A historic connection

A historic connection

Uzbekistan Diary -1

Left: India's second Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's bust
Right: Street named after him (Tashkent, Uzbekistan)

Two weeks ago, I had announced that I would be travelling and travel I did to a new foreign land, which Mani, a history buff, had for long wanted to visit, but which is still not explored/exploited much by visitors-especially west Europeans and Americans, i.e., Uzbekistan.

We travelled with four others - a friend couple, their son, and a colleague. Two members of our group were nursing knee and foot injuries, so it is not a surprise that we did not visit as many places as we would have otherwise. I am, however, grateful that they were brave and supportive enough to not have the trip aborted.

Our visit was only a week long and in the coming weeks I shall take you along on my journey of the four cities, including the places, people, food, shopping anything that sparked interest and stayed in my memory (no intellectual analysis of the politico-social situation in the country) hoping that by the time I am done, you’d feel as if you were there with me.

We took the Tashkent-Khiva-Bukhara-Samarkand route.

After a short, 2.50-hour Indigo flight from Delhi, Mani and I landed in Tashkent, the capital of independent Uzbekistan. The others had flown half a day ahead by Uzbekistan Airways. At present, these are the only airlines operating direct Delhi-Tashkent flight and our flight was full. 

Three members of our group had already visited Chorusu Bazar, the Chandni Chowk of Tashkent in the evening, but indifferent to shopping, both of us decided to skip it to save our time and energy.

Uzbekistan is a predominantly Muslim country. Tashkent has absorbed the impact of the ways of the dynasties and clans that ruled it in the last more than ten centuries.

In short, after the Arabs conquered it in the early 8th century, several Muslim rulers, with their eye on this important trade centre between Europe and East Asia, ruled it till the Mongols took it over in the 1400s.  Later, the descendants of Timur and Genghis Khan made it their kingdom.

It was subsequently ruled by the Timurids and Shaybanids before the Khans of Fergana valley added it in their kingdom. Later, it was included in the maps of Turkistan, then the erstwhile USSR. Finally, following the August coup in Moscow (1991), Islam Karimov, the President of the Uzbek SSR declared independence and the city became the capital of the independent country named Republic of Uzbekistan.

Muslim Board of Uzbekistan office 
where the Imam sits, Hast Imam Complex

The Soviets had tried to change the traditional look of the city to modern, wide roads with shady tress on both sides, parks, fountains and of course, what I recognize from east Berlin as the Russian style blocks of similar-looking monotonous dusty brown apartment buildings.

The impact of the rule of the various clans and dynasties can be seen in the people. Fair, medium height with almost black hair, a majority have Mongoloid features, which as a layperson, I can say of most people in the four cities that we visited.

Our first day of the trip, the only day in Tashkent, was hectic. We began with our young guide taking us to Hazrat Imam complex, also called the Hast Imam Square, a religious and cultural centre where you can see historical Barak-Khan Madrasah, Tillashayekh Mosque, and the Islamic Institute of Imam al-Bukhari.

Abu-Bakr Muhammad Kaffal Shashi or Hazrati Imam was not only a scholar of the Hadiths and the Quran but also a craftsman and a poet.

Top: Men's section Photo-Gyanesh Tiwari  Bottom: Section for women

An ancient structure rebuilt in 2007, the mosque has different entrances for women and men. Wooden screens partition the huge hall for prayers into women’s and men’s sections. The plush blue carpet warms up the bare feet as you go inside and the decorative gold leaf details on the walls and the ceiling hold your attention.

The carvings on the timber pillars in the courtyard also force you to stop and take a good look.

The library museum houses nearly 3000 original and rare manuscripts including the Quran in different languages. Yet the gem is the oldest surviving (8^th or 9^th century) Quran of Caliph Uthman ibn Affan in Kufic script. It is also called Samarkand Kufi Quran because it is believed to have been brought in from Iraq as loot by Timur to Samarkand. The large parchment sheets bear stains of the Caliph’s blood as he was killed while reading it. The Russians had taken it away but it was returned in 1924 and has since been kept here in Tashkent.

Historian Boris Golender had said, “Hast Imam remembers everything! In length of time, constructions get ruined; people and events become things of the past…Only wisdom is eternal which has found its way to XXI century through this revived place of ancient Tashkent.”

Extreme left: Carved entrance door to the museum
Others: No two doors in the museum have the same carving design.

Hotel Uzbekistan where Shastriji had breathed his last

Our next stop understandably, was Shastri Square on Shastri Street.(Top photo) It has the bust of second prime minister of India Lal bahadur Shastri who had died in Tashkent the night after signing the peace pact of Tashkent with Pakistan president Ayub Khan after the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin had acted the mediator.

After driving beyond Independence square, we stopped at the Amir Timur Square.

Timur could not be a Khan or a Caliph because of his birth, yet for the Uzbeks he is a hero, almost worshipped for his military leadership, war strategies, patronage of art and his buildings. He tried to restore Tashkent to its old glory. This is the city he came to, for treating his wounded leg and to go on his battle with the Golden Horde from.  

Yes, I am talking of the same Tamurlane (Taimur Lang, so called after he had injured his leg in a battle) that we Indians curse for attacking our country.

It was a kind of disappointment I felt as this realization sank in that several crafts and skills we boast of as Indian heritage, were brought to us by Timur and Babur. Count Islamic Arts and architecture, metalwork, suzani (we know that as Kashmiri thread embroidery similar to chain stitches) and tillaqari (gold thread embroidery) in and I shall keep updating as we journey along. That was also the time I got the gyan that it is our view of a person’s treatment of us that we label them as good or bad. But come on, let us be sensible adults and give the devil his due.

It was cloudy, windy and cold. The long walk to the restaurant for late lunch through a pathway lined on both sides by kiosks had tired us. Some of us chose to drink milk tea, a very milky version infused with cinnamon, ginger, and star anise.

The break made us realise how tired we were and that we should call it a day. But the guide was insistent that we visit one more site, the Minor (Minar/Minaret) mosque.

It is a very modern blue and white structure built only in the last decade. As we came out of the pristine white building, the moving LED screen announced it was time for Maghrib namaz and people could be seen running in to say their prayers.

In addition to wearing appropriate clothing, women visitors are asked to cover their heads in mosques. But what caught my attention was that there is generally a bench or chairs to sit on and wear your shoes as you come out and the best, there are shoe horns (Have the new generations seen them?) to make your job easy, yet nobody stands guard to ensure that no visitor/devout walks off with them (India style, excuse me).

Photo: the shoestopper.com

It was nearly 6.00 pm, but dark and cold, so we called it a day, choosing an Indian restaurant to go for dinner.

There is only half an hour difference in Uzbek and Indian Standard times, so the body did not have to adjust to any new timelines.

We took the 9.00 pm overnight sleeper train to Khiva, our next stop.

The major difficulty we faced on our first day and throughout the trip, was language. Very few people could speak or understand English. Most people spoke only Uzbek and Russian and communication sometimes became an ordeal. More on that later.  

Cleanliness seems a way of life for the Uzbeks.
Top: Park in front of  Amir Timur's statue
Bottom left - Flower beds on pavements add a touch of colour
Bottom right: Trash bins are stone receptacles with removable metal pails so that burning cigarette butts do not damage anything

                                                                                        -Anupama S Mani