One day, a man in Akshehir died. His wife was crying.
“Oh, my husband! Where have you gone? There is no light, no food, nothing there!”
When the Hodja heard this, he ran home and said to his wife, “My wife! Open the door! The coffin is coming to our house!”
This is one of Hodja Nasreddin’s jokes among thousands that have stayed with us for generations through word of mouth as well as print and now the Internet. When my two boys were little, I would join them in their laughter while reading his jokes that were regularly published in Tinkle magazine. Little did I know then that one day I would journey to the Hodja’s birthplace. That’s the best introduction to Bukhara I could have got on arrival. The Hodja, astride his donkey, stands in the Lyab-i-Hauz complex, marking an era when critique was honoured.
Bukhara is one among several ancient cities in Central Asia with a rich, layered history that could be over 2,000 years old. If one needs evidence, Zend Avesta, the sacred book of the Zoroastrians, mentions Bukhara. It also formed a part of different Persian empires, including the Achaemenid and Sassanian empires. It was in the eighth century that this city was conquered by the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, setting the foundation for Bukhara becoming a significant centre of Islamic culture and learning. In the mid-19th century, in 1868, Bukhara was annexed by the Russian Empire although it retained some autonomy as a protectorate until 1924, when it was fully incorporated into the Soviet Union. Interestingly, many of its beautiful structures were preserved even if some were destroyed or converted into politburo offices and the like. Bukhara became part of independent Uzbekistan in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The first president, Islam Karimov, a visionary leader, restored the monuments and several parts of the city came to be designated as Unesco World Heritage sites.
We, a group of five women, arrived on a pleasant evening in Bukhara after a seven-hour drive from Khiva. Through the agricultural landscapes of the Khorezm region, our friendly driver, Bakhadur, chatting all the way about Bollywood, expertly navigated us towards a pit stop at Amu Darya River, which is a major source of water supply in this region. Originating in the Pamir Mountains and flowing for roughly 2,500km, it reaches its destination in the Aral Sea basin. Along its course, it traverses Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Turkmenistan, apart from Uzbekistan. Sadly, widespread water diversion for agricultural purposes, especially for cotton farming during the Soviet era, has resulted in ecological damage, including the devastating shrinking of the Aral Sea.
A sumptuous lunch later, we were back on the road, this time having the vast, expansive, dry landscape of the Kyzylkum Desert on either side of the rather bumpy road. From the Navoi Region onwards, we joined a smooth highway that took us through the industrial town of Navoi, named after the poet, Alisher Navoi. Exhausted but enthusiastic, we arrived at the 15th-century madrasah, now refurbished as Marhaba Boutique Hotel, where we spent the next two days.
All over the world, cities have monuments that aren’t really mute. Stories spill out of every crack, turn around the angles and circulate around their circumferences. Bukhara is no different. The intricate inlay work and lapis lazuli-studded domes of the Chor Minor, the entrance to a now-destroyed madrasah, are the hallmarks of this modest-sized monument in the Old City area. Inspired by Char Minar of Hyderabad, it was commissioned by a rich merchant, Khalif Niyazkul from Turkmenistan, who had travelled to India and was impressed with the structure. Built in 1807, it combines both Central Asian and Indian styles with each minaret having a different design. Just opposite this structure are rows of shops selling a wide range of souvenirs that to our amusement included a brass Krishna and Hanuman. The Soviet army uniforms with innumerable medals on them were the most fascinating!
Our guide, Dilfuza, a young mother of three, took us next to a magnificent fortress called The Ark of Bukhara. I wondered why the structure transported me to Jaisalmer once again, just as the walls of Khiva had reminded me of the ramparts of Jaisalmer Fort. Perhaps it is the militaristic architecture, with high walls and plain, dull, yellowish-brown exteriors that reminded me of Jaisalmer. The Ark was the residence of various emirs and has since remained a symbol of political power to the people of Bukhara. The complex houses a number of palaces, mosques, museums and administrative buildings. Like most tourist places, the Ark buzzes with people taking cycle rides, vendors and guides.
The massive Po-i-Kalyan Complex, meaning ‘Foot of the Great’, dating back to the 12th century, is home to some of Bukhara’s iconic monuments that include the Kalon Minaret, Mir-i-Arab Madrasah and the ornate Samanid Mausoleum, one of the oldest surviving exemplars of Islamic architecture.
Time for another story! Genghis Khan stood in awe in front of the Kalon Minaret. As he tilted back his head to get a full view of this imposing 45.6m tall minaret, built in 1127, his helmet fell off. He bent down to pick it up and said, “Nothing or nobody in this world has made me bow before. So, I will not destroy this tower.” It earned the rather dubious nickname ‘Tower of Death’ due to its purported history of executions. This ancient architectural marvel also served the purpose of the Azan as well as a watchtower. The Poi Kalyan Complex is a showcase of the mixed influences of Persian and Central Asian architecture, typified by intricate tile work, imposing domes, and flamboyant facades. To this day, scholars and historians interested in Islamic architecture and Central Asian history visit the place to study these structures.
Dilfuza, our guide and storyteller, regaled us with yet another amusing story. The Nadir Divan-Begi Madrasah built in the 17th century during the rule of the Bukhara Khanate, forms part of the Lyab-i-Hauz architectural complex. Nadir Divan-Begi was a prominent wazir in the court of the Khanate. He initially constructed the building as a caravanserai around 1620, but it was later refashioned as a madrasah by the order of Imam Quli Khan. The facade is mostly noteworthy for its striking decoration that includes animal motifs, which is unusual in Islamic architecture. The representations of phoenixes and deer indicate Zoroastrian and pre-Islamic influences.
When Nadir Divan-Begi travelled to India, one of the maharajas gifted him a pair of diamond earrings for his fiancee. He returned to Bukhara and gifted the earrings as mehr at the time of his wedding. His wife rejected them as ugly. The wazir thought, “If my wife doesn’t value my gift, I might as well build something for the people of Bukhara. Aware of the value of the diamonds, he sold them and built a caravanserai, a resting place for travellers. He brought his wife blindfolded to the complex and she was stunned, to say the least, when he opened her blindfold. She exclaimed, “This? For those earrings?” Today, the remnants of the sarai stand barricaded on one side of the Lyab-i-Hauz complex and the splendid mosque on another, as reminders of the wife who inadvertently benefited weary travellers and students.
As Bukhara was an important centre along the ancient Silk Route, it prospered as a trading post, connecting the civilisations of the East and West. The historic Taqi Zargaron and Taqi Telpak Furushon stand testimony to this historical fact. The markets have entrances from four directions, with roofs to protect people from the elements. They stand in splendid glory of Central Asian crafts, textiles, musical instruments and spices. One can also see people involved in the timeless arts of puppetry, pottery, silk and carpet-weaving, arts inherited from centuries ago. Can shopping be excluded during travel? We picked up several souvenirs to remind us of this beautiful place later.
Bukhara was an ancient seat of Islamic scholarship that earned it the sobriquet, ‘Noble Bukhara’. The great theologian of the 14th century and founder of the Sufi order, Naqshbandia, Khoja Bakhouddin Naqshbandi belonged to Bukhara. Naqshbandi was Amir Temur’s teacher, believed to have made the Haj pilgrimage 32 times. His basic teachings were simple and encapsulated in the single line, “Dil bajoru, dast bakor” (heart with God, hands at work). In his honour, there is the large Magok-i-Attori mosque. The floor of the mosque is said to be about 4.50m below the Earth’s surface. Hence the name, Magok-i from ‘maghaki’, Persian for ‘in a ditch’.
Bukhara, in fact, all of Uzbekistan, combines the spirituality of an ancient civilisation with modern-day market-driven culture. Most madrasahs are now magnificent edifices that are thronged by shops. Classrooms in madrasahs characteristically had low doors that would force the students to bend low, a sign of respect to the power of knowledge. Today, all the classrooms, with low doors intact, have souvenir stores in which we bow to the power of the market.
After two hectic days, we boarded the high-speed train (a Soviet legacy) to Samarkand, carrying with us bulging bags of memories of the stunning monuments and the warm hospitality of the Uzbek people, who, like us, love to chit-chat!
