Samarkand
|
Registan is the ensemble of three madrasahs. |
Samarkand (
Samarqand or Самарқанд in both the
Uzbek and
Russian languages, in
Persian سمرقند) (population 412,300 in
2005) is the third-largest city in
Uzbekistan and the capital of
Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Asian
Silk Road between China and the west.
It is located at latitude 39° 39' 15, longitude 66° 57' 35E, at an altitude of 702 meters. Despite its status as the second city of
Uzbekistan, the majority of the city's inhabitants are
Tajik-speaking. In
2001, after several abortive attempts,
UNESCO inscribed the 2700-year-old city on the
World Heritage List as
Samarkand - Crossroads of Cultures.
Samarkand (Greek:
Marakanda) is one of the
oldest inhabited cities in the world, prospering from its location on the (
Silk Road) trade route between
China and
Europe. At times Samarkand has been the greatest city of
Central Asia, and for much of its history it has been under
Persian rule. Founded circa 700 BCE it was already the capital of the
Sogdian satrapy under the
Achaemenid dynasty of Persia when
Alexander the Great conquered it in
329 BCE (see
Afrasiab,
Sogdiana). Under
Sassanid Empire of Persia, Samarkand flourished and became one of the most important cities of the Persian empire.
From the 6th to 13th centuries it grew larger and more populous than modern Samarkand and was controlled by the Western Turks,
Arabs (who converted the area to
Islam), Persian
Samanids,
Karakhan Turks,
Seljuk Turks,
Karakitay, and
Khorezmshah before being sacked by the
Mongols in
1220. A small part of the population survived, but Samarkand suffered at least another Mongol sack by Khan Baraq to get treasure he needed to pay an army with. The town took many decades to recover from these disasters.
In
1370,
Timur the Lame (
Tamerlane) decided to make Samarkand the capital of his projected world empire, which extended from
India to
Turkey. For the next 35 years, he built a new city, populating it with artisans and craftsmen from all of the places he had captured. Timur gained a reputation for wisdom and generosity, and Samarkand grew to become the center of the region of
Transoxiana.
His grandson
Ulugh Beg ruled the country for 40 years. In Samarkand, Ulugh Beg created a scientific school that united outstanding astronomers and mathematicians. He also ordered the construction of an observatory; it contained a gigantic but precision-made marble
sextant with an arc length of 63 meters.
In the 16th century, the Uzbek
Shaybanids moved their capital to
Bukhara, and Samarkand went into decline. After an assault by the Persian
warlord Nadir Shah, the city was abandoned in the 18th century. The Emir of
Bukhara forcibly repopulated the town at the end of the 18th century.
In
1868, the city came under
Russian rule, when the citadel was stormed by a force under Colonel
A.K. Abramov (1836-1886). Shortly thereafter the small Russian garrison of 500 men were themselves besieged. The assault was led by Abdul Malik Tura, the rebellious elder son of the
Bukharan Emir, together with the
Bek of
Shahrisabz, and the attack was beaten off with heavy losses. Abramov, now a general, became the first Governor of the Military
Okrug which the Russians established along the course of the River
Zeravshan, of which Samarkand was the administrative centre. It later became the capital of the Samarkand
Oblast of
Russian Turkestan, and grew in importance still further when the
Trans-Caspian railway reached the city in
1888. It became the capital of the
Uzbek SSR in
1925 before being replaced by
Tashkent in 1930.
Following the break up of the
Soviet Union, the
Tajiks, who were then part of the Uzebekistan province, pushed for independence. The Russians supported the Uzbeks over Tajiks and handed over
Bukhara and Samarkand, traditionally and linguistically
Iranic cities, to Uzbekistan.
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The Shir-Dar Madrasah on the Registan, Samarkand. |
Registan
Main article: Registan
One of the most awesome sights in Central Asia, if not one of the most remarkable in the world, the Registan was the center of medieval Samarkand. It consists of three huge
madrassas, forming three sides surrounding a huge square.
*
Ulugh Beg Madrassa on the west was finished in
1420 under
Ulugh Beg himself, and contains mosaics with astronomical themes. About 100 students were taught the sciences,
astronomy, and
philosophy in addition to
theology.
*
Sherdar Madrassa on the east was completed in
1636 by the
Shaybanid Emir Yalangtush as a mirror image of Ulugh Beg Madrassa, except with decoration of roaring lions, in blatant violation of Islamic rules.
*
Tilla-Kari Madrassa in between was completed in
1660, with a golden decoration and with a pleasant courtyard.
Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Main article: Bibi-Khanym Mosque
Some argue that this gigantic ruined mosque was built by Timur's Mongol wife,
Bibi-Khanym, while
Timur was away campaigning. They claim that Bibi-Khanym was a niece of
Genghis Khan (Which would be difficult, as he died almost
two hundred years earlier). According to one of the legends, the architect fell madly in love with her, and refused to complete the job unless she agreed to kiss him. The kiss left a mark, and the outraged Timur ordered both killed, and decreed that thenceforth the women of his empire would wear veils in the Arab style. Alas, romantic hopes are doomed to disappointment. There is no trustworthy source which mentions a wife of Timur who was known by the name 'Bibi-Khanym' (which literally means 'woman-woman' in
Persian. Timur's senior wife, a powerful old woman called
Saray-mulk-Khanum, in honour of whom the mosque was named, does not call to mind the beautiful heroine of charming fairy tale.
In any event, the mosque, with its main gate over 35 meters tall, is one of the largest and grandiose buildings in Samarkand. It mostly collapsed in an earthquake in
1897, but it has now been heavily restored by the
Uzbek Government, obliterating what was left of the original tilework.
Shah-i-Zinda
Main article: Shah-i-Zinda
Perhaps the most beautiful of Samarkand's sights is the "Tomb of the Living King". The complex is based on the grave of
Qusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet
Muhammad, who brought
Islam to this area. His shrine is one of the oldest buildings in Samarkand. According to legend, he is not dead, but only sleeping and his tomb draws thousands of pilgrims. The approach to the tomb is a vast
necropolis built on the ruins of the ancient
Sogdian city. The major tombs belong to Timur and Ulugh Beg's extended family and favorites, and are covered in fantastic
majolica tile work.
Gur-e Amir Mausoleum
After the death of his grandson Muhammad-Sultan in
1403 Timur ordered the mausoleum built for him. With time, the
Gur-e Amir became the family mausoleum of the
Timurid dynasty.
See main article at Gur-e AmirMain Bazaar
Extending around and behind Bibi Khanym Mosque, things have been unchanged for centuries.
The Ruins of Afrasiab
Northeast of the Main Bazaar is the 2.2 sq km archaeological site of ancient Samarkand (Marakanda) or
Afrasiab, mostly exposed to the elements. The Afrasiab Museum has some 7th century
Sogdian frescos. Of note is the purported tomb of
Daniel, the
Old Testament prophet. The restored building is a long, low structure with five domes, containing an immense 18-meter long sarcophagus. According to legend, Daniel's body grows by half an inch per year, thus the long tomb.
Ulugh Beg Observatory
Ulugh Beg was probably more famous as an astronomer than a ruler. His works on
astronomy were known even in Europe. In the
1420s, he built an immense, 3-story tall
astrolabe, one of the largest ever constructed, in order to measure the positions of the stars with unprecedented accuracy. The ruins were unearthed in
1908.
State Museum
This crumbling and largely ignored museum contains serious exhibitions on local archaeology, history, and folk crafts.
*
Olympia, Washington,
USA*In
Jinyong's
wuxia novel
The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the Mongol conquest is mentioned in the story.
*In
The Arabian Nights, King Shah Zaman is king of Samarkand.
*In
The Travels, of
Marco Polo, Samarkand is described as a "a very large and splendid city..." Here also is related the story of Christian church in Samarkand, which miraculously remained standing after a portion of its central supporting
column was removed.
*Samarkand can appear as an archetype of romantic exoticism, notably in the work by
James Elroy Flecker:
The Golden Journey to Samarkand.
Samarcande is the title of a novel by
Amin Maalouf, around
Omar Khayyám's life.
*Samarkand is one of the cities
Audre Lorde describes visiting in her collection of essays and speeches,
Sister Outsider.
*Samarqand is the center of the Islamic Renaissance in
Kim Stanley Robinson's
The Years of Rice and Salt.*In some futuristic
science fiction universes (most notably
BattleTech), there is a human-populated world named New Samarkand.
*The Nightingale of Samarkand is a character in the Broadway musical
Once Upon a Mattress.
*
Angela Carter's short story
The Kiss discusses the legend of Tamburlaine's mosque in Samarkand.
*In Islamic literature and discussions, Samarkand has taken on a semi-mythological status and is often cited as an ideal of Islamic philosophy and society, a place of justice, fairness, and righteous moderation.
*For part of the history espoused in
Clive Barker's
Galilee, the city of Samarkand is held as a shining light of humanity, and one of the characters longs to go there.
The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in the
Bartimaeus Trilogy written by
Jonathan Stroud.
*Nigerian writer
Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986
Nobel Prize in Literature, explores the metaphysical significance of the marketplace in a volume of poetry entitle,
Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known, 2002.
*The city of
Zanarkand in the video game
Final Fantasy X may be inspired by Samarkand, both in its name and its status as a beacon of civilization.
*In Fitzroy MacLean's 'Eastern Approaches'
*
Murder in Samarkand by
Craig Murray is a book about the UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan's experiences in this role, until he was fired in October 2004.
*
Thirty Days in the Samarkand Desert with the Duchess of Kent by
A E J Eliott, O.B.E.
In
1943, a United States
Liberty ship nambe the
SS Peter Cooper was launched. It was renamed the SS
Samarkand after being loaned to the British. In
1971 the ship was scrapped.
*
Samarkand Airport*
TurkestanImage:Prokudin-Gorskii-53.jpg|Old man, photographed by Prokudin-Gorskii near Samarkand before 1915, probably an ethnic TajikImage:Prokudin-Gorskii-52.jpg|Fields near SamarkandImage:Samarkand A group of musicians playing for a bacha dancing boy.jpg|Bacchá dancing boy in Samarkand
Traditionally, dancers and sex workers in Central Asia. (photo ca. 1905 - 1915)Image:Prokudin-Gorskii-54.jpg|Bololar (children) with Bobo (grandfather)in Samarkand, before 1915Image:Prokudin-Gorskii-15.jpg|Marketplace in Samarkand, before 1915Image:Prokudin-Gorskii-14.jpg|Fabric merchant at the Samarkand market displays colorful silk, cotton, and wool fabrics; before 1915Image:Prokudin-Gorskii-17.jpg|Shah-e Zindah Tombs*
Your virtual guide on legends and history of Samarkand (in Russian)*
Monuments of Samarkand*
The Golden Journey ('Road') to Samarkand*
Samarkand - Silk Road Seattle Project / Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington
*
Photos of Samarkand and Uzbekistan*
Murder in Samarkand by Craig Murray
*
The history of Samarkand, according to Columbia University's Encyclopedia Iranica
