day and determine its place
in modern Bashkir culture. The analytical approach used for this study revealed the
frequent mention of national ornaments in folklore, for example, in Bashkir fairy tales,
songs and epics, emphasizing their aesthetic and social functions. Examples taken from




                                                                                                          CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
various genres of Bashkir folklore illustrate the authors’ observations about the spiritual
meanings and aesthetic value of women’s jewelry in the life of a Bashkir woman, and
which have not lost their significance for contemporaries.


    Riassunto

     I gioielli tradizionali nazionali delle donne Bashkir sono stati oggetto di studio da par-
te di diversi ricercatori. Tuttavia, l’analisi della letteratura scientifica e delle fonti specia-
lizzate ha mostrato una carenza di ricerca scientifica e pubblicazioni sul ruolo dei
gioielli femminili nazionali nella vita moderna. Una revisione delle informazioni disponi-
bili sui gioielli da donna può servire come base per ulteriori ricerche più approfondite in
questo settore. Lo scopo di questo articolo è presentare ai lettori i gioielli delle donne
Bashkir, la loro filosofia e il significato spirituale, per enfatizzare il loro ruolo e il loro posto
nella vita moderna. Familiarizzare il lettore con le tradizioni estetiche e artistiche del po-
polo Bashkir rende questo studio rilevante e colma una lacuna nella ricerca dei gioielli
femminili come elementi della cultura materiale Bashkir e il suo riflesso nel folklore del
popolo. Questo articolo, basato su ricerche degli autori su materiali folcloristici ed etno-
grafici relativi all’abbigliamento femminile e ai gioielli, pubblicate e inedite, si propone di
mostrare la ricca storia dei gioielli femminili Bashkir dai tempi antichi ai giorni nostri e
determinarne il posto nella moderna cultura Bashkir. L’approccio analitico utilizzato per


                                                                                                        127
                                                                                                                                questo studio ha rivelato la frequente menzione di ornamenti nazionali nel folklore, ad
Rakhmatullina ZuguraYaganurovna, Khusainova Gulnur Ravilovna - The national jewelry of Bashkir women: tradition and modernity



                                                                                                                                esempio nelle fiabe, nelle canzoni e nei poemi epici Bashkir, sottolineando le loro funzio-
                                                                                                                                ni estetiche e sociali. Esempi tratti da vari generi del folklore Bashkir illustrano le osser-
                                                                                                                                vazioni degli autori sui significati spirituali e sul valore estetico dei gioielli femminili nella
                                                                                                                                vita di una donna Bashkir, ancora vivi per i contemporanei.




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