The Stateless Central Asian Merchant

The Life of Haim Aghajan Abraham, Based on His Journal 1897–1986

Haim Abraham, born in 1897 in Turkmenistan, wrote out his memoir in a spiral-bound notebook covering a period of ninety years. After he passed away in 1999, the journals were discovered in his home, written in an ancient language: Judeo-Farsi. Years later, the journals were translated, unearthing a time capsule nearly lost.

The former years of Abraham’s life had a recurrent theme of Russian Tsarist, Bolshevik, and Soviet violence, which heavily affected his family’s viability. Abraham’s family were not nationals anywhere. They were forced to move from country to country in search of religious freedom and the economic opportunities that often went hand in hand as merchant class Jews. What Abraham did have, which was central to his endurance, was a community of relatives and friends in every city he traveled. The mutual responsibility inherent within the Jewish community was essential to establishing worldwide business ties and mobility.

Abraham came from an enclave called the Jewish Triangle, which stretched across large parts of Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia. Due to continued persecution and spotty educational access, much of their history is not written down and barely part of the Jewish historical lexicon. Presented is an invaluable memoir into a fascinating time period.

©2025 Dahlia Abraham-Klein (P)2025 Dahlia Abraham-Klein

The insight about life and resilience in Central Asia - amazing.

The narrator was exceptional - very fluid and attention grabbing style. I was intrigued by this easy flow narrative pulsing between a 3rd party narration voice and then smoothly transitioning to the main character in the book. Many of the transitions to explain the myriad cultural differences were so interesting to understanding. I loved the use of Hebrew, Arabic, English, Farsi, Judeo-Farsi words that enriched my further understandings. This book overall helped create for me an image of a life in words of a strange world full of relentless obstacles, setbacks and persecution but overcome by a matching resilience and hard work strengthened by a bond of faith, integrity, family love. Haim refused to be labeled a victim. What a story he lived! Dallas Rodgers