Bukhara: Not a Second Fiddle

April 3 – 5, 2024

Founded more than two thousand years ago, Bukhara was an important trading post from the 3rd century B.C. until being sacked by Genghis Khan in 1220. The city steadily recovered, but as late as 1333 the Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta lamented that its buildings were in ruins and nobody was interested in religious studies. It regained a semblance of importance in the 16th century when it was the capital of the Shaybanid dynasty.

Overshadowed by Samarkand both historically and as a tourist destination, I found Bukhara to be interesting in its own rights, boasting an intact old town, two iconic monuments that predated Samarkand’s buildings, and several Silk Road sites that are slightly off-the-beaten-path.

An intact old town

Unlike Samarkand where large swaths of its old town are bulldozed to make room for plazas, roads, and tourist infrastructure, Bukhara’s historic core remains relatively intact; how much longer it is hard to say. While the city isn’t packed with attractions, there is a certain old-world charm when wandering aimlessly in the narrow alleys, particularly at night without street lights.

I had much friendlier interactions with locals in Bukhara relative to Samarkand, which was understandable since the latter is a much larger city. People-watching is available everywhere, but the best location is the Central Bazaar which sells everything from daily staples to spices to souvenirs. Unlike a similar market in Samarkand located next to the tourist magnet Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Bukhara’s is slightly off-centre where vendors go on with their trades without overcompensating for the tourist dollars.

Two landmarks

Completed in 905, the Samanid Mausoleum is the oldest standing Islamic religious monument in Central Asia and the only surviving monument from the Samanid era that oversaw the city’s golden age. A showcase of early Islamic architecture, its incorporation of squinches allowed the redistribution of the circular dome’s weight over a square base which soon influenced designs across the region. As much of the population was gradually converting from Zoroastrianism to Islam, the mausoleum contained architectural elements of Zoroastrian fire temples from Sassanian Iran and Persian-styled baked brick decorations. Curiously, it didn’t have any Islamic inscription, suggesting local Sogdian burial traditions were still practiced when the mausoleum was completed.

Among Bukhara’s more than a hundred historical monuments, the three components of Poi Kalan are held in almost as high regard as the masterpieces in Samarkand; the Kalan Minaret, especially, was fortunate enough to be unscathed by the citywide fire after Genghis Khan’s siege that it is now the most prominent landmark in the city. Even though Bukhara’s golden age ended two centuries earlier, rulers of the Turkic Karakhanid dynasty commissioned several important projects such as the minaret mentioned above in 1127. At 45.6 meters tall, the baked-brick minaret was one of the tallest towers of its time and featured innovations such as a foundation padded with reeds for better earthquake resistance.

More Silk Road sites

In 2023, 31 locations along an 886-km stretch of the Silk Road spanning across three countries were jointly nominated as a thematic World Heritage Site called “Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor”, with several short drives away from central Bukhara. Two sites aren’t representative of the entire batch that inhibit along the Zarafshan River to the Karakum Desert; yet, my reservation on serial transnational World Heritage Sites was only strengthened after visiting Chor-Bakr and the Bahoutdin Architectural Complex.

Funded by 70,000 gold coins, in 1559 the Shaybanid ruler Abdullaxon II chose Chor-Bakr, so-called because Muhammad’s direct descendant Abu-Bakr-Said was buried there, as the location for a 25-building complex containing a mausoleum, mosque, madrasa, and large courtyard surrounded by high walls. The impact of the recent tourism boom was apparent — many recently desolated buildings were being renovated, with buckets of white paint and plastic scaffolds everywhere.

More interesting was the Bahoutdin Architectural Complex, built in the late 14th century after the death of Shaykh Baha-ud-Din, the founder of the Naqshbandi order of Sufism. Its varied architectural style incorporating symbols from a Buddhist praying wheel to Zoroastrian motifs reflected its location on the Silk Road. A turquoise pavilion that pilgrims circled three times for blessing reminded me of the Tibetan practice of kora.