TRANSFORMATIONS OF HIGH MOUNTAIN PASTORAL STRATEGIES IN THE PAMIRIAN KNOT Hermann Kreutzmann Abstract Mountain pastoralism in the Pamirian Knot has been significantly transformed from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. The development path has depended on spheres of influence of dominating powers and affiliation to mighty neighbours and, subsequently, to parties in the Cold War. Significant interventions that led to structural changes can be societal transformations, such as those that happened in the Emirate of Bokhara– Tsarist Russia–Soviet Union–Tajikistan sequence, as well as in the framework of establishing Afghan dominance in Badakhshan, in post- revolutionary interventions in Chinese Xinjiang or in the integration of Karakoram communities in the newly created nation-state of Pakistan. Keywords: Central Asia, Pamirs, transformation, mountain pastoralism, combined mountain agriculture As we have seen, the mountains resist the march of history, with its blessings and its burdens, or they accept it only with reluctance. And yet life sees to it that there is constant contact between hill population and lowlands. None of the Mediterranean ranges resembles the impenetrable mountains to be found in the Far East, in China, Japan, Indochina, India, and as far as the Malacca peninsula. Since they have no communication with sea-level civilization, the communities found there are autonomous (Braudel 1972: 41). Introduction Phenomena observed in high mountain regions are regularly interpreted as the result of natural frame conditions rather than as the visible effects of human action and environmental construction. This perception is particularly encountered when mountain regions outside the industrialized world are in focus, as the above quotation from Fernand Braudel proves. Modernity for mountain areas has been defined by the extension of colonial interest into the mountain periphery. In the context of Central Asian mountains, colonial expansion highlights the focus on the innermost parts of the Eurasian landmass after the conquest of the coastal areas. Mountains, plateaux, deserts and highlands containing historical Silk Road NOMADIC PEOPLES (2009) VOLUME 13, ISSUE 2, 2009: 102–123 doi: 10.3167/np.2009.130207 ISSN 0822-7942 (Print), ISSN 1752-2366 (Online)