Bukhara, the centre of Silk Route

Bukhara, the centre of Silk Route

Uzbek Diary IV

Photo: Researchgate

I had talked about our visit to Khiva and the dried-up Aral sea in my earlier posts.

After spending two nights there, we took the 9.00 a.m. train for the seven-hour Khiva- Bukhara journey. As far as eyes could see on the dry, brown land all round, stood twiggy bushes topped with little fluffs of cotton. Uzbekistan is known for its cotton cultivation and if you recall, it was the greed to grow more of this ‘white gold’ that had caused the Aral Sea to dry.

Photo: Kun.Uz

In our cabin were two Hungarian gentlemen in their forties who spoke excellent English. They told us that they backpacked without family to inexpensive destinations once a year. We also came to know that one worked in the railways and Mani, who had presumed that the journey would be dull, with him being stuck with only me to talk, had enjoyable conversation with him. Later while Mani napped, the three of us talked about places to visit on our wishlists and exchanged notes about what we had seen or eaten.

We reached Bukhara after 4.00 p.m. and settling in again took some time because the hotel owner failed to understand that we did not enjoy milky, salty tea. In the end, with not much time left to visit any sites, we went to Lyab-e Hauz to get a feel of the city.

More than two thousand years old, Bukhara, located on Silk Road, has been famous for being the hub of not only trade, but also culture, and scholarship. In 9^th – 16^th centuries, it became perhaps the largest centre for Islamic religion and studies.

I had read somewhere that Indian merchants from Multan (now in Pakistan) came and settled here a few centuries ago and even owned land.

The historic center of Bukhara, with its several mosques and madrasas has been listed as World Heritage Site by UNESCO.   

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/602/#:~:text=Bukhara mentions

The property contains all the attributes that sustain its Outstanding Universal Value. Its boundaries and buffer zone are appropriate and adequate. Despite the insensitivity of much of the new construction from 1920 until the 1950s and earthquake damages, Bukhara retains much of its historic ambience and still has a largely intact urban fabric.

Sitorai Mokhi Khosa Palace

We started the next day with Sitorai Mokhi Khosa palace or what the guide called summer palace.

In the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts housed in the premises, we feasted our eyes on Chinese and Japanese porcelain on display, clothes worn by the people and the Amirs in the earlier two centuries, and a treasure of suzani and gold thread embroidered articles, besides other artifacts.

Top left: Mosaic and mirror work on ceiling
Top right: Amir's emblem on gold work on wall
Bottom left: An artisan busy etching design on metal 
Bottom right: Men's leather and wooden shoes 19th century 

Our next stop was the Ark of Bukhara, a fortress, said to be the oldest monument of the city. According to evidence from documents, the fortress was in existence in as early as the Vth century.

An imposing structure, it had included the palace, Djome mosque (Friday mosque) with eight front doors and four mekhrab (arch), throne hall with a marble throne (made in 1669), Kushbegi court building, rooms for shogirdpesha (apprentices) and Russian embassy and political leaders, library, mint, bath, prison and the stables.

Interestingly, ‘there was a telephone room in the yard and two operators sat on duty one after the other. The telephone was connected from Kagan to Ark in 1900 and then connected to the palaces outside the city’,  said a board.

A part of the fortress, however, was destroyed in Russian bombings around 1920.

Top: The imposing citadel Bottom: Area ruined in Russian bombings

We then took an e-rickshaw to Poi Kalyan or the Kalyan ensemble across the wide road from the fortress. The complex consists of Masjid-i Kalan (Kalan Mosque), Minar-i-Kalan (Kalan Minaret) and Mir-i-Arab madrasa. The three are positioned around a courtyard-like empty area which makes it look like a square.

The open-type mosque, the biggest in Bukhara, is open on Fridays and can accommodate 12,000 devout at one time.

Madrasa Kalan

The front of the madrasa is decorated with artistic majolica and mosaic work. Like most other Islamic buildings, this one too has sacred inscriptions and writings in elaborate calligraphy on the outside walls.

The minar has 104 steps and before loudspeakers came in, the muezzin would go up to say the azaan (call for prayer). The story goes that when Genghiz Khan came here, his loyals and soldiers bowed before the minar. He looked up to see what it was and his helmet fell on the ground, forcing him to get off his horse and pick it up. Believing that this was something great which had made him bow, he did not destroy it unlike what he was doing with most other monuments. 

We stopped to watch the shooting of a television drama going on there and exchange our opinions among ourselves.

Beyond that was a bazar along the road which sells Uzbek souvenirs.

Uzbek Samsa

It was lunchtime and we headed for a nearby café-restaurant. Here I got samsa, the ‘forefather’ of Indian samosa. They are stuffed with beef/lamb but this place made potato and spinach-filled ones too. The samsa is baked and does not have a crisp crust.

In the evening we went again to Lyab-e-Hauz, the place where people come to hang out. There are a few choykhanas (tea-houses) in the area besides shops selling the usual items.

Bukhara is your go-to place if you are a keen shopper. Our Tashkent guide had advised us that prices here are far lower than in Tashkent or Samarkand.

We indulged ourselves at the shops in the summer palace.

But there was no stopping Nikhil (Singh), the youngest among us. I had seen this perfume expert sniff ittar-like bottles in Tashkent, but Bukhara was like a party for him. He seemed to be forever going back to perfume stalls and shops and I am sure he filled his suitcase with perfumes of all kinds - local, Uzbek and base fragrances for brand names available in tiny vials here.

You are spoiled for choice as you look for quilted jackets, abayas, caps and hats, dry fruits and seeds, pottery, tea sets, plates or bowls made of ceramics/porcelain, decorative metal plates, copper bookmarks, clay whistles, stone rings, earrings, necklaces, wool scarves and stoles specially made from camel wool, not to forget purses, bags and cushion covers adorned with suzani and crewel embroidery or even paintings. There are carpets too if one can bring that much weight home easily.  

It was like a blow to me when I realized that Ikkat, which I thought originated in India, perhaps came from Indonesia and travelled from Central Asia with traders on the Silk Route to India. There were yards and yards of Ikot fabric being sold everywhere. I also saw the hands of women minding the shops, busy knitting or embroidering to prepare for selling.

And yes, Hansel Aubert is right. I stopped everywhere to check the needlework projects in the making. Winter is approaching, so most of the women showed me their knitting/crochet- woollen slippers worn inside the house.

Women manned most of these shops and you had to bargain, a practice very difficult for me. Once they knew we were Indians, they assumed we were experts in it anyway and even said so.

In Bukhara, we saw and talked to scores of Indian and Pakistani students. During the Russia-Ukraine war, some Indians studying in Ukraine medical colleges were moved to Uzbekistan, a safe destination and as we gathered, cheaper. But going by the low population statistics, I doubt if they would be able to earn as much experience in treating the variety and number of patients as they could have in India. My new apprehension is that some of us might have an appointment with an Uzbekistan- trained doctor some time in our life.

Please note that unlike in most middle eastern countries, getting vegetarian food in Uzbekistan is a tough proposition. It seems they do not understand the concept clearly. If you ask for vegetarian, they would remove the beef chunks from the top and serve you the pulov cooked in beef stock and still containing small beef pieces.

A & B: Breakfast in two hotels 

Members of our group were either vegetarians or doubtful if the meat served was not beef, so they avoided eating non-vegetarian food of any kind. Beef and lamb are available everywhere and an ingredient of almost every dish while chicken has somehow not found any respect on their menu. Even  getting an omelette became an exercise in two of the hotels.

We did eat at Indian restaurants but the standards were not consistent. Students and tourists frequent these and one might have to wait for turn. For once, I found the Indian habit of vegetarians carrying parathas, theplas, poori etc., not unwise.

I enjoyed the variety of cookies and lavash which looks like a maida (all-purpose flour) roti and the obi nan. It is not unusual to see people carrying bread in plastic bags everywhere.

After spending more than a day in Bukhara it was time to say goodbye to the city to move to our last destination-Samarkand.

But this goodbye was no less exciting. We took the 769, Afrosiyab high speed train leaving Bukhara at 3.20 p.m. for Samarkand.

Afrosiyab High-speed train- took me a few seconds to get used to the shape of the nose! 

The seats were comfortable and the train looked much like our own Shatabdi Express, but there were no ‘free snacks’. With my eyes glued to the screen, I saw the figures touching 159 km/hour against the announced speed of 250 km/hour.

It is no point writing here the technical details that Mani shared with us, but you may check https://anindecisiveindian.blogspot.com/2023/11/talgo-trains-in-uzbekistan-much-faster.html

See you in Samarkand next Saturday!

Scores of peacocks surround visitors hoping to get breadcrumbs (Sitorai Mokhi Khosa Palace)

                                                                             - Anupama S Mani