SAMARKAND
The Afrosiyob fast train is the best way to travel between the two cities. Very comfortable in the high speed Talgo which goes upto 250km/hr and covers the journey in 1.5 hrs.
The railway stations in Uzbekistan are clean and well-kept with a very helpful staff. The railway officer at the boarding gate of the train also helps women and old people in lifting their luggage into or from the train, a very thoughtful gesture which I find missing elsewhere. I had heard that the trains get delayed occasionally, though personally did not experience any such inconvenience.
The city is an amalgamation of the modern and medieval. Samarkand is resplendent with richness of the past. It speaks to you in a language of beauty and glory of the times gone by. Even the colours that adorn the dead, speak volumes about the beauty of the place.
How can we speak about Uzbekistan and not mention Amir Timur. You can feel his presence everywhere, in the form of statues or squares or avenues named after him and so on. Especially, in Samarkand, which happened to be his erstwhile capital city.
Timur was born in Shahr-e-Sabz, about an hour from Samarkand but was buried in Samarkand. Although, I did not visit Shahr-e-Sabz, it however, can be easily built into the itinerary, if one’s keen to do so.
My hotel called Dilshoda, was located right next to Gur-e-Amir, the mausoleum of Timur. From the outside the tomb looks like any other attractive domed structure similar to the ones we have for erstwhile Muslim emperors in India. However, it stands out in vibrant blue and turquoise tile work that you see elsewhere too. The azure dome, especially, behind the front facade is stunningly beautiful.
But you see the real splendour of it only once you step inside. The gold gilding, the classy calligraphy and perfect lighting adds to the magnificence of the chamber where the tombstones are placed. Several tombstones — of Timur, his sons and grandsons can be seen here, however, the actual crypts are underground. Entry to that is at the back of the tomb, although prohibited.
While taking a round of the mausoleum, you can see that the restoration has not yet been carried out at the back so the contrast shows. In fact, this is true of some other monuments too. Like the Bibi Khanym mosque, which I would talk about in a while.
At the Tashkent airport, later that week, I met an elderly lady, who had been touring Uzbekistan for over two weeks. She was a historian, as well. What she said was a little unsettling. It seems the Uzbek government was not carrying out restoration of the monuments in a very appropriate manner. It’s obvious that for a developing country, which has so much to offer in history, revenue generated through tourism would matter much. So, the quality of restoration is getting compromised as they would not like to shut a popular monument down for a longer time.
Timur died in 1405. His tombstone sits in the centre of all. The story goes that it was a single block of dark-green jade which in 1740 Nadir Shah carried off to Persia, where it got broken into two — thereafter, Nadir Shah ran into very bad luck, including the near death of his son. At the behest of his religious advisors he returned the stone to Samarkand and his son recovered.
A tour guide related this interesting anecdote — the Soviet anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov opened the crypts in 1941 and confirmed that Timur was tall and indeed lame in the right leg with a damaged right arm too. He found on Timur’s grave an inscription saying that ‘whoever opens this will be defeated by an enemy more fearsome than I’. The next day, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union.
If possible, visit the mausoleum once at night too, to see its full glory under the golden lights!
You need a ticket only if you go inside.
An interesting souvenir that I picked from here was a set of “Augmented Reality” postcards of all the monuments of Samarkand.
About a couple of kilometers away from the tomb, which can be easily done on foot through a lovely garden and along the Registan street, is the jewel of Samarkand — the Registan Square.
Registan Square is what most tourists identify Samarkand with. It is an ensemble of three outstanding Madrassas with one side open from where you get a full view of the three monuments. The architecture, style, motifs, colour palette remains largely same but the sheer effect of so much brilliance at one place is quite overwhelming.
On the left the Ulugbek Madrassa, the Tilokori Madrassa at the centre and Sher Dor Madrassa on the right complete the triad. All three display exquisitely carved and painted ceilings, lovely mosaics, intricate calligraphy, impressive domes and minarets. Being Madrassas, the basic design of the low height-entrance student cells around a central courtyard remains the same.
The Madrassas date from different times. Ulugbek Madrassa, the earliest of them, was built in 1417–1420 by Ulugbek, who was Timur’s grandson and a much respected astronomer. Two centuries later, the other two Madrassas were made by the Governor of Samarkand.
The Ulugbek Madrassa has an astronomy museum too inside. Ulugbek was Uzbek and one of the greatest astronomers of his times.
A special mention, I would like to make, is of Tilokori Madrassa — Tilokori means a sheet or work in gold — read it as “ Tila”(gold) “Kari”(work) to understand it better. The interiors of this Madrassa are all done in rich blue and golden hues! The lights add to the brilliance leaving you completely mesmerized.
In the 15th century when there were no madrassas at this site, public executions would happen at this Square.
You can easily spend a couple of hours admiring the skills of those craftsmen of yore who have created so much magnificence. Its said that Timur had taken thousands of such skilled workers from India too, to work on these beautiful monuments. That makes us proud too!
The sprawling lawns around the Square make it an ideal place to hang around for some good time.
Tickets are needed.
Right opposite the Square, on the busy street, are plenty of stores and restaurants in case someone would want to eat or shop. I had my lunch at the restaurant Labi Gor. A great location is the biggest plus of this restaurant as it has big windows/verandas overlooking the Registan Street. Food is okay but the service slack.
My next stop was the Bibi Khanym Mosque and Mausoleum, around a kilometre towards the back of the Square.
When I entered the complex, I could see the main mosque in the front and one each on either side of it.
The first thing that caught my attention in the courtyard was an enormous structure made of stone. A lot of people had gathered around it. I could not identify it and on checking found that it was a huge Quran stand made of stone. Folklore says that any woman who crawls under this stand will have lots of children.
The Bibi Khanym Mosque is one of the oldest mosques of Samarkand, although the main structure is in a dilapidated state now, undergoing restoration. While the facade has been restored quite a bit, the inside has precarious walls and dome. The walls have developed cracks suggesting that the structure is really old and in need of immediate repair.
There are different legends about the construction of this mosque.
One of them is that, it was built between 1399 and 1404 by Timur in the name of his Empress wife, from the spoils of his invasion of India. He had occupied territory from Syria to India. There’s a map inside his mausoleum which showcases his might in terms of the lands he had occupied. Timur personally monitored the construction of the building which was not quite completed until his death in 1405.
Another popular story says that Bibi-Khanym, ordered the mosque built as a surprise while Timur was away on a conquest in India. The architect fell madly in love with her and refused to finish the job unless he could give her a kiss. Which she let him. The kiss left a mark on her and Timur, on seeing it, executed the architect and decreed that women should henceforth wear veils so as not to tempt other men.
The mosque on the left has an impressive unrestored interior decorated with Arabic calligraphy.
It was once one of the Islamic world’s biggest mosques (the cupola of the main mosque is 41m high and the entrance 38m).
Across the road is the Bibi Khanum Mausoleum.
Just next to these two is the Central Bazaar of Samarkand. It exists from before the time of the construction of the mosque. I spent time browsing the various stalls selling fresh and dry fruits, seeds, local sweets, grains, juices and so on.
My next stop was the Mausoleum of Islam Karimov, the first President of independent Uzbekistan. It’s atop an elevated ground not far from the bazaar. You can, in fact, see it from a distance. Adjoining the mausoleum is a huge cemetery. Designed and built in keeping with the traditions of Oriental design, the mausoleum blends medieval and modern architectural techniques.
You get a nice view of the city from here.
Heavy security was in place around the structure. No photography was allowed inside.
No tickets needed.
My last stop for the day was Shah-e-Zinda, the Necropolis. The place was about a 15 min walk away.
Shah-e-Zinda literally translates to ‘Tomb of the Living King’. It is said that Qusam Ibn Abbas, a cousin and close associate of Prophet Muhammad was buried here. He is said to have brought Islam to Central Asia in the 7th century.
In the following centuries, after Shah-e-Zinda was buried here, many other people from the aristocracy during Timur’s and Ulugbek’s time too were buried around this place. The string of these royal graves is situated at a height and you need to climb 40 steps to reach the necropolis.
Once on top, you find a 15th century bath-house called Tahorathana.
Moving further, you walk past the tombs on the either side of a long and narrow avenue.
The avenue starts with tombs of Timur’s close relatives and important members of the royalty, on either side of the avenue. In order to see each mausoleum, you need to climb a few steps to find yourself in a chamber where the dead lays buried. Each such chamber is so beautifully and aesthetically done with glazed tiles in different shades, artistic calligraphy, mosaics and reliefs.
Some of the most enchanting mausoleums are those of of Shirin Beka Oka(Timur’s sister), Turkon Oko(Timur’s sister)and her daughter Shoda Mulk Oko, Kutlug Oko(Timur’s wife)and of Usto Ali Nefesi- the master builder of the mausoleum of Shah-i-Zinda,
There are tombs like the Octagonal mausoleum, tomb of the wet nurse of Timur’s court, an unmarked grave and many more.
At the far end of the avenue is the ‘Tomb of the Living King’, which refers to the holy shrine — the grave of Qusam Ibn Abbas, the cousin and close associate of Prophet Muhammad, who is said to have brought Islam to Central Asia in the 7th century.
Many locals also were visiting with families and walking through the paths amongst them felt like I was transported to somewhere in the past.
For me personally, this has been the most fascinating and moving of all the monuments in this city.
All the important sites of Samarkand can be easily done on foot. One full day is good enough to see these sites, however if you have another day, you may want to do Shahr-e-Sabz.
On my last day, which was Day 7, I took a taxi back to Tashkent. The hotel organised one as I wanted someone reliable to do it, in order to reach on time for my flight the same night. The 3.5 hrs drive was a smooth one. The roads are good, you get to see varied scenes as the landscape changes rather quickly — apple orchards, cotton fields with women picking cotton from the plants, desert stretches and so on. During the entire journey, the most tempting scenes were those of neatly placed huge mounds of blood-red pomegranates and oblong melons.
I didn’t stop anywhere except at a local market where the taxi driver needed to fuel up.
