Bukhara is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. Bukhara is a city-museum, with
about 140 architectural monuments. The nation's fifth-largest city, the population on April
24, 2014 was approximately 272,710. The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least
five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time. Located on the Silk Road,
the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship, culture, and religion. The historic
center of Bukhara, which contains numerous mosques and madrassas, has been listed by
UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Names Bukhara was known as Bukhoro in 19th- and
early 20th-century English publications and as Buhe/Puhe（捕喝）in Tang Chinese. According
to the Encyclopædia Iranica the name Bukhara is possibly derived from the Soghdian βuxārak.
It may also be related to Sanskrit vihara. Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi in his History
of Bukhara mentions:
Bukhara has many names. One of its name was Numijkat. It has also been called "Bumiskat".
It has 2 names in Arabic. One is "Madinat al Sufriya" meaning - "the copper city" and
another is "Madinat Al Tujjar" meaning - "The city of Merchants". But, the name Bukhara
is more known than all the other names. In Khorasan, there is no other city with so many
names
Since the Middle Ages, the city has been known as Buḫārā / بخارا in Arabic and Persian
sources. The modern Uzbek spelling is Buxoro. History
The history of Bukhara stretches back millennia. It is now the capital of the Bukhara Province
of Uzbekistan. Located on the Silk Road, the city has long been a center of trade, scholarship,
culture, and religion. During the golden age of the Samanids, Bukhara became the intellectual
center of the Islamic world. The historic center of Bukhara, which contains numerous
mosques and madrassas, has been listed by UNESCO as one of the World Heritage Sites.
Bukhara has been one of the main centres of world civilisation from its early days in
6th century BCE. From the 6th century CE, Turkic speakers gradually moved in. Its architecture
and archaeological sites form one of the pillars of Central Asian history and art. The region
of Bukhara was a part of the Persian Empire for a long time. The origin of many of its
current inhabitants goes back to the period of Aryan immigration into the region.
Major sites Fitzroy Maclean, then a young diplomat in
the British Embassy in Moscow, made a surreptitious visit to Bokhara in 1938, sight-seeing and
sleeping in parks. In his memoir Eastern Approaches, he judged it an "enchanted city", with buildings
that rivalled "the finest architecture of the Italian Renaissance".
Po-i-Kalan complex
The title Po-i Kalan, belongs to the architectural complex located at the base of the great minaret
Kalân. Kalyan minaret. More properly, Minâra-i Kalân,.
It is made in the form of a circular-pillar brick tower, narrowing upwards, of 9 meters
diameter at the bottom, 6 meters overhead and 45.6 meters high. Also known as the Tower
of Death, as for centuries criminals were executed by being thrown off the top.
Kalân Mosque, arguably completed in 1514, is equal to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque in Samarkand
in size. Although they are of the same type of building, they are absolutely different
in terms of art of building. Mir-i Arab Madrassah. Little is known about
its origin, although its construction is ascribed to Sheikh Abdullah Yamani of Yemen, the spiritual
mentor of early Shaybanids. He was in charge of donations of Ubaidollah Khan, devoted to
construction of madrasah. Olot tumani
Ismail Samani mausoleum The Ismail Samani mausoleum, one of the most
esteemed sights of Central Asian architecture, was built in the 9th century as the resting-place
of Ismail Samani - the founder of the Samanid dynasty, the last Persian dynasty to rule
in Central Asia, which held the city in the 9th and 10th centuries. Although in the first
instance the Samanids were Governors of Khorasan and Ma wara'u'n-nahr under the suzerainty
of the Abbasid Caliphate, the dynasty soon established virtual independence from Baghdad.
Chashma-Ayub mausoleum Chashma-Ayub is located near the Samani mausoleum.
Its name in Persian means Job's spring due to the legend according to which Job visited
this place and brought forth a spring of water by the blow of his staff on the ground. The
water of this well is still pure and is considered healing. The current building was constructed
during the reign of Timur and features a Khwarazm-style conical dome uncommon in Bukhara.
Lab-i Hauz
The Lab-i Hauz Ensemble is the name of the area surrounding one of the few remaining
hauz in the city of Bukhara. Until the Soviet period there were many such ponds, which were
the city's principal source of water, but they were notorious for spreading disease
and were mostly filled in during the 1920s and 1930s. The Lab-i Hauz survived because
it is the centrepiece of a magnificent architectural ensemble, created during the 16th and 17th
centuries, which has not been significantly changed since. The Lab-i Hauz ensemble, surrounding
the pond on three sides, consists of the Kukeldash Madrasah, the largest in the city, and of
two religious edifices built by Nadir Divan-Beghi: a khanaka, or lodging-house for itinerant
Sufis, and a madrasah that stand on the west and east sides of the pond respectively.
There is also an interesting metal sculpture of Nasruddin Hodja, the quick-witted and warm-hearted
man, who forms the central character of many children's folk stories in the Central Asian
and Indian subcontinent, sitting atop his mule with one hand on his heart and the other
with an 'All OK' sign above his head.
Bukhara Fortress, the Ark
mosque of Ali el hamadoni In bukharo there is a masjid of Mir Sayyid
Ali Hamadani Char Minor
A beautiful building tucked away in one of the lanes behind the Lyabi Hauz complex is
the Char Minor. This building is now surrounded mainly by small houses and shops on its perimeter.
One may find an artisan or two selling a fine piece of hand drawn paintings.
Transportation Bukhara Airport
The M37 highway connects the city to most of the major cities in Turkmenistan including
Ashgabat. Demographics
According to the official statistics, the city's population is 82% Tajiks, 6% Russians,
4% Uzbeks, 3% Tatars, 1% Koreans, 1% Turkmens, 1% Ukrainians, 2% of other ethnicities. However,
official Uzbek numbers have for long been criticized and refuted by various observers
and Western sources and it is widely assumed that the population of the city consists mainly
of Persian-speaking Tajiks, with ethnic Uzbeks forming a growing minority. Exact figures
are difficult to evaluate, since many people in Uzbekistan either identify as "Uzbek" even
though they speak Tajik as their first language, or because they are registered as Uzbeks by
the central government despite their Tajik language and identity. According to Soviet
estimates in the early 20th century, the Tajiks formed the overwhelming majority of city.
Until the 20th century, Bukhara was also home to the Bukharan Jews, whose ancestors settled
in the city during Roman times. Most Bukharan Jews left the city between 1925 and 2000 and
settled in Israel and the United States of America.
Poetry and literature
Being a cultural magnet, Bukhara has long appeared in much local and Persian literature.
Many examples can be given. ای بخارا شاد باش و دیر زی
Oh Bukhara! Be joyous and live long! شاه زی تو میهمان آید همی
Your King comes to you in ceremony.---Rudaki Dehkhoda defines the name Bukhara itself as
meaning "full of knowledge", referring to the fact that in antiquity, Bukhara was a
scientific and scholarship powerhouse. Rumi verifies this when he praises the city as
such: آن بخارا معدن دانش بود
"Bukhara is a mine of knowledge, پس بخاراییست هرک آنش بود
Of Bukhara is he who possesses knowledge." In the Italian romantic epic Orlando innamorato
by Matteo Maria Boiardo, Bukhara is called Albracca and described as a major city of
Cathay. There, within its walled city and fortress, Angelica and the knights she has
befriended make their stand when attacked by Agrican, emperor of Tartary. As described,
this siege by Agrican resembles the historic siege by Genghis Khan in 1220.
Notable people
Many notable people lived in Bukhara in the past. Among them are:
Muhammad Ibn Ismail Ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Mughirah Ibn Bardizbah al-Bukhari - Islamic scholar
and compiler of hadiths Avicenna - physician and person of encyclopedic
knowledge Bal'ami: Abolfazl Muhammad and his son Abu-Ali
Mohammad, two famous viziers of Samanid kings, historians and patrons of art and literature
Abubakr Narshakhi - historian who wrote History of Bukhara
Sadiduddin Muhammad Aufi historian, scientist, and author.
Hazrat Syed Jalaluddin Surkh-Posh Bukhari(c. 595-690 AH, 1199-1291 CE)
Baha-ud-Din Naqshband Bukhari Amir Kulal
Kiromi Bukhoroi An Lushan
Sadriddin Ayni Abdurauf Fitrat
Oksana Chusovitina Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar
Twin towns – Sister cities Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Dushanbe, Tajikistan Khudjand, Tajikistan
Hamedan, Iran Nishapur, Iran
Balkh, Afghanistan Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States
See also Bukhara rug
List of World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan References
Sources Gibb, H. A. R.. The Arab Conquests in Central
Asia. London: The Royal Asiatic Society. OCLC 685253133. Shaban, M. A.. The 'Abbāsid Revolution. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-29534-3. Bosworth, C.E.. "Ḳutayba b. Muslim". The
Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume V: Khe–Mahi. Leiden
and New York: BRILL. pp. 541–542. ISBN 90-04-07819-3. B. A. Litvinsky, Ahmad Hasan Dani. History
of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO.
pp. 1–569. ISBN 9789231032110. Further reading
Moorcroft, William and Trebeck, George. 1841. Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan
and the Panjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz, and Bokhara... from
1819 to 1825, Vol. II. Reprint: New Delhi, Sagar Publications, 1971.
External links Forbes, Andrew, & Henley, David: Timur's Legacy:
The Architecture of Bukhara and Samarkand. UNESCO World Heritage list: Historic Centre
of Bukhara Audio interview with Bukhara resident about
life in Bukhara