Samarkand, also known as Samarqand, is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan. There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late Paleolithic Era, though there is no direct evidence of when Samarkand was founded. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, when it was known as Markanda, which was rendered in Greek as Maracanda. In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as SamARKand – Crossroads of Cultures.
About Samarkand, Uzbekistan in brief
Samarkand, also known as Samarqand, is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan. There is evidence of human activity in the area of the city from the late Paleolithic Era, though there is no direct evidence of when Samarkand was founded. The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE, when it was known as Markanda, which was rendered in Greek as Maracanda. The name comes from Sogdian samar, ‘fort, town, and kand,’stone, rock’ In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as SamARKand – Crossroads of Cultures. Today, Samarksand is the capitol of Samarq and one of the largest cities of Uzbekistan, and is noted as a centre of Islamic scholarly study and the birthplace of the Timurid Renaissance. The Bibi-Khanym Mosque, rebuilt during the Soviet era, remains one the city’s most notable landmarks. The old city includes historical monuments, shops, and old private houses; the new city includes administrative buildings along with cultural centres and educational institutions. The Syob and Darg’om canals, supplying the city and its suburbs with water, appeared around the 7th–5th centuries BCE. The city has carefully preserved the traditions of ancient crafts: embroidery, goldwork, silk weaving, copper engraving, ceramics, wood carving, and wood painting. In the 14th century, Timur made it the capital of his empire and the site of his mausoleum, the Gur-e Amir.
Archaeological excavations conducted within the city limits as well as suburban areas unearthed 40,000-year-old evidence ofHuman activity, dating back to the Upper Paleolithic. At times, the city was one of Central Asia’s largest cities, prospering from its location on the Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean Sea. By the time of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the Capital of the SogDian satrapy. It became an essential site for Manichaeism and facilitated the dissemination of the religion throughout Central Asia. It did not significantly revive until the 5th century CE, when the Persians conquered it in an alliance with the Göktürks. It was ruled by a succession of Iranian and Turkic rulers until it was conquered by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220. It is now one of the largest cities in Uzbekistan and a centre for Islamic studies and culture. It has a population of around 2.5 million people, making it the second largest city in the country after the city of Tashkent. Samark and is home to the Samarkan Museum, a museum dedicated to the history of the Islamic world. It also has a museum of Islamic art and culture, which dates to the 6th century BC, and a museum for Islamic history.
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