At a glance
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Samarqand is an ancient historic city on the Silk Road, famed for its turquoise domes, grand mosques, and scholars.
Samarqand is one of Central Asia's oldest cities and a jewel of the Silk Road in Transoxiana. It thrived through trade and scholarship, serving as a vital center of papermaking. Famous for the magnificent Registan square with its blue-tiled colleges, it also housed Ulugh Beg's advanced astronomical observatory.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
A premier historic metropolis of Transoxiana (modern Uzbekistan), situated along the fertile Zarafshan River basin at the heart of the Silk Road linking China, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Integrated into the Islamic realm under Qutayba ibn Muslim in 93 AH (712 CE), it became the pivotal center that introduced Chinese papermaking technology to the Islamic world. Reaching architectural brilliance as the capital of the Timurid Empire, it is famed for the Registan square ensembles, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Shah-i Zinda necropolis, and Ulugh Beg's observatory, and was home to foundational thinkers like Abu Mansur al-Maturidi.
Overview
Samarqand is the great city of the Sughd. Sa'id ibn Uthman besieged it, and swore that he would not leave until he conquered it and threw down its citadel (qahandiz). Its people fought him for three days, and his eye and the eye of al-Muhallab were gouged out. Then its people feared for a palace in which were the sons of their kings and nobles, so they made peace with him for seven hundred thousand dirhams. They pledged with him fifteen of the sons of their kings, some say forty, and some say eighty. Then he threw at the citadel, and the stone stuck in its corner. 1
What the city exported
Al-Muqaddasi mentions among its exports the incomparable Samarqand paper. He mentions the Simkan and Samarqandi garments, large copper cooking pots, tents, and brocade carried to the Turks. 2
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Connections
- Birthplace of
- Mahmudkhodja Behbudiy
- Site of
- Qutham ibn al-Abbas's Death at Samarqand· Qutayba's Conquest of Samarqand· The lord of Samarqand betrays the Khwarazmians· Sultan Sanjar's defeat by the Turks beyond the river in 536· Sa'id ibn Uthman's Siege of Samarqand· The Beginning of Timur's Rise· Ulugh Beg's observatory at Samarkand· Jumay' ibn Hadir's Ruling on Samarqand's Delegation
People and things also explored
Abdurauf Fitrat· al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim· al-Muhallab ibn Abi Sufra· Ghurak, King of Sughd· Jumay' ibn Hadir al-Baji· The Khatun of Bukhara· خوارزم شاه علاء الدين محمد· قتيبة بن مسلم الباهلي
Sources
- Futuh al-Buldan — al-Baladhuri (Mu'assasat al-Ma'arif edition)
- Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim of al-Muqaddasi , p.246-248
- GeoNames gazetteer
- al-Farghani, Elementa astronomica (Golius, Amsterdam 1669)
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Samarqand”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/samarqand/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.