Historical andarchitectural monumentsof Uzbekistan
Since the 9th-10th centuries, Samarkand became a culturalcenter of the Islamic East and the first capital of the Samanids.Ruins of the Samanid palace with carved panels were found inthe western sector of Afrasiab. In the 9th-10th centuries theinner city occupied 220 hectares. The suburb with markets,mosques, baths and caravansaries adjoined it in the south. Thecity had lead water supply. Manufacturing of Chinese paper wasdeveloping. Numerous workshops using water mills aroused onthe banks of the Siab.At the 11th-13th centuries Samarkand became a capital of thewestern Qarakhanid state. It was newly walled. A palace of theQarakhanids was built in the citadel. The tomb of Kusam ibnAbbas became a cultic place where mausoleum was built. At thebeginning of the 13thcentury Khorezmshah ad took Samarkandand built a new palace instead of the Qarakhanids'. However, thestate of Khorezmshahs was soon conquered by the Mongols.Chinggis-khan took Samarkand after short siege. The citysuffered much due to Chinggisid internal wars in the second halfof the 13th century. Afrasiab has been finally deserted.
Registan
Registan became a majorsquare of Samarkand in the14th century. Registan means"a sandy place". Earlier, a riverchannel flowed through tharea, forming sand and siltdeposits. Six streets cross atRegistan. While under Temurthe square was a commercialand crafts center, it became aspiritual center under Ulugbeg.Ulugbeg constructed a majesticmadrassah and s Sufi Khanakawith a huge dome. The oldbuildings on Registan hadfallen into disrepair by the17th century and the governorof Samarkand, Yalang-tush-biy,built Sher-Dor Madrassah inthe place of Ulugbeg's khanaka,and later built Tiliya-KariMadrassah as well.
Ulugbek Madrassah
Sher-Dor Madrassah
The madrassah of Ulugbeg wasunder construction from 1417-1420. Its huge portal has an archof 15m in width. The mosaic panelabove the arch shows a symbolicsky with five and ten pointed stars.The madrassah had a platform forastronomical observations beforeUlugbeg's observatory was built,and had fifty cells for one hundredstudents. Sheikh Khodja Akhrarand poet Djami were among theoutstanding graduates of thismadrassah. In the 20th century thenortheastern and southeasternminarets were repaired, new domeswere installed, and the portal archand tympan were restored.
Sher-Dor Madrassah was constructedfrom 1619-1636, in a style imitatingUlugbeg's Madrassah. Ribbed domeson high towers soared over the two-storied facade on the sides of the frontportal. Islamic inscriptions,geometrical and floral ornamentationdecorate the interior. Especiallyinteresting are the tympans of theportal arch. They are decorated withan anthropomorphic depiction of thesun and tiger attacking a fallow deer.Hence, the name of Sher-Dor -"having tigers". This pattern wasnearly lost by the middle of the20th century and has been restored.
Tillya-Kary Madrassah
In the middle of the 17th century,the cathedral mosque of Bibi-Khanym lay in ruins andSamarkand needed a newmosque. Yalangtush-biy orderedits construction on the Registan.The mosque was planned tooperate as a madrassah as well.Construction lasted almosttwenty years and was finished in1660. The richest gilding on thedome, walls and mihrabsurpassed all other famousbuildings in Central Asia. For thisreason, the madrassah was namedTillya-Kari, which means "coatedwith gold". The dome of themosque remained unfinished upto the 20th century. At the sametime, its faded facing wasrestored.
Gur-Emir Mausoleum.Tombs of the Temurids
In the 14th century, Samarkandwas revived in an area to thesouth. Amir Temur (1336-1405),the governor of the WesternChaga-tai Ulus, made it hiscapital. Amir Temur formed ahuge empire, from India up tothe Mediterranean, which lasteda few decades. Samarkandbecame a symbol of his newempire. Temur initiated hugeconstruction projects. Newarchitecture with huge portais,high blue domes and refinedmajolica surely was comparableto European capitals and meantthe birth of the Central Asianimperial style.
At the age of 20, Miranshah defeated thetroops of Tokhtamish-Khan in theCaucasus.In the 1390s he became governorof the western regions. In 1408, Miranshahwas killed in a battle against the Turkmen.Later, his remains were transferred toMaverannahr and reburied in Gur-Emir.Also the youngest son of Amir Temur,Shahruh and Ulugbek were buried in Gur-Emir.
Amir Temur died during a greatChinese campaign and was buriedin Gur-Emir Mausoleum. Themausoleum was built for Temur'sgrandson, Muhammad-Sultan(1376-1403) who expected to be hissuccessor, but died too early. Theremains of Seyid Berke, a spiritualteacher of Amir Temur, were alsoreinterred there. The mausoleumwas finished by Mirzo Ulugbeg,another grandson of Temur, afterthe eastern gallery and southernfuneral structures had already beenbuilt. In the 15th century, one moresignificant cleric was buried in Gur-Emir. He is deemed to be SeyidUmar, the son of Bukhara sheikhAmir Kulal. There are tombs ofthree other Temurid governors inGur-Emir. They were sons ofTemur-Miranshah (1366-1408),Shahruh (1377-1447) and hisgrandson Mirzo Ulugbeg (1396-1449). Miranshah was the third sonof Temur.
Mausoleum of KhodjaDaniyar
The mausoleum of Khodja-Daniyar islocated on the northern slope ofAfrasiab hill, by the healing spring.According to legend, Khodja Daniyarwas a companion of Kusam ibn Abbas,who was believed to be a relative of theProphet and one of the first Islamicpreachers in Central Asia. Otherlegends associate Khodja Daniyar withthe Koranic and Biblical prophetDaniyar (Daniel) whose remains werebrought here by Amir Temur. Apeculiar feature of Khodja Daniyar'slegend is that the saint continues togrow in the tomb. To accomodate this,his tomb has been periodicallyextended. A domed mausoleum abovethe long gravestone was built at thebeginning of the 20th century.
Afrasiab
The ancient core of Samarkand islocated on the Afrasiab hill, namedafter the legendary Turanian king.The settlement arose in the 8th -early 7th centuries B.C. andoccupied more than 200 hectares.River bluffs on the north and eastand deep ravines in the south andwest protected it. During theAchaemenids period, the city wasencircled with a massive wallhaving an internal corridor andtowers. Scholars identify Afrasiabwith the ancient Sogdian capitalof Marakanda. In the middle of the6th century ВС Sogdiana was part ofthe Achaemenid (Persian) empire,which existed until the 4th centuryВС, when it was destroyed by thearmies of Alexander the Great.
After putting down the Sogdian revoltswhich slowed down his campaign forsome years, Alexander destroyedMarakanda. Sogdiana was restored tolife in the time of the Seleucids. Untilthe first half of the 2nd century ВСSogdiana was part of the Graeco-Bactrian Empire. Later it entered theconfederation of Kanguy princedoms.In the first millenium AD Samarkandbecame one of the strongestprincedoms of Sogd, glorified by theachievements of the Sogdians, whoorganized the caravan trade on theGreat Silk Road from the 4th to8th centuries.
From the 5th to 6th centuries Sogdofficially recognized the authority ofthe Hepthalites, from the 6-7th centuries that of the Turkickhanate and, in the 30s of the7th century, of the Chinese Tangdynasty. From the middle of the7th century the confederation ofSogdian princedoms was headed by the"Ishkhid" (Governor) of Samarkand. Four lines of new walls were builtaround Samarkand during that period.Zoroastrian, Buddhist and Christiantemples were constructed. Murals inthe royal palace survive to this day. Inthe 8th century, Arabs headed byQuteiba conquered Samarkand. From the 9th-10th centuries, Samarkandbecame a cultural center of the IslamicEast and the first capital of theSamanids. Ruins of the Samanid palacewith carved panels were found in thewestern sector of Afrasiab.
In the 9th-10th centuries, the innercity occupied 220 hectares. A suburbwith markets, mosques, baths andcaravansaries adjoined it in thesouth. The city had a lead watersupply system. Manufacturingof Chinese paper was developing.Numerous workshops using watermills sprang up on the banks of theSiab.
In the 11th-13th centuries,Samarkand became thecapital of the westernQarakhanid state. It wasnewly walled. The palace ofthe Qarakhanids was built inthe citadel. The tomb ofKusam ibn Abbas became aholy place where amausoleum was built. At the beginning of the13th century, Khorezmshah took Samarkand and built anew palace in place of theQarakhanids'. However, thestate of the Khorezmshahswas soon conquered by theMongols. Chinggis Khan tookSamarkand after a shortsiege. The city suffered muchdue to Chinggisid internalwars in the second half of the13th century. Afrasiab wasfinally deserted.
Ak-Sarai Mausoleum
The Ak-Sarai Mausoleum ofthe 1470's is located to thesoutheast of Gur-Emir. It isdeemed a male necropolis ofthe last SamarkandTemurids. The mausoleumwas built under the order ofthe Temurid governor AbuSa'id (1451-1468/9). In 1457Abu Sa'id conqueredKhurasan and moved thecapital to Herat. In 1468/9he was killed in Azerbaijanfighting against theTurkmen. The mausoleumhas an undergroundoctahedral crypt. Someheadless person is buried in aspecial niche by the easternwall. It might be a tomb ofUlugbeg's son Ab-dullatif(1449-1450) who wasexecuted for murdering hisfather.
Bibi-Khanym Mosque. Madrassahand mausoleum of Bibi-Khanym
Bibi-Khanym Mosque wasconstructed to mimic thedesign of the Amir Temurasacathedral mosque ofSamarkand. It was intendedto out-rival everything hehad ever seen. Architects,artists and craftsmen fromconquered countries wereinvolved in the constructionof this grandiose complex.Elephants were used forlifting and transportingheavy loads. The mosque wasconstructed over five years.When Temur returned afterhis western campaign, hewas very disappointed by theconstruction and ordered thereconstruction of the portal,which he deemed not highenough.
In the end, the cathedral mosquewas given one of the greatest portalsof that era. Its arch was flanked withpowerful pylons, with minarets up to50m in height. The front entrancehad bronze doors with theinscription: "The sound of thesehuge doors, made from the alloys ofseven metals, calls the prayers ofseven climates into the house ofIslam".
The gates were taken away fromSamarkand by Iranian ShahNadir in 1740. Above the portalthere was an inscription: "Thedwelling of creatures is allhypocrisy, falsehood andpassions. Everything isconcentrated at the threshold ofthe Lord's hall - and onlythere...“ Today, the marblelectern for the tremendousKoran made at Ulugbeg stands inthe center of the courtyard.Thecathedral mosque of Samarkandwas named after the oldest wifeof Amir Temur, Bibi-Khanym.She was Sarai Mulk-Khanym, adaughter of Kazan-khan (1343-1346). In the 1340s, Kazan-khanand his brother, Halil-suitan,subordinated Maverannahr andsoutheastern Khurasan.
However, soon they suffered defeatat the hands of Chagataid amirKazagan (1346-1358). Sarai Mulk-Khanym became the wife of EmirHussein, the grandson of amirKazagan, who was a supremeChagataid governor in 1364-1370.Amir Temur made Sarai Mulk-Khanym his wife when hedethroned Hussein. That gave himthe honored title of Guragan -"Khan's son-in-law".
However, soon they suffered defeatat the hands of Chagataid amirKazagan (1346-1358). Sarai Mulk-Khanym became the wife of EmirHussein, the grandson of amirKazagan, who was a supremeChagataid governor in 1364-1370.Amir Temur made Sarai Mulk-Khanym his wife when hedethroned Hussein. That gave himthe honored title of Guragan -"Khan's son-in-law".A largemadrassah had been locatedopposite to the cathedral mosqueuntil the middle of the18th century. It had carried thename of Bibi-Khanym too.Originally, the madrassah's portalwas so large that it competed withthe cathedral mosque. It madeAmir Temur angry and he orderedits reconstruction. The madrassahwas destroyed during the invasionof Nadir-Shah.
There is a mausoleum on the centralaxis of the madrassah. It is a tomb ofSarai Mulk-Khanym's mother andtwo other women from her family.This is a high octahedral structurewith a cylindrical drum, bearing aKufi inscription. The interior isdecorated with mosaics and floralornamentation, including landscapesof the garden of eden.
