Historical objects

The Registan (Uzbek: Регистон, Registon) was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand of the Timurid Empire, now in Uzbekistan. The name Rēgistan (ریگستان) means "sandy place" or "desert" in Persian.

The Registan was a public square, where people gathered to hear royal proclamations, heralded by blasts on enormous copper pipes called dzharchis - and a place of public executions. It is framed by three madrasahs (Islamic schools) of distinctive Islamic architecture. The square was regarded as the hub of the Timurid Renaissance.

The three madrasahs of the Registan are the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420), the Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636), and the Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646–1660). Madrasah is an Arabic term meaning school.

The Gūr-i Amīr or Guri Amir (Uzbek: Amir Temur maqbarasi, Go'ri Amir, Persian: گورِ امیر) is a mausoleum of the Turco-Mongol[1] conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Central Asian architecture[2] as the precursor for and had influence on later Great Mughal architecture tombs, including Gardens of Babur in Kabul, Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's Indian descendants, Turco-Mongols[3] that followed Indian culture with Central Asian influences.[4] Mughals established the ruling Mughal dynasty of the Indian subcontinent. The mausoleum has been heavily restored.

Erected on the initiative and at the expense of Timur in 1404, the masterpiece of Persian architecture[5] of the Timurid era occupies an important place in the history of world Islamic architecture. The main architect of the mausoleum was Muhammad ibn Mahmud Isfahani, a native of the Iranian city of Isfahan.

The Bibi-Khanym Mosque (Uzbek: Bibixonim masjidi; Persian: مسجد بی بی خانم; also variously spelled as Khanum, Khanom, Hanum, Hanim) is one of the most important monuments of Samarkand, Uzbekistan. In the 15th century, it was one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the Islamic world. It is considered a masterpiece of the Timurid Renaissance. By the mid-20th century, only a grandiose ruin of it still survived, but major parts of the mosque were restored during the Soviet period.

After his Indian campaign[1] in 1399, Timur (Tamerlane) decided to undertake the construction of a gigantic mosque in his new capital, Samarkand. When Timur returned from his military campaign in 1404 the mosque was almost completed. However, Timur was not happy with the progress of construction, and immediately had various changes made, especially on the main cupola.[2]

Shah-i-Zinda (Uzbek: Shohizinda; Persian: شاه زنده, meaning "The Living King") is a necropolis in the north-eastern part of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

The Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings of 11th – 15th and 19th centuries. The name Shah-i-Zinda (meaning "The living king") is connected with the legend that Qutham ibn Abbas, a cousin of Muhammad, is buried here. He came to Samarkand with the Arab invasion in the 7th century to preach Islam. The Shah-i-Zinda complex was formed over eight (from the 11th until the 19th) centuries and now includes more than twenty buildings.

The Hazrat Khizr Mosque is a historical monument in Samarkand (mid-19th century); associated with the name of the legendary immortal prophet Hazrat Khizr. The building was erected on the site of an ancient mosque (according to the inscription on the mihrab, in 1855). The monument is located opposite the Shah-i-Zinda complex on a hill. In 2018, the mausoleum of the First President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov was opened in the territory of the mosque.

The first mention of the mosque dates back to the time when the Arabs conquered Sogd (early 8th century).[1] According to legends, in 712, after the troops of Qutayba ibn Muslim captured Samarkand, the Arabs tried to flood the city fortress by blocking the canal of Juy-i Arziz with a dam. But a large white bird fell from the sky and broke the dam. To commemorate this event, one of Qutayba's companions, Muhammad ibn Vaso, built the “Hazrat Khizr” mosque on the site of a Zoroastrian temple that was revered by the Sogdians, at the southern gate of Afrasiab. The mosque was completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Central Asia in 1220.

The Ulugh Beg Observatory is an observatory in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, built in the 1420s by the Timurid astronomer Ulugh Beg. Islamic astronomers who worked at the observatory include Al-Kashi, Ali Qushji, and Ulugh Beg himself. The observatory was destroyed in 1449 and rediscovered in 1908. Jamshid Al-Kashi, a 15th-century astronomer and mathematician, is known to have relocated to Samarkand to interact with the scientific processes taking place there. Having received an invitation from Ulugh Beg, Al-Kashi left his native land of Kashan in north central Iran and went to Samarkand. A letter that Al-Kashi wrote to his father during his stay in Samarkand has been translated by Kennedy (1960) and Sayılı (1960). This letter, written in Persian, has shaped the modern view of Samarkand activities substantially despite its lack of information about scientific activities that were taking place at the observatory. However, a new letter written by Al-Kashi to his father has been found in Iran, and the translation of this letter by Bagheri sheds more light on the scientific atmosphere of Samarkand in particular and reduces the ambiguity of certain elements in the first letter by virtue of their overlapping parts.[5][6][7]

Boghibaland is one of the famous gardens founded by master Amir Temur and preserved to this day. It is located in the northern part of the city, on the left bank of the Zarafshan River, on the slopes of the Old Kohak, today's Choponota Hill. In Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur's work "Baburnoma", it is written that the garden "Boghibaland" was built in this area in honor of Amir Temur's beloved granddaughter, Mironshah's daughter Aghabegim, and there are lush fig groves in it. The ruins of the wall surrounding the garden could be seen even at the beginning of the 20th century. This land is bordered by the Zarafshan River on the north side, Choponota Hill on the west side, the city of Samarkand on the south side, and vast fields to the east. There are separate fig groves, vineyards, and olive groves in the garden, which add a unique beauty to the landscape of the garden. In the middle of the garden there is a palace built with high skill, and the garden is surrounded by a high wall. The northern side was bordered by the banks of the Zarafshan river. Today, figs are grown in the park's forty-hectare area, which has been handed down from generation to generation.