Tuesday 10 September 2019

Samarkand - thy name reflects thy exquisite beauty

Samarkand is written about so much that one wonders what else needs to be said. So I will let this be a visual experience for your mind, your eyes and your heart. I shall make brief notings when and if required.
We were on a tour of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and I think Samarkand and Bukhara were the highlights for us. There is so much to see in Samarkand and not wanting to rely on my travel agency as the accompanying escort was immature and past experience with a local guide arranged by them had not been good, I had already arranged my own city guide in each of the main cities. When you are going on a long journey to such historic places, you want perfection. You don’t want a guide who is doing it part time or as a hobby or a sloppy job; so forewarned,  its best to be on your own. We got a local guide with Class 1 ratings – this is what I liked about these countries. Official guides come with ratings based on knowledge, length of guiding service, and sitting of regular exams. You are thus guaranteed to get a good guide who is extremely knowledgeable. 
In the Mausoleum square is a huge building, one of many. Here lies a special copy of the Holy Koran, known as the Koran of Osman. Written on buck skin, you can approach it at close quarters as it’s kept enclosed in a glass case. The calligraphy is quite extraordinary. No photography is allowed of the exhibit at all. It is quite large 53 x 68 cms or 20.8” x 26.77”...you can clearly see the blood stains on the open page as it is rumoured that Caliph Osman was murdered as he was reading it. There is an excellent explanation of this book by the far side of the exhibit and taking permission, I was allowed to photograph this panel. 
You must accept that in all the erstwhile (in the past) Eastern European countries, all monuments were built on a grand scale; I mean vast and grand. They had space and few people in those days. So it was meant to impress the masses. The primary place in most of these cities was always known as the Registan. Translated from Uzbek, “registan” means a sand place. In ancient times, in this central square for the last six centuries in Samarkand, authorities gathered people on the square to announce the khan’s orders, held celebrations and public executions, and collected the army leaving to war. In the past, one could see many rows of trader’s shops around the square where artisans and farmers sold their goods. All main roads of Samarkand led to Registan where it was always noisy and lively. Various rulers during their reign would change the main significance of the square, but since those times and up to now, Registan has always been the centre of the city’s social fabric
The dome of the Gur - e - Amir mausoleum
Samarkand has some particularly impressive sights to see :
  1. The Registan, a famous example of Islamic architecture. It consists of three separate buildings:
    1. Madrasa of Ulugh Beg (1417–1420)
    2. Sher-Dor Madrasah (Lions Gate) (1619–1635/36).
    3. Tilla-Kori Madrasah (1647–1659/60).
  2. Bibi-Khanym Mosque (replica)
  3. Gur-e Amir Mausoleum (1404)
  4. Observatory of Ulugh Beg (1428–1429)
  5. Shah-i-Zinda necropolis
  6. Historical site of Afrasiyab (7th century BC – 13th century)
  7. Siyob Bazaar
  8. Afrasiab Museum of Samarkand
Fruits abound in Samarkand and within the country. 

There are three madrassas on the square: Ulughbek, Sherdor and Tilla-Kori that are the main sights of the city. They were erected by two rulers at different times. The Soviet rulers had given the order to restore the entire Registan and give it the status of the significant historical monument on the Great Silk Road. Restoration work lasted many years and finished just before the fall of the Soviet Union. Scientists literally had to collect the whole interior and the exterior of the buildings and smaller façade fragments, restoring all elements.
The look that we can see on the Registan today is painstaking work of hundreds of restorers. If there was no decision taken during the Soviet rule to restore the unique monument, this beautiful ancient sight would never stand in front of our eyes.
Today events like concerts, celebrations and other bright events of the city and the Republic are held on the Registan Square. Thousands of tourists’ daily flow to the square in order to see the grand beauty.




 

In the grounds at the back, in an underground area, is this small shop which has various paintings and artefacts. I liked the portraits.



The three madrassas are huge. I can’t recollect which is which, as they are across each other and so similar in looks and design;  even after referring to Wikipedia. I have put the photos here as the buildings are so beautiful with their inlay work and precise architectural lines. In 1420, the construction of madrassa ended. On the outside, the building, located on the western part of the square, was done in the form of a rectangle; inside there is a square yard with entrances to the student cells (approximately for 100 people) and learning rooms. The façade of the madrassa looks out on the square, completed with two tall minarets in the corners. Special attention should be given to an exquisite interior of the building. Glazed bricks create beautiful ornaments on the yellowish laying of the walls. The madrassa portal is adorned with patterns of ten-pointed stars symbolizing the sky, and astronomy.

At that time, it was the largest scientific-educational establishment in Samarkand. Here students were taught philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, theology. Along with the madrassa, caravan-sarai and hanaqa of Ulughbek were constructed as well. Two centuries later, they would build two other madrassa on the place of the vendors’ shelter and hanaqa, and they would complete the architectural ensemble that we can all see today.
Madrasah Tilla-Kori - The construction of the Tilla-Kori Madrassah commenced in 1646 by the order of the Samarkand ruler Yalangtush Bakhadur and was finished only in 1660. It is the final building in the Registan architectural ensemble. It was built on the site of caravan-saray which had been there for over two centuries. The name of the Madrassah is derived from the rich golden decoration on the faсade. “Tilla-Kori” is translated as “decorated with gold”. Square-shaped building of the Madrassah fills the whole area between the Ulugbek Madrassah and the Sher-Dor Madrassah. The façade, faced to the square is symmetrical and consists of the high portal and two floors of arched niches, flanked with towers. Khudjras (cells), intended for students, look on the large inner yard.



The entire building is lavishly decorated with various herbal ornaments and linear patterns. The major part of decoration was lost, but due to efforts of restorers it was recovered in the second half of XX century. In 2001 this beautiful monument of the Central-Asian architecture was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In the western part of the Madrassah there is the mosque, crowned with the big glazed dome. Its inner decoration amazes by the quality of the gold, applied by the method of “kyndal”. For a long time this mosque was the main mosque in Samarkand.
Shakhi-Zinda Ensemble Another point of interest is the ancient necropolis Shakh-i-Zinda (9-14, 19 centuries) situated on southeastern mound of Afrosiab. This architectural complex consists of 44 tombs in more than 20 mausoleums. The greatest significance of Shah E Zinda is that he was the first cousin of the Prophet Muhammad and resembles the Prophet the most. 



By sheer coincidence whilst we were enjoying a walk in the city, we came across Tashkent Street and there was this rather large bridling with various art galleries and shops. All very well designed and filled with high quality items. We spent a lot of time appreciating the artists at work. 







GUR EMIR MAUSOLEUM (Gur-e Amir Mausoleum) on Akhunbabayev St. 8-19. (aka Amir Temur Mausoeum) As a conqueror there are few that are Tamerlane equal, both in territory and lives taken. It is said that he made pyramids out of the skulls of his vanquished. Today one can visit his tomb in the beautifully reconstructed Gur-Emir Mausoleum (1404-1405, 15-17 centuries) and reflect on his life while looking at the largest piece of jade (greenstone) in the world.

One of the most significant architectural ensembles of medieval East – the Gur Emir was built in the south western part of Samarkand at the beginning of the XV century. This majestic complex consisted of a khanaka, the madrasah of Muhammad Sultan - grandson of Amir Timur, and, later, tombs of Amir Timur himself and his descendants.
The madrasah, a small building with a typical yard composition was meant to teach the children of Samarkand nobility. Opposite to the madrasah, there is located a khanaka with a central hall and cells - hudjras. Both buildings were erected by Mukhammad Sultan’s order to be become a center of Islamic education. But Muhammad sudden death in 1403 led to a change in an intended use of the complex.
After the death of Muhammad Sultan, Amir Timur was inconsolable: he ordered to put temporarily the remains of his beloved grandson in a madrasah’s corner room – darskhana, and immediately started the construction of the mausoleum which closed the ensemble from the south.
The complex courtyard was decorated with a single decorative wall with four minarets located at its corners, while from the north it was decorated with a magnificent entrance portal containing a name of the architecture – Muhammad ibn Mahmud Isfahani.
However, Tamerlane did not live to see the mausoleum finished, he died in winter 1405. The construction was completed by another Tamerlane grandson – Ulugbek. Although Amir Timur already prepared a mausoleum for himself in his native Shakhrisabz, it was Gur Emir that became his tomb and a burial place of his descendants. There rest his two sons – Shahrukh and Miranshah, beloved grandsons – Muhammad Sultan and Ulugbek as well as Timur’s spiritual mentor - Mir Said Baraka.
Today, the burial places in Gur Emir Mausoleum are marked with gravestones. The Timur’s gravestone, made of a single piece of jade, is located in the center of the tomb. The burials themselves are located below, in the mausoleum basement. The graves are located just in the same way as the gravestones in the hall upstairs. The Timurid tombs were opened only once in 1941, this event generated a famous legend.
The mausoleum is a fine example of medieval architectural craftsmanship. The contemporaries still admire the harmony of its proportions. The ribbed dome and vault walls are completely covered with a mosaic of light and dark blue glazed bricks, gilding and painting. The relief rosettes on the dome imitate a starry sky. The interior is enriched with bar tracery grids in the windows, marble and onyx panels covered with paintings, carving and inlaid with semiprecious stones.
Subsequently, Gur Emir was a prototype for famous samples of architecture of the Great Mughal: Humayun’s Mausoleum in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur’s descendants who ruled northern India.
Today Gur Emir Mausoleum and its entrance portal are renovated by the restorers, but the khanaka and madrasahs, unfortunately, are left only ruins.
one such is the Mausoleum to Timur which occupies a huge square and within which lie many large buildings.  




BIBI-KHANYM MOSQUE, Tashkent kochasi (street). The restored Mosque Bibi-Khonym (named after Temur’s wife 1399-1404) is one of best known architectural attractions of Central Asia. The Mosque was erected on Timur's order after his raid of Delhi. The Minaret of the Mosque was supposed to be the tallest.  The majestic blue domes of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque are an unusual sight. It takes one’s breath even from understanding the scale of construction of this monument. In antiquity the dome of this mosque was compared with the dome of heaven and the arch of portal; in fact with the Milky Way.
According to legend, the formidable ruler built the mosque in honour of his favourite wife Bibi Khanym. After successful campaign to India, Temur decided to build the biggest building of the East – the mosque – which should have exceeded all mosques of the world by its size. Hundreds of architects, painters and builders were taken to Samarkand. The construction lasted for five years (1399-1404) and when Temur came back from another campaign, it was ready. The yard of the mosque was surrounded by luxurious galleries, the arches of which were on more than 300 marble columns, minarets towered on each side of it.
Unfortunately soon after the completion of the construction, when the mosque became the place of ceremonial acts of worships, the building began collapsing. The idea of the creator to build such magnificent building was too bold for that period. The majestic arch of the portal, which according to Tamerlane’s plan should have repeated the Milky Way, could not withstand the test of time and had collapsed in the very first years after the construction. However, in Soviet times, it was rebuilt.

Courtyard of the Bibi Khanym mosque 
I had finished writing the blog when I realised that I had left out the market and the city’s famous “non” or “nan”. So here it is in full glory along with the photo of a guy who wears his wealth right up front. 


 Samarkand relives its ancient glory through its monuments and way of life which is unhurried and relaxed. You can spend hours or days meandering through its many bye lanes and monuments or markets or museums. But eventually, as it happened to us, we had to face reality and return back to our home!! It was a great adventure which I was privileged to realize with my family.   





















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