March 17: Samarkand 101
Farid’s friend is a bit concerned about my OVIR registration – apparently with the upcoming Navruz holiday, officials could just refuse to register me and subsequently deport me – so we’re rushing to Bukhara a little faster than I normally would have done. With the help of a guide, however, we managed to pack an impressive number of Samarkand’s sights into one day! First up was a general introduction to the city’s history and layout, which is divided into four main sections (loosely-translated as Russian Imperialist, Soviet, Nationalistic, and ancient/Genghis Khan-ruined). There are many monuments and statues throughout the city that give testimony to its rich history. The WWII (or “The Great Patriotic War”, if you’re so Soviet-ly inclined) memorial is standard issue for all republics of the former USSR, though obviously still poignant. During WWII, Uzbek demographics shifted radically with the death of 1 million Uzbeks and the transfer of huge industries from Poland and Ukraine. The subsequent presence of Eastern Europeans led to the building of churches and a strong Christian minority (though today, there are few people remaining). Still standing is the Alexey Cathedral, named after the last Russian prince who was killed by communists in 1920, which is also the biggest church in Central Asia.
Around the corner is a massive statue of Timur (alternatively called Temurlane), built in 1996 to commemorate the 660th (?!) anniversary of his birthday. Timur is known as one of the four most influential emperors/conquerors in our history, alongside Cesar, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan. (I’d like to note that these are also some of the most blood-thirsty and homicidal, which I find disconcerting to be considered synonymous with ‘great leaders’.) Timur’s massive 14th-century empire stretched from parts of India all the way to the current Middle East and Egypt. He wanted to expand into Eastern Europe as well, but allegedly had a vision from Mother Mary in which she said that it was ‘her’ (i.e. Christian) territory. He spent approximately 25 years in Samarkand, making it the jewel of his domain by forcibly relocating artists of all forms there from the far reaches of his lands; this resulted in a huge number of architectural wonders with fascinating influences from across the region.
Gur Emir serves as the mausoleum (burial grounds) for Timur’s royal family. Today only 60% of the original structure remains standing but it was recognized in 1960 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Timur’s last wish was to be buried in his birthplace of Shakhrisabs, but when he died, there was only enough time to bring him here to Gur Emir. (According to Islamic tradition, a body must be buried within 3 days of death.) Also buried here are Timur’s sons and grandson, Ulugbek, who inherited the Timurid empire. Attached to the mausoleum is a former caravanserai (guest-house of sorts) for traveling dervishes or ascetics, which are essentially Muslim perma-pilgrims. Timur also used the dervishes as his personal spies and they used a Mongolian system of social ranking and identification called ‘piza’, which required each man to carry a piece of either gold, silver, or iron; the carriers of gold pieces, for example, had the right to use up to 1000 soldiers for state interests. Also in front of the mausoleum is a large stone bowl brought from Damascus to keep track of the number of soldiers killed; before going to battle, each soldier would throw in a coin and if/when he returned, he would pick one up.
Registan, the must-see heart of ancient Samarkand, is a complex of mosques, medrassas, minarets, and mausoleums built between the 15th and 17th centuries by Ulugbek (of the Timurid dynasty) and by the follow-up Sheibonid empire. While the Sheibonids took 17 years to build their medrassa, Ulugbek took only 5 years (but 50 000 slaves) to build his.
Each medrassa housed about 60 students – all male, of course - which hand-picked by the king and were taught 5 languages, maths, astronomy, and the full text of the Koran. Ulugbek was considered the most educated Islamic king and was also a progressive astronomer and cartographer. He adorned the entrances to his medrassa with quotes from the Koran such as, “Educated are enlightened; non-educated are in the dark”. Islamic tradition dictates that no life forms (i.e. plants, animals, humans) can be reproduced in art, so the décor on all buildings consists of stylized Arabic script and stunning arrays of mosaics in brilliant sapphire blue, emerald green, and ivory white. The sweeping architecture is truly dazzling and warrants some moments of respite to simply soak it up…
We stopped for a lunch of Iranian pilov, much to my delight! (Pilov is my favourite Central Asian dish.) Hundreds (perhaps thousands) of Iranians fled natural disasters in the north-eastern part of their country about a hundred years ago and set up shop in Uzbekistan. A small but strong contingent still thrives among the markedly Persian cultural ties of Samarkand.
Bibi Khanym is the mausoleum of Timur’s oldest wife. According to Sharia law, he was officially allowed to have 4 wives, though had a rumoured 300 more slave lovers. The introduction of polygamy to Islamic law may have been influenced by need to increase populations, as empires were constantly subject to military and religious conflict.
Timur’s mosque was the largest in the Islamic world for its first 200 years until a bigger one was built at Medina (Saudi Arabia). In the courtyard sits a stone stand for a massive Koran (one of the 4 biggest in the world), which was initially taken from Baghdad and now lies in Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Elements of pre-Islamic Zoroastrian traditions are still evident in the common practice of women to lie under the stone stand to boost their fertility (on the left side for a boy, on the right for a girl). The mosque was built in 1399 and has since crumbled over the tests of time; the 2 head architects who were assassinated because they argued with Timur about the buildings’ longevity turned out to be quite right!
Shakhi-Zinda was massively reconstructed to some purist travelers’ chagrin and others’ (including yours truly) delight. It’s essentially a street of mausoleums (graves) of royal family members and those close to the emperor. It is considered a holy site and place of pilgrimage for allegedly containing the grave of one of Prophet Muhammad’s cousins, and visiting it three times is equal to the hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca, one of the five pillars of Islamic practice). The graves are marked with unique designs and often inscriptions from famous Persian poets such as Omar Khayyum. In addition to many Islamic symbols are further remnants of Zoroastrianism, which notably include elements of animism (i.e. depictions of animals).
Taking a break from mind-blowing Islamic architecture, we visited a silk paper factory. A Chinese man imprisoned by the Arabic army in the 8th century brought the secret of paper-making to Central Asia; the Silk Road ensured the revolutionary technology’s dissemination to the West and then around the world. This family-owned paper factory was revived in 1996 with support from UNESCO and uses the same process as in the 12th century to produce paper from the Tuta (silkworm) tree. Lasting for 2000 years and containing natural insecticides to ward off nasty critters, it has been used by preeminent ancient scholars such Abu Ali Ibn Sina (Avicenna).
Before turning in for the night, we made a stopover at the local wine factory. Ancient Sogdians (5th century BC) who used to live in this area started the wine-making tradition, which has been carried on by this factory, built in 1872. It produces wine from 48 different types of grapes that all grown in Uzbekistan (though some species were imported years ago from other wine-making hotspots such as France, Georgia, and Moldova). We were treated to a taste-testing afterwards – though I was terrified to see 10 glasses waiting for me – with varieties ranging from a lovely dry white and dessert reds to 7-year old cognacs and a rather dangerously tasty 45%er made from 26 mountain herbs and an assortment of berries, oils, and honey!
March 18: Samarkand to Bukhara
Slightly outside of the main part of Samarkand is the Ulugbek Observatory. Built in 1429 and destroyed in 1449 by religious and political extremists, the remnants of the observatory were discovered again in 1908 by a Russian colonel. Ulugbek used the observatory to simultaneously expand and refine his observations and theories on astronomy and geometry. His main contribution was finding the precise coordinates of over 1100 stars; they are remarkably close to modern-day measurements. He also theorized that there were 6 continents, based on his calculations of the speed and weight of Earth, and identified the precise number of seconds, minutes, and days in a year. His texts were translated into Latin and disseminated along the information superhighway of the Silk Road, influencing later Western astronomers such as Copernicus. Raised upon the notion of the scientific superiority of Western scientists, I couldn’t help but wonder why we in Canada don’t learn anything about Eastern and Islamic scientists, who clearly had just as much (if not more) of an influence on the development of science!
A few kilometers past Samarkand lies the Al-Bukhari mosque and mausoleum complex. Al-Bukhari was (and still is) one of the most respected for his haddiths (collections and interpretations of Koranic texts). The courtyard was dotted with 600-year old trees (which never fail to amaze me) and the mausoleum was decorated with mesmerizing blue onyx from Iran. I was able to enter the female-only side of the mosque and quietly watched some women do their namaz (prayer). It was the first time I had seen namaz and was touched by the serenity and beauty of such a deceptively simple act.
With that concluding my rapid-fire tour of Samarkand, we set off for Bukhara. Along the way, I saw acre after acre of delicately blooming apricot, pear, and apple trees, punctuated by grassy knolls which served as sentry points for Genghis Khan. It occurred to me with a smile that such a scene painted a poignant picture of the renewal of life in Central Asia: such delicate beauty breaking through a brutal history of bloodshed and the dust of empires.
