The Start of the New Year According to the National Calendars of the Tajiks

Abstract

The article is devoted to the issues of the traditional calendar of the Tajik people. The purpose of the article is to consider the traditional ways of determining the onset of seasons and months among mountain Tajiks based on the use of the method of theoretical analysis. It was revealed that the main ways to determine the onset of the new year were: calculation according to the Iranian solar calendar (the entry of the sun into the constellation Aries); calendar «the sun in man» (the arrival of the sun in the sign of the «heart»); observing the appearance of stars in a certain place; reaching the shade from the sun peaks, rocks and stones; sunrise or sunset behind the sign (behind peaks, rocks, cracks); the appearance of sunlight through cracks (windows, cracks, stones with holes); phenological or behavioral observations of animals, as well as the growth of spring plants and flowers (wagtails, storks, swallows, partridges, cats, beetles). In conclusion, it is concluded that in the past, in different mountainous regions, the Tajiks had their own calendars and calendars based on observations of the cycle of the Sun and Moon, planets and stars; on the perception of natural and man-made features – for example, the fall of shadows on objects at certain points, the migration of animals and birds, and the behavior of animals. Experience and observations were passed down from generation to generation, some natural patterns were discovered and various calendars were compiled. However, along with the introduction of the lunar and solar calendars, and later the Gregorian calendar, vernacular calendars survived until the mid-twentieth century, and some of them even survive to this day.

Keywords

• Navruz
• Tajiks
• folk calendars
• omens
• spring equinox
• Навруз