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The Uzbek entrepreneur tapping paper’s age-old power
KONI GHIL, Uzbekistan, June 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The passage of time seems
to have slowed down at Zarif Mukhtarov’s paper mill in a village not far from
ex-Soviet Uzbekistan’s silk road city, Samarkand.
Here in the countryside, where rulers of the Timurid Empire once sought a
verdant sanctuary from their bustling capital, geese sidle by in pairs and
tourists feast on pilau made with local rice from clay-rich soil.
Mukhtarov, a 62-year-old Samarkand native, was a potter like his father
before he set about reviving a paper-making technique coveted for centuries
by much of the known world.
Nowadays, he says, the legendary paper once produced in Samarkand has been
consigned to history by the bland, white, industrial-made stuff and, of
course, computers.
But that doesn’t stop thousands of guests arriving at his door every year
in the village of Koni Ghil, which has become a must-stop on the country’s
growing tourist trail.
“Foreign guests come here to learn more about our traditions and our
history,” said Mukhtarov.
“Local people come here to learn about themselves,” he added, as his kite-
flying, eight-year-old granddaughter Mekhrubon tore around the workers’ yard
in a blur of colour.
– A riveting tale –
The story of how Samarkand emerged as a global paper-making centre is a
favourite among historians who study the rise and fall of ancient trade
routes linking East Asia and Europe, even if they admit the precise details
are hazy.
Production there began some time in the second half of the eighth century
AD after Chinese troops invaded Central Asia but were defeated by forces
under the control of Abu Muslim, a general of the Arab Abbasid caliphate.
“Among the Chinese (prisoners) captured were masters in the art of making
paper,” says Makhmud Nasrullayev, a historian at the University of Samarkand.
“In return for their lives being spared, they brought to Samarkand their
secret of paper,” said Nasrullayev.
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What separated Samarkand’s paper from the Chinese version and saw it
gradually displace papyrus across Europe and the Middle East in the coming
centuries was its smooth, glossy finish.
This meant that it absorbed less ink and could therefore be used for
writing on both sides.
The paper produced in Samarkand’s mills was also far more durable than
papyrus.
“Samarkand paper was polished with the help of an agate stone,” said
Mukhtarov, the mill owner, whose paper is the superior of three kinds
produced at Samarkand’s mills until the 19th century, when the city fell
under tsarist control.
“The Chinese didn’t need to polish their paper because they used brushes
to write instead of quills,” he added.
– From pulp to paper –
Mukhtarov’s paper comes from the branches of young mulberry trees that are
indigenous to Uzbekistan and also used in the production of silk.
The branches are cleaned of their bark and peeled into long, fibrous
strands that are boiled in a cast-iron pot for four to five hours.
The mixture is then pounded to pulp by a trip hammer powered by a quaint,
wooden watermill before it is dried and polished.
“For thicker paper you need more fibres, for thinner paper, fewer,”
Mukhtarov said.
This gruelling process in some way reflects Mukhtarov’s own journey to
become an off-the-beaten-track gem on the Uzbek tourism circuit, dominated by
striking Islamic architecture in cities like Samarkand and its sisters
Bukhara and Khiva.
Mukhtarov first began building his paper mill in 2001 but it was only two
years ago that it fully returned the investments made by his family.
“We had to borrow money from sisters, brothers, cousins. Our relatives
sometimes asked: ‘What do we need this (paper) for? Better to find some other
type of work’!”
Nowadays, nobody questions Mukhtarov’s vision for the family business,
especially as Uzbekistan’s government inches away from over two decades of
isolation under late ruler Islam Karimov by relaxing restrictions on tourism.
But the master craftsman says he is not content to stop at paper
production as he beats a path back through the region’s storied past.
One project he is currently planning is a new wooden mill to press oil
from walnuts and flaxseed, which will be used in the pilau he serves to
visitors.
“Tourists will witness the birth of plov (local name for pilau) before
their very eyes!” he exclaimed with enthusiasm.
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