Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Thirteen: On Maulana, Ayran and Cultures.
I roamed on the streets of Konya… and located a street side vendor, who sold Doner Sandwich for just 1 Turkish Lira… he asked me to relish the taste of the sandwiches with the national drink of Turkey… Ayran, which is yoghurt, mixed with water and salt… something like Doogh in Afghanistan, and Chhaachh/Salted Lassi in India.
Relishing the taste of Ayran… I wondered about the cultural assimilation between various civilizations.
Take for example Ayran- it is no coincidence that variants of this drink are found all over the place- from India, Central Asia, Levant (Arab territories of Syria-Jordan-Lebanon-Palestine), Khorasan (or greater Persia, which includes Iran-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan), Turkey and even East Europe… this prevalence tells the story of cultural transactions between all the societies.
It is very difficult to predict, which society or civilization invented Ayran… in fact, to even try to predict is ethnocentrism- the same way, when we Indians tend to congratulate ourselves for invention decimal numeric system... these inventions are borne out of collective human needs and cannot be attributed to one society or the other…
It is, however, predictable, how Ayran would have traveled from India and Central Asia to Turkey and East Europe… along the Silk Route… with the linking pins of Persian Empire and then Ottoman Empire. It adopted variants in different places… like in Afghanistan, they invented Doogh- a bitter and fermented variant (which incidentally is one of my favorite drinks… just gulp a glass of it and you feel drowsy for hours together… the Russians termed it as Afghan Beer)… or in India, they invented Lassi- a sweet and scented variant.
What it tells that long before globalization took over… there was a cultural assimilation going on… catalyzed by people and not corporations… (Though of course, a huge subset of this catalyst were the traders- Silk traders and Sea-farers).
Another quick example… I saw in Kandahar finely chopped vegetables pickled in Vinegar… it was an art learned from Iran… in fact, Iranian pickles are famous in Kandahar- the Pakistani pickles (which, like Indian pickles, are pickled in oil and not in vinegar) have very few takers. Now when I was in Egypt… I had seen similar pickles called Torshi- finely chopped vegetables, pickled in vinegar.
In fact, Egyptian culture and Persian culture have a lot in common… the celebration of Prophet’s birthday… Sugar Dolls… pickled fishes… Sham-e-nessim or navroz… traits of Sufism… one of my Iranian friends in Egypt said that though Egypt is Sunni- most of the traits of Egyptians are that of Shias.
This, perhaps, was due to centuries of rule of Fatimid Caliphs… who were basically from Iran, Shias. They ruled from Cairo and incorporated a number of Persian traits in Egyptian society…
So much food for thought… over a glass of Ayran that costed half a Lira.
Ulusan was a comfortable hotel… it had central heating. As I was heading more and more towards hinterland, I could feel the chill… Yusuf was right- he had told me to go from West to East, so that I keep on getting attuned and accustomed to the weather slowly. I had a good night sleep.
The day next, after taking a quick shower, I was headed straight towards the Maulana Mausoleum… alongside the road, I saw various stores selling white candies- called Mevlana Candies (in Turkish, Maulana is written as Mevlana)… the candies are very tasty- the core of the candies is soft and has a distinct taste, which can only be felt and not described… buy a pack, when in Konya.
The Maulana Mausoleum is a serene sight… it has a distinct architecture, very different from any other building that I had seen in Turkey or elsewhere… the minaret over the Maulana’s tomb is cylindrical with a big diameter- with a cone atop… green in color.
The atmosphere was serene… almost like a pilgrimage. People come to the place with lot of devotion… most of them are locals, with sprinkling of Iranians and foreigners like me. I entered the shrine… stood before Maulana’s tomb and said Hindu prayers. I had tears in my eyes… it was a dream come true… I equate the spiritual experience with that of any Hindu pilgrimage… God and his blessings, after all, are to bind us and not divide us.
The precinct of the Mausoleum is full of tombs… of the disciples of Maulana… and stone inscriptions, in which Maulana’s poetries are written.
The hall… in which Maulana’s tomb was located was full of sound of Reed… a musical instrument, which was invented by Maulana… while in market, I bought few cassettes of Reed Music.
It was time to visit other parts of Konya before pushing for Cappadocia. Konya doesn’t have many other places of tourist interest… there is Inche Mosque- with its own distinct architecture… Aladdin Tepesi, which is more of an artificial hillock made for local picnickers…
It was time to say good bye to Konya, visiting which was a long standing dream of mine… Maulana has said….
A wanderer had come to Maulana… and I am sure, must have left with his blessing…
I boarded Tram to reach Otogar… and then at 1 pm… boarded a bus to Cappadocia- Goreme to be precise.
Relishing the taste of Ayran… I wondered about the cultural assimilation between various civilizations.
Take for example Ayran- it is no coincidence that variants of this drink are found all over the place- from India, Central Asia, Levant (Arab territories of Syria-Jordan-Lebanon-Palestine), Khorasan (or greater Persia, which includes Iran-Afghanistan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan), Turkey and even East Europe… this prevalence tells the story of cultural transactions between all the societies.
It is very difficult to predict, which society or civilization invented Ayran… in fact, to even try to predict is ethnocentrism- the same way, when we Indians tend to congratulate ourselves for invention decimal numeric system... these inventions are borne out of collective human needs and cannot be attributed to one society or the other…
It is, however, predictable, how Ayran would have traveled from India and Central Asia to Turkey and East Europe… along the Silk Route… with the linking pins of Persian Empire and then Ottoman Empire. It adopted variants in different places… like in Afghanistan, they invented Doogh- a bitter and fermented variant (which incidentally is one of my favorite drinks… just gulp a glass of it and you feel drowsy for hours together… the Russians termed it as Afghan Beer)… or in India, they invented Lassi- a sweet and scented variant.
What it tells that long before globalization took over… there was a cultural assimilation going on… catalyzed by people and not corporations… (Though of course, a huge subset of this catalyst were the traders- Silk traders and Sea-farers).
Another quick example… I saw in Kandahar finely chopped vegetables pickled in Vinegar… it was an art learned from Iran… in fact, Iranian pickles are famous in Kandahar- the Pakistani pickles (which, like Indian pickles, are pickled in oil and not in vinegar) have very few takers. Now when I was in Egypt… I had seen similar pickles called Torshi- finely chopped vegetables, pickled in vinegar.
In fact, Egyptian culture and Persian culture have a lot in common… the celebration of Prophet’s birthday… Sugar Dolls… pickled fishes… Sham-e-nessim or navroz… traits of Sufism… one of my Iranian friends in Egypt said that though Egypt is Sunni- most of the traits of Egyptians are that of Shias.
This, perhaps, was due to centuries of rule of Fatimid Caliphs… who were basically from Iran, Shias. They ruled from Cairo and incorporated a number of Persian traits in Egyptian society…
So much food for thought… over a glass of Ayran that costed half a Lira.
Ulusan was a comfortable hotel… it had central heating. As I was heading more and more towards hinterland, I could feel the chill… Yusuf was right- he had told me to go from West to East, so that I keep on getting attuned and accustomed to the weather slowly. I had a good night sleep.
The day next, after taking a quick shower, I was headed straight towards the Maulana Mausoleum… alongside the road, I saw various stores selling white candies- called Mevlana Candies (in Turkish, Maulana is written as Mevlana)… the candies are very tasty- the core of the candies is soft and has a distinct taste, which can only be felt and not described… buy a pack, when in Konya.
The Maulana Mausoleum is a serene sight… it has a distinct architecture, very different from any other building that I had seen in Turkey or elsewhere… the minaret over the Maulana’s tomb is cylindrical with a big diameter- with a cone atop… green in color.
The atmosphere was serene… almost like a pilgrimage. People come to the place with lot of devotion… most of them are locals, with sprinkling of Iranians and foreigners like me. I entered the shrine… stood before Maulana’s tomb and said Hindu prayers. I had tears in my eyes… it was a dream come true… I equate the spiritual experience with that of any Hindu pilgrimage… God and his blessings, after all, are to bind us and not divide us.
The precinct of the Mausoleum is full of tombs… of the disciples of Maulana… and stone inscriptions, in which Maulana’s poetries are written.
The hall… in which Maulana’s tomb was located was full of sound of Reed… a musical instrument, which was invented by Maulana… while in market, I bought few cassettes of Reed Music.
It was time to visit other parts of Konya before pushing for Cappadocia. Konya doesn’t have many other places of tourist interest… there is Inche Mosque- with its own distinct architecture… Aladdin Tepesi, which is more of an artificial hillock made for local picnickers…
It was time to say good bye to Konya, visiting which was a long standing dream of mine… Maulana has said….
Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come.
A wanderer had come to Maulana… and I am sure, must have left with his blessing…
I boarded Tram to reach Otogar… and then at 1 pm… boarded a bus to Cappadocia- Goreme to be precise.
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