• Acta Via Serica
• /
• 제5권1호
• /
• pp.187-198
• /
• 2020

This paper is devoted to the examination of the identity of the Sogdian descendants and their historical role in the second millennium CE. More specifically, it discusses the Sogdian connection to the later Iranic-speaking peoples of Central Asia, namely, the Sarts and the Tajiks. It then discusses the symbiotic relationship between the Sogdian descendants and the Mongols and the Mongol descendants (Chaghatays and Uzbeks) in Central Asia. In sum, this paper argues that the Sogdians did not perish after the Arab conquest of Central Asia in the eighth century CE. They survived under new exonyms Sart and Tajik. Like the Sogdians in pre-Islamic Central Asia, the Tajiks or Sarts played important historical roles in the Mongol and post-Mongol states of Central Asia, maintaining a symbiotic relationship with the nomad elites.

• Acta Via Serica
• /
• 제5권1호
• /
• pp.153-186
• /
• 2020

The family as a social institution has survived most diverse political periods and appears resilient or at least able to reconstitute itself even in the aftermath of destructive events such as wars. Age at first marriage is one possibility to systematize the strategies that families follow in times of internal conflicts (e.g., civil wars), external interventions or peaceful times. The authors found that age at first marriage correlates with socio-political events whereas perceptions of insecurity lead to a decline in marital age. This paper is based on three case studies that the authors have conducted through ethnographic methods among Tajiks in the cities Kulob, Khujand, and Mazar-e Sharif in Tajikistan and Afghanistan. Combining Grounded Theory with the genealogical methods from social anthropology in order to generate demographic data, the authors introduce the method of grounded demography as a way to generate demographic data through ethnographic methods. Grounded demography offers a way to produce statistical data grounded in ethnographic research.