THE ETHNIC HISTORY AND SETTLEMENT OF THE TURKMENS OF KASHKADARYA: TRADITIONAL ECONOMY AND MATERIAL CULTURE

Drawing on historical and ethnographic sources, the article examines the  ethnic history, territorial distribution, traditional economy and material culture of the  Turkmens  of  the  Kashkadarya  oasis.  It  shows  that  the  core  of  the  local  Turkmen  population is linked with the Ersari tribe, which migrated from the Middle Amu Darya  in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and describes their settlement in the western  Karshi  steppe  –  the  Mirishkor  (Pomuq),  Kasbi,  Koson  and  Muborak  districts.