Central Asian arts

Table of Contents

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

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The performing arts have played an important role in the spiritual and social life of Central Asia, where they evolved as didactic art forms within a religious context. Performance, therefore, occurs in conjunction with some religious or special event. Two main types of performance predominate throughout Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Mongolia, and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia: those related to shamanism and those derived from Buddhism. The performing arts of the Turkic peoples of Afghanistan and Turkistan are different from these because of the influence of the Islamic religion and are discussed in the article Islamic arts: Dance ...(100 of 19320 words)

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