Samarkand

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the Silk Road(s)? Chances are, you pictured beautiful ornate Islamic architecture with turquoise domes and soaring tiled minarets. The image in your head is Samarkand. Samarkand (or Samarqand) is perhaps the most famous city of modern Uzbekistan, and home to many of that country's historical sites. From before the time of Alexander the Great through the present, Samarkand has been the jewel in Central Asia's resplendent crown. No other city represents the Silk Road quite like Samarkand.

Understand
The name Samarkand is derived from Old Persian asmara ("stone, rock") and from Sogdian qand ("fort", "town"). Samarkand literally means "stone fort" or "rock town." Samarkand had a central position on the Silk Road between China and the West. In the 14th century, Timur (Tamerlane) made Samarkand the capital of his empire. Samarkand is a must-see for all travelers visiting Central Asia. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001 as Samarkand - Crossroad of Cultures.

The modern city was home to 514,000 people in 2019.

Pre-Islamic era
The site of Samarkand was sporadically occupied in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. A city was founded in pre-Achaemenid times, between 650 and 550 BCE. A wall followed the whole circuit of the plateau (5.5 km), complemented by another one which separates the town from the acropolis. It's in the northern part and includes a citadel raised on an artificial platform. The massive wall, 7-m thick, was made of coarse mud bricks, all of which bear a mark, an indication that labour was strictly organized in groups of workers. Similar building techniques have been noticed at other Sogdian and pre-Sogdian sites during that pre-Achaemenid period.

The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE. It was named Maracanda by the Greeks. Two phases of Greek occupation can be distinguished, the first lasting from Alexander to the second half of the 3rd century BCE and a second period of reconquest under the Greco-Bactrian king Eucratides (171-145 BCE). The pottery differs markedly between these two phases.

The pre-Islamic Sogdian civilization is best documented from excavations at Panjakent, which was the capital at that time; the town is near Samarkand but now across a border in Tajikistan. At Samarkand, the major source of evidence for this period is the aristocratic residence with the famous wall paintings which were commissioned for a reception hall ca. 660 CE, probably by King Varkhuman. Just north of the center of the city lies the remains of the great Sogdian town of Afrasiab (also Afrosiab), where those murals were found.

Islamic period
In the early 8th century CE, Samarkand was conquered by the Arabs and soon became an important center of Muslim culture. Excavations beneath the mosque show a rapid succession of monumental buildings. A massive enclosure, perhaps the temenos of the pre-Islamic temple mentioned in the sources, was razed some time after the Arab conquest of 712. The site was occupied by a large palace (ca 115 x 84 m), which was according to numismatic evidence built in the 740s by the last Umayyad governor Nasar b. Sayyar. Between 765 and 780 the Friday mosque was first built on a square plan, which probably at the beginning of the Samanid period, ca. 820-30 was enlarged and the remaining parts of the palace were levelled.

It subsequently grew as a trade center on the Silk Road, the great trading route between China and the Mediterranean region.

In 1220 Samarkand was almost completely destroyed by the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan. It flourished again when Timur-i-Leng (known as Tamerlane in the West) made it the capital of his empire in 1369. As his capital Timur put Samarkand on the world map and much of the architecture visible today was built by him or his descendants. The empire declined in the 15th century, and nomadic Uzbeks (Shaybanids) took Samarkand in 1500. In 1784 the emirate of Bukhara conquered it. The city was taken by Russia in 1868, and again began to assume importance. From 1924 to 1930, Samarkand was the capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic.

People
Historically, Samarkand was populated primarily by Persian-speaking Indo-Iranian peoples (like the Sogdians, Achaemenids, etc.), although sizeable non-Iranian peoples lived in and around the region too. When the Mongols conquered the region, they broke Persian political power in the city and introduced more diverse groups into the city through population shuffling. By the time Uzbek forces took the city, the population was ethnically mixed, although Persian (specifically the Samarkandi-Khujandi dialect) remained the language of high society.

When Soviet Central Asia was carved into the five "Stans" we have today, Samarkand was separated from the lands given to the ethnic Persians (the Tajiks) and included in the lands given to the ethnic Uzbeks. But people here still spoke Tajik and Uzbek. With the fall of the Soviet Union, and the realization that now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are two independent countries, the notion of "Uzbek" and "Tajik" are changing in the city. Tajik still is the dominant language spoken in the city, but not everyone would equate language with national identity. Don't be surprised if you hear very little Uzbek while in Samarkand. However, Uzbek is near-universal on signs and in official publications like the media.

By train
There are a few daily trains to and from Tashkent. Besides the slow local trains there is the super fast Afrosiob and the still fast Sharq train that continues to Bukhara. For Khiva take the night trains to Urgench and hop on a marshrutka, shared taxi or trolleybus. The most popular international route is from Saint Petersburg (76 hr) via Volgograd (57 hr) departing daily at 12:16 and arriving three days later at 18:10. This train bypasses Moscow, nearest stop is on station Ozherelye in the town of Kashira. There is also a weekly connection from Alma-Ata departing every Sunday at 15:50 arriving 19:59 two nights later.

Uzbekistan Railways has schedules and online ticketing. Tickets can also be bought at the station or at the at 18 Amir Temur St. Trains get very crowded so it is advisable to book ahead.



By car
Samarkand is about 4 hours by road from Tashkent; shared taxis leave from Sobir Rahimov bus station.

The distance to Samarkand from Tashkent is 290 km, from Bokhara 270 km, from Khiva 740 km, from Andizhan 610 km, from Fergana 600 km, from Karshi 150 km, from Kokand 500 km, from Nukus 820 km, from Shahrisabz 90 km, from Termez 380 km and from Urgench 700 km.

Get around
The main sights of Samarkand are clustered into two nearby groups: Gur-i Amir and the Registan; and Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Shah-i Zinda, and Afrosiyab. You can walk between all of these, but the section between the Registan and Bibi-Khanym Mosque is far enough that you might prefer to take a vehicle. To get to the Ulugh-Beg Observatory, it's another 2km northeast from Afrosiyab; you can walk this if you want, but vehicles are probably better to use unless you want to get your steps in for the day.

Two light rail lines have been constructed as of November 2023. Perhaps the most useful line runs from the train station to an area just north of the Siyob Bazaar, about 1-1.5 km north of the Registan.

Yellow taxis can be taken all over. 5,000 som is a standard fare pretty much anywhere in the city, an additional two thousand for the outskirts. Some will try to overcharge (as much as 10,000 som), some won't. Don't bother trying for cheaper than 4,000 som but it's quite easy to haggle it down from any higher than that.

The Yandex Taxi app works well in the city center and will offer you a variety of price ranges depending on category selected, local SIM card recommended, as drivers may try to contact you by phone if they can't find you.

City buses (white minibuses) are tired and wheezy. Catching them is a slow and frustrating experience. You can plan your travel using WikiRoutes app, but it is not completely accurate. You might not be able to exit at desired station if the bus is tightly packed. Standard fare is 2000 som which you pay upon leaving.



Do

 * Visit a spa/banya for a Samarkand deep tissue massage.
 * Visit a spa/banya for a Samarkand deep tissue massage.

Buy
ATMs: There are many ATMs ("bankomat") in the city centre and many of them accept Visa, with MasterCard being less widely accepted. Do not confuse the domestic payment terminals with ATMs, although if there are multiple payment terminals in one location, there is usually an ATM in the group. As a standard, ATMs dispense Uzbek som for a processing fee of 1.5%, some also dispense US dollars, altough with lower limits and potential additional fees as well.


 * Samarkand Zeera (black cumin) is famous all over the world for its aroma.
 * Samarkand Pistachio, smaller in size but very popular.
 * Samarkand Shafran (or Zafran) is famous but inferior in quality as compared with Iranian saffron.

Although you may have heard of Samarkand rugs, these rugs did not actually originate in Samarkand, but in the cities of Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkand further east in what is now the Chinese province of Xinjiang. They are widely known as such due to Samarkand's former status as an important city on the Silk Road, where rugs from those three cities had to pass through on their way to Europe.

Eat
The most famous product of Samarkand is their bread, "Samarkand Non". A visitor will rarely find anybody leaving Samarkand without buying Non as a gift. There are so many interesting stories about "Samarkand Non".

If you haven't had your fill of plov by the time you visit Samarkand, the Samarkandi version uses more oil and yellow carrots than other varieties. You can also find plov made with horse meat.

Drink
Samarkand is a conservative city as compared with Tashkent. There are few night clubs and bars. In Afrosiab Hotel there is a night club and bar. In President Hotel guests can have beer in nice environments. Incante Show Club is at a walking distance from Afrosiab Hotel and in the evening visitors can watch pole dance.



Go next

 * Shakhrisabz, 100 km from Samarkand
 * Panjakent (Tajikistan), 60 km from Samarkand
 * Urgut, 30 km southeast of Samarkand, spectacular bazaar
 * To Tashkent, shared taxis leave from Ulughbek bus station. As of April 2019 they should cost no more than 50,000 som and take about 4-5 hours. Bargain hard and ask around, some will take you for 40,000 som.
 * To Bukhara, there is a regular train service that takes between 2 to 3.5 hours from Samarkand. Buy tickets well in advance, as they often sell out (especially in the Taskhent-Samarkand-Bukhara triangle). You can buy them online or at the train station.