Good afternoon! It has been a long time since I published posts about my trips to the historical cities of Uzbekistan. Last time I mostly travel in the mountains. Unfortunately, now is starting a so called off-season – when warm autumn weather is finished but snowy winter weather not started yet, so I decided to pick up my photo archives and publish something from them.
Today I decided to move a little away from the mountain theme and talk about historical sights and in particular about Registan.
Each country has some kind of attraction, which is a kind of "visiting card" by which even those who have never been to this country can recognize it. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, Tower Bridge in London, the Great Wall in China, Red Square in Moscow ... So Registan serves as a kind of “visiting card” of Uzbekistan.
In general, the word "registan" means "a place covered with sand" - this is the central square of the city, where the decrees of the ruler were usually read out or all kinds of folk amusements were arranged - like performances of wandering circus performers or some executions of villains. So, what did you expect? There were Middle Ages… There were also trade stalls and caravanserais (inns) on the registans. There are registans in other Uzbek cities, but in the case of Samarkand, “Registan” has become a proper name and known throughout the world. First of all, it gained fame thanks to the architectural ensemble, consisting of three madrasahs.
Registan is an ancient place and many works are devoted to its history - from serious monographs, to simple stories in the form of “three photos - four phrases”. I offer you the humble fruit of my labors.
Registan is the heart of Samarkand. Together with Samarkand it experienced ups and downs. For example, after the death of the great and formidable Tamerlane, his empire (as usual) cracked at the seams and several centuries later the Bukhara emirs captured Samarkand and moved the capital to Bukhara. Samarkand turned from the capital of a great empire into a small provincial town. Samarkand was a trading city and was very dependent on the Great Silk Road. In the 17th century, when Great Silk Road changed its route, Samarkand began to slowly deteriorate. Following him, Registan also began to wither. At the beginning of the 17th century there were very few inhabitants in Samarkand, Registan was in desolation and the walls of the madrasahs - which once heard the lectures of prominent scientists of the East, became a refuge for wild animals. Only a thousand families remained in the city. But over time, the situation began to improve. Life in the city began to revive and Registan again became the center of the city.
By the way, Registan is one of the few majestic architectural structures of Samarkand that has no personal relationship to Tamerlane. All buildings were built after his death. Although, to some extent, there is still a connection with Tamerlane. The first madrasah was built by the order of his grandson, the ruler and scientist Ulugbek. And the rest of the madrasahs, although they were built much later, were calculated in such a way as to create a harmonious combination with the first madrasah. And the architects did an excellent job with this task.
So, the first was built Ulugbek madrasah. Construction began in 1417 and ended three years later - in 1420. By the way, this is pretty fast for that period. Usually, structures of this scale were built for at least five to six years. Usually madrasahs are theological educational institutions, where students mainly studied the Koran and devoted some time to the basics of natural sciences. Ulugbek turned his madrasah into a full-fledged university in which mathematics, astronomy, geometry, logic, philosophy and natural science were given no less time than theology. In the shortest possible time, the Ulugbek madrasah became one of the best educational institutions of the medieval East.
Outstanding minds of the East taught here. For some time, Alisher Navoi a famous Uzbek poet, listened here to lectures (for Uzbekistan, he was of the same importance as Pushkin for Russia or Shakespeare for England). The first rector of the madrasah was the wandering scientist Maulan Khawafi. There is an interesting legend about his appointment - when the construction of the madrasah was completed, Ulugbek, Kazy-zade Rumi (also an outstanding scientist of the East) and Ulugbek's dignitaries talked about who to appoint to the post of mudarris (rector) of the madrasah. A wandering dervish passed by (a dervish is something like a monk in Islam), who having heard Ulugbek's words, stopped and started scientific conversations. He went so deep into the scientific jungle that only Ulugbek and Kazy-zade Rumi could understand him. The others just stood there and blinked. Convinced that this vagabond really was one of the outstanding minds of his time, Ulugbek without thinking twice appointed him the rector of the madrasah.
The madrasah was built according to the canons of Muslim architecture and is a rectangle with dimensions of 81x56 meters. On each side of the madrasah there is an entrance, the main of which faces the square. The main peshtak (portal) is richly decorated with patterns in the form of multi-pointed stars, thus symbolizing the "astronomical specialization" of its patron, Ulugbek.
The entrance is decorated with wooden doors with very intricate and beautiful patterns. The external and internal walls of the madrasah are richly decorated with glazed bricks, mosaics, majolica. Carved marble was abundantly used.
The outer portal is decorated with multicolored tiles laid out in intricate patterns. Various patterns are laid on the outer walls with colored bricks. Inside the madrasah there is 30x30 meters yard, which is paved with stone slabs and framed on all sides by two floors of hijras (small rooms in which students lived). The rows of hijras are separated by aywans - vaulted rooms, in which three sides are enclosed by walls, and the fourth is open and faces the courtyard.
Today, in the hijras there are small shops that sell souvenir products. By the way, the Ulugbek madrasah had the most spacious hijras, which made the students' accommodation quite comfortable, better than in some modern university campuses.
At the corners of the madrasah there are minarets. They were partially destroyed and only the eastern minarets remained intact. In general, the Ulugbek madrasah has gone through difficult times.
The second floor was destroyed in the 18th century by order of the Bukhara governor Abulfayz - he was afraid that his residence could be fired on from the second floor. Earthquakes also contributed to the destruction - at the beginning of the 19th century, due to a strong earthquake, the madrasah was partially destroyed.
In 1897, after another earthquake, most of the madrasah turned into ruins. The minarets looked sideways, threatening to collapse on the heads of passers-by. The dilapidated madrasah could only be restored under Soviet rule. Interestingly, ardent fighters against religion, the Bolsheviks spent a lot of effort and money restoring the madrasah. In 1932, a unique operation was carried out to straighten the minarets, which received a great resonance in the architectural world of that time.
The restoration work, which has been going on for almost 70 years, helped to return the madrasah to its former beauty and grandeur!
Opposite the Ulugbek madrasah is the Sherdor madrasah - or "Madrasah with lions" (it is also sometimes called "madrasah with tigers"). Previously, a khanaka built by Ulugbek was located on this place. Khanaka is a monastery, a temporary shelter (a kind of hotel) for wandering monks - dervishes. Later in its place, by order of the ruler of Samarkand Yalangtush Bahadur, the Sherdor madrasah was built.
Looking ahead, I will say that by his order another madrasah was built - Tillya-Kari or "Gilded Madrasah", which closes the architectural ensemble of Registan.
May the reader forgive me, but I consider it necessary to add a few words about Yalangtush-Bahadur. He was an outstanding military leader and statesman, the ruler of Samarkand. Yalangtush Bahadur is a nickname that means "hero with an open chest." Like he boldly, with an open chest, threw himself at his enemies during battles. His other name appears in the sources - Abdulkarim. But this is not interesting - Yalangtush (and under this name he was known and buried in Samarkand) was a commander and actively fought. In particular, his troops conquered Mashhad, the second most important city in Iran. By the way, he built both madrasahs with the help of the masters captured there, using the riches obtained in that campaign. In addition, honoring Ulugbek and taking his madrasah as the starting point in the construction of his madrasahs, he nevertheless fought with the descendant of Ulugbek - Shah Jahan. Yes, with that Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal in India. And he won. He conquered Tashkent and the northern provinces of Afghanistan. And in general he fought with everyone in a row - from the Great Mughals to nomadic Kazakhs. In general, he was a fighting man. Had he been born a couple of centuries earlier, who knows - he would have been known all over the world no worse than the formidable Tamerlane. But we must give him his due - under him registan became Registan.
But I digress a little bit… In 1619 the construction of the second Registan madrasah - Sherdor madrasah began. The construction was completed in 1635 (or 1636). As I already mentioned, it was built on the site of a dilapidated khanaki of Ulugbek. In many ways, its remains were used as a building material for the construction of a madrasah. In theory, the Ulugbek madrasah and the Sherdor madrasah were supposed to become mirror copies, but over hundreds of years the ground sagged and Sherdor a little lower, although this is not very striking. Initially, it was planned that the madrasah would be called "Yalangtush Bahadur Madrasah", but the name did not stick. The most popular was Sherdor - "madrasah with lions". But actually the portal depicts ... leopards.
Leopards are the totem animals of Samarkand. According to legend, even when Samarkand was under construction (2750 years ago), a leopard descended from the Zerafshan mountains, bypassed the construction and seemed to give the go-ahead for construction. Now a white leopard is depicted on the coat of arms of Samarkand. But why tiger- and leopard-shaped animals with the sun on their backs are called lions - this is a long-long story. When zoology and mythology intersect, mythology always wins. According to historians the lion - the king of animals was originally the symbol of the city. It was brought here by the Persians, when in the VI century they invaded ancient Sogdiana. After the Persians, Arabs and Turks came here and the lion symbol gradually transformed into a tiger and leopard. So the lion turned into a mythical animal, similar to a lion, a tiger and a leopard at the same time. The sun is depicted on its back - a symbol of the ruler, ruling the earth and the sky. And only the sacred leopard is able to keep the sun on its back.
By the way, in the center of the portal you can see a swastika - but this has nothing to do with the Nazis - it is written in a special font "Allah is Almighty". The decoration of the madrasah clearly shows Persian and pre-Islamic motives. The same "lions" and the swastika are from Zoroastrianism.
What else is interesting about this madrasah - it depicts animals and people's faces, which is strictly prohibited by Islam. Nevertheless, the madrasah was a popular theological educational institution in the medieval East.
The dimensions of the madrasah are 70x57 meters. The height of the minarets is 31 meters. The main entrance is marked by a large portal (peshtak). The walls are richly decorated with geometric patterns, mosaics, majolica and glazed bricks. The inside of the madrasah is richly decorated with a small multicolored floral pattern. In decorative terms, in my opinion, the Sherdor madrasah is superior to the Ulugbek madrasah. Although, despite the similar size, in the Sherdor madrasah the courtyard is larger and, accordingly, less space was left for students.
The walls of the madrasah are decorated with marble, on which sayings from the Koran are engraved
On the outer walls of glazed bricks, patterns are laid out that add up to the word "Allah"
The main portal of the madrasah is decorated with a unique majolica mosaic, which is one of the rarest pieces of Islamic architecture.
And, finally, the third - the "youngest" madrasah of Registan. Its construction began in 1646 and was completed after the death of Yalangtush Bahadur in 1660.
Earlier on this place there was a caravanserai built by Ulugbek, but it was dilapidated and in its place it was decided to build a third madrasah, which would complete the ensemble. The architect designed the building so that the Tilla-Kari madrasah fills the empty space between the Ulugbek madrasah and the Sherdor madrasah, forming a kind of wall.
It has a square shape - 75x75 meters. The architect wisely decided not to blindly copy Sherdor and Ulugbek's madrasah and slightly stretched the "wings" of the building - this gave it a more elegant look.
Skillfully applied patterns and graphics allow the "Gilded Madrasah" to harmoniously fit into the ensemble, but at the same time not to play the main role in it, but only to complement and emphasize the beauty of the nearby buildings with its beauty.
A distinctive feature of the madrasah from the rest of the Registan buildings is the presence of a mosque in it. The largest cathedral mosque, Bibi-Khanum, had already collapsed by that time and the Tillya-Kari mosque took over its functions. In this regard, the inner courtyard of the madrasah is the largest. This is quite a full-fledged rather large area.
The entrance is richly decorated with glazed bricks, mosaic majolica, dominated by floral patterns
Wooden doors installed at the entrances of the hijra are decorated with beautiful and sophisticated carvings. This, by the way, is very difficult and such patterned doors cost fabulous money!
Someone said that these were the remains of Ulugbek's caravanserai, someone assured that these columns were used in the construction of Tillya-Kari. In general, there was no single version.
Both the inside and the outside of the building are so richly decorated with beautiful geometric and floral patterns that there is literally no free space!
The most interesting thing is inside the mosque. The interior of the mosque is richly decorated with gilding. The painting with an abundance of gilding which covers the walls and ceiling of the mosque is called "kundal". The combination of majolica, glaze, mosaic patterns and gilding is simply amazing!
By the way, did you know that the 3D-effect was applied by the builders of the mosque dome almost five and a half centuries ago? Take a closer look at the photos of the dome in the photo below.
Have you looked closely? Dome like an usual dome? Quite vague? It's actually flat. With the help of patterns and amazing craftsmanship, builders and designers have achieved the illusion of a three-dimensional image.
To the right and to the left of the mosque there are covered galleries, which today house stalls with souvenir products.
Between the Sherdor madrasah and the Tillya-Kari madrasah there is a dakhma with the tombstones of the rulers from the Sheibanid dynasty (on behalf of Mohammed Sheibani) who replaced the Timurids. The Sheibanids were the leaders of the nomadic Uzbeks. The Sheibanids had a significant impact on the development of the country and the arrival of nomadic Uzbeks became the final stage in the formation of the modern Uzbek nation.
By the way, if you look at the Registan from the back, it doesn't seem so majestic. Unfortunately, the architects were worried about how the ensemble would look when viewed from the front. From the back, the Registan looks like a heap of minarets and domes:
At night, the Registan, illuminated by lights, looks very beautiful.
So we went around Registan with you. I hope you enjoyed this trip?
!pinmapple 39.654875 lat 66.975595 long Registan – a square of three madrasahs, Samarkand, Uzbekistan d3scr