Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of 29 objects from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. These date from about 900 to 1999. This collection contains Samanid ceramic vessels from the regions of Khuransan and Transoxiana, and Turkic embroideries from Western Turkestan, including regions of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. There are East Turkestan carpets from Khotan and Yarqand in the south of the Uygur Autonomous Region, Turkmen tribal carpets, and rugs and suzani wall hangings from the Khanate of Bukhara in modern-day Uzbekistan. Other items include a fragment of a 20th century Uzbek felt tent, a pair of Bukharan slippers, a hat and a musical instrument called a tunbur from the 19th century. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were formerly Republics of the Soviet Union, only gaining independence in 1991. Islam is the predominant faith in both countries, which have sizable minorities of Russians, Tajiks, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks, Tatars, Azeris, Persians, Armenians and Koreans. Both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are crossed by the Silk Road, a series of routes that extended from China to the Mediterranean Sea, through which the East and the West were able to exchange trade goods and culture via merchants, pilgrims and traders.
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