The History of Samarkand is about 2,500 years. Located on one of the major trade routes to China and Europe the city prospered and attracted many people from the East and the West: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, the Arab commander Kuteiba ibn Muslim and many others.
The first people came to the region almost 40 thousands years ago. By the invasion of Alexander the Great (in 329 BC), it had already been a cosmopolitan, a walled capital of the Sogdian Empire. Alexander the Great was very impressed by Samarkand. He claimed that he could have imagined everything about this place except for its fascinating beauty. The city grew very fast and during the 6-13 centuries it is said to be more populated that nowadays. But during that period many invasions took place almost every century. In the middle of the 13th century Genghis Khan captured the city. After another 150 years Tamerlane decided to make Samarkand his capital, and during next half of the century the city became economic and cultural center of Central Asia. Later it became an intellectual center as well. Since Uzbek Shaybanids had moved the capital to Bukhara in the 16th century, Samarkand went into decline. Many people left the city after a number of serious earthquakes. By the end of the next century the Emir of Bukhara attempted to repopulate it. But it were only Russians who managed to resuscitate after it was joined to the Russian Empire by the trans Caspian railway in 1888. In 1924 Samarkand was declared to be the capital of Uzbek SSR, but 6 years later the capital was moved to Tashkent.
Samarkand's culture was developed and mixed with the Iranian, Indian, Mongolian and partly western and Eastern cultures. The central square of ancient Samarkand - Reghistan, is surrounded on three sides with the magnificent buildings of Ulughbek, Shir-dor and Tilly-Akhari madrashas. Registan is the place where all radial streets meet. The ruler's decrees were proclaimed and the justice was done right there as well as busy trading. Excavations of the ancient monuments buried under the ground have helped to recover the site of an ancient town and restore the architectural monument to its former grandeur with the high quality ceramic arts and the harmony of arches with blue domes. The jade gravestone of the great ruler Tamerlane lies in the Gur-Emir Mausoleum of the Timurids. Its huge tiled domes can be seen from all parts of the town. Samarkand is a city full of legends. Everything here including the streets, ravines and water reservoirs have its own story. The medieval Samarkand is beautifully surrounded by mountains from all sides. Its impressive perfect forms and harmony of colors are being admired by thousands of people both strangers and locals. Nowadays Samarkand is also an industrial, scientific and cultural center of Uzbekistan.
Bibi-Khanum Mosque (the 15 th century), which at that time was considered to be the largest dome in the Muslim world, is standing next to a noisy and crowded oriental market full of colorful fruits, vegetables and fragrant spices grown in Uzbekistan. The construction of Bibi-Khanum Mosque was undertaken by Amir Temur in 1399 after the victorious Indian campaign. Amir Temur dedicated Bibi-Khanum Mosque to his love queen Bibi-Hanim.
Registan Square The Registan was the heart of the ancient Samarkand. The name means ”Sandy Place”. The ensemble of three madrasahs is a unique example of town building art a remarkable pattern of the architectural planning of the main town square. Madrasah is a medieval Moslem clergy academy. The three madrasahs of the Registan are: the Ulugbek Madrasah (1417-1420), the Sher Dor Madrasah (1619-1636) and the Tillya Kori Madrasah (1646-1660).
The Ulugbek Madrasah has its majestic portal with lancet arch facing the square. The corners are flanked by the high well-proportioned minarets. Mosaic panel over the entrance arch is decorated by geometrical stylized ornaments. The square-shaped courtyard includes a mosque lecture rooms and is fringed by the dormitory cells in which students had lived. There are deep galleries along the axes. Originally, the Ulugbek Madrasah was a two-storied building with four domed darskhones (lecture room) at the corners. The madrasah was one of the best clergy universities of the whole Mouslem Orient of the 15 th century.
In the 17 th century the ruler of Samarkand Yalangtush Bakhodur ordered the construction of the Sher Dor and Tillya Kori madrasahs. The Sher Dor Madrasah was designed by architect Abdujabor. The decoration of the madrasah is not so refined as that of the 15 th century “golden age” of Samarkand architecture. Anyway, the harmony of large and small forms, exquisite mosaic decor, monumentality and efficient symmetry- all these put the structure among the best architectural monuments of Samarkand.
The years later the Tillya Kori Madrasah was built, the name means “Gilded”. It was not only the place for training students, but it also played the role of grand mosque. It has two-stored main facade, vast courtyard fringed by dormitory cells with four galleries along axes. Mosque building is situated in the western section of the courtyard. The main hall of the mosque is abundantly gilded.
- The ancient settlement Afrosiab (the 8th c. BC the 13th c. A.D.)
- Observatory of Ulughbek (1428-1429), the foot of the hill Chupan-Ata
- The architectural ensemble Shakhi-Zinda
- Hazrat-Hizr Mosque (the middle of the 19th c.)
- Bibi-Khanum Mosque (1399-1404)
- Registan Square
- Ulughbek Madrassah (1417-1420)
- Sher-Dor Madrassah - (1619-1635/36)
- Tilla-Kari Madrassah (1647-1659/60)
- Rukhabad Mausoleum (1380)
- Gur-Emir Mausoleum (1404)
- Namazgoh Mosque (17th c.)
- Ishrat-Khona Mausoleum (1464)
- Ensemble of Huja Akhrar-(the 15th -20th c.)
- Chupon-Ata Mausoleum (1430-the1440s)
- Huja Abdi Darun Mazar (15th -19th c.c.)
- Burial-vault of Huja Daniyar (19th c)
- Ismail al - Bukhari Mausoleum
(30 km north of Samarkand, in the Huja Ismail village)
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