Author: TC0241

So lots and lots of sights to see, we are off to an observatory which we are told was the most important one in history although it did manage to get lost for 450 years.

Called the Observatory of Ulughbek (try saying that after a beer or two) it is the site where Uleg Bek (that’s easier) grandson of Tamerlane made some of the greatest achievements of the pre-telescope era of astronomy.

 

Beg determined the length of the tropical year as 365^d 5^h 49^m 15^s, which has an error of +25^s, which when he calculated it in 1430 was quite a feat and something which is actually difficult to comprehend.

In fact most of this is well above my head (literally and figuratively) but I do recognize it is really really important

Uleg Bek, also built one of Samarkand’s greatest Islamic ‘University’ the Ulughbek medressa in 1420.

He was an exceptional man of culture. His own son had him decapitated, and his incredible astolab (he discovered 200 previously unknown stars) was leveled after his death in 1449 and not rediscovered in 1908,

  

No you can not ask me how it works. Google it like everyone else.

there are always weddings and people taking pictures of them at all historic monuments where ever we go (in a few days we get very close to one ourselves)

So we walk on towards a very large complex standing proud on a hilltop a kilometer away it is the Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings. 

The name Shah-i-Zinda (meaning “The living king”) is connected with the legend that Kusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad was buried there.

Popular legends speak that he was beheaded for his faith but finished his prayers then he took his head and went into the deep well (Garden of Paradise), where he’s still living now.

 

As usual once someone famous is buried then everyone else wants to be near to them just in case it helps on judgment day. So what we have is a series of very ornate mausoleums of rich of semi famous people.

They were building this for around 900 years so we get to see the different styles and processes. The entrance belies the grandeur of what we are about to see.

The place is very busy both tourists and locals, it seems it is some sort of pilgrimage and if you want you can walk up the stairs on your needs (we as you would expect decline the opportunity)

   

So here we are touring Samarkand. Staring at the huge Bibi Khanym Mosque 167 metres in length and 109 metres in width. The cupolaface of the main chamber reaches a height of 40 metres, and the entranceway is 35 metres high.

I tell you this only to try and impress upon you the size of this thing. built as you would expect my Timur after his Indian campaign in 1399 he decided to undertake the construction of a gigantic mosque in his new capital, Samarkand. The mosque was built using precious stones captured during his conquest of India. (So this is around the time Richard the II died in England just for reference)

It is quite a place

  

 

 

We seem to be just as interesting to the locals as they are to us, and one and all seem happy to see us and not at all bothered by our incessant snapping.

 

We have lots to see so no time to linger at the market next door and we take a raincheck for later.

 

So off we set after the four minarets place and onward to Sitorai Mokhi-Khosa the summer residence of the last Emir of Bukhara Said Alimkhan (1911 -1920)and quite a place it is to. Described as a charming and nauseating collection of dwellings and state rooms was built by the Russians in 1911 for the last Emir Alim Khan, as an inducement to get him out of the Ark fortress and safely ensconced in a strategic and cultural no-man’s-land on the edge of town.

  

Also the architects had created marble reservoirs in the shape of fictional dragon. So even in those days just because you had money did not mean you had style. The main building of the palace which includes several rooms and personal premises of emir had been constructed mainly under the supervision of Russian engineers and only “The White Hall” and its corridor built in 1912-1914, belong to the art style of Bukhara architects. These halls are the masterpieces of ornamental decoration. “The White Hall” had received its name from the shiny-white construction materials used during the creation) process to cover the walls and the ceiling.

Well towards the end of the day we get a little time to wander and Mike and I decide to go and find a place out book says should be on everyone’s list of thinks to see but not it appears on ours. it is called Chor Minor Madrassah

Mike as always has a map and a compass so all is well (sort of) between us we sometimes have difficulty agreeing exactly which corner to turn on but as always Mike is right (as always) although even he has some doubts and we stop to ask a local who is just hanging around and he takes us this way and that down the warren of back streets and along suddenly we turn a corner an there it is

 

The name of this Monument is translated as “four minarets”, but it will be mistake to consider it the mosque as the minarets do not perform their intended functions, and are just the architectural experiment.

There are no more similar buildings in Asia. Built in 1807, the building was just the entrance into the more grand construction, which supposedly was the Madrassa, although some guides will say that it might have been a huge library.

 

It is quite picturesque and as the sun is going down we take a couple of quick shots and head back to the hotel feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

    

Finding our way back was almost as difficult but we did see some interesting sites as we wandered around

  

The following morning we are told that as we are leaving the hotel we will be making one more stop at a place called Chor Minor Madrassah DOH!!!!!!!! so into the coach and 3 minutes later we are there a side entry gives us almost instant access and no need for all the back alleys we used last night Double Doh !!!!

  

 

Everything exactly as we had left it apart from the sun being on the other

This Post is a little indulgent of me but hopefully you will stay with it as I found all of this incredibly fascinating.

 

One of our group made a casual remark about Jews in Bukhara and the local guide said there was a synagogue and a cemetery close by.

Just to make sure my companion was safe and not wandering around alone we decide we will go and try and find both sites.

 

The synagogue was actually very easy  as it was only a couple of streets away. It was in fact really an old house on the outside as originally it was not allowed to build a synagogue here.

Inside there were a couple of enthusiastic guardians who were only too happy to show us around and explain more about the place. We saw a normal courtyard and to one side was what resembled a classroom

  

Rather old and a little on the damp side. Our hosts were trying in very broken English to explain how old the place was and how often services were held and something about there used to be 30,000 Jews here but now only 300 but they were very keen to explain they still held lessons for the children.

They were happy to show us a Tora  which they said was 500 years old. They also said they had one which is 100 years old but was only brought out at services.

Now not one to contradict a good story my understanding was the oldest confirmed Tora was around 800 years old and in Bologna but so what.

 

I have to say the place was fascinating and  I regret not taking more pictures. As we left we got directions which were more “go that way and when you reach the end of the Jewish quarter its there” so that’s what we did although it was a kilometer or so away and we were concerned at several points that we had missed it. eventually we found the place with a brand spanking new gatehouse and a very large striking cemetery behind it.

  

Given how big this place was I decided to do some research on the place and
these are some links

 http://www.jpost.com/Travel/Travel-News/Wandering-Jew-Bukhara-the-ancient-silk-way-city 

 http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Bukharan_Jews.html

 http://ilyasmalayev.com/community.htm

On this trip I wanted to find something which might give me a sense of time and history, this place has done both.

 

Some Bukharan Jews claim they are the descendents of the ten lost tribes of Israel who were exiled by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC. Whether or not this is the case, the Bukharians can trace their ancestry back to the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, the King of Persia, in 539 B.C.E. Cyrus decreed that all Jews in exile were free to return to Jerusalem, though many remained in Persia. The Jews lived peacefully in Persia until 331 B.C.E., when Alexander the Great defeated the Sogdian King Spitamenes and conquered the region. At Alexander’s sudden death in 323 B.C.E., the Seleucids gained control, followed by the Parthians, who reestablished the Persian Empire. The Parthians gave the Jews citizenship and allowed them to practice Judaism freely. Under Parthian rule, the Bukharian communities flourished. In 224 A.D., however, the Sassinids conquered the region. They made Zoroastrianism the official religion and persecuted the Jews for their unwillingness to convert. Some Bukharan Jews moved to the northern and eastern parts of the region due to anti-Jewish
hostilities.

There seems to have been around 20,000 Jews here in Bukhara at their peak but most have emigrated to either Israel or the US predominantly New York. here is a snip I found looking at a NY site. With such a concentration of Bukharan Jews along 108th Street in Forest Hills, the street has been dubbed “Bukharan Broadway,” and neighboring Rego Park has been dubbed “Regostan,” both, of course, part of “Queensistan.” The Bukharan Jews are so concen-trated in the borough that Queens College actually started a Bukharan Jewish history and culture class in 2010.
While only a few hundred are left in Central Asia today, an estimated 50 thousand now call Metro New York home, making it the largest concentration of Bukharan Jews in the world and home to one fourth of the world‟s Bukharan Jewish population.

There appears to be around 300,000 Bukharan Jews in Israel so this is a big slice of history.

I have to say all this I found fascinating and like one of those threads which crosses many paths at many times. I think I have to find out a little more and see if I can piece the bits together a little more coherently.

 

Bear with me this place has so much history it seems to be taking me two weeks to get through the two and a half days we were there (but it was worth it)
The Abdulazizkhan madrasah, which is located opposite to the Ulughbek Madrassah in Buhara was built in 1652. Facing one another, these two madrasahs compose a single architectural ensemble called Kosh Madrassah (it means double), which is common in Bukhara.

These two madrassahs, Madrassah of Ulughbek and Madrassah of Abdul Aziz Khan, stand facing each other for many centuries and represent two dinastieds once ruled Bukhara – Timurid and Ashtarkhanids.Ulughbek Madrassah was built by the Great Temur’s (Tamerlane) grandson Ulughbek, whereas the Madrassah of Abdulazizkhan bears the name of the Bukharian Emir, Abdulaziz khan.

   

Kalan Minaret

The Kalyan minaret is a minaret of the Po-i-Kalyan mosque complex in Bukhara, Uzbekistan and one of the most prominent landmarks in the city.

The minaret, designed by Bako, was built by the Qarakhanid ruler Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127 to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day. An earlier tower collapsed before completion. It is 48 metres high including the point, of 9 metres diameter at the bottom and 6 metres at the top.

The body of the minaret is topped by a rotunda with 16 arched fenestrations, from which the muezzins summoned the Muslims in the city to prayer. The tower base has narrow ornamental strings belted across it made of bricks which are placed in both straight or diagonal fashion. The frieze is covered with a blue glaze with inscriptions. In times of war, warriors used the minaret as a watchtower to lookout for enemies.About a hundred years after its construction, the tower so impressed Genghis Khan that he ordered it to be spared when all around was destroyed by his men (a surprise you might say given his normal stance on these things) It is also known as the Tower of Death, because until as recently as the early twentieth century criminals were executed by being thrown from the top.

It is the center point for a complex of buildings not surprisingly a Madrassa and a Mosque the Mosque named the Kalon can house 10,000 worshippers. Its roof looks flat but actually consists of 288 domes and is as stunning on the inside as the outside. In soviet times it was used as a warehouse something they did a lot with religious building well at least they did not tear them down.

The Madrassa which seems off limits to everyone is no less stunning and the whole place has an air of ancient history about it.

This is exactly why I agreed to take this trip to find places like this.

 

   

As we are being lead around the town we notice a small commotion on some waste ground and our guide decides to take us over to see it.

A group of around 50 people mainly men are all looking very excitedly at some thing or things so we immediately think it is another market and well it is of a sort.

This appears to be a Bird Market nothing else is on sale there in this patch of semi waste ground in a backstreet of the town so I think this is not something you see often

   

You can see one guy examining one pigeon in very great detail almost oblivious to us well searching around the web I found this info

 

The breed is an “Uzbek Crack Tumbler” and of course originated here in Bukhara. Pigeons it seems was quite a bid thing back in the day and the Emirs
brought in several breeds from Persia’

After many years cross breeding with local birds they ended up with “Double
Crested and long Muffed breeds” (I know it beats me as well I have no idea).

For over 300 years breeders in Samarkhand, Tashkent, Namangan, Fargona Valley, and various other regions of Uzbekistan acquired these breeds from the Emirs of Bukhara

It would seem the name is derived because when flying they sometimes begin to rise up vertically and begin tumbling and clap their wings together making an audible clap or crack sound.

 

So know you know as much as me and very welcome you are to the info.

The people were concentrating on the birds and seemingly oblivious to the group of 20 odd tourists who were in their midst happily snapping pictures.

A very entertaining 20 minutes where we were just allowed to hang out with the locals.

By the way did you know HM Queen Elisabeth II is patron of a number of British pigeon racing societies in recognition of her interest in the sport, most notably the Royal Pigeon Racing Association and the National Flying Club

 

Whilst we are about it I forgot to tell you we had been to the ubiquitous carpet shop there are carpet shops everywhere and whilst it is not actually part of the tour we do get to see one. 

We saw a little of the actual carpet making I say making rather than weaving as each individual strand is knotted not woven.

 

It seemed we arrived at an inopportune moment as it was payday for the girls and they get paid in cash once a month so if you remember how big the wad
was when I changed $50 then you can imagine it took about 15 minutes to pay each on and then they left they had a couple of carrier bags stuffed full of notes (I kid you not)

 

This is Sabrina (I think) and she was very good at explaining all the different details of how to pick the right carpet and how to tell the quality andunderstand the different types of silks used ( who knew there were different kinds in the first place well not me I can tell you). She was a local however she had a mix of East London and American in her accent which sort of threw me for a while as we have only hear local accents for a few days.

 

Whilst there were as you see lots and lots of very nice carpets there were not with my name on so this time I got away light.

I did however later find a stitched floor rug which I had to negotiate hard for, well I think I did ok 45% discount brought it into my price bracket. (Judi would be proud)

 

 

 

 

 

The building made of brick is quite unique in its style and even though its only about 20 mt square I need a ticket to take pictures so another $1 gone from the funds.

 

Lots of interesting features even though the place is a little crowded as a group of Germans join us which makes it all a bit of a crush. 

Something does hit me and it is quite a surprise which is these are the first tourists we have actually seen for about three days. Now where can you go in the world without seeing another tourist well “Turkmenistan” seems to be the answer.