With its 2,500 years of existence, Samarkand is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was invaded by the armies of Alexander the Great, sacked by the troops of the Arab Caliphate and by the Mongol hordes of Gengis Khan, but it was always reborn from its ashes to become, several times, the capital of the great States of Central Asia. And it remains, thanks to the invaluable wealth of its architecture and pictural patrimony, one of the greatest archaeological centres ever known.
In the beginning, Samarkand stretched along the valley of the Zeravshan River situated to the north of the town. Becoming more important, Samarkand spread increasingly until it occupied all the hill slopes, around the 9th century. The water supply of the Zeravshan River necessitated the building of a viaduct and its destruction by the Mongols meant, for a while, the death of the city. Approximately one hundred years later, the consequences of this invasion were obliterated.
Samarkand rose on its old site, not far from the (supposed) sacred sepulchre of Kusam-ibn-Abbas. The building of the Shah-i-Zinda Necropolis was undertaken – the more important period being situated in the last part of the 14th century – with the mausoleums built for the Timurid military chiefs and great noblemen of the time constituting one of the major contributions to its architectural richness; several parts of this ensemble date from Ulugh Beg (first half of the 15th century). They include, in particular, a decorated portal at the foot of a hill and a mausoleum with two turquoise cupolas that are supposed to be the tombs of the astronomer Kazy-zade-Rumi, master of Ulugh Beg. But the best preserved mausoleum is, without question, the one of Shadi Mulk Aka dating from 1372 and his mother Turkan Aka, Tamerlane’s sister. The portal surface is of baked clay, glazed and chiselled. The inside is decorated with majolica.
The passage between the mausoleums opens on a small, shaded yard, enclosed by the Tuman Aka Mausoleum, which dates back to the beginning of the 14th century, and by mausoleums of the pre-Timurid epoch, among which is the Khoja-Akhmad. A sculpted door built from 1404-1405, initially encrusted with ivory, leads to a 15th century mosque and to the Mausoleum of Kusam-ibn-Abbas which is the principal and most ancient of Samarkand. Unique, the polychrome glaze coating of Shah-i-Zinda evokes its creators’ talents.