Kamp, Marianne. The New Woman in Uzbekistan: Islam, Modernity, and Unveiling Under Communism. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2006.

While other works on the hujum (Soviet efforts to eliminate the veil) start with the hujum, Kamp shows the history of veiling in Uzbekistan prior to the hujum.  In some parts it was drier than I expected, but it is an important work given the relative lack of information on the topic, and subtopics like otins.  It also has a good glossary of terms.

Sections: Russian Colonialism in Turkestan and Bukhara; Jadids and the Reform of Women; The Revolution and Rights for Uzbek Women; The Otin and the Soviet School (The Otin and Traditional Education; Closing the Door); The New Women; Unveiling before the Hujum; The Hujum; The Counter-Hujum: Terror and Veiling; Continuity and Change in Uzbek Women's Lives; Conclusions

Comments: 2/10/10
The chapter on otins shows the transformation of the otin during and after the Soviet period.  Page 77 defines otins as follows: "The otin was educated in Islamic religious texts and in the classics of Central Asian literature, and she instructed children in prayer, Quran recitation, and these texts."  The following quote from page 78 shows the important connection between the otin and the mahalla: "There were otins in most mahallas (traditional urban neighborhoods) and in many villages."

Descriptors: 2000s, archival, book, history, hujum, jadids, K, otins, reform, Soviet, Tsarist, Uzbekistan, women