Tajiks

Tea

Tashkurgan sits above three thousand meters, and water here boils noticeably below one hundred degrees: leaves do not give up their color when steeped, so tea is not brewed but boiled at length in a cauldron over a dung fire, stirred, and only then is milk poured in and salt added — that gives the local nǎichá. Boiling is judged by one or two large bubbles that rise without breaking into a true rolling boil; they are the sign that it is time to pour the milk. The brick tea is broken up ahead of time and kept in a leather pouch by the hearth so it does not go damp.

Growth on the crown

A pair of bubbles: two matte translucent bubbles of UNEQUAL size, stuck together side by side and seated askew on the crown — the larger one lower, the smaller one attached above and to the side; both rims are smooth, and at the base two soaked tea leaves cling. At 6 mm it reads as a skewed figure-eight of two unequal circles. There is no regular single geometry: an even column with a clipped top belongs to the Dai. It differs from the Jingpo in that there two lumps of the same order sit on a shared vertical with a tight waist exactly in the middle, whereas here the calibers differ, the axis is slanted, and there is no pinch; it differs from the Hui bud by its smooth rims versus the fine serration around the entire circle.

Headdress

A tǔmǎkè of Pamir men’s cut in road placement: a tall straight cylinder of black velvet with thin embroidered stripes and a flat top, with a narrow astrakhan band along the lower edge pressed against the wall; no ear flaps and no lowered skirt — on a clear day the band is worn turned up. The slit for the growth is in the top plane.

Outline at 6 mm. A glass. A tall straight crown with a flat closed top and a narrow band pressed along the bottom: it differs from Zhunya in that the band does not jut outward as a shelf but lies against the wall, and the crown is twice as tall; from the Jingpo — by the closed top and height; from the Achang — in that the wall does not flare anywhere.

Clothing

A robe of coarse wool on a sash, wool stockings, soft boots, and a leather pouch with broken brick tea slung over the shoulder.

Palette

Black velvet with pale embroidery, astrakhan the color of wet sand, wool the color of baked milk, a glassy glint on the bubble, chestnut tea crumbs.