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Samarkand is one of the most ancient and most beautiful cities of the world, really a unique treasury of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the East. During all its rich history Samarkand was known under different names; the city was called Sogdiana, Marakanda, Afrosiab.
The age of Samarkand in its cultural bottom layers goes back to the 1st millennium B.C. The ruins of Sogdiana, the chief town of the ancient country Sogd, are stored in these layers.
As many other most ancient cities of civilization- Rome, Babylon, Byzantium, Samarkand was also fated to endure a number of historical shocks. During different periods the city was under the control of the Persians, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Arabs and eastern Turks. In the IVth century BC the city was occupied by the army of Alexander the Great and the first written record of the city belongs to this time, as about the city under the name of Marakanda. In the I—III centuries A.D Samarkand reached its flourishing, when the city was part of the Kushan kingdom. The city was located on the main arteries of the Great Silk Road. From Samarkand, like solar beams, trading routes of the Silk road dispersed to the various parties, thereby Samarkand was a link between the main trading cities.
In the VII - VIII centuries Samarkand continued developing as the city with the developed trade and culture and became a big and prospering city. But the Mongolian invasion in the beginning of the XIIIth century interrupted a peace life of Samarkand. Afrasiab, so the city was called at that time, was razed to the ground by the armies of Chingiz-khan: city fortifications were razed; palaces and houses were burnt down, the well-known water pipe system, through the lead pipes of which townspeople of the city had been supplied with crystal-clear water within several centuries, was destroyed. Once blossoming and sweet smelling gardens, turned into sandy barkhans.
However, the city again revived from ashes, moreover, at the end of the XIV—XV centuries its new rise and flourishing began. It was connected with the beginning of the reign of great commander Amir Timur who decided to make Afrasiab - Samarkand the capital of his huge empire, stretched from the river Indus to Bosporus. Timur wished to do the capital fine and grandiose, surpassing with its beauty all other cities of the world. During the period of Amir Timur's board and Timurid descendants (1370-1499) Samarkand was the capital of the world empire, and at the time of his scientist - astronomer grandson Ulugbek the city also became one of the outstanding centers of science, art and culture of the Middle Ages. Unique architectural monuments of the epoch of Amir Timur and Timurids, amazing in their beauty and execution form, have been preserved in Samarkand up to now. These buildings show the original cultural heritage of mankind. Though time and the further historical events which occurred on Samarkand land did not spare majority of magnificent creations of that time, even today many monuments of the Middle Ages will not leave anybody indifferent.
We cannot help but admire the ruins of the magnificent mosque of Amir Timur period- The Bibikhanum mosque, celestial ribbed cupola of Gur-Emir mausoleum evokes real admiration, and such masterpieces of architectural ideas as ensemble Shakhi-Zinda and Registan Square can be called as pearls of oriental architecture. These and many other buildings occupy the greatest place in the history of world architecture and by their artistic dignity they rank on a par with well-known architectural monuments of Egypt, India and Iran.
Throughout many years the roads of travelers and craftsmen, merchants and poets, pilgrim and diplomats lead them to this “precious pearl of the world” and all the time this brilliant city-Samarkand attracted everyone.
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