The Peoples of Central Asia and their Tents

This business is run with respect and appreciation for the Earth on which we all live and inparticular for the Nomadic Peoples of Central Asia.

The nomadic Turkic and Mongol tribes are primarily the yurt dwellers of this earth. A few of the Persian speaking peoples also live in yurts, notably Tajiks in the Pamirs and Pashtus in the Badakshan and Wakhan areas of Afghanistan. The Shasehvan (Ilsehvan) on the Azeri/Iranian border live in a hybrid of the yurt the Alachig.

The Mongols call their yurts Gers, these tents have straight roof ribs and usually have two central support poles supporting the roof wheel. They are covered these days in quilted canvas and often have brightly painted wooden doors. Mongolian Gers are found in present day Mongolia and Inner Mongolia (PRC).

The Turkic peoples (Turkmen, Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Kazak) live in Turkoman style yurts known as bosuy or uy. These tents have curved roof ribs (auk) which gives a more domed profile to the roofs and creates more head room inside the yurt. The roof wheel (tunduk) is free standing, and they can be either covered in felts (alakiyiz), canvas and or reed screens (chiy). The roof wheels vary in design from region to region as do the doors. The intricately woven tent bands (terme) that support the structure (kerge/khana) and hold different parts of the frame in place vary in pattern from clan to clan.

We make our yurts locally in the Turkoman style from coppiced ash or sweet chestnut and thus have the traditional “vernacular” appearance. The covers are made in the UK too from fire, rot and water proofed canvas and conform to the necessary British standards. We import Kyrgyz felt hangings, for both inside and the outside of your yurt and woven tent bands for the inside (or for your house of-course). These make what is already a beautiful structure into a stunning one. You can either upgrade your existing yurt or add them to your new one. We have a limited quantity in stock but we are happy to order what you want from Kyrgyzstan, please be patient on delivery times though.