Tashkent - a city with a wonderful past and well worth exploring its environs

I had been to Tashkent in 1983 and my lasting memory of it was they sold awesome sweet melons! I had brought back 16 of them, as instructed by my wife, and she had thoroughly enjoyed each one of them. Of the city, I recalled nothing so we went with a totally fresh look. As always, I like to spend a minimum of three full days, packed with sightseeing, so we cover all the most important sights and events. In separate blogs, I have written about our excursion to the Chimgan Mts and Charvak reservoir - a Tashkent day trip; A magical evening with the Alisher Navoyi Opera; the Museum of Art - a unique private public gem; and Uzbek weddings - taking a peek into a modern trend. Do read them. So this blog is on the city itself.

We were staying at Hotel Uzbekistan – a massive Soviet style hotel with a zillion rooms!! The service was the pits, the room quality was equally bad but we had no choice as that’s where the group was staying!! But the food was really good in the restaurants. Now, in case you did not know, the currency exchange was different from the regular Govt rate.... which changed by the time we returned to Tashkent for Part 2 of our stay!! So here you have our tour leader giving me a large bucketful of local currency for a few dollars. On 5^th September 2017, it all changed to half the amount. The touts and bellboys were out of business as the hotel officially opened an exchange counter in the hotel.... which had never happened before.

The name Tashkent is derived from the Turkish word "tash" (stone) and the Persian word "kent" (city), meaning "city of stones". Some say the Sogdian word "tschatsch", meaning "place on a hill".  Tashkent is the capital and the most cosmopolitan city in Uzbekistan. It is known for its tree-lined streets, numerous fountains, and pleasant parks.  Since 1991, the city has changed economically, culturally, and architecturally. 

New development has superseded or replaced icons of the Soviet era. The largest statue ever erected for Lenin was replaced with a globe, featuring a geographic map of Uzbekistan. Buildings from the Soviet era have been replaced with new modern buildings. The "Downtown Tashkent" district includes the 22-story NBU Bank building, an Intercontinental Hotel, the International Business Centre, and the Plaza Building. The Tashkent Business district is a special district, established for the development of small, medium and large businesses in Uzbekistan. In 2007, Tashkent was named a "cultural capital of the Islamic world" by Moscow News, as the city has numerous historic mosques and significant Islamic sites, including the Islamic University. 

Due to the destruction of most of the ancient city during the 1917 revolution and, later 1966 earthquake, little remains of Tashkent's traditional architectural heritage. Tashkent is, however, rich in museums and Soviet-era monuments.

This is a one-storey private residence of Nikolai Konstantinovich Romanov, who was a grandson of Emperor Nikolai I, and who was exiled by his royal parents to Tashkent in 1877 to live there until his death in 1918.The Prince Romanov’s residence was built in "modern" style. The elegant building was richly decorated with carved grids, unusually shaped windows, towers and other decorative elements. The duke was a keen hunter and the front entrance to the private residence was decorated with bronze figures of deer and hunting dogs. There was a large garden laid out by the famous Tashkent botanist and pharmacist I.I. Krause. Particular attention was given to the interior design of the palace. The halls of the private residence were lined with dark oak, decorated with carved cornices and golden paintings. From the main hall, the three doors led to the apartments of the prince and his wife. The residence housed a billiard room, library, dining room and a Japanese garden. The Prince was extremely popular in the local community. He opened the first cinema theatre in the city and a bakery, built a ducal soldiers’ suburb in the city’s centre, laid irrigation canals in the Golodny Steppe. During the years spent in Tashkent, he amassed a unique collection of antiques and books, later bequeathed to the city. After his death, the building housed the Museum of Art’s of Uzbekistan, then Museum of Antiques and Jewellery of Uzbekistan, and in Soviet times it was used for the Palace of the Pioneers. At the end of the XX century, the building was restored and is now used as the Reception House of the MFA of Uzbekistan.

Our group walked down from the hotel straight to the park with the large statue of Emir Timur. Then further south, we came across a vendor renting cycles. There was a large art alley with artists painting and lots of artworks on sale. Very few buyers.          On our way to a fine dining restaurant on our last evening, we came across this round monument. I can’t recall what it is but I did like its design and style. 

Independence Square has the most beautiful fountains of the city. Upon declaration of independence in 1991, Lenin Square was re-named Independence Square (Mustakillik Maydoni) in 1992. The monument to Lenin was dismantled and an Independence Monument in a form of a globe with Uzbekistan’s borders outlined on it was installed instead. Many buildings were renovated and acquired a modern look. The central figure of the square is sixteen marble columns joined by a bridge, supporting the sculptures of storks who symbolize peace and quietness. The alleys with green zones and beautiful fountains from both sides stretch from the colonnade to the Independence Monument. Under the monument there is a figure of a woman holding a baby in her arms – a symbol of Mother-Motherland.

Telyashayakh Mosque or Khast Imam Mosque is beautiful. Like other mosques, you have to walk a lot inside to get to your destination! It contains the Uthman Qur'an, considered to be the oldest  Koran in the world. No photos allowed but they permitted me to photograph the caption there. Dating from 655 and stained with the blood of murdered caliph, Uthman, it was brought by Timur to Samarkand, seized by the Russians as a war trophy and taken to St Petersburg and only returned to Uzbekistan in 1924.It is kept in a glass enclosure. It is written on leather and must be about 2 ft per page and about 5” thick if closed ! There are blood stains on the pages as the Caliph was reading it when murdered! The book is rather large and must have been difficult to carry. 

The State Museum of Uzbekistan – we landed up not knowing that we would be in the middle of a major exhibit inauguration! We decided on taking an English speaking guide who was excellent. Halfway through, she made us go downstairs as the Director was going to inaugurate an art exhibit of a leading artist. I met her and the singer who had a voice like a nightingale!!  She invited me to her performance but my family weren’t keen on going !!

This is an outstanding modern museum with excellent captions. There are five floors full of fabulous artworks... not only paintings... you have carved wood, suzani hangings, textiles,  a major collection of art from the pre-Russian period, including Sogdian murals, Buddhist statues and Zoroastrian art, along with a more modern collection of 19th and 20th century applied art. There is the large collection of paintings "borrowed" from the Hermitage by Grand Duke Romanov to decorate his palace in exile in Tashkent, and never returned. Do not miss this museum if you are in Tashkent. 

Tashkent cafes and restaurants have Uzbek as well as European, Middle Eastern and Russian cuisines. Old part of the city is the centre of traditional local cuisine in Tashkent. Between Kukeldash Madrassah and Chorsu bazaar you find a great number of chaykhanas (café terrace with ayvans), cafes and eating houses, where you can snack a kebab, shaurma, Uzbek somsa and etc. Also you can try national dishes in family-run Uzbek houses. Close to the Yunus-Obod tennis court there is the huge Pilaf centre (Osh Markazi), where you taste delicious wedding Tashkent pilaf. You will be surprised with wide range of restaurants with Chinese, Italian, English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean and other cuisine. 

There are two parts to the city – the new and the old. Both are interesting and can occupy your time quite happily. I love the city especially as one can walk quite safely in both parts, with necessary common sense, as always.

Text and photographs copyright of the author. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com

The magic of Bokhara - endless - wonderful images of a glorious past

Bukhara or Bokhara has been always on my bucket list with Samarkand and Tashkent. It is a city one can visit at any time and any number of times due to its history, its beauty and its antiquity. Life moves at its own pace here. Humans have inhabited the region around Bukhara for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time. The mother tongue of the majority of people of Bukhara is Persian. Located on the Silk Road, the city has long served as a centre of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion. UNESCO has listed the historic centre of Bukhara (which contains numerous mosques and madrassas) as a World Heritage Site.

It is now the capital of Bukhara Region of Uzbekistan. During the golden age of the Samanids, Bukhara became a major intellectual centre of the Islamic world, second only to Baghdad. As an important trading centre, Bukhara was home to a community of medieval Indian merchants from the city of Multan (modern-day Pakistan) who were noted to own land in the city.

Bukhara is situated on a sacred hill, the place where sacrifices were made by fire-worshippers in springtime. This city was mentioned in a holy book "Avesto". Bukhara city is supposed to be founded in the 13th cent. B.C. during the reign of Siyavushids who came to power 980 years before Alexander the Great. The name of Bukhara originates from the word "vihara" which means "monastery" in Sanskrit. The city was once a large commercial centre on the Great Silk Road. 

There is a small park and a metal sculpture of Nasruddin Hodja, the quick-witted and warm-hearted man, who forms the central character of many children's folk stories in Central Asian, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, sitting atop his mule with one hand on his heart and the other with an 'All OK' sign above his head..

Bukhara lies west of Samarkand and was once a centre of learning renowned throughout the Islamic world. It is the hometown of the great Sheikh Bakhouddin Nakshbandi. He was a central figure in the development of the mystical Sufi approach to philosophy, religion and Islam. In Bukhara there are more than 350 mosques and 100 religious colleges. Its fortunes waxed and waned through succeeding empires until it became one of the great Central Asian Khanates in the 17th century.

Like Rome, Bukhara with more than 140 architectural monuments is a "town museum" dating back to the Middle Ages. 2,300 years later, ensembles like Poi-Kalyan, Ismail Samani Mausoleum, the Ark, Lyabi-Khauz are attracting a lot of attention. The city consists of narrow streets, green parks and gardens, historical and architectural monuments belong to the different epochs, but locate very close to each other.

The main square in Bukhara is attractive as it is wide and large. At one end is the street which progresses from one end to another. Across it is the small artificial lake with the restaurant and its 540+ year old mulberry tree. The restaurant has excellent food. If you go from the street to one side you come across one of the most ancient archaeological sites of the city. 

This is a cute little building tucked away in bye-lanes. The four towered structure is mistaken for a gate to the madrassa. Its functions are to provide ritual and shelter. The main edifice is a mosque. The building’s cupola provides good acoustic properties and therefore takes on special significance of 'dhikr-hana' – a place for ritualized 'dhikr' ceremonies of Sufi, the liturgy of which often include recitation, singing, and instrumental music.

On either side are dwelling rooms, some of which have collapsed, leaving only their foundations visible. Each of four towers has different deco rational motifs. Some say that elements of decoration reflect the four religions known to Central Asians. One can find elements reminiscent of a cross, a Christian fish motif, and a Buddhist praying-wheel, in addition to Zoroastrian and Islamic motifs.  On the esplanade to the right from Char-Minar is a pool, likely of the same age as the rest of the building complex. Char Minar is now surrounded mainly by small houses and shops along its perimeter. 

The most famous of all the monuments is the Po-i-Kalan complex; It is vast. The title Po-i Kalan (also Poi Kalân meaning the "Grand Foundation"), belongs to the architectural complex located at the base of the great minaret Kalân known as Minâra-i Kalân or Tower of Death as according to legend it is the site where criminals were executed by being thrown off the top for centuries. 

“The minaret is most famed part of the ensemble, and dominates over the historical centre of the city. The role of the minaret is largely for traditional and decorative purposes - its dimension exceeds the bounds of the main function of the minaret which is to provide a vantage point from which the muezzin can call out people to prayer. For this purpose it was enough to ascend to a roof of mosque. This practice was common in initial years of Islam. The word "minaret" derives from the Arabic word "minara" ("lighthouse", or more literally "a place where something burn"). The minarets of the region were possible adaptations of "fire-towers" or lighthouses of previous Zoroastrian eras.

The architect, whose name was Bako designed the minaret in the form of a circular-pillar brick tower, narrowing upwards. The diameter of the base is 9 meters (29.53 feet), while at the top it is 6 meters (19.69 feet). The tower 45.6 meters (149.61 feet) high, and can be seen from vast distances over the flat plains of Central Asia.

Standing in the centre square of the complex, one is in awe at the grand style of each of the structures in this complex. 

Masjid-i Kalân was completed in 1514 and surely is equal to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Samarkand in size. The mosque is able to accommodate 12,000 believers. Although Kalyan Mosque and Bibi-Khanym Mosque of Samarkand are of the same type of building, they are different in terms of art of building. 288 monumental pylons serve as a support for the multi-domed roofing of the galleries encircling the courtyard of Kalyan Mosque. The longitudinal axis of the courtyard ends up with a portal to the main chamber (maksura) with a cruciform hall, topped with a massive blue cupola on a mosaic drum. The edifice keeps many architectural curiosities, for example, a hole in one of domes. Through this hole one can see foundation of Kalyan Minaret. Then moving back step by step, one can count all belts of brickwork of the minaret to the rotunda”. 

Ismail Samani’s mausoleum is an exquisite example of Central Asian architecture. Built in the 9th C (between 892 and 943) as the resting-place of Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā'īl ibn Aḥmad, May 849 – November 907,aka Isma'il ibn Ahmad and popularly as Ismail Samani. He was the  Samanid emir of Transoxiana and Khorasan and his reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. It was the last native Persian dynasty to rule the region in the 9^th / 10^th C.  after the Samanids established virtual independence from the Baghdad Caliphate. 

The site is unique for its architectural style combining both Zoroastrian and Islamic motifs. The building's facade is covered in intricately decorated brick work, which features circular patterns reminiscent of the sun - a common image in Zoroastrian art from the region at that time which is reminiscent of the Zoroastrian god, Ahura Mazda represented by fire and light. The building's shape is cuboid, and reminiscent of the Ka'aba in Makkah, while the domed roof is a typical feature of mosque architecture. The syncretic style of the shrine is reflective of the period - a time when the region still had large populations of Zoroastrians who had begun to convert to Islam.  

The shrine is also regarded as one of the oldest monuments in the Bukhara region. At the time of Genghis Khan's invasion, the shrine was said to have already been buried in mud from flooding. Thus, when the Mongol hordes reached Bukhara, the shrine was spared from their destruction. The mausoleum of Pakistan's founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah was modeled after the shrine.

 Bolo Haouz Mosque is a historical mosque with 20 columns carved from rather tall trees! Built in 1712, on the opposite side of the citadel of Ark in Registan district, it is inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.  It served as a Friday mosque during the time when the emir of Bukhara was being subjugated under the Bolshevik Russian rule in 1920s. Thin columns made of painted woods were added to the frontal part of the iwan in 1917, additionally supporting the bulged roof of summer prayer room. The columns are decorated with coloured muqarnas.

Part of the ancient archaeological site in the main centre of the city. 

 Artisans work at various tourist sites - in or near  mosques as well as historical sites like the Ark. 

There is an interesting museum in the Ark. 

Though this is a functional mosque the rooms are used for various purposes. There are many where artists, silversmiths, wood carvers, and other specialists ply their trade.

We visited this small museum in Bukhara which is about its water resources and how it was obtained over the centuries. 

Bukhara – after nearly three days there, one could not get enough of it. We shall return. 

Text and photographs copyright of the author. No part of this article or photographs maybe transmitted or reproduced by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without written permission. Do contact the author on email -- helpthesun@gmail.com