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Samarkand

Samarkand (/ˈsæmərkænd/; Uzbek: Самарқанд, Samarqand, pronounced [samarqand, –qant]; Tajik: Самарқанд; Persian: سمرقند; Sogdian: *smā́rkąθ, 𐼑𐼍𐼀𐼘𐼋𐼎𐼌𐼆‎, 𐼼𐼺𐼰𐽀𐼸𐼻𐼹𐼳smʾrknδH), also known as Samarqand, is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia. There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late Paleolithic Era. Though there is no direct evidence of when Samarkand was founded, several theories propose that it was founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China, Persia and Europe, at times Samarkand was one of the largest[2] cities of Central Asia.[3] Most of the inhabitants of this city are native speakers of Tajik dialect of Persian language. This city is one of the historical centers of the Tajik people in Central Asia, which in the past was one of the important cities of the great empires of Greater Iran.[4][5]

Samarkand
Uzbek: Samarqand / Самарқанд
Persian: سمرقند
Самарканд
City
Clockwise from the top:
Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, Sher-Dor Madrasah in Registan, Timur's Mausoleum Gur-e-Amir.
Samarkand
Location in Uzbekistan
Samarkand
Samarkand (West and Central Asia)
Samarkand
Samarkand (Asia)
Coordinates: 39°39′17″N 66°58′33″E / 39.65472°N 66.97583°E / 39.65472; 66.97583Coordinates: 39°39′17″N 66°58′33″E / 39.65472°N 66.97583°E / 39.65472; 66.97583
Country Uzbekistan
VilayatSamarkand Vilayat
Settled8th century BCE
Government
 • TypeCity Administration
 • BodyHakim (Mayor)
Area
 • City120 km2 (50 sq mi)
Elevation
705 m (2,313 ft)
Population
 (1 January 2019)
 • City513,572[1]
 • Metro
950,000
DemonymSamarkandian / Samarkandi
Time zoneUTC+5
Postal code
140100
Websitesamarkand.uz
Official nameSamarkand – Crossroads of Cultures
CriteriaCultural: i, ii, iv
Reference603
Inscription2001 (25th Session)
Area1,123 ha
Buffer zone1,369 ha

By the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, when it was known as Markanda, which was rendered in Greek as Μαράκανδα.[6] The city was ruled by a succession of Iranian and Turkic rulers until it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220. Today, Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region and a district-level city, that includes the urban-type settlements Kimyogarlar, Farxod and Xishrav.[7] With 551,700 inhabitants (2021),[8] it is the second-largest city of Uzbekistan.[citation needed]

The city is noted as a centre of Islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the Timurid Renaissance. In the 14th century, Timur (Tamerlane) made it the capital of his empire and the site of his mausoleum, the Gur-e Amir. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, rebuilt during the Soviet era, remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. Samarkand's Registan square was the city's ancient centre and is bounded by three monumental religious buildings. The city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts: embroidery, goldwork, silk weaving, copper engraving, ceramics, wood carving, and wood painting.[9] In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.

Modern Samarkand is divided into two parts: the old city, and the new city, which was developed during the days of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. The old city includes historical monuments, shops, and old private houses; the new city includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions.[10] On September 15–16, 2022, the city hosted the 2022 SCO summit.

Etymology

The name comes from Sogdian samar "stone, rock" and kand "fort, town."[11] In this respect, Samarkand shares the same meaning as the name of the Uzbek capital Tashkent, with tash- being the Turkic term for "stone" and -kent the Turkic analogue of kand.[citation needed]

History

Early history

Along with Bukhara,[12] Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia, prospering from its location on the trade route between China and Europe. There is no direct evidence of when it was founded. Researchers at the Institute of Archaeology of Samarkand date the city's founding to the 8th–7th centuries BCE.

Archaeological excavations conducted within the city limits (Syob and midtown) as well as suburban areas (Hojamazgil, Sazag'on) unearthed 40,000-year-old evidence of human activity, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. A group of Mesolithic (12th–7th millennia BCE) archaeological sites were discovered in the suburbs of Sazag'on-1, Zamichatosh, and Okhalik. The Syob and Darg'om canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th–5th centuries BCE (early Iron Age).

From its earliest days, Samarkand was one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization. By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia, the city had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy.

Hellenistic period

 
Ancient city walls of Samarkand, 4th century BCE

Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BCE. The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks.[13] Written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government;[14] they mention one Orepius who became ruler "not from ancestors, but as a gift of Alexander."[15]

While Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexander's initial conquest, the city recovered rapidly and flourished under the new Hellenic influence. There were also major new construction techniques; oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry and plastering were introduced.[16]

Alexander's conquests introduced classical Greek culture into Central Asia; for a time, Greek aesthetics heavily influenced local artisans. This Hellenistic legacy continued as the city became part of various successor states in the centuries following Alexander's death, i.e. the Seleucid Empire, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and Kushan Empire (even though the Kushana themselves originated in Central Asia). After the Kushan state lost control of Sogdia during the 3rd century CE, Samarkand went into decline as a centre of economic, cultural, and political power. It did not significantly revive until the 5th century.

Sassanian era

Samarkand was conquered by the Persian Sassanians c. 260 CE. Under Sassanian rule, the region became an essential site for Manichaeism and facilitated the dissemination of the religion throughout Central Asia.[17]

Hephtalites and Turkic Khaganate era

In AD 350–375 Samarkand was conquered by the nomadic tribes of Xionites, the origin of which remains controversial.[18] The resettlement of nomadic groups to Samarkand confirms archaeological material from the 4th century. The culture of nomads from the Middle Syrdarya basin is spreading in the region.[19] In 457-509 Samarkand was part of the Kidarite state.[20]

 
Turkic officers during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand. 648-651 CE, Afrasiyab murals, Samarkand.[21][22]

After the Hephtalites ("White Huns") conquered Samarkand, they controlled it until the Göktürks, in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians, won it at the Battle of Bukhara, c. 560 CE.[citation needed]

In the middle of the 6th century, a Turkic state was formed in Altai, founded by the Ashina dynasty. The new state formation was named the Turkic Khaganate after the people of the Turks, which were headed by the ruler - the Khagan. In 557-561, the Hephthalites empire was defeated by the joint actions of the Turks and Sassanids, which led to the establishment of a common border between the two empires.[23]

In the early Middle Ages, Samarkand was surrounded by four rows of defensive walls and had four gates.[24]

An ancient Turkic burial with a horse was investigated on the territory of Samarkand. It dates back to the 6th century.[25]

During the period of the ruler of the Western Turkic Kaganate, Tong Yabghu Qaghan (618-630), family relations were established with the ruler of Samarkand - Tong Yabghu Qaghan gave him his daughter.[26]

Some parts of Samarkand have been Christians since the 4th century. In the 5th century, a Nestorian chair was established in Samarkand. At the beginning of the 8th century, it was transformed into a Nestorian metropolitanate.[27] Discussions and polemics arose between the Sogdian followers of Christianity and Manichaeism, reflected in the documents.[28]

Early Islamic era

 
Coin of Sogdian ruler Turgar, last Ikhshid of Samarkand, Penjikent, 8th century CE, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan.[29]

The armies of the Umayyad Caliphate under Qutayba ibn Muslim captured the city from the Turks c. 710 CE.[17]

During this period, Samarkand was a diverse religious community and was home to a number of religions, including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Manichaeism, Judaism, and Nestorian Christianity, with most of the population following Zoroastrianism.[30]

Qutayba generally did not settle Arabs in Central Asia; he forced the local rulers to pay him tribute but largely left them to their own devices. Samarkand was the major exception to this policy: Qutayba established an Arab garrison and Arab governmental administration in the city, its Zoroastrian fire temples were razed, and a mosque was built.[31] Much of the city's population converted to Islam.[32]

As a long-term result, Samarkand developed into a center of Islamic and Arabic learning.[31]

 
Abbasid gold dinar minted in AH 248–252 / AD 862–866 Samarkand

At the end of the 740s, a movement of those dissatisfied with the power of the Umayyads emerged in the Arab Caliphate, led by the Abbasid commander Abu Muslim, who, after the victory of the uprising, became the governor of Khorasan and Maverannahr (750-755). He chose Samarkand as his residence. His name is associated with the construction of a multi-kilometer defensive wall around the city and the palace.[33]

Legend has it that during Abbasid rule,[34] the secret of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas in 751, which led to the foundation of the first paper mill in the Islamic world at Samarkand. The invention then spread to the rest of the Islamic world and thence to Europe.[citation needed]

 
Gold dinar of caliph al-Mu'tazz, minted at Samarkand in AH 253 (867 CE). His reign marks the apogee of the decline of the Caliphate's central authority

Abbasid control of Samarkand soon dissipated and was replaced with that of the Samanids (875–999), though the Samanids were still nominal vassals of the Caliph during their control of Samarkand. Under Samanid rule the city became a capital of the Samanid dynasty and an even more important node of numerous trade routes. The Samanids were overthrown by the Karakhanids around 999. Over the next 200 years, Samarkand would be ruled by a succession of Turkic tribes, including the Seljuqs and the Khwarazmshahs.[35]

The 10th-century Persian author Istakhri, who travelled in Transoxiana, provides a vivid description of the natural riches of the region he calls "Smarkandian Sogd":

I know no place in it or in Samarkand itself where if one ascends some elevated ground one does not see greenery and a pleasant place, and nowhere near it are mountains lacking in trees or a dusty steppe... Samakandian Sogd... [extends] eight days travel through unbroken greenery and gardens... . The greenery of the trees and sown land extends along both sides of the river [Sogd]... and beyond these fields is pasture for flocks. Every town and settlement has a fortress... It is the most fruitful of all the countries of Allah; in it are the best trees and fruits, in every home are gardens, cisterns and flowing water.

Karakhanid (Ilek-Khanid) period (11th–12th centuries)

 
Shah-i Zinda memorial complex, 11th–15th centuries

After the fall of the Samanids state in the year 999, it was replaced by the Qarakhanid State, where the Turkic Qarakhanid dynasty ruled.[36] After the state of the Qarakhanids split into two parts, Samarkand became a part of the West Karakhanid Kaganate and in 1040–1212 was its capital.[36] The founder of the Western Qarakhanid Kaganate was Ibrahim Tamgach Khan (1040–1068).[36] For the first time, he built a madrasah in Samarkand with state funds and supported the development of culture in the region. During his reign, a public hospital (bemoristan) and a madrasah were established in Samarkand, where medicine was also taught.

The memorial complex Shah-i-Zinda was founded by the rulers of the Karakhanid dynasty in the 11th century.[37]

The most striking monument of the Qarakhanid era in Samarkand was the palace of Ibrahim ibn Hussein (1178–1202), which was built in the citadel in the 12th century. During the excavations, fragments of monumental painting were discovered. On the eastern wall, a Turkic warrior was depicted, dressed in a yellow caftan and holding a bow. Horses, hunting dogs, birds and periodlike women were also depicted here.[38]

Mongol period

 
Ruins of Afrasiab – ancient Samarkand destroyed by Genghis Khan.

The Mongols conquered Samarkand in 1220. Juvaini writes that Genghis killed all who took refuge in the citadel and the mosque, pillaged the city completely, and conscripted 30,000 young men along with 30,000 craftsmen. Samarkand suffered at least one other Mongol sack by Khan Baraq to get treasure he needed to pay an army. It remained part of the Chagatai Khanate (one of four Mongol successor realms) until 1370.

The Travels of Marco Polo, where Polo records his journey along the Silk Road in the late 13th century, describes Samarkand as "a very large and splendid city..."[39]

The Yenisei area had a community of weavers of Chinese origin, and Samarkand and Outer Mongolia both had artisans of Chinese origin, as reported by Changchun.[40] After Genghis Khan conquered Central Asia, foreigners were chosen as governmental administrators; Chinese and Qara-Khitays (Khitans) were appointed as co-managers of gardens and fields in Samarkand, which Muslims were not permitted to manage on their own.[41][42] The khanate allowed the establishment of Christian bishoprics (see below).

Timur's rule (1370–1405)

 
Shakhi Zinda mausoleums in Samarkand
 
Bibi-Khanym Friday Mosque, 1399–1404

Ibn Battuta, who visited in 1333, called Samarkand "one of the greatest and finest of cities, and most perfect of them in beauty." He also noted that the orchards were supplied water via norias.[43]

In 1365, a revolt against Chagatai Mongol control occurred in Samarkand.[44] In 1370, the conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), the founder and ruler of the Timurid Empire, made Samarkand his capital. Over the next 35 years, he rebuilt most of the city and populated it with great artisans and craftsmen from across the empire. Timur gained a reputation as a patron of the arts, and Samarkand grew to become the centre of the region of Transoxiana. Timur's commitment to the arts is evident in how, in contrast with the ruthlessness he showed his enemies, he demonstrated mercy toward those with special artistic abilities. The lives of artists, craftsmen, and architects were spared so that they could improve and beautify Timur's capital.[citation needed]

Timur was also directly involved in construction projects, and his visions often exceeded the technical abilities of his workers. The city was in a state of constant construction, and Timur would often order buildings to be done and redone quickly if he was unsatisfied with the results.[45] By his orders, Samarkand could be reached only by roads; deep ditches were dug, and walls 8 km (5 mi) in circumference separated the city from its surrounding neighbors.[46] At this time, the city had a population of about 150,000.[47]

Henry III's ambassador Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who was stationed at Samarkand between 1403 and 1406, attested to the never-ending construction that went on in the city. "The Mosque which Timur had built seemed to us the noblest of all those we visited in the city of Samarkand. "[48]

Ulugbek's period (1409–1449)

 
Ulugbek's madrasa in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

In 1417–1420, Timur's grandson Ulugbek built a madrasah in Samarkand, which became the first building in the architectural ensemble of Registan. Ulugbek invited a large number of astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic world to this madrasah. Under Ulugbek Samarkand became one of the world centers of medieval science. Here, in the first half of the 15th century, a whole scientific school arose around Ulugbek, uniting prominent astronomers and mathematicians - Giyasiddin Jamshid Kashi, Kazizade Rumi, al-Kushchi. Ulugbek's main interest in science was astronomy. In 1428, the construction of the Ulugbek observatory was completed. Her main instrument was the wall quadrant, which had no equal in the world.[49]

16th–18th centuries

 
The Registan and its three madrasahs. From left to right: Ulugh Beg Madrasah, Tilya-Kori Madrasah and Sher-Dor Madrasah.

In 1500, nomadic Uzbek warriors took control of Samarkand.[47] The Shaybanids emerged as the city's leaders at or about this time. In 1501, Samarkand was finally taken by Muhammad Shaybani from the Uzbek dynasty of Shaybanids, and the city became part of the newly formed “Bukhara Khanate”. Samarkand was chosen as the capital of this state, in which Muhammad Shaybani Khan was crowned. In Samarkand, Muhammad Shaybani Khan ordered to build a large madrasah, where he later took part in scientific and religious disputes. The first dated news about the Shaybani Khan madrasah dates back to 1504 (it was completely destroyed during the years of Soviet power). Muhammad Salikh wrote that Sheibani Khan built a madrasah in Samarkand to perpetuate the memory of his brother Mahmud Sultan.[50]

Fazlallah ibn Ruzbihan[who?] in "Mikhmon-namei Bukhara" expresses his admiration for the majestic building of the madrasah, its gilded roof, high hujras, spacious courtyard and quotes a verse praising the madrasah.[51] Zayn ad-din Vasifi, who visited the Sheibani-khan madrasah several years later, wrote in his memoirs that the veranda, hall and courtyard of the madrassah are spacious and magnificent.[50]

Abdulatif Khan, the son of Mirzo Ulugbek's grandson Kuchkunji Khan, who ruled in Samarkand in 1540–1551, was considered an expert in the history of Maverannahr and the Shibanid dynasty. He patronized poets and scientists. Abdulatif Khan himself wrote poetry under the literary pseudonym Khush.[52]

During the reign of the Ashtarkhanid Imam Quli Khan (1611–1642) famous architectural masterpieces were built in Samarkand. In 1612–1656, the governor of Samarkand, Yalangtush Bahadur, built a cathedral mosque, Tillya-Kari madrasah and Sherdor madrasah.[citation needed]

After an assault by the Afshar Shahanshah Nader Shah, the city was abandoned in the early 1720s.[53] From 1599 to 1756, Samarkand was ruled by the Ashtrakhanid branch of the Khanate of Bukhara.

Second half of the 18th–19th centuries

 
Khazrat Hizr mosque, 1854

From 1756 to 1868, it was ruled by the Manghud Emirs of Bukhara.[54] The revival of the city began during the reign of the founder of the Uzbek dynasty, the Mangyts, Muhammad Rakhim (1756–1758), who became famous for his strong-willed qualities and military art. Muhammad Rakhimbiy made some attempts to revive Samarkand.[55]

Russian Empire period

 
Samarkand in 1890
 
Bazaar in Samarkand, illustration by Léon Benett for a Jules Verne novel

The city came under imperial Russian rule after the citadel had been taken by a force under Colonel Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman in 1868. Shortly thereafter the small Russian garrison of 500 men were themselves besieged. The assault, which was led by Abdul Malik Tura, the rebellious elder son of the Bukharan Emir, as well as Baba Beg of Shahrisabz and Jura Beg of Kitab, was repelled with heavy losses. General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov became the first Governor of the Military Okrug, which the Russians established along the course of the Zeravshan River with Samarkand as the administrative centre. The Russian section of the city was built after this point, largely west of the old city.

In 1886, the city became the capital of the newly-formed Samarkand Oblast of Russian Turkestan and regained even more importance when the Trans-Caspian railway reached it in 1888.

Soviet period

 
Samarkand, by Richard-Karl Karlovitch Zommer

Samarkand was the capital of the Uzbek SSR from 1925 to 1930, before being replaced by Tashkent. During World War II, after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, a number of Samarkand's citizens were sent to Smolensk to fight the enemy. Many were taken captive or killed by the Nazis.[56][57] Additionally, thousands of refugees from the occupied western regions of the USSR fled to the city, and it served as one of the main hubs for the fleeing civilians in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union as a whole.[citation needed]

 
Triumph by Vasily Vereshchagin, depicting the Sher-Dor Madrasa in Registan.

The scientific study of the history of Samarkand begins after the conquest of Samarkand by the Russian Empire in 1868. The first studies of the history of Samarkand belong to N. Veselovsky, V. Bartold and V. Vyatkin. In the Soviet period, the generalization of materials on the history of Samarkand was reflected in the two-volume History of Samarkand edited by the academician of Uzbekistan Ibraghim Muminov.[58]

On the initiative of Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR I. Muminov and with the support of Sharaf Rashidov, the 2500th anniversary of Samarkand was widely celebrated in 1970. In this regard, a monument to Mirzo Ulugbek was opened, the Museum of the History of Samarkand was founded, and a two-volume history of Samarkand was prepared and published.[59][60]

After Uzbekistan gained independence, several monographs were published on the ancient and medieval history of Samarkand.[61][62]

Geography

 
Samarkand from space in September 2013.[63]

Samarkand is located in southeastern Uzbekistan, in the Zarefshan River valley, 135 km from Qarshi. Road M37 connects Samarkand to Bukhara, 240 km away. Road M39 connects it to Tashkent, 270 km away. The Tajikistan border is about 35 km from Samarkand; the Tajik capital Dushanbe is 210 km away from Samarkand. Road M39 connects Samarkand to Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan, which is 340 km away.

Climate

Samarkand has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa) that closely borders on a semi-arid climate (BSk) with hot, dry summers and relatively wet, variable winters that alternate periods of warm weather with periods of cold weather. July and August are the hottest months of the year, with temperatures reaching and exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Precipitation is sparse from December through April. January 2008 was particularly cold; the temperature dropped to −22 °C (−8 °F)[64]

Climate data for Samarkand (1981–2010, extremes 1936–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 23.2
(73.8)
26.7
(80.1)
32.2
(90.0)
36.2
(97.2)
39.5
(103.1)
41.4
(106.5)
42.4
(108.3)
41.0
(105.8)
38.6
(101.5)
35.2
(95.4)
31.5
(88.7)
27.5
(81.5)
42.4
(108.3)
Average high °C (°F) 6.9
(44.4)
9.2
(48.6)
14.3
(57.7)
21.2
(70.2)
26.5
(79.7)
32.2
(90.0)
34.1
(93.4)
32.9
(91.2)
28.3
(82.9)
21.6
(70.9)
15.3
(59.5)
9.2
(48.6)
21.0
(69.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.9
(35.4)
3.6
(38.5)
8.5
(47.3)
14.8
(58.6)
19.8
(67.6)
25.0
(77.0)
26.8
(80.2)
25.2
(77.4)
20.1
(68.2)
13.6
(56.5)
8.4
(47.1)
3.7
(38.7)
14.3
(57.7)
Average low °C (°F) −1.7
(28.9)
−0.5
(31.1)
4.0
(39.2)
9.4
(48.9)
13.5
(56.3)
17.4
(63.3)
19.0
(66.2)
17.4
(63.3)
12.8
(55.0)
7.2
(45.0)
3.5
(38.3)
−0.2
(31.6)
8.5
(47.3)
Record low °C (°F) −25.4
(−13.7)
−22
(−8)
−14.9
(5.2)
−6.8
(19.8)
−1.3
(29.7)
4.8
(40.6)
8.6
(47.5)
7.8
(46.0)
0.0
(32.0)
−6.4
(20.5)
−18.1
(−0.6)
−22.8
(−9.0)
−25.4
(−13.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 41.2
(1.62)
46.2
(1.82)
68.8
(2.71)
60.5
(2.38)
36.3
(1.43)
6.1
(0.24)
3.7
(0.15)
1.2
(0.05)
3.5
(0.14)
16.8
(0.66)
33.9
(1.33)
47.0
(1.85)
365.2
(14.38)
Average precipitation days 14 14 14 12 10 5 2 1 2 6 9 12 101
Average snowy days 9 7 3 0.3 0.1 0 0 0 0 0.3 2 6 28
Average relative humidity (%) 76 74 70 63 54 42 42 43 47 59 68 74 59
Average dew point °C (°F) −2
(28)
−1
(30)
2
(36)
6
(43)
9
(48)
9
(48)
10
(50)
9
(48)
6
(43)
4
(39)
2
(36)
−1
(30)
4
(40)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 132.9 130.9 169.3 219.3 315.9 376.8 397.7 362.3 310.1 234.3 173.3 130.3 2,953.1
Average ultraviolet index 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 6 4 3 2 2 4
Source 1: Centre of Hydrometeorological Service of Uzbekistan[65]
Source 2: Weather Atlas (UV),[66] Time and Date (dewpoints, 1985–2015),[67] 理科年表 (mean temperatures/humidity/snow days 1981–2010, record low and record high temperatures),[68] NOAA (sun, 1961–1990)[69]

People

According to official reports, a majority of Samarkand's inhabitants are Uzbeks, while many sources refer to the city as majority Tajik,[70][71][72][73] up to 70 percent of the city's population.[74] Tajiks are especially concentrated in the eastern part of the city, where the main architectural landmarks are.

According to various independent sources, Tajiks are Samarkand's majority ethnic group. Ethnic Uzbeks are the second-largest group[75] and are most concentrated in the west of Samarkand. Exact demographic figures are difficult to obtain since some people in Uzbekistan identify as "Uzbek" even though they speak Tajiki as their first language, often because they are registered as Uzbeks by the central government despite their Tajiki language and identity. As explained by Paul Bergne:

During the census of 1926 a significant part of the Tajik population was registered as Uzbek. Thus, for example, in the 1920 census in Samarkand city the Tajiks were recorded as numbering 44,758 and the Uzbeks only 3301. According to the 1926 census, the number of Uzbeks was recorded as 43,364 and the Tajiks as only 10,716. In a series of kishlaks [villages] in the Khojand Okrug, whose population was registered as Tajik in 1920 e.g. in Asht, Kalacha, Akjar i Tajik and others, in the 1926 census they were registered as Uzbeks. Similar facts can be adduced also with regard to Ferghana, Samarkand, and especially the Bukhara oblasts.[75]

Samarkand is also home to large ethnic communities of "Iranis" (the old, Persian-speaking, Shia population of Merv city and oasis, deported en masse to this area in the late 18th century), Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Armenians, Azeris, Tatars, Koreans, Poles, and Germans, all of whom live primarily in the centre and western neighborhoods of the city. These peoples have emigrated to Samarkand since the end of the 19th century, especially during the Soviet Era; by and large, they speak the Russian language.

In the extreme west and southwest of Samarkand is a population of Central Asian Arabs, who mostly speak Uzbek; only a small portion of the older generation speaks Central Asian Arabic. In eastern Samarkand there was once a large mahallah of Bukharian (Central Asian) Jews, but starting in the 1970s, hundreds of thousands of Jews left Uzbekistan for Israel, United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. Only a few Jewish families are left in Samarkand today.

Also in the eastern part of Samarkand there are several quarters where Central Asian "Gypsies"[76] (Lyuli, Djugi, Parya, and other groups) live. These peoples began to arrive in Samarkand several centuries ago from what are now India and Pakistan. They mainly speak a dialect of the Tajik language, as well as their own languages, most notably Parya.

Language

 
Greeting in two languages: Uzbek (Latin) and Tajik (Cyrillic) at the entrance to one of the mahallahs (Bo'zi) of Samarkand

The state and official language in Samarkand, as in all Uzbekistan, is the Uzbek language. Uzbek is one of the Turkic languages and the mother tongue of Uzbeks, Turkmens, Samarkandian Iranians, and most Samarkandian Arabs living in Samarkand.

As in the rest of Uzbekistan, the Russian language is the de facto second official language in Samarkand, and about 5% of signs and inscriptions in Samarkand are in this language. Russians, Belarusians, Poles, Germans, Koreans, the majority of Ukrainians, the majority of Armenians, Greeks, some Tatars, and some Azerbaijanis in Samarkand speak Russian. Several Russian-language newspapers are published in Samarkand, the most popular of which is "Samarkandskiy vestnik" (Russian: Самаркандский вестникSamarkand Herald). The Samarkandian TV channel STV conducts some broadcasts in Russian.

De facto, the most common native language in Samarkand is Tajik, which is a dialect or variant of the Persian language. Samarkand was one of the cities in which the Persian language developed. Many classical Persian poets and writers lived in or visited Samarkand over the millennia, the most famous being Abulqasem Ferdowsi, Omar Khayyam, Abdurahman Jami, Abu Abdullah Rudaki, Suzani Samarqandi, and Kamal Khujandi.

While the official stance is that Uzbek is the most common language in Samarkand, some data indicate that only about 30% of residents speak it as a native tongue. For the other 70%, Tajik is the native tongue, with Uzbek the second language and Russian the third. However, as no population census has been taken in Uzbekistan since 1989, there are no accurate data on this matter. Despite Tajik being the second most common language in Samarkand, it does not enjoy the status of an official or regional language.[74][77][71][78][72][79][73][80] Only one newspaper in Samarkand is published in Tajik, in the Cyrillic Tajik alphabet: "Ovozi Samarqand" (Tajik: Овози СамарқандVoice of Samarkand). Local Samarkandian STV and "Samarqand" TV channels offer some broadcasts in Tajik, as does one regional radio station.

In addition to Uzbek, Tajik, and Russian, native languages spoken in Samarkand include Ukrainian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Arabic (for a very small percentage of Samarkandian Arabs), and others.

Modern Samarkand is a vibrant city, and in 2019 the city hosted the first Samarkand Half Marathon. [81] In 2022 this also included a full marathon for the first time.

Religion

Islam

 
Downtown with Bibi-Khanym Mosque in 1990s

Islam entered Samarkand in the 8th century, during the invasion of the Arabs in Central Asia (Umayyad Caliphate). Before that, almost all inhabitants of Samarqand were Zoroastrians, and many Nestorians and Buddhists also lived in the city. From that point forward, throughout the reigns of many Muslim governing powers, numerous mosques, madrasahs, minarets, shrines, and mausoleums were built in the city. Many have been preserved. For example, there is the Shrine of Imam Bukhari, an Islamic scholar who authored the hadith collection known as Sahih al-Bukhari, which Sunni Muslims regard as one of the most authentic (sahih) hadith collections. His other books included Al-Adab al-Mufrad. Samarkand is also home to the Shrine of Imam Maturidi, the founder of Maturidism and the Mausoleum of the Prophet Daniel, who is revered in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

Most inhabitants of Samarkand are Muslim, primarily Sunni (mostly Hanafi) and Sufi. Approximately 80-85% of Muslims in the city are Sunni, comprising almost all Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Samarqandian Arabs living therein. Samarqand's best-known Islamic sacred lineages are the descendants of Sufi leaders such as Khodja Akhror Wali (1404–1490) and Makhdumi A’zam (1461–1542), the descendants of Sayyid Ata (first half of 14th c.) and Mirakoni Xojas (Sayyids from Mirakon, a village in Iran).[82] The liberal policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened up new opportunities for the expression of the religious identity. In Samarkand, since 2018, there has been an increase in the number of women wearing the hijab.[83]

Shia Muslims

The Samarqand Vilayat is one of the two regions of Uzbekistan (along with Bukhara Vilayat) that is home to a large number of Shiites. The total population of the Samarqand Vilayat is more than 3,720,000 people (2019).

There are no exact data on the number of Shiites in the city of Samarkand, but the city has several Shiite mosques and madrasas. The largest of these are the Punjabi Mosque, the Punjabi Madrassah, and the Mausoleum of Mourad Avliya. Every year, the Shiites of Samarkand celebrate Ashura, as well as other memorable Shiite dates and holidays.

Shiites in Samarkand are mostly Samarqandian Iranians, who call themselves Irani. Their ancestors began to arrive Samarkand in the 18th century. Some migrated there in search of a better life, others were sold as slaves there by Turkmen captors, and others were soldiers who were posted to Samarkand. Mostly they came from Khorasan, Mashhad, Sabzevar, Nishapur, and Merv; and secondarily from Iranian Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Tabriz, and Ardabil. Samarkandian Shiites also include Azerbaijanis, as well as small numbers of Tajiks and Uzbeks.

While there are no official data on the total number of Shiites in Uzbekistan, they are estimated to be "several hundred thousand." According to WikiLeaks, in 2007–2008, the US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom held a series of meetings with Sunni mullahs and Shiite imams in Uzbekistan. During one of the talks, the imam of the Shiite mosque in Bukhara said that about 300,000 Shiites live in the Bukhara Vliayat and 1 million in the Samarqand Vilayat. The Ambassador slightly doubted the authenticity of these figures, emphasizing in his report that data on the numbers of religious and ethnic minorities provided by the government of Uzbekistan were considered a very "delicate topic" due to their potential to provoke interethnic and interreligious conflicts. All the ambassadors of the ambassador tried to emphasize that traditional Islam, especially Sufism and Sunnism, in the regions of Bukhara and Samarqand is characterized by great religious tolerance toward other religions and sects, including Shiism.[84][85][86]

Christianity

 
Provinces of the Church of the East in 10th century

Christianity was introduced to Samarkand when it was part of Soghdiana, long before the penetration of Islam into Central Asia. The city then became one of the centers of Nestorianism in Central Asia.[87] The majority of the population were then Zoroastrians, but since Samarkand was the crossroads of trade routes among China, Persia, and Europe, it was religiously tolerant. Under the Umayyad Caliphate, Zoroastrians and Nestorians were persecuted by the Arab conquerors; the survivors fled to other places or converted to Islam. Several Nestorian temples were built in Samarkand, but they have not survived. Their remains were found by archeologists at the ancient site of Afrasiyab and on the outskirts of Samarkand.

In the three decades of 1329–1359, the Samarkand eparchy of the Roman Catholic Church served several thousand Catholics who lived in the city. According to Marco Polo and Johann Elemosina, a descendant of Chaghatai Khan, the founder of the Chaghatai dynasty, Eljigidey, converted to Christianity and was baptized. With the assistance of Eljigidey, the Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist was built in Samarkand. After a while, however, Islam completely supplanted Catholicism.

Christianity reappeared in Samarkand several centuries later, from the mid-19th century onward, after the city was seized by the Russian Empire. Russian Orthodoxy was introduced to Samarkand in 1868, and several churches and temples were built. In the early 20th century several more Orthodox cathedrals, churches, and temples were built, most of which were demolished while Samarkand was part of the USSR.

In present time, Christianity is the second-largest religious group in Samarkand with the predominant form is the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). More than 5% of Samarkand residents are Orthodox, mostly Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians, and also some Koreans and Greeks. Samarkand is the center of the Samarkand branch (which includes the Samarkand, Qashqadarya, and Surkhandarya provinces of Uzbekistan) of the Uzbekistan and Tashkent eparchy of the Central Asian Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The city has several active Orthodox churches: Cathedral of St. Alexiy Moscowskiy, Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin, and Church of St. George the Victorious. There are also a number of inactive Orthodox churches and temples, for example that of Church of St. George Pobedonosets.[88][89]

There are also a few tens of thousands of Catholics in Samarkand, mostly Poles, Germans, and some Ukrainians. In the center of Samarkand is St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, which was built at the beginning of the 20th century. Samarkand is part of the Apostolic Administration of Uzbekistan.[90]

The third largest Christian sect in Samarkand is the Armenian Apostolic Church, followed by a few tens of thousands of Armenian Samarkandians. Armenian Christians began emigrating to Samarkand at the end of the 19th century, this flow increasing especially in the Soviet era.[91] In the west of Samarkand is the Armenian Church Surb Astvatsatsin.[92]

Samarkand also has several thousand Protestants, including Lutherans, Baptists, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists, and members of the Korean Presbyterian church. These Christian movements appeared in Samarkand mainly after the independence of Uzbekistan in 1991.[93]

Main sights

Samarkand
UNESCO World Heritage Site
 
Official nameSamarkand – Crossroad of Cultures
CriteriaCultural: (i), (ii), (iv)
Reference603bis
Inscription2001 (25th Session)
Area1,123 ha
Coordinates39°39′38″N 66°58′46″E / 39.66056°N 66.97944°E / 39.66056; 66.97944

Ensembles

Mausoleums and shrines

Mausoleums

Holy shrines and mausoleums

Other complexes

Madrasas

Mosques

Silk Road Samarkand (Eternal city)

 
Eternal city minaret

Silk Road Samarkand is a modern multiplex which is set to open in early 2022 in eastern Samarkand. The complex covers 260 hectares and includes world-class business and medical hotels, eateries, recreational facilities, park grounds, an ethnographic corner and a large congress hall for hosting international events.[94]


Eternal city situated in Silk Road Samarkand complex. This site which occupies 17 hectares accurately recreates the spirit of the ancient city backed up by the history and traditions of Uzbek lands and Uzbek people for the guests of the Silk Road Samarkand. The narrow streets here house multiple shops of artists, artisans, and craftsmen. The pavilions of the Eternal City were inspired by real houses and picturesque squares described in ancient books. This is where you can plunge into a beautiful oriental fairy tale: with turquoise domes, mosaics on palaces, and high minarets that pierce the sky.

Visitors to the Eternal City can taste national dishes from different eras and regions of the country and also see authentic street performances. The Eternal City showcases a unique mix of Parthian, Hellenistic, and Islamic cultures so that the guests could imagine the versatile heritage of bygone centuries in full splendor. The project was inspired and designed by Bobur Ismoilov, a famous modern artist.[95]

 
Ornate dome in Eternal city Samarkand

Architecture

 
Building the Great Mosque of Samarkand. Illustration by Bihzad for the Zafar-Nameh. Text copied in Herat in 1467–68 and illuminated the late 1480s. John Work Garret Collection, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Timur initiated the building of Bibi Khanum after his 1398–1399 campaign in India. Bibi Khanum originally had about 450 marble columns, which were hauled there and set up with the help of 95 elephants that Timur had brought back from Hindustan. Artisans and stonemasons from India designed the mosque's dome, giving it its distinctive appearance amongst the other buildings. An 1897 earthquake destroyed the columns, which were not entirely restored in the subsequent reconstruction.[45]

The best-known landmark of Samarkand is the mausoleum known as Gur-i Amir. It exhibits the influences of many cultures, past civilizations, neighboring peoples, and religions, especially those of Islam. Despite the devastation wrought by Mongols to Samarkand's pre-Timurid Islamic architecture, under Timur these architectural styles were revived, recreated, and restored. The blueprint and layout of the mosque itself, with their precise measurements, demonstrate the Islamic passion for geometry. The entrance to the Gur-i Amir is decorated with Arabic calligraphy and inscriptions, the latter a common feature in Islamic architecture. Timur's meticulous attention to detail is especially obvious inside the mausoleum: the tiled walls are a marvelous example of mosaic faience, an Iranian technique in which each tile is cut, colored, and fit into place individually.[45] The tiles of the Gur-i Amir were also arranged so that they spell out religious words such as "Muhammad" and "Allah."[45]

The ornamentation of the Gur-i Amir's walls includes floral and vegetal motifs, which signify gardens; the floor tiles feature uninterrupted floral patterns. In Islam, gardens are symbols of paradise, and as such, they were depicted on the walls of tombs and grown in Samarkand itself.[45] Samarkand boasted two major gardens, the New Garden and the Garden of Heart's Delight, which became the central areas of entertainment for ambassadors and important guests. In 1218, a friend of Genghis Khan named Yelü Chucai reported that Samarkand was the most beautiful city of all, as "it was surrounded by numerous gardens. Every household had a garden, and all the gardens were well designed, with canals and water fountains that supplied water to round or square-shaped ponds. The landscape included rows of willows and cypress trees, and peach and plum orchards were shoulder to shoulder."[96] Persian carpets with floral patterns have also been found in some Timurid buildings.[97]

The elements of traditional Islamic architecture can be seen in traditional mud-brick Uzbek houses that are built around central courtyards with gardens.[98] Most of these houses have painted wooden ceilings and walls. By contrast, houses in the west of the city are chiefly European-style homes built in the 19th and 20th centuries.[98]

Turko-Mongol influence is also apparent in Samarkand's architecture. It is believed that the melon-shaped domes of the mausoleums were designed to echo yurts or gers, traditional Mongol tents in which the bodies of the dead were displayed before burial or other disposition. Timur built his tents from more-durable materials, such as bricks and wood, but their purposes remained largely unchanged.[45] The chamber in which Timur's own body was laid included "tugs", poles whose tops were hung with a circular arrangement of horse or yak tail hairs. These banners symbolized an ancient Turkic tradition of sacrificing horses, which were valuable commodities, to honor the dead.[45] Tugs were also a type of cavalry standard used by many nomads, up to the time of the Ottoman Turks.

Colors of buildings in Samarkand also have significant meanings. The dominant architectural color is blue, which Timur used to convey a broad range of concepts. For example, the shades of blue in the Gur-i Amir are colors of mourning; in that era, blue was the color of mourning in Central Asia, as it still is in various cultures today. Blue was also considered the color that could ward off "the evil eye" in Central Asia; this notion is evidenced by in the number of blue-painted doors in and around the city. Furthermore, blue represented water, a particularly rare resource in the Middle East and Central Asia; walls painted blue symbolized the wealth of the city.

Gold also has a strong presence in the city. Timur's fascination with vaulting explains the excessive use of gold in the Gur-i Amir, as well as the use of embroidered gold fabric in both the city and his buildings. The Mongols had great interests in Chinese- and Persian-style golden silk textiles, as well as nasij[99] woven in Iran and Transoxiana. Mongol leaders like Ögedei Khan built textile workshops in their cities to be able to produce gold fabrics themselves.

Suburbs

Samarkand's recent expansion led to it having suburbs, including: Gulyakandoz, Superfosfatnyy, Bukharishlak, Ulugbek, Ravanak, Kattakishlak, Registan, Zebiniso, Kaftarkhona, Uzbankinty.[100]

Transport

Local

Samarkand has a strong public-transport system. From Soviet times up through today, municipal buses and taxis (GAZ-21, GAZ-24, GAZ-3102, VAZ-2101, VAZ-2106 and VAZ-2107) have operated in Samarkand. Buses, mostly SamAuto and Isuzu buses, are the most common and popular mode of transport in the city. Taxis, which are mostly Chevrolets and Daewoo sedans, are usually yellow in color. Since 2017, there have also been several Samarkandian tram lines, mostly Vario LF.S Czech trams. From the Soviet Era up until 2005, Samarkandians also got around via trolleybus. Finally, Samarkand has the so-called "Marshrutka," which are Daewoo Damas and GAZelle minibuses.

Until 1950, the main forms of transport in Samarkand were carriages and "arabas" with horses and donkeys. However, the city had a steam tram in 1924–1930, and there were more-modern trams in 1947–1973.

Air transport

In the north of the city is Samarkand International Airport, which was opened in the 1930s, under the Soviets. As of spring 2019, Samarkand International Airport has flights to Tashkent, Nukus, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Istanbul, and Dushanbe; charter flights to other cities are also available.

Railway

Modern Samarkand is an important railway center of Uzbekistan; all national east–west railway routes pass through the city. The most important and longest of these is TashkentKungrad. High-speed Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line trains run between Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara. Samarkand also has international railway connections: Saratov–Samarkand, Moscow–Samarkand, and Nur-Sultan–Samarkand.

In 1879–1891, the Russian Empire built the Trans-Caspian Railway to facilitate its expansion into Central Asia. The railway originated in Krasnovodsk (now Turkmenbashi) on the Caspian Sea coast. Its terminus was originally Samarkand, whose station first opened in May 1888. However, a decade later, the railway was extended eastward to Tashkent and Andijan, and its name was changed to Central Asian Railways. Nonetheless, Samarkand remained one of the largest and most important stations of the Uzbekistan SSR and Soviet Central Asia.

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Samarkand is twinned with:[101]

Friendly cities

Samarkand has friendly relations with:[101][102]

Gallery

See also

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General and cited references

  • Azim Malikov, "Cult of saints and shrines in the Samarqand province of Uzbekistan". International Journal of Modern Anthropology. No. 4. 2010, pp. 116–123.
  • Azim Malikov, "The politics of memory in Samarkand in post-Soviet period". International Journal of Modern Anthropology. (2018) Vol. 2. Issue No. 11. pp. 127–145.
  • Azim Malikov, "Sacred lineages of Samarqand: history and identity". Anthropology of the Middle East, Volume 15, Issue 1, Summer 2020, рp. 34–49.
  • Alexander Morrison, Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868–1910: A Comparison with British India (Oxford, OUP, 2008) (Oxford Historical Monographs).

External links

  • Forbes, Andrew, & Henley, David: Timur's Legacy: The Architecture of Bukhara and Samarkand (CPA Media).
  • Samarkand – Silk Road Seattle Project, University of Washington
  • , according to Columbia University's Encyclopædia Iranica (archived 11 March 2007)
  • Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
  • Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). "Samarkand (city)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). pp. 112–113.
  • GCatholic – former Latin Catholic bishopric
  • Samarkand: Photos, History, Sights, Useful information for travelers
  • (archived 18 August 2018)
  • Tilla-Kori Madrasa was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List
Preceded by Capital of Khwarazmian Empire
1212–1220
Succeeded by
Preceded by Capital of Iran (Persia)
1370–1501
Succeeded by
Preceded by
-
Capital of Timurid dynasty
1370–1505
Succeeded by

samarkand, markanda, redirects, here, other, uses, markanda, disambiguation, uzbek, Самарқанд, samarqand, pronounced, samarqand, qant, tajik, Самарқанд, persian, سمرقند, sogdian, smā, rkąθ, 𐼑𐼍𐼀𐼘𐼋𐼎𐼌𐼆, 𐼼𐼺𐼰𐽀𐼸𐼻𐼹𐼳, smʾrknδh, also, known, samarqand, city, southeaste. Markanda redirects here For other uses see Markanda disambiguation Samarkand ˈ s ae m er k ae n d Uzbek Samarkand Samarqand pronounced samarqand qant Tajik Samarkand Persian سمرقند Sogdian sma rka8 𐼑𐼍𐼀𐼘𐼋𐼎𐼌𐼆 𐼼𐼺𐼰𐽀𐼸𐼻𐼹𐼳 smʾrkndH also known as Samarqand is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central Asia There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late Paleolithic Era Though there is no direct evidence of when Samarkand was founded several theories propose that it was founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE Prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China Persia and Europe at times Samarkand was one of the largest 2 cities of Central Asia 3 Most of the inhabitants of this city are native speakers of Tajik dialect of Persian language This city is one of the historical centers of the Tajik people in Central Asia which in the past was one of the important cities of the great empires of Greater Iran 4 5 Samarkand Uzbek Samarqand Samarkand Persian سمرقندSamarkandCityClockwise from the top Registan square Shah i Zinda necropolis Bibi Khanym Mosque view inside Shah i Zinda Sher Dor Madrasah in Registan Timur s Mausoleum Gur e Amir SealSamarkandLocation in UzbekistanShow map of UzbekistanSamarkandSamarkand West and Central Asia Show map of West and Central AsiaSamarkandSamarkand Asia Show map of AsiaCoordinates 39 39 17 N 66 58 33 E 39 65472 N 66 97583 E 39 65472 66 97583 Coordinates 39 39 17 N 66 58 33 E 39 65472 N 66 97583 E 39 65472 66 97583Country UzbekistanVilayatSamarkand VilayatSettled8th century BCEGovernment TypeCity Administration BodyHakim Mayor Area City120 km2 50 sq mi Elevation705 m 2 313 ft Population 1 January 2019 City513 572 1 Metro950 000DemonymSamarkandian SamarkandiTime zoneUTC 5Postal code140100Websitesamarkand uzUNESCO World Heritage SiteOfficial nameSamarkand Crossroads of CulturesCriteriaCultural i ii ivReference603Inscription2001 25th Session Area1 123 haBuffer zone1 369 haBy the time of the Persian Achaemenid Empire it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE when it was known as Markanda which was rendered in Greek as Marakanda 6 The city was ruled by a succession of Iranian and Turkic rulers until it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220 Today Samarkand is the capital of Samarqand Region and a district level city that includes the urban type settlements Kimyogarlar Farxod and Xishrav 7 With 551 700 inhabitants 2021 8 it is the second largest city of Uzbekistan citation needed The city is noted as a centre of Islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the Timurid Renaissance In the 14th century Timur Tamerlane made it the capital of his empire and the site of his mausoleum the Gur e Amir The Bibi Khanym Mosque rebuilt during the Soviet era remains one of the city s most notable landmarks Samarkand s Registan square was the city s ancient centre and is bounded by three monumental religious buildings The city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts embroidery goldwork silk weaving copper engraving ceramics wood carving and wood painting 9 In 2001 UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand Crossroads of Cultures Modern Samarkand is divided into two parts the old city and the new city which was developed during the days of the Russian Empire and Soviet Union The old city includes historical monuments shops and old private houses the new city includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions 10 On September 15 16 2022 the city hosted the 2022 SCO summit Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Early history 2 2 Hellenistic period 2 3 Sassanian era 2 4 Hephtalites and Turkic Khaganate era 2 5 Early Islamic era 2 6 Karakhanid Ilek Khanid period 11th 12th centuries 2 7 Mongol period 2 8 Timur s rule 1370 1405 2 9 Ulugbek s period 1409 1449 2 10 16th 18th centuries 2 11 Second half of the 18th 19th centuries 2 12 Russian Empire period 2 13 Soviet period 3 Geography 3 1 Climate 4 People 4 1 Language 5 Religion 5 1 Islam 5 1 1 Shia Muslims 5 2 Christianity 6 Main sights 6 1 Ensembles 6 2 Mausoleums and shrines 6 2 1 Mausoleums 6 2 2 Holy shrines and mausoleums 6 3 Other complexes 6 4 Madrasas 6 5 Mosques 6 6 Silk Road Samarkand Eternal city 6 7 Architecture 6 8 Suburbs 7 Transport 7 1 Local 7 2 Air transport 7 3 Railway 8 International relations 8 1 Twin towns sister cities 8 2 Friendly cities 9 Gallery 10 See also 11 Citations 12 General and cited references 13 External linksEtymology EditThe name comes from Sogdian samar stone rock and kand fort town 11 In this respect Samarkand shares the same meaning as the name of the Uzbek capital Tashkent with tash being the Turkic term for stone and kent the Turkic analogue of kand citation needed History EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Samarkand news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Early history Edit See also Timeline of Samarkand Along with Bukhara 12 Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Central Asia prospering from its location on the trade route between China and Europe There is no direct evidence of when it was founded Researchers at the Institute of Archaeology of Samarkand date the city s founding to the 8th 7th centuries BCE Archaeological excavations conducted within the city limits Syob and midtown as well as suburban areas Hojamazgil Sazag on unearthed 40 000 year old evidence of human activity dating back to the Upper Paleolithic A group of Mesolithic 12th 7th millennia BCE archaeological sites were discovered in the suburbs of Sazag on 1 Zamichatosh and Okhalik The Syob and Darg om canals supplying the city and its suburbs with water appeared around the 7th 5th centuries BCE early Iron Age From its earliest days Samarkand was one of the main centres of Sogdian civilization By the time of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia the city had become the capital of the Sogdian satrapy Hellenistic period Edit Ancient city walls of Samarkand 4th century BCE Alexander the Great Slaying Cleitus in Samarkand by Daniel de Blieck Ferens Art Gallery Hull Alexander the Great conquered Samarkand in 329 BCE The city was known as Maracanda by the Greeks 13 Written sources offer small clues as to the subsequent system of government 14 they mention one Orepius who became ruler not from ancestors but as a gift of Alexander 15 While Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexander s initial conquest the city recovered rapidly and flourished under the new Hellenic influence There were also major new construction techniques oblong bricks were replaced with square ones and superior methods of masonry and plastering were introduced 16 Alexander s conquests introduced classical Greek culture into Central Asia for a time Greek aesthetics heavily influenced local artisans This Hellenistic legacy continued as the city became part of various successor states in the centuries following Alexander s death i e the Seleucid Empire Greco Bactrian Kingdom and Kushan Empire even though the Kushana themselves originated in Central Asia After the Kushan state lost control of Sogdia during the 3rd century CE Samarkand went into decline as a centre of economic cultural and political power It did not significantly revive until the 5th century Sassanian era Edit Samarkand was conquered by the Persian Sassanians c 260 CE Under Sassanian rule the region became an essential site for Manichaeism and facilitated the dissemination of the religion throughout Central Asia 17 Hephtalites and Turkic Khaganate era Edit In AD 350 375 Samarkand was conquered by the nomadic tribes of Xionites the origin of which remains controversial 18 The resettlement of nomadic groups to Samarkand confirms archaeological material from the 4th century The culture of nomads from the Middle Syrdarya basin is spreading in the region 19 In 457 509 Samarkand was part of the Kidarite state 20 Turkic officers during an audience with king Varkhuman of Samarkand 648 651 CE Afrasiyab murals Samarkand 21 22 After the Hephtalites White Huns conquered Samarkand they controlled it until the Gokturks in an alliance with the Sassanid Persians won it at the Battle of Bukhara c 560 CE citation needed In the middle of the 6th century a Turkic state was formed in Altai founded by the Ashina dynasty The new state formation was named the Turkic Khaganate after the people of the Turks which were headed by the ruler the Khagan In 557 561 the Hephthalites empire was defeated by the joint actions of the Turks and Sassanids which led to the establishment of a common border between the two empires 23 In the early Middle Ages Samarkand was surrounded by four rows of defensive walls and had four gates 24 An ancient Turkic burial with a horse was investigated on the territory of Samarkand It dates back to the 6th century 25 During the period of the ruler of the Western Turkic Kaganate Tong Yabghu Qaghan 618 630 family relations were established with the ruler of Samarkand Tong Yabghu Qaghan gave him his daughter 26 Some parts of Samarkand have been Christians since the 4th century In the 5th century a Nestorian chair was established in Samarkand At the beginning of the 8th century it was transformed into a Nestorian metropolitanate 27 Discussions and polemics arose between the Sogdian followers of Christianity and Manichaeism reflected in the documents 28 Early Islamic era Edit Coin of Sogdian ruler Turgar last Ikhshid of Samarkand Penjikent 8th century CE National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan 29 The armies of the Umayyad Caliphate under Qutayba ibn Muslim captured the city from the Turks c 710 CE 17 During this period Samarkand was a diverse religious community and was home to a number of religions including Zoroastrianism Buddhism Hinduism Manichaeism Judaism and Nestorian Christianity with most of the population following Zoroastrianism 30 Qutayba generally did not settle Arabs in Central Asia he forced the local rulers to pay him tribute but largely left them to their own devices Samarkand was the major exception to this policy Qutayba established an Arab garrison and Arab governmental administration in the city its Zoroastrian fire temples were razed and a mosque was built 31 Much of the city s population converted to Islam 32 As a long term result Samarkand developed into a center of Islamic and Arabic learning 31 Abbasid gold dinar minted in AH 248 252 AD 862 866 Samarkand At the end of the 740s a movement of those dissatisfied with the power of the Umayyads emerged in the Arab Caliphate led by the Abbasid commander Abu Muslim who after the victory of the uprising became the governor of Khorasan and Maverannahr 750 755 He chose Samarkand as his residence His name is associated with the construction of a multi kilometer defensive wall around the city and the palace 33 Legend has it that during Abbasid rule 34 the secret of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas in 751 which led to the foundation of the first paper mill in the Islamic world at Samarkand The invention then spread to the rest of the Islamic world and thence to Europe citation needed Gold dinar of caliph al Mu tazz minted at Samarkand in AH 253 867 CE His reign marks the apogee of the decline of the Caliphate s central authority Abbasid control of Samarkand soon dissipated and was replaced with that of the Samanids 875 999 though the Samanids were still nominal vassals of the Caliph during their control of Samarkand Under Samanid rule the city became a capital of the Samanid dynasty and an even more important node of numerous trade routes The Samanids were overthrown by the Karakhanids around 999 Over the next 200 years Samarkand would be ruled by a succession of Turkic tribes including the Seljuqs and the Khwarazmshahs 35 The 10th century Persian author Istakhri who travelled in Transoxiana provides a vivid description of the natural riches of the region he calls Smarkandian Sogd I know no place in it or in Samarkand itself where if one ascends some elevated ground one does not see greenery and a pleasant place and nowhere near it are mountains lacking in trees or a dusty steppe Samakandian Sogd extends eight days travel through unbroken greenery and gardens The greenery of the trees and sown land extends along both sides of the river Sogd and beyond these fields is pasture for flocks Every town and settlement has a fortress It is the most fruitful of all the countries of Allah in it are the best trees and fruits in every home are gardens cisterns and flowing water Karakhanid Ilek Khanid period 11th 12th centuries Edit Shah i Zinda memorial complex 11th 15th centuries After the fall of the Samanids state in the year 999 it was replaced by the Qarakhanid State where the Turkic Qarakhanid dynasty ruled 36 After the state of the Qarakhanids split into two parts Samarkand became a part of the West Karakhanid Kaganate and in 1040 1212 was its capital 36 The founder of the Western Qarakhanid Kaganate was Ibrahim Tamgach Khan 1040 1068 36 For the first time he built a madrasah in Samarkand with state funds and supported the development of culture in the region During his reign a public hospital bemoristan and a madrasah were established in Samarkand where medicine was also taught The memorial complex Shah i Zinda was founded by the rulers of the Karakhanid dynasty in the 11th century 37 The most striking monument of the Qarakhanid era in Samarkand was the palace of Ibrahim ibn Hussein 1178 1202 which was built in the citadel in the 12th century During the excavations fragments of monumental painting were discovered On the eastern wall a Turkic warrior was depicted dressed in a yellow caftan and holding a bow Horses hunting dogs birds and periodlike women were also depicted here 38 Mongol period Edit Ruins of Afrasiab ancient Samarkand destroyed by Genghis Khan The Mongols conquered Samarkand in 1220 Juvaini writes that Genghis killed all who took refuge in the citadel and the mosque pillaged the city completely and conscripted 30 000 young men along with 30 000 craftsmen Samarkand suffered at least one other Mongol sack by Khan Baraq to get treasure he needed to pay an army It remained part of the Chagatai Khanate one of four Mongol successor realms until 1370 The Travels of Marco Polo where Polo records his journey along the Silk Road in the late 13th century describes Samarkand as a very large and splendid city 39 The Yenisei area had a community of weavers of Chinese origin and Samarkand and Outer Mongolia both had artisans of Chinese origin as reported by Changchun 40 After Genghis Khan conquered Central Asia foreigners were chosen as governmental administrators Chinese and Qara Khitays Khitans were appointed as co managers of gardens and fields in Samarkand which Muslims were not permitted to manage on their own 41 42 The khanate allowed the establishment of Christian bishoprics see below Timur s rule 1370 1405 Edit Shakhi Zinda mausoleums in Samarkand Bibi Khanym Friday Mosque 1399 1404 Ibn Battuta who visited in 1333 called Samarkand one of the greatest and finest of cities and most perfect of them in beauty He also noted that the orchards were supplied water via norias 43 In 1365 a revolt against Chagatai Mongol control occurred in Samarkand 44 In 1370 the conqueror Timur Tamerlane the founder and ruler of the Timurid Empire made Samarkand his capital Over the next 35 years he rebuilt most of the city and populated it with great artisans and craftsmen from across the empire Timur gained a reputation as a patron of the arts and Samarkand grew to become the centre of the region of Transoxiana Timur s commitment to the arts is evident in how in contrast with the ruthlessness he showed his enemies he demonstrated mercy toward those with special artistic abilities The lives of artists craftsmen and architects were spared so that they could improve and beautify Timur s capital citation needed Timur was also directly involved in construction projects and his visions often exceeded the technical abilities of his workers The city was in a state of constant construction and Timur would often order buildings to be done and redone quickly if he was unsatisfied with the results 45 By his orders Samarkand could be reached only by roads deep ditches were dug and walls 8 km 5 mi in circumference separated the city from its surrounding neighbors 46 At this time the city had a population of about 150 000 47 Henry III s ambassador Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo who was stationed at Samarkand between 1403 and 1406 attested to the never ending construction that went on in the city The Mosque which Timur had built seemed to us the noblest of all those we visited in the city of Samarkand 48 Ulugbek s period 1409 1449 Edit Ulugbek s madrasa in Samarkand Uzbekistan In 1417 1420 Timur s grandson Ulugbek built a madrasah in Samarkand which became the first building in the architectural ensemble of Registan Ulugbek invited a large number of astronomers and mathematicians of the Islamic world to this madrasah Under Ulugbek Samarkand became one of the world centers of medieval science Here in the first half of the 15th century a whole scientific school arose around Ulugbek uniting prominent astronomers and mathematicians Giyasiddin Jamshid Kashi Kazizade Rumi al Kushchi Ulugbek s main interest in science was astronomy In 1428 the construction of the Ulugbek observatory was completed Her main instrument was the wall quadrant which had no equal in the world 49 16th 18th centuries Edit The Registan and its three madrasahs From left to right Ulugh Beg Madrasah Tilya Kori Madrasah and Sher Dor Madrasah In 1500 nomadic Uzbek warriors took control of Samarkand 47 The Shaybanids emerged as the city s leaders at or about this time In 1501 Samarkand was finally taken by Muhammad Shaybani from the Uzbek dynasty of Shaybanids and the city became part of the newly formed Bukhara Khanate Samarkand was chosen as the capital of this state in which Muhammad Shaybani Khan was crowned In Samarkand Muhammad Shaybani Khan ordered to build a large madrasah where he later took part in scientific and religious disputes The first dated news about the Shaybani Khan madrasah dates back to 1504 it was completely destroyed during the years of Soviet power Muhammad Salikh wrote that Sheibani Khan built a madrasah in Samarkand to perpetuate the memory of his brother Mahmud Sultan 50 Fazlallah ibn Ruzbihan who in Mikhmon namei Bukhara expresses his admiration for the majestic building of the madrasah its gilded roof high hujras spacious courtyard and quotes a verse praising the madrasah 51 Zayn ad din Vasifi who visited the Sheibani khan madrasah several years later wrote in his memoirs that the veranda hall and courtyard of the madrassah are spacious and magnificent 50 Abdulatif Khan the son of Mirzo Ulugbek s grandson Kuchkunji Khan who ruled in Samarkand in 1540 1551 was considered an expert in the history of Maverannahr and the Shibanid dynasty He patronized poets and scientists Abdulatif Khan himself wrote poetry under the literary pseudonym Khush 52 During the reign of the Ashtarkhanid Imam Quli Khan 1611 1642 famous architectural masterpieces were built in Samarkand In 1612 1656 the governor of Samarkand Yalangtush Bahadur built a cathedral mosque Tillya Kari madrasah and Sherdor madrasah citation needed After an assault by the Afshar Shahanshah Nader Shah the city was abandoned in the early 1720s 53 From 1599 to 1756 Samarkand was ruled by the Ashtrakhanid branch of the Khanate of Bukhara Ulugh Beg Madrasah Sher Dor Madrasah Tilya Kori Madrasah Ulugh Beg Madrasah courtyard Tiger on the Sher Dor Madrasah iwanSecond half of the 18th 19th centuries Edit Khazrat Hizr mosque 1854 From 1756 to 1868 it was ruled by the Manghud Emirs of Bukhara 54 The revival of the city began during the reign of the founder of the Uzbek dynasty the Mangyts Muhammad Rakhim 1756 1758 who became famous for his strong willed qualities and military art Muhammad Rakhimbiy made some attempts to revive Samarkand 55 Russian Empire period Edit See also Russian Turkestan and Uzbeks Russo Soviet era Samarkand in 1890 Bazaar in Samarkand illustration by Leon Benett for a Jules Verne novel The city came under imperial Russian rule after the citadel had been taken by a force under Colonel Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman in 1868 Shortly thereafter the small Russian garrison of 500 men were themselves besieged The assault which was led by Abdul Malik Tura the rebellious elder son of the Bukharan Emir as well as Baba Beg of Shahrisabz and Jura Beg of Kitab was repelled with heavy losses General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov became the first Governor of the Military Okrug which the Russians established along the course of the Zeravshan River with Samarkand as the administrative centre The Russian section of the city was built after this point largely west of the old city In 1886 the city became the capital of the newly formed Samarkand Oblast of Russian Turkestan and regained even more importance when the Trans Caspian railway reached it in 1888 Soviet period Edit Samarkand by Richard Karl Karlovitch Zommer Samarkand was the capital of the Uzbek SSR from 1925 to 1930 before being replaced by Tashkent During World War II after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union a number of Samarkand s citizens were sent to Smolensk to fight the enemy Many were taken captive or killed by the Nazis 56 57 Additionally thousands of refugees from the occupied western regions of the USSR fled to the city and it served as one of the main hubs for the fleeing civilians in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union as a whole citation needed Triumph by Vasily Vereshchagin depicting the Sher Dor Madrasa in Registan The scientific study of the history of Samarkand begins after the conquest of Samarkand by the Russian Empire in 1868 The first studies of the history of Samarkand belong to N Veselovsky V Bartold and V Vyatkin In the Soviet period the generalization of materials on the history of Samarkand was reflected in the two volume History of Samarkand edited by the academician of Uzbekistan Ibraghim Muminov 58 On the initiative of Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR I Muminov and with the support of Sharaf Rashidov the 2500th anniversary of Samarkand was widely celebrated in 1970 In this regard a monument to Mirzo Ulugbek was opened the Museum of the History of Samarkand was founded and a two volume history of Samarkand was prepared and published 59 60 After Uzbekistan gained independence several monographs were published on the ancient and medieval history of Samarkand 61 62 Geography Edit Samarkand from space in September 2013 63 Samarkand is located in southeastern Uzbekistan in the Zarefshan River valley 135 km from Qarshi Road M37 connects Samarkand to Bukhara 240 km away Road M39 connects it to Tashkent 270 km away The Tajikistan border is about 35 km from Samarkand the Tajik capital Dushanbe is 210 km away from Samarkand Road M39 connects Samarkand to Mazar i Sharif in Afghanistan which is 340 km away Climate Edit Samarkand has a Mediterranean climate Koppen climate classification Csa that closely borders on a semi arid climate BSk with hot dry summers and relatively wet variable winters that alternate periods of warm weather with periods of cold weather July and August are the hottest months of the year with temperatures reaching and exceeding 40 C 104 F Precipitation is sparse from December through April January 2008 was particularly cold the temperature dropped to 22 C 8 F 64 Climate data for Samarkand 1981 2010 extremes 1936 present Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 23 2 73 8 26 7 80 1 32 2 90 0 36 2 97 2 39 5 103 1 41 4 106 5 42 4 108 3 41 0 105 8 38 6 101 5 35 2 95 4 31 5 88 7 27 5 81 5 42 4 108 3 Average high C F 6 9 44 4 9 2 48 6 14 3 57 7 21 2 70 2 26 5 79 7 32 2 90 0 34 1 93 4 32 9 91 2 28 3 82 9 21 6 70 9 15 3 59 5 9 2 48 6 21 0 69 8 Daily mean C F 1 9 35 4 3 6 38 5 8 5 47 3 14 8 58 6 19 8 67 6 25 0 77 0 26 8 80 2 25 2 77 4 20 1 68 2 13 6 56 5 8 4 47 1 3 7 38 7 14 3 57 7 Average low C F 1 7 28 9 0 5 31 1 4 0 39 2 9 4 48 9 13 5 56 3 17 4 63 3 19 0 66 2 17 4 63 3 12 8 55 0 7 2 45 0 3 5 38 3 0 2 31 6 8 5 47 3 Record low C F 25 4 13 7 22 8 14 9 5 2 6 8 19 8 1 3 29 7 4 8 40 6 8 6 47 5 7 8 46 0 0 0 32 0 6 4 20 5 18 1 0 6 22 8 9 0 25 4 13 7 Average precipitation mm inches 41 2 1 62 46 2 1 82 68 8 2 71 60 5 2 38 36 3 1 43 6 1 0 24 3 7 0 15 1 2 0 05 3 5 0 14 16 8 0 66 33 9 1 33 47 0 1 85 365 2 14 38 Average precipitation days 14 14 14 12 10 5 2 1 2 6 9 12 101Average snowy days 9 7 3 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 6 28Average relative humidity 76 74 70 63 54 42 42 43 47 59 68 74 59Average dew point C F 2 28 1 30 2 36 6 43 9 48 9 48 10 50 9 48 6 43 4 39 2 36 1 30 4 40 Mean monthly sunshine hours 132 9 130 9 169 3 219 3 315 9 376 8 397 7 362 3 310 1 234 3 173 3 130 3 2 953 1Average ultraviolet index 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 6 4 3 2 2 4Source 1 Centre of Hydrometeorological Service of Uzbekistan 65 Source 2 Weather Atlas UV 66 Time and Date dewpoints 1985 2015 67 理科年表 mean temperatures humidity snow days 1981 2010 record low and record high temperatures 68 NOAA sun 1961 1990 69 People EditAccording to official reports a majority of Samarkand s inhabitants are Uzbeks while many sources refer to the city as majority Tajik 70 71 72 73 up to 70 percent of the city s population 74 Tajiks are especially concentrated in the eastern part of the city where the main architectural landmarks are According to various independent sources Tajiks are Samarkand s majority ethnic group Ethnic Uzbeks are the second largest group 75 and are most concentrated in the west of Samarkand Exact demographic figures are difficult to obtain since some people in Uzbekistan identify as Uzbek even though they speak Tajiki as their first language often because they are registered as Uzbeks by the central government despite their Tajiki language and identity As explained by Paul Bergne During the census of 1926 a significant part of the Tajik population was registered as Uzbek Thus for example in the 1920 census in Samarkand city the Tajiks were recorded as numbering 44 758 and the Uzbeks only 3301 According to the 1926 census the number of Uzbeks was recorded as 43 364 and the Tajiks as only 10 716 In a series of kishlaks villages in the Khojand Okrug whose population was registered as Tajik in 1920 e g in Asht Kalacha Akjar i Tajik and others in the 1926 census they were registered as Uzbeks Similar facts can be adduced also with regard to Ferghana Samarkand and especially the Bukhara oblasts 75 Samarkand is also home to large ethnic communities of Iranis the old Persian speaking Shia population of Merv city and oasis deported en masse to this area in the late 18th century Russians Ukrainians Belarusians Armenians Azeris Tatars Koreans Poles and Germans all of whom live primarily in the centre and western neighborhoods of the city These peoples have emigrated to Samarkand since the end of the 19th century especially during the Soviet Era by and large they speak the Russian language In the extreme west and southwest of Samarkand is a population of Central Asian Arabs who mostly speak Uzbek only a small portion of the older generation speaks Central Asian Arabic In eastern Samarkand there was once a large mahallah of Bukharian Central Asian Jews but starting in the 1970s hundreds of thousands of Jews left Uzbekistan for Israel United States Canada Australia and Europe Only a few Jewish families are left in Samarkand today Also in the eastern part of Samarkand there are several quarters where Central Asian Gypsies 76 Lyuli Djugi Parya and other groups live These peoples began to arrive in Samarkand several centuries ago from what are now India and Pakistan They mainly speak a dialect of the Tajik language as well as their own languages most notably Parya Language Edit Greeting in two languages Uzbek Latin and Tajik Cyrillic at the entrance to one of the mahallahs Bo zi of Samarkand The state and official language in Samarkand as in all Uzbekistan is the Uzbek language Uzbek is one of the Turkic languages and the mother tongue of Uzbeks Turkmens Samarkandian Iranians and most Samarkandian Arabs living in Samarkand As in the rest of Uzbekistan the Russian language is the de facto second official language in Samarkand and about 5 of signs and inscriptions in Samarkand are in this language Russians Belarusians Poles Germans Koreans the majority of Ukrainians the majority of Armenians Greeks some Tatars and some Azerbaijanis in Samarkand speak Russian Several Russian language newspapers are published in Samarkand the most popular of which is Samarkandskiy vestnik Russian Samarkandskij vestnik Samarkand Herald The Samarkandian TV channel STV conducts some broadcasts in Russian De facto the most common native language in Samarkand is Tajik which is a dialect or variant of the Persian language Samarkand was one of the cities in which the Persian language developed Many classical Persian poets and writers lived in or visited Samarkand over the millennia the most famous being Abulqasem Ferdowsi Omar Khayyam Abdurahman Jami Abu Abdullah Rudaki Suzani Samarqandi and Kamal Khujandi While the official stance is that Uzbek is the most common language in Samarkand some data indicate that only about 30 of residents speak it as a native tongue For the other 70 Tajik is the native tongue with Uzbek the second language and Russian the third However as no population census has been taken in Uzbekistan since 1989 there are no accurate data on this matter Despite Tajik being the second most common language in Samarkand it does not enjoy the status of an official or regional language 74 77 71 78 72 79 73 80 Only one newspaper in Samarkand is published in Tajik in the Cyrillic Tajik alphabet Ovozi Samarqand Tajik Ovozi Samarkand Voice of Samarkand Local Samarkandian STV and Samarqand TV channels offer some broadcasts in Tajik as does one regional radio station In addition to Uzbek Tajik and Russian native languages spoken in Samarkand include Ukrainian Armenian Azerbaijani Tatar Crimean Tatar Arabic for a very small percentage of Samarkandian Arabs and others Modern Samarkand is a vibrant city and in 2019 the city hosted the first Samarkand Half Marathon 81 In 2022 this also included a full marathon for the first time Religion EditIslam Edit Downtown with Bibi Khanym Mosque in 1990s Islam entered Samarkand in the 8th century during the invasion of the Arabs in Central Asia Umayyad Caliphate Before that almost all inhabitants of Samarqand were Zoroastrians and many Nestorians and Buddhists also lived in the city From that point forward throughout the reigns of many Muslim governing powers numerous mosques madrasahs minarets shrines and mausoleums were built in the city Many have been preserved For example there is the Shrine of Imam Bukhari an Islamic scholar who authored the hadith collection known as Sahih al Bukhari which Sunni Muslims regard as one of the most authentic sahih hadith collections His other books included Al Adab al Mufrad Samarkand is also home to the Shrine of Imam Maturidi the founder of Maturidism and the Mausoleum of the Prophet Daniel who is revered in Islam Judaism and Christianity Most inhabitants of Samarkand are Muslim primarily Sunni mostly Hanafi and Sufi Approximately 80 85 of Muslims in the city are Sunni comprising almost all Tajiks Uzbeks and Samarqandian Arabs living therein Samarqand s best known Islamic sacred lineages are the descendants of Sufi leaders such as Khodja Akhror Wali 1404 1490 and Makhdumi A zam 1461 1542 the descendants of Sayyid Ata first half of 14th c and Mirakoni Xojas Sayyids from Mirakon a village in Iran 82 The liberal policy of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev opened up new opportunities for the expression of the religious identity In Samarkand since 2018 there has been an increase in the number of women wearing the hijab 83 Imam Bukhari Shrine Imam Maturidi Shrine Ruhabad Mausoleum Nuriddin Basir Shrine Khoja Daniyar MausoleumShia Muslims Edit The Samarqand Vilayat is one of the two regions of Uzbekistan along with Bukhara Vilayat that is home to a large number of Shiites The total population of the Samarqand Vilayat is more than 3 720 000 people 2019 There are no exact data on the number of Shiites in the city of Samarkand but the city has several Shiite mosques and madrasas The largest of these are the Punjabi Mosque the Punjabi Madrassah and the Mausoleum of Mourad Avliya Every year the Shiites of Samarkand celebrate Ashura as well as other memorable Shiite dates and holidays Shiites in Samarkand are mostly Samarqandian Iranians who call themselves Irani Their ancestors began to arrive Samarkand in the 18th century Some migrated there in search of a better life others were sold as slaves there by Turkmen captors and others were soldiers who were posted to Samarkand Mostly they came from Khorasan Mashhad Sabzevar Nishapur and Merv and secondarily from Iranian Azerbaijan Zanjan Tabriz and Ardabil Samarkandian Shiites also include Azerbaijanis as well as small numbers of Tajiks and Uzbeks While there are no official data on the total number of Shiites in Uzbekistan they are estimated to be several hundred thousand According to WikiLeaks in 2007 2008 the US Ambassador for International Religious Freedom held a series of meetings with Sunni mullahs and Shiite imams in Uzbekistan During one of the talks the imam of the Shiite mosque in Bukhara said that about 300 000 Shiites live in the Bukhara Vliayat and 1 million in the Samarqand Vilayat The Ambassador slightly doubted the authenticity of these figures emphasizing in his report that data on the numbers of religious and ethnic minorities provided by the government of Uzbekistan were considered a very delicate topic due to their potential to provoke interethnic and interreligious conflicts All the ambassadors of the ambassador tried to emphasize that traditional Islam especially Sufism and Sunnism in the regions of Bukhara and Samarqand is characterized by great religious tolerance toward other religions and sects including Shiism 84 85 86 Panjab Shia Mosque Panjab Shia Madrasa Murad Avliya ShrineChristianity Edit Provinces of the Church of the East in 10th century Christianity was introduced to Samarkand when it was part of Soghdiana long before the penetration of Islam into Central Asia The city then became one of the centers of Nestorianism in Central Asia 87 The majority of the population were then Zoroastrians but since Samarkand was the crossroads of trade routes among China Persia and Europe it was religiously tolerant Under the Umayyad Caliphate Zoroastrians and Nestorians were persecuted by the Arab conquerors the survivors fled to other places or converted to Islam Several Nestorian temples were built in Samarkand but they have not survived Their remains were found by archeologists at the ancient site of Afrasiyab and on the outskirts of Samarkand In the three decades of 1329 1359 the Samarkand eparchy of the Roman Catholic Church served several thousand Catholics who lived in the city According to Marco Polo and Johann Elemosina a descendant of Chaghatai Khan the founder of the Chaghatai dynasty Eljigidey converted to Christianity and was baptized With the assistance of Eljigidey the Catholic Church of St John the Baptist was built in Samarkand After a while however Islam completely supplanted Catholicism Christianity reappeared in Samarkand several centuries later from the mid 19th century onward after the city was seized by the Russian Empire Russian Orthodoxy was introduced to Samarkand in 1868 and several churches and temples were built In the early 20th century several more Orthodox cathedrals churches and temples were built most of which were demolished while Samarkand was part of the USSR In present time Christianity is the second largest religious group in Samarkand with the predominant form is the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate More than 5 of Samarkand residents are Orthodox mostly Russians Ukrainians and Belarusians and also some Koreans and Greeks Samarkand is the center of the Samarkand branch which includes the Samarkand Qashqadarya and Surkhandarya provinces of Uzbekistan of the Uzbekistan and Tashkent eparchy of the Central Asian Metropolitan District of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate The city has several active Orthodox churches Cathedral of St Alexiy Moscowskiy Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin and Church of St George the Victorious There are also a number of inactive Orthodox churches and temples for example that of Church of St George Pobedonosets 88 89 There are also a few tens of thousands of Catholics in Samarkand mostly Poles Germans and some Ukrainians In the center of Samarkand is St John the Baptist Catholic Church which was built at the beginning of the 20th century Samarkand is part of the Apostolic Administration of Uzbekistan 90 The third largest Christian sect in Samarkand is the Armenian Apostolic Church followed by a few tens of thousands of Armenian Samarkandians Armenian Christians began emigrating to Samarkand at the end of the 19th century this flow increasing especially in the Soviet era 91 In the west of Samarkand is the Armenian Church Surb Astvatsatsin 92 Orthodox Cathedral of St Alexiy Moscowskiy Orthodox Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church of St George the Victorious Orthodox Church of St George Pobedonosets St John the Baptist Catholic Church Armenian Church Surb AstvatsatsinSamarkand also has several thousand Protestants including Lutherans Baptists Mormons Jehovah s Witnesses Adventists and members of the Korean Presbyterian church These Christian movements appeared in Samarkand mainly after the independence of Uzbekistan in 1991 93 Main sights EditSamarkandUNESCO World Heritage Site Bibi Khanym MosqueOfficial nameSamarkand Crossroad of CulturesCriteriaCultural i ii iv Reference603bisInscription2001 25th Session Area1 123 haCoordinates39 39 38 N 66 58 46 E 39 66056 N 66 97944 E 39 66056 66 97944Ensembles Edit Registan Ensemble and Square Shahi Zinda EnsembleMausoleums and shrines Edit Mausoleums Edit Gure Amir Shrine of Timur and Timurids Aqsaray Timurids Mausoleum Bibi Khanum Mausoleum Ishratkhana Mausoleum Makhsum Baba MausoleumHoly shrines and mausoleums Edit Imam Bukhari Shrine Ruhabad Mausoleum Imam Maturidi Shrine Murad Avliya Shrine Khoja Daniyar Mausoleum Nuriddin Basir ShrineOther complexes Edit Abdu Darun Complex Abdu Berun Complex Chorsu domed market Ulughbek ObservatoryMadrasas Edit Ulughbek Madrasa Shirdar Madrasa Tilla Kari Madrasa Khoja Ahrar Madrasa Panjab MadrasaMosques Edit Bibi Khanum Mosque Namazgah Mosque Hazrat Hizir Mosque Panjab Shia Mosque Khoja Nisbatdar MosqueSilk Road Samarkand Eternal city Edit Eternal city minaret Silk Road Samarkand is a modern multiplex which is set to open in early 2022 in eastern Samarkand The complex covers 260 hectares and includes world class business and medical hotels eateries recreational facilities park grounds an ethnographic corner and a large congress hall for hosting international events 94 Eternal city situated in Silk Road Samarkand complex This site which occupies 17 hectares accurately recreates the spirit of the ancient city backed up by the history and traditions of Uzbek lands and Uzbek people for the guests of the Silk Road Samarkand The narrow streets here house multiple shops of artists artisans and craftsmen The pavilions of the Eternal City were inspired by real houses and picturesque squares described in ancient books This is where you can plunge into a beautiful oriental fairy tale with turquoise domes mosaics on palaces and high minarets that pierce the sky Visitors to the Eternal City can taste national dishes from different eras and regions of the country and also see authentic street performances The Eternal City showcases a unique mix of Parthian Hellenistic and Islamic cultures so that the guests could imagine the versatile heritage of bygone centuries in full splendor The project was inspired and designed by Bobur Ismoilov a famous modern artist 95 Ornate dome in Eternal city Samarkand Architecture Edit Building the Great Mosque of Samarkand Illustration by Bihzad for the Zafar Nameh Text copied in Herat in 1467 68 and illuminated the late 1480s John Work Garret Collection Milton S Eisenhower Library Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Timur initiated the building of Bibi Khanum after his 1398 1399 campaign in India Bibi Khanum originally had about 450 marble columns which were hauled there and set up with the help of 95 elephants that Timur had brought back from Hindustan Artisans and stonemasons from India designed the mosque s dome giving it its distinctive appearance amongst the other buildings An 1897 earthquake destroyed the columns which were not entirely restored in the subsequent reconstruction 45 The best known landmark of Samarkand is the mausoleum known as Gur i Amir It exhibits the influences of many cultures past civilizations neighboring peoples and religions especially those of Islam Despite the devastation wrought by Mongols to Samarkand s pre Timurid Islamic architecture under Timur these architectural styles were revived recreated and restored The blueprint and layout of the mosque itself with their precise measurements demonstrate the Islamic passion for geometry The entrance to the Gur i Amir is decorated with Arabic calligraphy and inscriptions the latter a common feature in Islamic architecture Timur s meticulous attention to detail is especially obvious inside the mausoleum the tiled walls are a marvelous example of mosaic faience an Iranian technique in which each tile is cut colored and fit into place individually 45 The tiles of the Gur i Amir were also arranged so that they spell out religious words such as Muhammad and Allah 45 The ornamentation of the Gur i Amir s walls includes floral and vegetal motifs which signify gardens the floor tiles feature uninterrupted floral patterns In Islam gardens are symbols of paradise and as such they were depicted on the walls of tombs and grown in Samarkand itself 45 Samarkand boasted two major gardens the New Garden and the Garden of Heart s Delight which became the central areas of entertainment for ambassadors and important guests In 1218 a friend of Genghis Khan named Yelu Chucai reported that Samarkand was the most beautiful city of all as it was surrounded by numerous gardens Every household had a garden and all the gardens were well designed with canals and water fountains that supplied water to round or square shaped ponds The landscape included rows of willows and cypress trees and peach and plum orchards were shoulder to shoulder 96 Persian carpets with floral patterns have also been found in some Timurid buildings 97 The elements of traditional Islamic architecture can be seen in traditional mud brick Uzbek houses that are built around central courtyards with gardens 98 Most of these houses have painted wooden ceilings and walls By contrast houses in the west of the city are chiefly European style homes built in the 19th and 20th centuries 98 Turko Mongol influence is also apparent in Samarkand s architecture It is believed that the melon shaped domes of the mausoleums were designed to echo yurts or gers traditional Mongol tents in which the bodies of the dead were displayed before burial or other disposition Timur built his tents from more durable materials such as bricks and wood but their purposes remained largely unchanged 45 The chamber in which Timur s own body was laid included tugs poles whose tops were hung with a circular arrangement of horse or yak tail hairs These banners symbolized an ancient Turkic tradition of sacrificing horses which were valuable commodities to honor the dead 45 Tugs were also a type of cavalry standard used by many nomads up to the time of the Ottoman Turks Colors of buildings in Samarkand also have significant meanings The dominant architectural color is blue which Timur used to convey a broad range of concepts For example the shades of blue in the Gur i Amir are colors of mourning in that era blue was the color of mourning in Central Asia as it still is in various cultures today Blue was also considered the color that could ward off the evil eye in Central Asia this notion is evidenced by in the number of blue painted doors in and around the city Furthermore blue represented water a particularly rare resource in the Middle East and Central Asia walls painted blue symbolized the wealth of the city Gold also has a strong presence in the city Timur s fascination with vaulting explains the excessive use of gold in the Gur i Amir as well as the use of embroidered gold fabric in both the city and his buildings The Mongols had great interests in Chinese and Persian style golden silk textiles as well as nasij 99 woven in Iran and Transoxiana Mongol leaders like Ogedei Khan built textile workshops in their cities to be able to produce gold fabrics themselves Suburbs Edit Samarkand s recent expansion led to it having suburbs including Gulyakandoz Superfosfatnyy Bukharishlak Ulugbek Ravanak Kattakishlak Registan Zebiniso Kaftarkhona Uzbankinty 100 Transport EditLocal Edit Samarkand has a strong public transport system From Soviet times up through today municipal buses and taxis GAZ 21 GAZ 24 GAZ 3102 VAZ 2101 VAZ 2106 and VAZ 2107 have operated in Samarkand Buses mostly SamAuto and Isuzu buses are the most common and popular mode of transport in the city Taxis which are mostly Chevrolets and Daewoo sedans are usually yellow in color Since 2017 there have also been several Samarkandian tram lines mostly Vario LF S Czech trams From the Soviet Era up until 2005 Samarkandians also got around via trolleybus Finally Samarkand has the so called Marshrutka which are Daewoo Damas and GAZelle minibuses Many yellow taxis on the streets of Samarkand Taxi and tram on Rudaki Street in Samarkand Tram in Samarkand Beruni and Rudaki Streets in Samarkand Taxi and bus on Mirzo Ulughbek Avenue in SamarkandUntil 1950 the main forms of transport in Samarkand were carriages and arabas with horses and donkeys However the city had a steam tram in 1924 1930 and there were more modern trams in 1947 1973 Araba and donkey in Samarkand in 1890 Samarkand railway station in 1890 Araba in Samarkand in 1964 Araba in Samarkand in 1964Air transport Edit In the north of the city is Samarkand International Airport which was opened in the 1930s under the Soviets As of spring 2019 Samarkand International Airport has flights to Tashkent Nukus Moscow Saint Petersburg Yekaterinburg Kazan Istanbul and Dushanbe charter flights to other cities are also available Railway Edit Modern Samarkand is an important railway center of Uzbekistan all national east west railway routes pass through the city The most important and longest of these is Tashkent Kungrad High speed Tashkent Samarkand high speed rail line trains run between Tashkent Samarkand and Bukhara Samarkand also has international railway connections Saratov Samarkand Moscow Samarkand and Nur Sultan Samarkand Samarkand railway station Afrasiyab Talgo 250 high speed train in Samarkand railway station In Samarkand railway station Afrasiyab Talgo 250 high speed trainIn 1879 1891 the Russian Empire built the Trans Caspian Railway to facilitate its expansion into Central Asia The railway originated in Krasnovodsk now Turkmenbashi on the Caspian Sea coast Its terminus was originally Samarkand whose station first opened in May 1888 However a decade later the railway was extended eastward to Tashkent and Andijan and its name was changed to Central Asian Railways Nonetheless Samarkand remained one of the largest and most important stations of the Uzbekistan SSR and Soviet Central Asia International relations EditTwin towns sister cities Edit See also List of twin towns and sister cities in Uzbekistan Samarkand is twinned with 101 Agra India Balkh Afghanistan Banda Aceh Indonesia Cusco Peru Jurmala Latvia Kairouan Tunisia Khujand Tajikistan Krasnoyarsk Russia Lahore Pakistan Liege Belgium Mary Turkmenistan Merv Turkmenistan Mexico City Mexico New Delhi India Nishapur Iran Plovdiv Bulgaria Rio de Janeiro Brazil Samara Russia Xi an China Friendly cities Edit Samarkand has friendly relations with 101 102 Antalya Turkey Babruysk Belarus Bremen Germany Eskisehir Turkey Florence Italy Gyeongju South Korea Istanbul Turkey Izmir Turkey Lyon France Lviv Ukraine Valencia SpainGallery Edit See also EditSamarkand AirportCitations Edit THE STATE COMMITTEE OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN ON STATISTICS Archived from the original on 2020 04 29 Retrieved 2020 04 26 Varadarajan Tunku 24 October 2009 Metropolitan Glory The Wall Street Journal Guidebook of history of Samarkand ISBN 978 9943 01 139 7 D I Kertzer D Arel Census and identity Archived 2022 11 17 at the Wayback Machine p ۱۸۷ Cambridge University Press 2001 NikTalab Poopak 2019 From the Alleyways of Samarkand to the Mediterranean Coast The Evolution of the World of Child and Adolescent Literature Tehran Iran Faradid publishing pp 18 27 ISBN 9786226606622 History of Samarkand Sezamtravel Archived from the original on 3 November 2013 Retrieved 1 November 2013 Classification system of territorial units of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Uzbek and Russian The State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan on statistics July 2020 Urban and rural population by district in Uzbek Samarkand regional department of statistics Archived from the original PDF on 2022 02 13 Enciklopediya turizma Kirilla i Mefodiya 2008 History of Samarkand www advantour com Archived from the original on 2018 05 16 Retrieved 2018 05 15 Room Adrian 2006 Placenames of the World Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6 600 Countries Cities Territories Natural Features and Historic Sites 2nd ed London McFarland p 330 ISBN 978 0 7864 2248 7 Samarkand City southeastern Uzbekistan The city here was already named Marakanda when captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE Its own name derives from the Sogdian words samar stone rock and kand fort town Vladimir Babak Demian Vaisman Aryeh Wasserman Political organization in Central Asia and Azerbaijan sources and documents p 374 Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer New York Columbia University Press 1972 reprint p 1657 Wood Frances 2002 The Silk Road two thousand years in the heart of Asia London Shichkina G V 1994 Ancient 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20 Jacques Gernet 31 May 1996 A History of Chinese Civilization Cambridge University Press pp 377 ISBN 978 0 521 49781 7 Archived from the original on 15 June 2016 Retrieved 25 January 2020 E J W Gibb memorial series 1928 p 451 E Bretschneider 1888 The Travels of Ch ang Ch un to the West 1220 1223 recorded by his disciple Li Chi Ch ang Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources Barnes amp Noble pp 37 108 Archived from the original on 2018 04 30 Retrieved 2018 04 26 Battutah Ibn 2002 The Travels of Ibn Battutah London Picador p 143 ISBN 9780330418799 Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th Ed p 204 a b c d e f g Marefat Roya Summer 1992 The Heavenly City of Samarkand The Wilson Quarterly 16 3 33 38 JSTOR 40258334 Wood Frances 2002 The Silk Roads two thousand ears in the heart of Asia Berkeley pp 136 7 a b Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer p 1657 Le Strange Guy trans 1928 Clavijo Embassy to Tamburlaine 1403 1406 London p 280 Ulugh Beg Biography Maths History a b Mukminova R G K istorii agrarnykh otnosheniy v Uzbekistane XVI veke Po materialam Vakf name Tashkent Nauka 1966 Fazlallakh ibn Ruzbikhan Isfakhani Mikhman name yi Bukhara Zapiski bukharskogo gostya M Vostochnaya literatura 1976 p 3 B V Norik Rol shibanidskikh praviteley v literaturnoy zhizni Maverannakhra XVI veka Sankt Peterburg Rakhmat name 2008 p 233 Britannica 15th Ed p 204 Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer p 1657 Materialy po istorii Sredney i Tsentral noy Azii X XIX veka Tashkent Fan 1988 rr 270 271 Sovetskoe Pole Slavy www soldat ru Archived from the original on April 13 2020 Rustam Qobil 2017 05 09 Why were 101 Uzbeks killed in the Netherlands in 1942 BBC Archived from the original on 2020 03 30 Retrieved 2017 05 09 Montgomery David Samarkand taarikhi History of Samarkand by I M Muminov The American historical review volume 81 no 8 October 1976 pp 914 915 Istoriya Samarkanda v dvukh tomakh Pod redaktsiyey I Muminova Tashkent 1970 Montgomery David Review of Samarkand taarikhi by I M Muminov et al The American historical review volume 81 no 4 October 1976 Shirinov T SH Isamiddinov M KH Arkheologiya drevnego Samarkanda Tashkent 2007 Malikov A M Istoriya Samarkanda s drevnikh vremen do serediny XIV veka Tom 1 Tashkent Paradigma 2017 Samarkand Uzbekistan Earthobservatory nasa gov 23 September 2013 Archived from the original on 2015 09 17 Retrieved 2014 08 23 Samarkand info Weather in Samarkand Archived from the original on 2009 06 04 Retrieved 2009 06 11 Average monthly data about air temperature and precipitation in 13 regional centers of the Republic of Uzbekistan over period from 1981 to 2010 Centre of Hydrometeorological Service of the Republic of Uzbekistan Uzhydromet Archived from the original on 15 December 2019 Retrieved 15 December 2019 Samarkand Uzbekistan Detailed climate information and monthly weather forecast Weather Atlas Retrieved 1 August 2022 Climate amp Weather Averages in Samarkand Time and Date Retrieved 24 July 2022 Weather and Climate The Climate of Samarkand in Russian Weather and Climate Pogoda i klimat Archived from the original on December 6 2016 Retrieved December 15 2019 Samarkand Climate Normals 1961 1990 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved December 6 2016 Akiner Shirin Djalili Mohammad Reza Grare Frederic 2013 Tajikistan The Trials of Independence Routledge ISBN 978 1 136 10490 9 p 78 Bukhara and Samarkand inhabited by a marked Tajik majority a b Lena Jonson 1976 Tajikistan in the New Central Asia I B Tauris p 108 According to official Uzbek statistics there are slightly over 1 million Tajiks in Uzbekistan or about 3 of the population The unofficial figure is over 6 million Tajiks They are concentrated in the Sukhandarya Samarqand and Bukhara regions a b Uzbekistan Tadzhikskij yazyk podavlyaetsya catoday org IA Ozodagon Archived from the original on 22 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 a b Tadzhiki irancy Vostoka Recenziya knigi ot Kamoliddina Abdullaeva ASIA Plus Media Group Tajikistan news tj Archived from the original on 27 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 a b Richard Foltz 1996 The Tajiks of Uzbekistan Central Asian Survey 15 2 213 216 doi 10 1080 02634939608400946 a b Paul Bergne The Birth of Tajikistan National Identity and the Origins of the Republic International Library of Central Asia Studies I B Tauris 2007 Pg 106 Marushiakova Popov Vesselin January 2014 Migrations and Identities of Central Asian Gypsies Asia Pacific Sociological Association APSA Conference Transforming Societies Conestations and Convergences in Asia and the Pacific doi 10 1057 ces 2008 3 S2CID 154689140 Retrieved 2022 02 28 Karl Cordell Ethnicity and Democratisation in the New Europe Routledge 1998 p 201 Consequently the number of citizens who regard themselves as Tajiks is difficult to determine Tajikis within and outside of the republic Samarkand State University SamGU academic and international commentators suggest that there may be between six and seven million Tajiks in Uzbekistan constituting 30 of the republic s 22 million population rather than the official figure of 4 7 Foltz 1996 213 Carlisle 1995 88 Richard Foltz A History of the Tajiks Iranians of the East London I B Tauris 2019 Status tadzhikskogo yazyka v Uzbekistane Lingvomaniya info lingvomania info Archived from the original on 29 October 2016 Retrieved 22 March 2019 Est li shansy na vyzhivanie tadzhikskogo yazyka v Uzbekistane eksperty Birzhevoj lider pfori forex org Archived from the original on 22 March 2019 Retrieved 22 March 2019 Samarkand Half Marathon Malikov Azim Sacred lineages of Samarqand history and identity in Anthropology of the Middle East Volume 15 Issue 1 Summer 2020 r 36 Malikov A and Djuraeva D 2021 Women Islam and politics in Samarkand 1991 2021 International Journal of Modern Anthropology 2 16 561 Shiity v Uzbekistane www islamsng com Archived from the original on October 3 2017 Retrieved April 3 2019 Tashkent ozabochen delami shiitov www dn kz Archived from the original on 2019 04 03 Retrieved April 3 2019 Uzbekistan Irancy shiity stalkivayutsya c problemami s pravoohranitelnymi organami catoday org Archived from the original on September 5 2017 Retrieved April 3 2019 Dickens Mark Nestorian Christianity in Central Asia p 17 V A Nilsen U istokov sovremennogo gradostroitelstva Uzbekistana XIX nachalo XX vekov Tashkent Izdatelstvo literatury i iskusstva imeni Gafura Gulyama 1988 208 s Golenberg V A Starinnye hramy turkestanskogo kraya Tashkent 2011 god Katolichestvo v Uzbekistane Tashkent 1990 Armenians Ethnic atlas of Uzbekistan 2000 Nazaryan R G Armyane Samarkanda Moskva 2007 Babina Yu Yo Novye hristianskie techeniya i strany mira Folkv 1995 Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Complex www advantour com Retrieved 2023 01 20 Eternal City www silkroad samarkand com Retrieved 2023 01 20 Liu Xinru 2010 The Silk Road in world history New York Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 516174 8 Cohn Wiener Ernst June 1935 An Unknown Timurid Building The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 66 387 272 273 277 JSTOR 866154 a b Samarkand Crossroad of Cultures UNESCO World Heritage Centre Archived from the original on 2018 05 16 Retrieved 2018 05 15 Textiles in The world of Kubilai Khan Metropolitan Museum New York Alain R Truong 25 December 2010 Archived from the original on 2019 11 18 Retrieved 2020 05 23 Superfosfatnyy Uzbekistan Superfosfatnyy Uzbekistan a b Samarkand i Valensiya stanut gorodami pobratimami podrobno uz in Russian Podrobno uz 2018 01 27 Retrieved 2020 11 15 Vneshneekonomicheskoe sotrudnichestvo bobruisk by in Russian Babruysk Retrieved 2020 11 15 General and cited references EditAzim Malikov Cult of saints and shrines in the Samarqand province of Uzbekistan International Journal of Modern Anthropology No 4 2010 pp 116 123 Azim Malikov The politics of memory in Samarkand in post Soviet period International Journal of Modern Anthropology 2018 Vol 2 Issue No 11 pp 127 145 Azim Malikov Sacred lineages of Samarqand history and identity Anthropology of the Middle East Volume 15 Issue 1 Summer 2020 rp 34 49 Alexander Morrison Russian Rule in Samarkand 1868 1910 A Comparison with British India Oxford OUP 2008 Oxford Historical Monographs External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samarkand Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Samarkand Forbes Andrew amp Henley David Timur s Legacy The Architecture of Bukhara and Samarkand CPA Media Samarkand Silk Road Seattle Project University of Washington The history of Samarkand according to Columbia University s Encyclopaedia Iranica archived 11 March 2007 Samarkand Crossroad of Cultures United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization Kropotkin Peter Alexeivitch Bealby John Thomas 1911 Samarkand city Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 24 11th ed pp 112 113 GCatholic former Latin Catholic bishopric Samarkand Photos History Sights Useful information for travelers About Samarkand in Uzbekistan Latest archived 18 August 2018 Tilla Kori Madrasa was included in the UNESCO World Heritage ListPreceded byGurganj Capital of Khwarazmian Empire1212 1220 Succeeded byGhaznaPreceded byTabriz Capital of Iran Persia 1370 1501 Succeeded byTabrizPreceded by Capital of Timurid dynasty1370 1505 Succeeded byHerat Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Samarkand amp oldid 1137778009, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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