Chust city

Famous uzbek knives and tubeteika skullcaps from Chust

Chust in Namangan province of Uzbekistan is one of the most ancient towns (over 3,500 years old) in the Fergana Valley, famous since long time ago for its unique knives and tubeteika skullcaps (also spelled tubeteyka, tubatay, duppi, doppi, doppa or kalpoq). Handmade Chust knives are considered the best in Uzbekistan.

Chust is one of the oldest Central Asian centers for processing metal. In the very heart of the town there is an authentic blacksmith’s quarter inhabited by masters in making knives (‘suzangars’). There, hereditary blacksmiths produce manually in small workshops the famous Uzbek knives - pichaks, each type made for a special purpose (for cutting vegetables and meat, for peeling fruit and so on).

The Chust knife (pichak) is not only very beautiful, but also extremely functional: it can easily cut a hair, while its blade for many years remains serviceable and sharp if treated and honed properly. This is why the word combination ‘Chust knife’ in Uzbekistan is equal to the phrase ‘of the best quality‘.

Another type of product Chust is renowned for is a series of unique tubeteika skullcaps ‘Chust duppi’, a Central Asian traditional peakless cap. Chust tubeteikas are different from any other type of skullcaps in Uzbekistan: they are almost two times as tall, while patterns on their sides are absolutely special.

Embroideresses in Chust decorate manually each skullcap with traditional ornamental patterns - ‘bodom’ (‘almond’) and ‘kalampir’ (‘pepper’), which are enriched with various small elements making each tubeteika highly unique. The Chust duppi are usually worn by people from Andizhan, Samarkand, Jalal-Abad, Dushanbe and Khujand.

Places to visit and top sights in Chust:

• Blacksmith’s workshops where you can watch the process of making traditional pichak knives, and see what materials masters use in handles and how they decorate them.
• Craftsmen’s workshops in Chust specialising in making tubeteika skullcaps.
• The central park in the city with century-old plane trees and a holy spring.
• A many-tier tea house in the central park.

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