Hello! I’m Caroline. I taught English to tourism students at the Bukhara Institute of Technology. Today, I’ll be taking you on a free virtual walking tour of Bukhara. I’m excited to share the city with you today.
The script was originally written for students of mine to follow, but due to concerns about COVID-19, these walking tours will not be happening so I’m publishing my script, photos, audio, and map for everyone to enjoy. At the crossroads of the Silk Roads, Bukhara offers you a view of thirteen hundred years of history, which can be seen in just a few hours. Bukhara is an ancient city, dating back to 500 CE. It was the capital of many ancient empires-the Sogdians, the Samanids, and the Karakhanids. You are walking where European explorers and warriors.
Before this tour gets started, I would like to share you this quote from Ibn Hawqal from northern Mesopotamia, “I have not seen nor heard in the Islamic territory about a region more beautiful than Bukhara. From the heights of its citadel anywhere, the sight is worth the looking, and there is a great extension of vegetation which is mixed with the blue sky as if the firmament was a blue cover above a green carpet.”
We will be following this route today!
Lyabi Hauz
Built-in 1620, the Lyabi Hauz was one of 200 stone pools in Bukhara used for water along with canals. Bukhara is in a desert, so these canals were critical. These canals and reservoirs ensured the city’s survival. As we walk around Bukhara, we will see other stone pools. People socialized around these ponds, bathed, and gathered water. Because of this, water sanitization was a significant issue in Bukhara. Citizens frequently developed worms. When the Russians took over Bukhara, they drained the pools, revealing animal carcasses. Nowadays, the Lyabi Hauz remains a popular meeting spot and background for wedding photos.
Nadir Divanbegi Madrassa
Built-in 1622-1623, this building was originally a caravanserai until, as legend states that the Emir mistook it as a madrassa, it then became a madrassa. It inspired the Sher Madrassa in Samarkand. As you can see, Arabic writing circles the entrance mural. While Islam prohibits the images of living things, this madrassa’s façade includes them. The madrassa included a mythical creature at the entrance and a well-crafted blue tile. This “Semourg,” which looks like a peacock, symbolizes the thirst for spiritual knowledge.
Nadir Divanbegi Khanaka
Built-in 1619-1620, this khanaka initially is a place for Sufis to relax and reflect. Khanaka refers to a Sufi lodge. Its original design was for pilgrims to come and stay. Caravansaries filled Bukhara in its heyday because it was a stop of the Silk Road and a principal place of pilgrimage for the Islamic faithful. Surrounding Bukhara, there are seven sites which are important pilgrimage sites for Muslims who come to Bukhara. It is named for Nadir Divanbegi was the Treasury Secretary who helped finance its creation.
Jewish Community Center and Synagogue
Besides its Islamic monuments, Bukhara is famous for its Jewish community. The Jewish community emigrated from Babylon. Jewish communities existed here since the eighth century BCE. This part of town was the Jewish Quarter of the city. These Jewish merchants spoke Bukhari, a dialect of Tajik. Right now, only 500 Jewish people still live here. There are another synagogue and a cemetery. Besides a synagogue, this also functions as a community center.
Taki-Sarrafon
This structure is one of the trading domes here in Bukhara. There are three still standing here in Bukhara. This trading dome focused on money changing. People coming from China and other destinations would exchange their currency with money changers. There are four arches with four passes underneath the theme. The other trading domes focused on jewelry and carpets.
Maghok-i-Attar
After I learned that I was going to Bukhara, I bought a book about ancient Bukhara to learn more about its history. One of the first places mentioned is Maghok-i-Attar. This building started as a Zoroastrian fire temple in the 5th century in the center of ancient Bukhara. Until Islam became prevalent in the area, the Samanids were Zoroastrian. Zoroastrian, a monotheistic religion, and was a popular religion throughout the Persian Empire. This building is an example of Karakhanid architecture. There is a legend stating that the citizens of Bukhara buried it with dirt to prevent the Mongols from ruining it. Nowadays, it serves as a carpet museum.
Kukeldash Madrassa
Abdullah Khan II’s brother, its namesake, ordered its construction in 1568-1569. At the time, it was the largest madrassa in Central Asia. Madrassa are the centers of Islamic learning. In the Islamic world, Bukhara is a significant center of learning, rivaling Damascus and Baghdad. It was important for Bukhara’s khans to build and fund institutions of learning like Kukeldash Madrassa to display their patronage of religion. The madrassa has “beautiful complex vaults made of baked brick and alabaster.” Later on, the Soviets used this madrassa as a hotel.
Chor Minor
Hidden in a maze of traditional Bukharan houses, Chor Minor stands. This uniquely designed building was once an entrance to a madrassa. A Turkmen merchant commissioned this gatehouse and its corresponding madrassa. Its name means four minarets in Tajik. The minarets each have different designs on them. While the official language in Uzbekistan and Bukhara is Uzbek, Tajik, a dialect of Persian, is spoken in Bukhara’s Old City. There is a sizable Tajik minority throughout Bukhara. Many of the sites you will see today retain their original Tajik name.
Abdul Aziz Khan Madrassa
Built-in 1651-1652, the Khan commissioned this madrassa. The namesake, Abdul Aziz Khan, defeated an army in India. It is smaller than Ulugbek’s madrassas. If you go inside, you can see a student’s cell. Students would live in these cells as they studied the Quran. Madrassas were like colleges in pre-Russian Central Asia after students finished maktab (school). According to legend, Abdul Aziz craved his face into one of the cells of the madrassa.
Ulugbek Madrassa
In 1417, Ulugbek, Amir Timur’s grandson, commissioned and it finished it in 1420. Also, it is one of the oldest madrassas in Central Asia. Abdullah Khan II ordered the madrassa’s restoration in 1586. It remains unrestored. Architects used this madrassa as a model for other madrassas in Central Asia. The inscription above the entrance states, “aspiration to knowledge is every Muslim man and woman.”
Mir-i-Arab Madrassa
This madrassa dates back to 1535-1536. This madrassa is still active, so you can only go to the foyer. Miri-Arab, meaning the prince of the Arabs, was a Yemeni sheik who was a court favorite in the 16th century. His grave is in the madrassa. It was active for five centuries until the Bolsheviks came. The Soviet Union was atheistic, and the practice of Islam was prohibited. This policy closed the Mir-i-Arab Madrassa for twenty years. After World War II, the Soviets allowed it to operate as one of the only working madrassas in the Soviet Union.
Kalon Minaret
This minaret illuminates the Bukharan skyline. When I walk throughout Bukhara, I often use the Kalon Minaret as a landmark. Reconstructed by the Karakhanids in 1127, it is 47 meters high (154 feet). There are 104 steps, inside the spiral. In 918-919, there was a minaret constructed on this site. In Tajik, it means big minaret. A minaret is used by Muslims for the call to prayer, which is sung by the Muzzin. The call to prayer happens at the five praying times during the day. Legend states that Genghis Khan was so impressed with the minaret that he let it stay while his army burned the rest of the city. Nicknamed the “Tower of Death,” the minaret was an execution site. Executioners threw criminals off the tower.
Po-i-Kalyan
Po-i-Kalyan means “Bottom of the Great.” This site includes the Kalon minaret, the Kalon Mosque, Mir-i-Arab madrassa, and Alim Khan’s madrassa. The Kalon mosque, which is attached to the Kalon Minaret, dates back to the 16th century. They built upon the foundation of a mosque destroyed by Genghis Khan. The tile work inside is spectacular. It is still a working mosque, so there are daily prayers. This mosque could house 10,000 people and a place for Muslims to learn the Quran, the holy book in Islam.
Bukhara Ark
The mighty Ark is where the court in Bukhara lived from the 5th century to 1920. The emirs of Bukhara lived and ruled from this location. The surviving buildings, the mosque, offices, Emir’s palace, and the accounting offices, are on the 65.6-foot platform and covers 9.88 acres. Above the ark entrance, there was a lash symbolizing the emir's strength. There are several legends and stories associated with the Ark. The most infamous involved two British men. First, Colonel Stoddart was sent to Bukhara by the British Empire. He insulted the Emir, who had him thrown in the Bug Pit, a cell in the jail only accessible by rope. Sewage spilled into the Bug Pit from the stables in the Ark. Captain Connelly came to rescue Stoddart and insulted the Emir as well because he did not bring a letter signed by Queen Victoria. They were executed right here by the Emir.
Bolo-Hauz Mosque
In 1718, the citizens of Bukhara built this mosque. Since it is across from the Ark, the Emir came here and worshiped. It looks different than the other mosques in Bukhara because of its wooden façade, constructed in the early 20th century. It has lovely wood cravings. As you can see, there is a hauz in front of it. The architect built the small minaret. There are twenty nut wood, elm, and poplar columns.
Chashma Ayub Mausoleum
In Tajik, this is called the Spring of Job Mausoleum. This building dates back to the 13th century. It was a sacred site near an ancient cemetery. Legend states that Job struck his staff, and water came out. If you drink from the spring, you will have good health. The spring is in the middle of the mausoleum with graves of unknown men behind it. The cone symbolizes a tent.
Abdulla Khan Madrassa
This secluded madrassa, built by Abdulla Khan, is one of my favorite spots in Bukhara. Built between 1588-1590, it does not face Mecca like most madrassas and mosques in Bukhara. It surrounds the tomb of Abdulla Khan and is a part of the Kosh Madrassa ensemble. The lobby has a classroom in the southern part and a mosque in the northern part.
Modari Khan Madrassa
Abdulla Khan’s mother inspired its name and construction. It translates from Tajik as Mother of the Khan madrassa. It has no symmetry because of its building at an angle from the road. The madrassa is in the form of a trapezoid. I like this place because it is secluded.
Ismail Somoni Mausoleum
When Bukhara was the capital of the Samanid Empire, its greatest ruler, Ismail Somoni, conquered land from the middle of Iran to the Fergana Valley. This mausoleum is his final resting place. Historians believe that inside, there are graves of him and his grandson. Many Tajiks consider him the founder of their nation. Built-in 905, this is the oldest Muslim monument in Bukhara. There is a legend that this structure was a Zoroastrian temple. There was a geometrical harmony in the decorations, influenced by Sogdain architecture. There are squares at the corner arches. The square is the ground—the circle in the sky. The wings are the symbol of angels. Islam, Buddhism, and Zoroastrian inspired this symbolism.
Thanks for your time and interest in Bukhara!
Bibliography
Arapov, Alexey, and F. Hamatleev. Bukhara: Masterpieces of Central Asia . San'at, 2015.
Foltz, Richard C. A History of the Tajiks: Iranians of the East. I.B. Tauris, 2019.
Frye, Richard N. Bukhara, the Medieval Achievement. University of Oklahoma Press, 1965.
Lioy, Stephen, et al. Lonely Planet: Central Asia. Lonely Planet Global Limited, 2018.
Great photos. The text is good. But to become a book, there are a few basics to look at. What I'm saying is: like lunch...this is a snack....a start.