"Buhkara & the Holy Trade" Bukhara by josephescu

Bukhara Travel Guide: 374 reviews and 977 photos

Lucrative trade and religious revival

The bustling commercial heart of the city snakes through streets of shaded stalls, fortress caravanserais and domed bazaars to form one of the most colourful and cosmopolitan trading grounds in the Islamic world, whose growth has for centuries depended upon its strategic location on the crossroads to Merv, Gurganj, Herat, Kabul and Samarkand. From dawn to dusk an endless procession of camels and heavily-laden donkeys crashed through bursting streets in a chaotic exchange of insult and barter. Five vaulted and domed bazaars (toks), covered busy road intersections, each monopolizing a separate trade to facilitate tax collection: jeweller’s bazaar (1570), cap makers bazaar, moneychanger’s bazaar, etc. So lucrative the trade was that at the turn of the 19th century Bukhara boasted 127 working madrassah and a mosque for every day of the year.

Central Asia revealed

Today modern businessmen echo the call of ancestral traditions: metal chasers haunt the Jeweller’s bazaar, dressmakers and their looms revive the sale of silk in the Abdullah Khan Tim, booksellers, embroideries and Karakul milliners have set up shop in the Capmaker’s bazaar although free marketers in the moneychanger’s bazaar have been curbed by government policy.
In Bukharan backstreets Central Asian life reveals itself. Dogs yap, goats wander, children play in the dust and a whirling dervish lies hidden behind every corner. Many of its large monuments have been reconstructed to their former glory. However, the smaller ones are still in varying states of disrepair or disregard, hardly touched since they were locked up after the fall of the emirate.

Last visit to Bukhara: Nov 2007
Intro Written Dec 17, 2007
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Reviews (33)

Conolly & Stoddart Favorites (11)

When colonel Charled Stoddart rode into Bukhara one week before Christmas 1838 on a mission to reassure the emir over... more travel advice

People - Nasrullah, the Shadow of God... Favorites (11)

Nasrullah has attained notoriety in the West as the ultimate bogeyman of Bukhara. Described by Connolly as mad and... more travel advice

Soviet Bukhara Favorites (11)

During the first few years of the republic the Soviets followed Lenin’s blueprint policy of encouraging local revolution... more travel advice

Kalon minaret after soviet liberation - Bukhara

The Russians & the crumble of Bukhara Favorites (11)

Bukhara’s sandcastle finally crumbled in the rising tight of the tsarist military might. With its forces routed at the... more travel advice

Hotels (1)
Really amazing rooms!
Tourist Traps (1)
Restored versus original...
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Comments (2)

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willy_wonka Jul 31, 2008 at 1:00 AM

this is a really fantastic page! i loved your photos, and reading the history was fascinating as well. you have done so much work, thanks for sharing your uzbek experience with us! greetings from australia :)
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hindu1936 Feb 1, 2008 at 3:23 AM

Indeed, very nice writing and photos. Thank you