The book is a complex research on the life of Tadjiks of the Khuf Valley, based on numerous years of field work (since 1907), it gathered data on the common day life and beliefs of those people. After the death of the author the book was prepared for publication by A.K. Pisarchik (the wife of A.); she completed the work with her own field materials, developed such chapters as ‘Clothes’, ‘Food’, and ‘Calendar”. The chapter ‘Dwellings’ was written by Pisarchik on the base of materials collected in 1943. Specialists note that the value of the book is also in the fact that it served not only as a source of further comparative studies of other settled agrarian peoples of Central Asia, but stimulated the research interest inside the world of Ismailitic ethnic-confessional community from which many contemporary scholars came who study the culture of peoples of Central Asia.

The book consists of two parts. The first one is on the human life from the moment of conception (it gives a detailed concept of shaping the embryo and its soul) up to the wedding and the death; there is a special fragment on the ideas of the afterlife. Eleven chapters of the first part perform a though description of habits, religious practices and beliefs on the human life and health; they also show an important role of Mazars in the life of mountainous Tadjiks. The re is also a detailed presentation of tanatalogical ideas and funeral ceremonies.

The second part is on the common day life of Tadjiks (cattle breeding, arable farming, hunting, crafts, and cooking food). The chapter ‘Folk Calendar and Time Count’ is of special interest.