BOKHARAN DANCING-BOYS
BY OLE OLUFSEN, 1896-9

The Emir of Bokhara and His Country: Journeys and Studies in Bokhara by Ole Olufsen, Professor, Secretary to the Danish Royal Geographical society, etc. was written after two journeys to Central Asia in 1896-7 and 1898-9. As he reported in his introduction, “the details which appear in the book have been gathered by autopsy and by questioning Bokharan officials and other natives whom I met on my journeys, also Russian officers, especially the Finnish captain Kivekaes who has travelled through Pamir in all directions for many years. I spoke Russian and Usbegic, so that interpreters were only employed for the Tadjik language.” The book was published in English by William Heinemann in London in 1911. No translator was mentioned.

Bokhara at the time described was a vassal state of the Russian Empire. The latter controlled its external affairs while the Emir of Bokhara, Abdul-Ahad bin Muzaffar al-Din, exercised absolute power over its internal affairs.

Presented here is everything of Greek love interest. The three photos not of the author accompanied the original text.

Chapter I.  Mountain Bokhara

There are many well-to-do landlords living in their fortified castles with their harem, their dancing boys and serfs.[p. 104]

Chapter II.  The Bokharan Level Country

Despite the chapter title, what follows has nothing to do with Bokhara. In June-July 1899, Olufsen travelled in neighbouring Khiva, another autonomous Russian protectorate ruled in its internal affairs by a Khan, Muhammad Rahim Bahadur II.

One evening the Khan diverted us by sending 3 musicians and 4 dancing-boys. Two of the musicians played on the clarinet (surnai), and one beat the tamburine. While dancing the boys used two flat stones as castanets which together with the slow monotonous melodies of the shrieking clarinets produced an infernal noise. In a mystical lamp-light the boys (oindjé) performed various dances accompanied by pantomimic gestures with their arms, threw somersaults and made high jumps on the spread out felt carpets to the great pleasure of the Mussulmans sitting about us on the ground. Most of the dance was of an obscene character, and the boys behaved entirely as if they were women. The front part of their heads was shaven, and at the nape of the neck the hair was dressed in a long ringlet, giving them the appearance of females. All Begs and well-to-do people have as a rule one or several of these dancing-boys who often pass among them as a sort of merchandise. The value of a good dancing-boy is about 300 sh. [pp. 215-6]

Chapter VII.  Houses and their Arrangement

Eunuchs are not employed as superintendents in the larger harems but very old men, and very often or as a rule the pages of the princes and their Begs, the so-called dancing boys, belong to the inhabitants of the harem; such are in the possession of every well-to-do Beg. [p. 331]

Chapter XI.  Amusements and Games

The favourite amusement is, however, the dancing boys, the so-called “Batshas'” (child), now, at any rate, an immoral institution even if it has not always been so. Batshas are kept by the Emir, the Begs and other well-to-do people in greater or smaller numbers, and from early childhood they are trained to divert their masters by a mixture of dance, gymnastics and song, beating of castanets, all mixed up and always of an obscene character. The dance as a social entertainment is quite unknown, it is a spectacle, and as women are forbidden by the Emir to dance, at any rate in public, and as in the opinion of the Sunnite Mussulman it is improper for women to dance either in public or private, boys are trained for it. When young they are spoiled, and later on they generally lead a dissipated life. The batshas of the Emir and the Begs now and then make their appearance on public places on festive occasions, but this kind of amusement thrives most within doors in the palaces and their court-yards and particularly in the evening by lamp-light. It is commonly said that the Emir and many others have both female and male harems, even the spiritual mullahs deny themselves nothing in this respect and the raging desire for dancing boys goes so far that less well-to-do keep a troop of batshas between them, or they plunder and murder to be able to procure a dancing boy. Parents often sell their boys to let them become batshas, then their future is secure, for many a favourite batsha obtains a good public office when he gets old.

In Bokhara and Khiva I witnessed many performances of batshas; their number varied from one in the houses of subordinate Begs to 10 and 12 in the palaces of the Emir of Bokhara.  The style of the dance was the same always; from a sedate walk in a circle they passed by degrees to wild dances and antics, intermixed with song and yelling and a sort of stomach dance or sexual gestures illustrating a love-scene.

One evening while I was staying in the palace of the Emir, Ilti-khanéh at Bokhara-i-Sherif, such a dancing troop of ten boys with six musicians arrived by order of the Emir to entertain us. They were solemnly introduced to me as the performing artists by an emissary from the Emir; lamps and lanterns were lighted in the palace-yard, and carpets were spread all round along the four wings of the palace, and the musicians with clarinets (surnai), drums and guitars (ribab) took their seats in a row with a chafing-pan before them above which drum- and tambourine-beaters, practising on their instrument with their fingers alone, warmed the drumskins in order to stretch them tight. We sat down on the clay-platform, and before the beginning of the dance the batshas sat down on the ground in front of me. All of them had this unpleasant mixed look, half man half woman, or to put it more correctly half boy half girl, which was disgusting to me, but conveyed the opposite impression to the great assembly of both higher and lower officials whose eyes, beaming with delight, told plainly of the pleasure they now looked forward to. All the batshas wore red, loose caftans, wide trousers, all were bare-footed, and their longish hair was hanging down their backs. They were served with pastry, sweetmeats, fruit and tea while the music in which the drum played the principal part began. It was curious to observe the zeal with which the Bokhara men, and even an old Beg of high rank sought to display their high esteem of the batshas by handing refreshments now to one and now to the other.

After the refreshments the batshas rose and began to walk round one after the other in a circle on the carpets, first quite sedately, with lifted hands, rocking with their hips and beating time with castanets. The measure became quicker by degrees, they began to sing a song whose subject was the love of two girls personated by two of the boys; then the beloved answered the song of their lovers, and dance, howl, jest and antics now became absolutely wild, representing passionate over-excitement. The musicians drummed and fluted a regular devilish music, the spectators chimed in and applauded, servants ran about with lamps and candles which they held up before the faces of the batshas, that they and their mimics could be admired, until finally the noise stopped suddenly, and the dance was at an end. In spite of the grotesque amusement there was, so to speak, a red thread, not to be misunderstood, running through the dance which the boys made their best to perform gracefully.

After a little rest and repeated refreshments among which at last a vessel of opium in water, the next dance commenced, performed in the very same way, until it was finished at my hint; it is common practice that presents are given to each of the boys which they receive very arrogantly, being conscious of the importance of their art; for to give a present to the batsha or offer him a vessel of tea is in Bokhara regarded as a great honour. The givers feel happy on the batsha receiving the latter and especially if he gives back the remainder of a drink, but exceedingly unhappy if the batsha rejects the drink or the gift. [pp. 436-9]