Holiday in Central Asia (17): Samarkand in Uzbekistan 

We spent the whole of Day 16 in Samarkand and it was the best day yet and arguably it will be the highlight of the entire tour. 

Samarkand – ‘samar’ means land and ‘kand’ means sweet – is situated in the valley of the river Zarafshan. The first settlement here was constructed in the 6th century BC and was first conquered by Alexander the Great some 200 years later. He spent two years here and married Roxanne. For some 2,000 years, it was one of the most important stops on the Silk Road.

The city fell to Islam when Qutaiba ibn Muslim invaded it in 712. Tamerlane made it his capital of the relatively small region of Transoxiana in 1370 and then proceeded to expand his empire. It is a centre of the great Tajik culture and the vast majority of the people there is still Tajik-speaking. It is the second city of Uzbekistan with a population of 500,000 and it is usually cooler than much of the rest of the country.

Our first call of the day was to the Gur Emir Mausoleum. Originally this mausoleum was built by Tamerlane for his grandson who died in 1404, but more significantly it was used to house the tomb of Tamerlane himself who died the following year. The term Gur Emir means ‘Tomb of the Emir’. Tamerlane’s two sons and grandson are entombed here and beneath a two-metre slab of dark-coloured jade – in the ancient world more precious than gold – there is the tomb of Tamerlane himself. Eight tombs stand here altogether under a sky-blue dome with 64 ribs reaching up to 32 metres (105 feet). 

Next stop was the Ulug Beg Observatory. This is located at 710 metres in the foothills overlooking the district of Afrosiab to the north-east of Samarkand and it was built in 1428 by Tamerlane’s grandson Ulug Beg (1394-1449) who was much less interested in warfare than in science. The complex housed the largest 90 degree quadrant the world had ever seen, although it is called a sextant because only 60 degrees were used, but it was destroyed by fanatics in 1449. It was only discovered in 1908 by the Russian archaeologist Viatkin. All one can see today is a section of the quadrant located by Viatkin (36 foot or 11 metres) embedded in the rock, but there is also an interesting little museum opposite with all the exhibits described in Uzbek, Russian and English.

Next we visited the holiest site in Samarkand: Shah-I-Zinda (The Living King). This complex of 22 buildings is a necropolis of 44 mausoleums dating mostly from the 14th & 15th centuries which climbs up a hill via a series of 36 steps (the Staircase of Sinners) and various passages. Master Persian and Azerbaijani craftsmen created stunning works of terracotta, majolica and tile work. The most famous tomb is that of Qusam ibn-Abbas, believed to have been a cousin of the Prophet Mohammed, which was constructed in 1460. Three pilgrimages to it are deemed the equivalent of one to Mecca. Restoration work is a constant process.

The weather was glorious so lunch was outside at the “Oriental Sweets” restaurant – a converted caravanserai – where unusually coffee was available before and after the food.  

After lunch, we visited the Bibi Khanum Mosque which was built on the orders of Tamerlane in 1399-1404 by 600 slaves and 100 elephants brought from India and 200 architects, artists, master craftsmen and masons from the rest of the empire. It was once one of the Islamic world’s largest mosques but, over the centuries, it crumbled and it finally collapsed in an earthquake in 1897. The name ‘Bibi Khanum’ means elder wife and there is a legend about the building of the mosque that probably stems from Tamerlane’s chief wife Sray Mulk Khanum [for information on the legend click here]. The ensemble consists of two small side mosques and the large central mosque before which stands a huge marble pedestal holding a facsimile of the famous Osman Koran which is located in Tashkent.

Next to the mosque, we were able to stroll around Samarkand’s main bazaar called the Siyob Market. This mainly sells dry foods, especially such items as non bread, melons, apples, apricots, and raisins.

Finally an electric van – something new compared to 2006 – carried us to the greatest set of buildings on our tour: the Registan. The name means ‘sandy place’ and it is said that sand was strewn on the ground to soak up the blood from the public executions that were held there until early in the 20th century. The central square is the size of a football pitch and the whole complex is considered by many to be the noblest public square in the world

The complex consists of three great buildings around this central square. They were madrassahs for private study and not mosques for public worship and originally built by the children and grandchildren of Tamerlane. However, with the exception of the Ulug Beg, they were later destroyed and replaced in the 17th century, so the three structures were built over a period of 230 years. The two later buildings were the work of the architect Abd al-Jabbar who drew his inspiration from the earlier Timurid style which is why the three buildings are so harmonious in spite of construction over a period of more than two centuries. All three contain a central courtyard with large iwans (arched portals).

Islam forbids the representation of living things and even symmetrical patterns, so the buildings are covered with intricate Kufic quotations from the Koran, inscriptions extolling the magnificence of the buildings, and various ornate patterns. The dominant colour of the tiles is deep blue. Sadly only about 10% of the tiles that one sees today are original. Most of the tiles that look old and damaged in fact date from the Soviet restoration of the 1970s. The Registan is today designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

One approaches the complex from the fourth, open (southern) side and (another change from 2006) there is an official entry point and charge. 

On the left hand side is the Ulug Beg Madrassah constructed between 1417-1420 shortly after the death of Tamerlane. It was built by Tamerlane’s grandson Ulug Beg. He was a mathematician and astronomer and encouraged the teaching of science as well as religion. The elaborate tiling of stars reflects Ulug Beg’s passion for astronomy. Having room for over 100 teachers and students in 52 cells positioned around the courtyard, effectively this building was a university. This period brought the cultural flourishing that led to the medical discoveries of Abu Sinna (known to renaissance Europe as Avicenna) and the mathematical breakthroughs of Al Khorezm (for whom algebra is named).

On the right hand side is the Sher-Dor Madrassah built between 1619-1636 and modelled on the earlier Ulug Beg Madrassah. The name means ‘Lion Bearer’. Although the Koran forbids the depiction of animals and people, the tiling on the pishtaq (porch) shows two lions stalking gazelles and behind each lion is a sun portrayed with a human face. This was the badge of Tamerlane. The unorthodox representation is attributed in part to the ego of the governor who built the madrassah and in part to the continued influence of the Persian Zoroastrians who revered the power of the sun.

Both the Ulug Beg Madrassah and the Sher-Dor Madrasah have minarets at each of the four corners. However, these were used more for decoration than for calling the faithful to prayer because the buildings were primarily colleges rather than mosques. Indeed, in Tamerlane’s day, they were used for public executions with criminals being thrown from the top of a minaret in a sack. 

Straight ahead between the Ulug Beg Madrassah and the Sher-Dor Madrasah is the Tillya-Kari Madrassah built between 1646-1660. The name means ‘Gold Decorated’. This building looks different from the other two. There are no minarets on the corners, but instead a dome chamber to the left which covers the mihrab facing Mecca. The dome was restored in 1969 and on the inside looks breath-taking.

Dinner was in a city restaurant again – this time an Italian place called “Risotto” which served a dessert dubbed an Uzbek tiramisu. 


 




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