This world is just a hotel

    It is known that in the second half of the 19th century, the interests of the major geopolitical powers of that time - the British and Russian empires - clashed in Turkestan, and spies from both sides sought to enter the region by various means and gather information about the political, economic, and cultural life of the region. Due to the circumstances of the time, this task was mainly performed by researchers specializing in the language and culture of the region. They entered and worked in the territories of the Bukhara Emirate, Khiva and Kokand Khanates under the guise of travelers, merchants, dervishes, and qalandars. All these travelers, of course, stopped at the city of Samarkand, which only four centuries ago rose to the status of the world capital, nurtured the Second Turkic-Islamic Renaissance, and spread knowledge, spirituality, and enlightenment throughout the world, because, in whatever form they came to this land, the interest of seeing the capital of the great Amir Temur and confirming what remains from its glorious and fortified history to the present day was at the center of attention of every historian, orientalist, Turkologist, and Islamic scholar. One of such specialists is the Hungarian orientalist-Turkologist scholar Herman Vambery (Vambery, Frederick Hermann), whose diaries of travels to Turkestan and other scientific works caused a stir among the European public of his time, in the science of oriental studies and Turkology of the continent. In this work, which is still famous in European oriental studies and Turkology, our mother city Samarkand is written with special affection, and as you read it, the image of the city 160 years ago and the people who lived in it comes alive before your eyes.

    Observations of Samarkand are described in the tenth chapter of Herman Vambery's "Memoirs." One can imagine how agitated the dervish, who had traveled from Bukhara to Kokand in a cart and endured the hardships of traveling in this extremely uncomfortable vehicle for four or five days, was when he approached Samarkand. It should be noted that Hermann did not miss even the smallest detail about Samarkand.

    The tourist apparently entered the city with a population of 25-30 thousand people, which he described as "two-thirds of the population consisting of Uzbeks and one-third of Tajiks," from the side of the Zarafshan Bridge, where the current Samarkand-Tashkent road passes. Perhaps that's why Cho'pon ota's hills first caught his attention. He recalled that Chupan-ata was likened by Muslim authors to Mount Shubatana near Mecca, and climbing one of its hills, he looked from this hill at the once magnificent capital of Amir Timur:

    "From this hill, I saw Samarkand, the capital of Amir Timur, nestled within the beautiful desert. The blue domes of the city under the rays of the morning sun, the vibrant view of its colorful minarets, and especially the unique harmony and beauty of Timur's mausoleum, I must admit, pleased me very much."

    As he approached, the tourist's attention was drawn to the city's defensive walls of Samarkand that existed at that time. He divides these walls into old and new, and he doesn't shy away from the fact that the old one is very dilapidated, and the new one is in a state where it becomes helpless against 19th-century military weapons. Unfortunately, just 7 years after the period described by Vambery, on May 2, 1868, the city walls could not withstand the attack of the new conquerors of the region - the troops of Tsarist Russia, and after a day of fighting, the city surrendered...

    The ambassador of the King of Castile, Clavijo, who traveled to these places, to the court of Amir Timur, almost 456 years before him, came to the conclusion that this must be the old city wall described by him. The author also indicates that inside the city fortress there was an "Inner fortress," referring to the famous Kok-Saray of Amir Timur, where a few days later he was received by Amir Muzaffar Khan, who then had the honor of visiting this fortress.

    The wandering dervish's attention was drawn to the existing schools, madrasas, and pilgrimage sites in this city. He stayed in a special caravanserai for pilgrims for only one day, and the next day settled in a house near the mausoleum of Amir Temur. As the saying goes, "God corrects a madman's affairs," the owner of the house he moved into was an officer in the Emir's army and a guard at the Emir's palace in Samarkand.

    "Since I was traveling as a pilgrim, I knew that the first places I needed to visit should be mausoleums and shrines. However, each of these historically valuable structures and works had its own religious story and were sacred to the population. Therefore, there was no problem in preferring one over the other; I could freely visit these places, obtain necessary information, and enjoy listening to wonderful stories."

    These notes from the "Memoirs" very well reflect the state of Turkestan society at that time: there was little knowledge in the madrasas, and everywhere people were distracted by heresy, ignorance, and fabricated legendary stories. Such was our situation on the eve of the Russian invasion in the eyes of a European.

    In Vambery's memoirs about Samarkand, a special place is occupied by parts about Amir Timur and the monuments remaining from his time. The traveler draws attention to the fact that the inhabitants of the city, speaking about Amir Timur, speak "as if the news of his death in Otrar had just arrived," noting that, despite the fact that 456 years have passed since the death of the great conqueror in that year (1861), his descendants still hold him in high esteem. Vambery doubts the authenticity of this information.

    It is known that Vambery stepped onto the soil of Turkestan as a compatriot of the Ottoman Empire under the name of Rashid Efendi, and the Ottoman Sultan, despite being a dervish, showed Rashid Efendi due respect for carrying the title of caliph of all Muslims of the world at that time. Vambery writes that when he visited the tomb of Amir Timur, this status did not work very well, and the locals questioned this Ottoman compatriot with a mixture of jokes and sarcasm about the defeat of his king Yildirim Bayazid, who was defeated by Timur in battle, and asked what feelings he felt at the grave of this victorious king. However, Vambery also writes that the keeper of the mausoleum kept him until one evening, and after the flow of pilgrims ended, he took him to the real mausoleum on the lower floor of the building, and this gave him unprecedented pride, showing that besides the jokes of ordinary people, the respect and attention shown to him as a pilgrim and a citizen of the Ottoman state was not insignificant.

    Due to Vambery's respect for Timur, which was no less than that of his descendants, the traveler provides detailed information about Amir Timur's mausoleum, Sahibkiran's spiritual mentors, sons, and grandchildren buried here, and describes the antiquities of this place in detail. By the way, it turns out that Vambery was also the last European to see the Uthman Quran brought from Sultan Bayezid's treasury from Bursa and the gate at the entrance to the mausoleum. In 1868, before the city was taken, V. Radlov and other Turkologists and orientalists arrived here, and on their recommendation, the historical exhibits that attracted attention in the city, including the above-mentioned two works, were taken to the museums of St. Petersburg.

    He mentions that kings who lived in this land after Amir Timur visited this stone. During his visit, the traveler saw two decrees from Ottoman caliphs Sultan Mahmud Khan and Sultan Majid Khan hanging on the wall next to the stone, granting the Emir of Bukhara the title of "amir-al-mu'minin" and granting him the right to deliver the Friday sermon. This indicates the consistent continuation of socio-political relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Bukhara Emirate at that time.

    Vambery provides information about the mosque of Amir Timur, his summer palace outside the city, apparently referring to the Grand Mosque, which is still known among the people as the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. Judging by the fact that the summer palace is located in the southwest of the city and that it leads through mysterious stairs to the mausoleum of Shah-i-Zinda through a narrow corridor, we see that here this knowledgeable traveler is indeed confused in his description of his memories.

    The Shahi Zinda ensemble has existed for one and a half thousand years, and mausoleums began to be built here from the time of the Karakhanid dynasty, including mausoleums built by the great emir over the graves of Sahibkiran's sisters and wives. Vambery couldn't have been unaware of this, and this could only be explained by the confusion in how his memoirs were written. In his memoirs, Vambery repeatedly mentions that he wrote down his observations in Hungarian, in the Arabic alphabet, and kept them secret, like the poison given by the doctor of the English embassy (this poison was given to accelerate and facilitate death when the traveler was exposed and in a difficult situation). This confusion may also have been caused by three banners, swords, and armor shields, which are kept inside the mausoleum of Qusam ibn Abbas and are considered by locals to belong to Amir Timur.

    Vambery regretfully notes that at that time there were 40 madrasas in Samarkand, but many of them were empty. He notes that 3 madrasas in the Registan ensemble are still in active condition. However, when describing Mirzo Ulugbek's madrasah, he indicates its construction date as 1434, similarly, he mentions Ulugbek's observatory as 1440 and notes that this observatory was destroyed in 1701, after which it was inhabited not by researchers, but by owls. It is noteworthy that the tourist does not describe the observatory as a buried historical site with an unclear location. Apparently, the ruins of the observatory still existed when he visited Samarkand, but 50 years later, archaeologists found it with great difficulty. There are two important points that need to be addressed here. These are the mistakes in the history of the construction of the Ulugbek Madrasah and the observatory, and the sudden "burial" of the observatory.

    It is known that the history of the construction of the Ulugbek Madrasah is clear: the history of the construction of this higher educational institution, which was a predecessor of Samarkand State University, dates back to 1417-1420, and its commissioning date is September 21, 1420. The Ulugh Beg Observatory was built between 1424 and 1428. What was the reason for Vambery's mistakes? In my opinion, despite how knowledgeable this great Turkologist and orientalist was, he was a representative of Western civilization and therefore appeared to be not very adept at converting the Hijri-lunar and Hijri-solitary calendars practiced among Eastern Muslim peoples and the histories maintained in these calculations to the Gregorian calendar. 

    If the ruins of Ulugbek's madrasah existed when Vambery visited Samarkand, if the location of its construction was clear, how could a structure known and famous for 433 years disappear into the earth's depths in such a short time as 50 years? Incidentally, an approximate answer to this question can be found in Vambery's memoirs. In "Memoirs," we read: "Near the Bukhara Gate of the city is the madrasa of Khanum, one of Timur's wives. They say that more than a thousand students once studied in this madrasa (I consider this an exaggeration), and from today's ruins, one can tell that it was an old, beautiful building. The three surviving walls of this great madrasah, its facade, doors, and minarets are remarkable examples of architectural art. The paths in front of the building were like a mosaic made of brick. The bricks were joined together in such a beautiful and harmonious way that I was amazed...

    Unfortunately, this indifference to our past cultural heritage existed even 160 years ago. Most likely, the sudden erasure of Ulugh Beg's observatory from historical memory at the end of the 19th century, its transition from a ruined state to the status of an archaeological site, is linked to this unpleasant situation.

    In the memoirs about Samarkand, the scene of the meeting between Vambery and the Emir of Bukhara, Muzaffar Khan, occupies a central place, and this meeting takes place in the aforementioned Kok-Saray palace of Amir Timur. Amir Muzaffarkhan, returning victorious from his campaign against the Kokand Khanate at that time, entered Samarkand with the pomp and circumstance characteristic of a victor, describing in detail the feasts that had reached their peak in the entire city, and saw the emir as a man of about forty, prone to obesity, sitting on a throne surrounded by books. He writes that upon hearing that the Emir wished to receive him alone, he was almost tempted by this news and the young ruler's demeanor, but regained his composure, assumed the dervish-like appearance of a madman, and as soon as he entered the Emir's presence, after exchanging greetings, sat on his horse racing. Since Herman knew that the dervishes were not obliged to follow the minute rules of court etiquette, the Emir, as expected, would not pay attention to his informality, and immediately a dialogue took place between the Emir and the dervish, which later became legendary in the language of the people.

    Amir Muzaffar: Haji, I have heard that you have come from Rum to visit Hazrat Bahauddin and other holy saints. Is this true?

    Rashid-effendi: - Yes, my lord, I also wanted to see the pure face of our lord.

    Amir Muzaffar: It's very interesting that you didn't have any other purpose to come from such a distant place.

    Rashid-effendi: Not at all, my sultan. I have no other intentions, and this is not surprising. I had long wanted to see the beautiful Bukhara and Samarkand, and I even missed them. This is such a Samarkand that, as Sheikh Jalaluddin Rumi said, the heart does not command to walk on its sacred soil with feet; if accepted, one must walk with their head.  In short, I have no business with this mortal world, and for a long time I have been traveling all four corners of the world as a pilgrim.

    Amir Muzaffar: What are you saying? Can a cripple like you be a pilgrim to the world? I repeat, this is very surprising.

    Rashid Efendi: My dear sir, let me be your sacrifice, didn't your great ancestor Timur conquer the world?

    Vambery proudly writes that the emir liked this answer very much, then asked other small questions about the journey, that this part of the conversation was conducted in Arabic and Persian, and that the traveler amazed the emir with his religious, secular, and scientific knowledge, for which he was rewarded by the ruler with two head-to-toe garments and a gold coin worth 22-23 francs. And here Rashid-effendi behaved like a true dervish, saying that "money and worldly possessions corrupt the dervish," and gave the emir's gift to the needy, earning the respect of those around him once again. Indeed, the traveler, who had been accused of "disbelief" two or three times during his journey, and who had survived each time thanks to fortunate chance and intelligence, had this time earned Amir's trust and respect. He was now to continue his journey with Mulla Ishaq (Sodiq), a student of the former Sherg'ozixon Madrasa in the Qo'ng'irot region, which belonged to the Khiva Khanate.

    The city of Samarkand, which Vambery loved and respected, brought him happiness and luck on his journey, and the dervish, who had earned the emir's favor, could now freely continue his journey, and so it happened.

Zhulibay ELTAZAROV,

Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor