The Tajik people are one of the oldest cultures in the Central Asian region, with many multifaceted cultural expressions and elements that have been influenced by their neighboring nations for centuries.
One of the most important traditions from Tajikistan is the Chakan embroidery, which is the practice of stitching ornaments, images of flowers, and symbolic drawings on cotton or silk fabrics with colorful threads. The tradition is very widespread among women and girls.
The etiological meaning of Chakan is connected to the Russian words 'chekanit' (call) and 'chekanka' (calking), which means to stitch designs on wood and cloth. In the old days, the stitching was done using karabos, a handicraft cotton cloth. An archaeological discovery in Tajikistan revealed the body of a seven-year-old girl in a grave; she was wearing a Chakan dress with pictures of Lifetree, and branches in pairs with two nightingales.
The art of Chakan embroidery is spread throughout the Khatlon region of Tajikistan, especially in Kulob city which is the center of Chakan crafters. In the 1930s and 1940s, hundreds of families moved from Kulob to western Khatlan, resulting in the distribution of Chakan embroidery art among the population of Vakhsh valley, Khatlon.
Throughout the past two decades, the craft of Chakan embroidery and embroidered products have become available in other regions of Tajikistan as a result of the development of information and communication technologies.
Chakan embroidery is not only used for women's clothing, but also for household items such as curtains, pillows, bedspreads, and coverlets for cradles. These designs feature symbolic depictions and mythological images related to the surrounding nature and cosmos. The embroidery involves selecting the fabric and thread, creating needlepoint images, and sewing the clothes into place.
Traditionally, threads were made from cotton or silk fibers and dyed with natural pigments made from plants and minerals. Nowadays, Chakan dressmakers use threads made from fabric for their needlework. Chakan shirts are a common bridal garment in the Khatlon region. Chakan embroidery appears on the taqi skullcap, worn by Tajik grooms, and Chakan dresses are commonly worn by Tajik women during traditional holidays and celebrations.
The Chakan embroidery symbolizes a unity between humans and nature. Children learn the art through their mothers, grandmothers, and older sisters, and it is also passed on in groups through so-called ‘ustod-shogird’ (master-student) transmission methods. Individual craftswomen sell their products through bazaars and in dress shops, which provide an important source of income.