Treasures of the Great Silk Road

by Edgar Knobloch

  Cohn-Wiener18 sees Ak-Saray as an important amalgamation of two basic architectural elements, which can be traced back to the origins of Persian art and even beyond, to Assyria. They are the entrance gate flanked by towers, originally designed as a fortification, and the iwan, situated inside opposite the entrance, which functioned as an open reception hall. Timur combined these two elements in Ak-Saray, and obtained extraordinary and impressive results. On the other hand, Ak-Saray shows how conservative Islam’s architecture was as a whole. While the ornament is continuously developed, the few architectural elements remain virtually unchanged throughout Islamic history. This once proud monument has unfortunately reached us in a very poor state of preservation. All that remains are the two flanking towers of the entrance iwan and parts of the richly decorated walls at the base of the big arch. Rempel,19 who is the leading authority on architectural ornament in Central Asia, emphasises how meticulously the colouring of the tiles was calculated in relation to the lights and shadows on the walls on which they were to appear. The grading of colours for different kinds of design or for various functions of ornaments was developed into a fine art with precisely formulated laws and regulations, and it is mainly in this respect, and in poorer craftsmanship, that the decline of the subsequent period became manifest. South of the Ak-Saray, Clavijo was shown…

  …a magnificent mosque in which a chapel is seen, where Timur’s father was buried and beside this is a second chapel, in which it is intended that Timur himself shall be interred when the time comes… In this same mosque too, is seen the tomb of prince Jahangir, the eldest son of Timur. Here daily by the special order of Timur the meat of twenty sheep is cooked and distributed in alms…20

  The site of the mausoleum that Timur built for himself has long been unknown. Only recently a domed structure half-buried in the ground has been uncovered and identified. Inside, it is lined with marble and decorated with bands of inscriptions, and houses a sarcophagus of an unknown person. It stood in the centre of a necropolis completely razed by Sheibani Khan. Next to it, the Dar-al Siyadat is the mausoleum that Timur had built for his eldest son, Jahangir. According to some, his other son, Omar Sheikh, is also buried here. It is a fortress-like structure with a high portal and conical cupola built by Khorezmian architects in the late fourteenth century. A short distance to the west, the Green Mosque, Kok Gumbaz, is an imposing edifice with a blue dome built by Ulughbeg in the middle of the fifteenth century and recently restored. (See colour plate 9.) Interior walls have painted decoration. Opposite are two mausoleums, the first, Gumbaz-i Zaidin, which was also built by Ulugh-beg for his descendants, has a turquoise dome and tiled decoration. (See 27.) Inside is a number of cenotaphs and, again, tile decoration. Next to it, the mazar of Shams-ad-din Kulal was built by Timur in the 1370s for his clan, the Barlas. It probably had a dome and tile decoration but now is whitewashed with a plain ceiling: the only outstanding features are two carved columns and a carved door.

  To the east of Samarkand, on the territory of Tajikistan, on both banks of the Zarafshan and between the Hissar and Zarafshan ranges, lay the medieval, pre-Arab principality of Ushrusana or Usrushana, the chief town of which was Bunjikath, the present Pendzhikent. In the tenth century it had some 10,000 male inhabitants. There was a citadel, a shahristan (inner city) and outer suburbs. But it is quite obvious that 200 years previously the city was far more important, and that an earlier settlement was abandoned as a result of the Arab conquest in the eighth century.

  This ancient Soghdian city, the ruins of which lie on the outskirts of the present-day town of the same name, became known to the archaeologists following the discovery of the famous collection of Soghdian archives on Mount Mug. These archives, as was established when some of the documents were deciphered, belonged to Divastich, the last ruler of this small princedom,21 who fled before the victorious Arabs to his castle on Mount Mug, and was subsequently captured and crucified. From this time on, the Soghdians practically disappeared from the history of western Turkestan.

  In 1933, a shepherd discovered by chance a manuscript in an almost inaccessible place east of Pendzhikent. This was identified as an old Soghdian document, and it was found that the site, locally called Mount Mug, concealed the ruins of an ancient castle destroyed by the Arabs in the eighth century. The most precious find was a collection of ninety manuscripts, mostly in the Soghdian language. Some of them can be seen in the museum at Pendzhikent.

  Pendzhikent came into existence as an urban settlement surrounded by a defensive wall in the fifth or early sixth century. It was abandoned at the time of the Arab conquest, and no attempt was made to re-establish it. In consequence, the uppermost building level has remained intact. According to Frumkin,22 Pendzhikent is not only a great artistic centre, but also provides a key to much of the history and civilisation of pre-Islamic Soghdiana. Excavations began only in 1946 and revealed some significant features of the city’s social and economic structure. The chief building materials were rectangular adobe bricks and blocks of pakhsa (beaten clay); the walls were built of clay blocks, the vaulted roofs of brick. Domed roofs, too, also of brick, are found occasionally. Stone was not used, except for some column bases. The dwelling houses were of two storeys. The houses of the wealthier classes had a tetrastyle reception room, sometimes of considerable size, with benches of beaten clay round the walls. In these rooms walls were usually covered with paintings from top to bottom and decorated with splendid carving. The upper floor consisted mainly of living quarters. The most elaborate houses had façades in the form of iwans borne on columns or of loggias with half-domed roofs. The eastern, and even more the southern, part of the city contained houses of a much more modest character, both in layout, number and size of rooms and internal decoration. Unlike elsewhere in this suburban settlement, each house stands by itself and all the houses differ from one another in layout. The citadel was separated from the town by a deep ravine and was only accessible by a bridge.

  A local type of temple architecture, which differs from the cult buildings of the Buddhists or Christians and also from fire temples as found in Persia, was revealed here for the first time. The temple consisted of an elaborate complex of square buildings linked by large courtyards; the main building was erected within the courtyard on a stylobate. It was open to the east, joined by a passage to a cella on the west side, and surrounded on three sides by corridors or open galleries.23

  In addition to architecture, the major features of the site were the numerous wall paintings, sculptures and ornaments in clay or plaster, as well as remarkable wood sculptures and carving.

  They offer a fascinating initiation into the history of pre-Muslim Soghdiana, its mythology, language, arts and handicrafts, warfare, religious beliefs, burial rites as well as the mode of living and clothing of the ‘upper classes’… They form a bewildering and varied kaleidoscope of fighting warriors, banqueting knights, religious ceremonies, mythological scenes, charming females as well as monsters and demons.24,25

  The length of one of the best-preserved paintings is over 45ft.

  The pottery of Pendzhikent is remarkable for its elegance of form and variety of decoration. Large numbers of glass objects have been found, mostly of small size. Iron objects include various tools and implements, weapons and pieces of harness, while mainly toilet articles and ornaments, such as bracelets, rings and earrings, mirrors etc., were of bronze. Relatively few articles were made of precious metals, but a great variety of beads and gems made of semi-precious stones were found. Nothing of cloth, wood and leather could be found because, in the loess soil of Pendzhikent, these materials were totally destroyed.

  A characteristic feature of Soghdian civilisation was the vast number of religious beliefs, among which were Zoroastrianism, Buddhism and Manichaeism. There were Nestorian bishops in Samarkand and Merv. This multiplicity of influence largely accounts for the still tentative and debatable interpretation of the finds. The widely spread Central Asian cult of seasonally dying and resurgent nat
ure, which stems from other ancient creeds, may underlie the famous painting of the ‘scene of mourning’. Other sculptural ensembles reflect fluvial rites. The goddess sitting on a lion and holding emblems of the sun and the moon suggests influences of ancient and remote worship and may be compared with the ‘Sasanian’ silver dishes from the Hermitage and the British Museum. Similarly, the calendar found in Mount Mug castle enumerates the days of the moon, of Mars, Mercury, Ormuzd, Anahita or Venus. The ancient pre-Soghdian names have survived until our day. In fact, it becomes increasingly evident that in this as in other cases (see p.205) local worship that stemmed from immemorial tradition and mythology coexisted with other cults.26

  The road between Samarkand and Bukhara, or ‘Royal Road’, was always of great importance. In the Middle Ages the distance was reckoned to be six or seven days’ journey. Now a scheduled bus service takes about eight hours, with five or six stops on the way. Most of the journey is across the desert. The Samarkand oasis extends as far as Kata-Kurgan, which, according to Chinese sources, became the centre of the district after Marakanda had been destroyed by Alexander. These sources do not mention Samarkand again until the fifth century AD.

  Midway between Samarkand and Bukhara, and near the village of Kermine (Karminiya), we can see from the road the ruins in the desert of an eleventh-century caravanserai, the Rabat-i Malik, with an impressive wall of semi-columns. This kind of architectural decor is rare in Central Asia and can be found only on the minaret of Dzhar Kurgan and in the Shahriar ark precinct in Merv. The incised ornament on the portal of the Rabat-i Malik is similar to and contemporary with the ornaments of the palace of Afrasiyab and, in the far west of the country, to those of the carved wooden columns of Khiva (see p.88). Pope27 finds Rabat-i Malik, which was built under the Seljuks, one of the most imposing of the Islamic period. Only part of one wall of the caravanserai remains. This fragment alone suffices to show that here was built a massive and forbidding structure of plain brick, simple as becomes a frontier fortress. A row of almost cylindrical piers are connected at the top by arches, the force of which is clearly derived from a squinch, thus relieving the blank walls. A narrow ornamental frieze marks the plain cornices. The total effect of this great wall is an imposing combination of severe simplicity and sheer power.28 Rempel29 sees in the columns and arches, as well as in the plain brick tiling covering the wall of sun-baked bricks, a distinct reminder of the ancient Soghdian castles, the kushks. On the other hand, the minaret-like towers in the corners and the grandiose portal entrance definitely foreshadow the future style of Islamic architecture. The monument is in danger of complete destruction, the locals using its bricks as building material.

  The tenth-century mausoleum Arab-Ata at Tim was unknown until recently. It is a cube-shaped dome structure with plain brick decoration in front. An interesting feature of it is the transition from a square base to a round dome. This is done here in two stages: below the corner squinch is another one, decorative rather than structural, flanked with a half squinch on either side. This may be considered the earliest appearance of a rudimentary mukarnas (stalactite) decoration.

  In Kermine itself the mausoleum Mir-Saiyd Bahram was built in the tenth or eleventh century, and shares certain characteristics with the famous mausoleum of the Samanids in Bukhara. (See p.118.) It is a cube-shaped, domed building with corner columns and wall ornamentation of plain bricks. The portal, on the south side, is flanked by fine three-quarter columns and embellished with a band of ornamental inscriptions in relief Kufic characters.

  Before arriving at Bukhara, we have to pass the village of Ghizhduvan, already mentioned in tenth-century sources. A madrasa with a typical decor of the Ulugh-beg period was built here in 1433. Another village, Tawawis, is memorable by its name, which in Arabic means ‘peacocks’. It was here that the Arabs saw peacocks in AD 710. The top of an extremely high minaret, visible above the trees from a great distance, and romantic, dilapidated walls and sunbaked bricks signal the proximity of Bukhara.

  Bukhara, unlike Samarkand, has always occupied its present position. Even the plan of the town, in spite of frequent and devastating nomad invasions, has scarcely changed in 1,000 years. In the Samanid period the town was divided, as usual, into citadel, shahristan, and rabad. The shahristan was situated close to the citadel, on rising ground that could not be supplied with running water. It is evident that the shahristan occupied the high central part of the present town, which is even now very conspicuous. The old citadel, comprising a palace, a prison, a chancellery, a treasury, and a temple, became the nucleus of a medieval town some time in the sixth or seventh century. West of the citadel was the marketplace or Registan. The construction of this citadel was different from the present one. It had two gates, on the west and east, and was presumably built in the seventh century, although nothing remains of the original structure. It was destroyed, probably by the Arabs, and subsequently restored by the Karakhanid ruler Arslan Khan Muhammad in the twelfth century. Following this, the citadel was destroyed and rebuilt at least three times until its final destruction by Chingiz-Khan in 1220.

  The streets were remarkable for their width and were paved with stone, as we learn from the Arab geographers of the tenth century. In spite of this, the overcrowding in the town must have been considerable. The lack of space was more evident in Bukhara than in other Samanid towns. For this reason there were frequent outbreaks of fire. The density of population also explains some other disagreeable features of the town: smell, bad water etc., which Makdisi and some poets mention in vigorous terms. In pre-Islamic times there was a bazaar in Bukhara where twice a year fairs were held and idols were sold. Barthold30 thinks these were probably Buddhist figures, but they may well have been statuettes of the goddess Anahita, used for annual feasts and fertility rites of age-old local tradition. This custom still persisted under the Samanids. The Arabs built the first mosque in the citadel, in 713, on the site where previously there stood a temple of the ‘idolators’ (Buddhists or fire-worshippers). In the fourteenth century the city did not enjoy the best of reputations.

  This city was formerly the capital of the lands beyond the Oxus. It was destroyed by the accursed Chingiz and all but a few of its mosques, academies and bazaars are now lying in ruins. Its inhabitants are looked down upon because of their reputation for fanaticism, falsehood and denial of truth. There is no one of its inhabitants today who possesses any theological learning or makes any attempt to acquire it.31

  The city wall encircling the outer rabads (suburbs) was first built in the ninth century and, like the present one, had eleven gates. The half-ruined clay walls, which can still be seen in some parts of the city, are of a much later date. They were probably built in the eighteenth century. Several of the gates also exist, with two solid wooden leaves and bastions of baked bricks. It was in the period of prosperity under the Samanids that suburbs of craftsmen and merchants spread all around the city and were subsequently encircled by a second belt of walls that according to some authorities, was over 100 miles long.

  Anthony Jenkinson was obviously not much impressed by Bukhara, although he spent almost three months there, from December 1558 to March 1559.

  This Boghar is situated in the lowest part of all the land, walled about with a high wall of earth, with diuers gates into the same: it deuided into 3. partitions, where of two parts are the kings, and the 3. part is for Merchants and markets, and euery science hath their dwelling and market by themselves. The Citie is very great, and the houses for the [most] part of earth, but there are also many houses, temples and monuments of stone sumptuously builded and gilt, and specially bathstones so artificially built that the like thereof is not in the worlde. There is a little Riuer running through the middes of the said Citie, but the water thereof is most vnholsome, for it breedeth sometimes in men that drinke thereof, and especially in them that be not borne there, a worme of an ell long, which lieth commonly in the legge betwixt the flesh and the skinne, and is pluck out about the ancle with great art
and cunning, the Surgeons being much practised therein, and if she breake in plucking out, the partie dieth, and euery day she commeth out about an inche, which is rolled vp, and so worketh till shee be all out. And yet it is there forbidden to drinke any other thing then water and mares milke…

  The king of Boghar hath no great power or riches, his reuenues are but small, and he is most maintained by the Citie.32

  41 Minaret in Uzkend

  42 Erg Kala, Merv

  43 Mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, Merv

  44 Mausoleum of Apak Khoja, Kashgar

  45 Mausoleum of Sayid Ali Arslan Khan, Kashgar

  46 Mausoleum of Apak Khoja, Kashgar (detail)

  47 Monastery Kyzyl Kara (detail)

  48 Dandan-Uilik. Painted wooden panel

  The city was provided with water until the nineteenth century by a large canal from the Zarafshan. In the summer flood season, water was diverted by a system of sluices into locks and beyond the town. In the city there were, and still are, large open reservoirs used indiscriminately for drinking, washing and ritual ablutions. Pugachenkova33 compares Bukhara to a huge museum of Central Asian architecture, a living museum with no dummies but real monuments. While in Samarkand all main buildings date from the fourteenth to seventeenth century, the range of monumental building activities in Bukhara covers virtually 1,000 years of history. It is one of the rare places where several buildings have survived undamaged from pre-Mongol times.