THE TEXTILE COLLECTION OF THE CENTER OF ISLAMIC CIVILIZATION AS A NEW SOURCE FOR THE STUDY OF THE HISTORY OF CENTRAL ASIAN WEAVING

Abstract

Abstract. The article examines the textile collection of the Center of Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan as a new and methodologically significant source for studying the history of Central Asian weaving from antiquity to the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Unlike earlier museum holdings formed during the Soviet period, the Center’s collection was purposefully assembled through acquisitions at international auctions and from foreign private collections, making it possible to reintroduce previously inaccessible objects into scholarly circulation.

Textiles are shown to be key witnesses to processes of cultural exchange, diplomatic contacts, and transregional trade along the Silk Road. Particular attention is given to major chronological layers: Sogdian polychrome samites of the 7th–9th centuries, epigraphic tiraz textiles of the Muslim Renaissance period, gold-woven works from the Chagatai era, court textiles of the Timurids, and rare examples of Mughal (Baburid) textiles, presented for the first time in the museum collections of Uzbekistan. The analysis reveals a complex interweaving of Chinese, Iranian, steppe, and Islamic artistic traditions reflected in weaving techniques and ornamental systems. The collection is considered not only as a body of artworks but also as a dynamic research resource that allows for the уточнение of attributions, the reconstruction of object trajectories, and the analysis of the social, religious, and aesthetic functions of textiles.