Central Asian arts

Introduction
Literature
- Turkish literature
- Tibetan literature
- Mongolian literature
Music
- Afghanistan and the sedentary population of Turkistan
  - Folk music
  - Classical music
- Turkic nomads, Mongols, and Siberian peoples
  - Social role of music
  - Instrumental and vocal styles
- The Himalayan peoples
  - Tibetan music
  - The music of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sikkim
- The study of Central Asian music
Performing arts: dance and theatre
- Shamanic ritual
- Buddhist ritual
  - Buddhist monastic dance
  - Buddhist morality plays
- Folk dance
Visual arts
- Prehistoric cultures
  - Paleolithic cultures
  - Neolithic and Metal Age cultures
- Nomadic cultures
  - Altaic tribes
  - Siberian tribes
  - Mongolian Huns
  - Tashtyk tribe
- Parthia
- The kingdoms of western Turkistan and Afghanistan
  - Sogdiana
  - Fergana and Chorasmia
  - Bactria
- Kushān
- Eastern Turkistan
  - Oğuz tribes
  - Uighurs
  - Khitans
  - Samanids
  - Ghaznavids and Ghūrids
  - Seljuqs
  - Mongols
  - Emirate of Bukhara
  - Russian–Soviet period
- Arctic regions
- Himalayan cultures of Nepal and Tibet
  - Nepal
    - Architecture
    - Sculpture and painting
  - Tibet
    - Decorative arts
    - Sculpture
    - Painting: frescoes and temple banners
    - Decorative architectural motifs

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

A Mongolian throat singer in traditional attire plays a morin khuur fiddle and sings into a microphone on stage at Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China.

Tibetan Buddhist monk reading with handbell in Lamayuru Monastery, Ladakh, India

Tibetan ritual objects

Tibetan 'cham drama

colossal Buddha at Bamiyan, Afghanistan

Vajravarahi/Vajrayogini

At a Glance

Vishnu

Central Asian arts summary

Related Questions

Mongol shaman — Mongol shaman Mongol shaman wearing a ritual gown and holding a drum with the image of a spirit helper, c. 1909.

Central Asian arts

Written by

Tamara Talbot RiceAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Central Asian arts, literary, performing, and visual arts of a large portion of Asia embracing the Turkic republics (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan), Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and parts of Russia and China. As used here, the term denotes only those traditions that were not influenced by the religion of Islam. This immense tract of land—with its highly varied topography and climate and its diversity of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds—encouraged the development...

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