SAMARKAND The fabled city of Samarkand has attracted people for over 2000 years due to its rich architecture that gleams in the sunlight like a golden beacon. As an ancient hub of the Silk Road, Samarkand was historically significant under various rulers throughout its existence. Notable leaders who influenced Samarkand included Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, and Ulugh Beg, with the latter transforming it into an intellectual center through educational institutions. Today, Samarkand maintains a population of over 300,000 and remains culturally significant through traditions such as wrestling and hospitality exemplified by their national dish of pilaf rice.

1. SAMARKAND
THE SHIMMERING CITY

2. BUITEMS
Ehtisham Habib
Department of Civil Engineering
ehtishamhabib9@gmail.com
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Twitter.com/EhtishamHabib

3. Great Golden Beacon
The fabled city of Samarkand, at the hub of the old trade routes of Central Asia, has attracted poets, pilgrims
and plunderers across deserts and mountains for more than 2000 years. As the sunlight reflects off its richly
decorated mosques and minarets, the city gleams like a great golden beacon that can be seen for miles over
the surrounding plains.

4. Junction of the Silk Road
In ancient and medieval times, Samarkand stood at the junction of the Silk Road leading from China to the
Mediterranean and the trade route from India to the west.

5. 260-BC
Sassanians
329-BC
Alexander
III
712-AD
Umayyad
Caliphate
1000
Turkish Era
1221
Changaiz
Khan
1367
Tamerlane
1405
Ulugh Beg
1505
Mohamad
Sheybani
1500
Khan Uzbek
19th
Century
Russian
Rule
20th
Century
Independe
nce
Timeline of the Rulers of Samarkand

6. Captured By Alexandar
In 329 BC, when it was known as Maracanda and was capital of Sogdiana, a part of the Persian Achaemenid
Empire, the city was captured by Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, while he was enroute to India.
Samarkand suffered significant damage during Alexander's initial conquest

7. Invasion by Changaiz Khan
The Mongols were superb horsemen, and under Changaiz Khan’s inspired leadership proved an unstoppable
force. After laying waste to Beijing in 1215, Changaiz Khan took control of the Silk Road and in 1220 besieged
Samarkand.

8. Tamerlane (The leader of Samarkand)
The second nomadic leader of importance to Samarkand, Tamerlane. He was born near Samarkand in 1336. By
1367 the Mongol Empire was in decline and Tamer was determined to become the leader who would restore it to
its former glory. He proceeded to launch a succession of military campaigns from the Black Sea to the Indus Valley,
ransacking towns and villages, massacring whole populations and building pyramids with their skulls.

9. Ulugh Beg
Under Ulugh Beg, Samarkand became a cultural and intellectual center of the age. The ruler built a grand two-
storeyed madrasa, or theological college, decorated with a beautifully carved facade, that occupied the whole of
the west side of the central square.

10. 1900 - Population: 58,194.
1914 - Population: 90,000.
2001 – Population: 361,339.
Uzbekistan’s children, teenagers and young people under the age of 25 comprise approximately 60% of the total
population.
Population & Education
Schools
1200
Colleges
50
Universities
6
Polyclinics
80

11. Renowned Personalities from Samarkand
Imam Muhammad Al-Bukhari Nizami Aruzi Jamshid Al-Kashi

12. Culture of Samarkand

13. • Kurash - the traditional upright jacket wrestling which originated in Uzbekistan more than 3500 years ago.
• The great oriental scientist and philosopher Avetsena writes that practicing Kurash is one the best ways to
keep the human body and mind healthy and sound.
Sports

14. • Samarkand features a Mediterranean climate.
• Closely borders on a semi-arid climate.
• July and August are the hottest months of the year with temperatures reaching, and exceeding, 40 °C
(104 °F).
• January 2008 was particularly cold, and the temperature dropped to −22 °C (−8 °F)
Climate

15. Currency: Uzbekistani Som

16. People from Samarqand can be chiefly described as hospitable - Uzbek hospitality is something to be experienced.
You will certainty find yourself as a guest in an Uzbek house. There is a short information about Uzbek national
dish –Pilav.
Pilav is the most popular dish in Samarqand / Uzbekistan.
Customs & Traditions