Shahrisabz
Encyclopedia
Shakhrisabz is a city in Uzbekistan
located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand
with the population of 53,000 (1991). It is located at the altitude of 622 m. Once a major city of Central Asia
, it is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th century Turco-Mongol
conqueror Timur
. Its name (شهر سبز) means "green/verdant city" in Persian
.
’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2700 years ago.
From the 6th to 4th centuries BC it was a part of Akhemenid empire.
Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy
captured the satrap
of Bactria
and pretender
to the Persian throne, Bessus
, at Nautaca thus ending the once great Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great chose to spend his winters and met his wife Roxanna in the area in 328-327 BC.
From 4th to 8th century Kesh was one of urban centers of Sogdiana
.
Between 567 and 658 rulers of Kesh paid taxes to caghans of Turkic and Western Turkic caghanates.
In 710 city was conqured by Arabs.
Shahrisabz was the birthplace of Timur
on April 9, 1336, to the family of a minor local chief, and during the early years of the Timurid Dynasty
, enjoyed its considerable patronage. Timur regarded Shahrisabz as his “home town” and planned it eventually to be the location of his tomb. However, during the Timurid period, the center of activity shifted to Samarkand
instead.
According to legend, The Khan
of Bukhara
, Abdullah Khan II had the city destroyed in a fit of rage over the death of his favorite horse from exhaustion on a steep approach the city, but was later overcome with remorse for the damage he had done.
The city struggled for autonomy under Bukharan rule. The Russians
helped Bukharan emir to conquere the city in 1870.
. The Uzbeks, "Chaghatay" and "Turks" form a large minority in the city. The Russian minority is dwindling since 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Several remaining impressive monuments from the Timurid Dynasty
have enabled the old part of the city to be inscribed on the UNESCO
World Heritage List.(See List of World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan)
Timur
's Summer Palace, the “White Palace” was planned as the most grandiose of all Timur's constructions. It was started in 1380 by artisans deported by Timur from the recently-conquered Khwarezm
. Unfortunately, only traces of its gigantic 65 m gate-towers survive, with blue, white and gold mosaics. Above the entry of the Ak-Saray are big letters saying: "If you challenge our power - look at our buildings!"
A Friday mosque
built in 1437 by Ulugh Beg
in honor of his father Shah Rukh, its name meaning “Blue Dome”. Located immediately behind the Kok Gumbaz Mosque is the so-called “House of Meditation”, a mausoleum
built by Ulugh Beg in 1438 but apparently never used for burials.
East of the Kok Gumbaz is another mausoleum complex called Dorussiadat (Seat of Power and Might), which contains the Tomb of Jehangir, Timur’s eldest and favorite son. The adjacent mosque is said to house the tomb of a revered 8th century imam
Amir Kulal
.
Behind the Hazrat-i Imam Emsemble is a bunker with a door leading to an underground chamber, discovered by archaeologists in 1943. The room is nearly filled with a single stone casket, on which inscriptions indicate that it was intended for Timur. However, the conqueror was buried in Samarkand, not at Shahrisabz, and mysteriously, his tomb in Shahrisabz contained two unidentified corpses.
Also of interest are medieval baths and an 18th century bazaar
.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
with the population of 53,000 (1991). It is located at the altitude of 622 m. Once a major city of Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, it is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th century Turco-Mongol
Turco-Mongol
Turko-Mongol is a modern designation for various nomads who were subjects of the Mongol Empire. Being progressively Turkicized in terms of language and identity following the Mongol conquests, they derived their ethnic and cultural origins from steppes of Central Asia...
conqueror Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
. Its name (شهر سبز) means "green/verdant city" in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
.
History
Formerly known as Kash (i.e., "heart-pleasing") and tentatively identified with the ancient Nautaca Shahrisabz should be counted among Central AsiaCentral Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2700 years ago.
From the 6th to 4th centuries BC it was a part of Akhemenid empire.
Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter I , also known as Ptolemy Lagides, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty...
captured the satrap
Satrap
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
of Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
and pretender
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....
to the Persian throne, Bessus
Bessus
Artaxerxes V, also known as Bessus was a prominent Persian nobleman and satrap of Bactria, and later self-proclaimed king of Persia...
, at Nautaca thus ending the once great Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great chose to spend his winters and met his wife Roxanna in the area in 328-327 BC.
From 4th to 8th century Kesh was one of urban centers of Sogdiana
Sogdiana
Sogdiana or Sogdia was the ancient civilization of an Iranian people and a province of the Achaemenid Empire, eighteenth in the list on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great . Sogdiana is "listed" as the second of the "good lands and countries" that Ahura Mazda created...
.
Between 567 and 658 rulers of Kesh paid taxes to caghans of Turkic and Western Turkic caghanates.
In 710 city was conqured by Arabs.
Shahrisabz was the birthplace of Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
on April 9, 1336, to the family of a minor local chief, and during the early years of the Timurid Dynasty
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
, enjoyed its considerable patronage. Timur regarded Shahrisabz as his “home town” and planned it eventually to be the location of his tomb. However, during the Timurid period, the center of activity shifted to Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
instead.
According to legend, The Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
of Bukhara
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
, Abdullah Khan II had the city destroyed in a fit of rage over the death of his favorite horse from exhaustion on a steep approach the city, but was later overcome with remorse for the damage he had done.
The city struggled for autonomy under Bukharan rule. The Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
helped Bukharan emir to conquere the city in 1870.
Ethnography
Shahrisabz is one of Uzbakistan's towns and cities with a Persian-speaking Tajik majority. The countryside is solidly Tajik, particularly in the direction of the east and TajikistanTajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
. The Uzbeks, "Chaghatay" and "Turks" form a large minority in the city. The Russian minority is dwindling since 1991 and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Monuments
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
have enabled the old part of the city to be inscribed on the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage List.(See List of World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan)
- Aq-Saray Palace
Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
's Summer Palace, the “White Palace” was planned as the most grandiose of all Timur's constructions. It was started in 1380 by artisans deported by Timur from the recently-conquered Khwarezm
Khwarezm
Khwarezm, or Chorasmia, is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, which borders to the north the Aral Sea, to the east the Kyzylkum desert, to the south the Karakum desert and to the west the Ustyurt Plateau...
. Unfortunately, only traces of its gigantic 65 m gate-towers survive, with blue, white and gold mosaics. Above the entry of the Ak-Saray are big letters saying: "If you challenge our power - look at our buildings!"
- Kok Gumbaz Mosque / Dorut Tilyovat (Dorut TilavatDorut TilavatDor-i-Tilavat/Dorut Tilovat/Dor al-Tilavat is a madrasa in Uzbekistan.Dorut Tilovat was first constructed in the thirteenth century by Shams ud-Din Kulal . He had travelled from Bukhara to Kesh to spread the message of Islam...
) Complex
A Friday mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
built in 1437 by Ulugh Beg
Ulugh Beg
Ulugh Bek was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer, mathematician and sultan. His commonly-known name is not truly a personal name, but rather a moniker, which can be loosely translated as "Great Ruler" or "Patriarch Ruler" and was the Turkic equivalent of Timur's Perso-Arabic title Amīr-e...
in honor of his father Shah Rukh, its name meaning “Blue Dome”. Located immediately behind the Kok Gumbaz Mosque is the so-called “House of Meditation”, a mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
built by Ulugh Beg in 1438 but apparently never used for burials.
- Hazrat-i Imam Complex
East of the Kok Gumbaz is another mausoleum complex called Dorussiadat (Seat of Power and Might), which contains the Tomb of Jehangir, Timur’s eldest and favorite son. The adjacent mosque is said to house the tomb of a revered 8th century imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
Amir Kulal
Amir Kulal
Shams ud-Din renowned as Amir Kulal was born in Bukhara, Uzbekistan to the well known scholar Saif ud-Din Hamza a descendant of Nabi Muhammad. Saif ud Din Hamza was also Amir of Tribe of Kulal , hence the title Amir...
.
- Tomb of Timur
Behind the Hazrat-i Imam Emsemble is a bunker with a door leading to an underground chamber, discovered by archaeologists in 1943. The room is nearly filled with a single stone casket, on which inscriptions indicate that it was intended for Timur. However, the conqueror was buried in Samarkand, not at Shahrisabz, and mysteriously, his tomb in Shahrisabz contained two unidentified corpses.
Also of interest are medieval baths and an 18th century bazaar
Bazaar
A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...
.