Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TASHKENT (TOSHKENT)
%
71 / POP 2.2 MILLION
Sprawling Tashkent is Central Asia's hub
and the place where everything in Uz-
bekistan happens. It's one part newly built
national capital, thick with the institutions
of power, one part leafy Soviet city, and
yet another part sleepy Uzbek town, where
traditionally clad farmers cart their wares
through a maze of mud-walled houses to the
grinding crowds of the bazaar. Tashkent is
a fascinating jumble of contradictions that's
well worth exploring over several days.
Like most places that travellers use main-
ly to get somewhere else, Tashkent doesn't
always immediately charm visitors, but it's a
surprisingly fun and interesting place, with
the best restaurants, museums and nightlife
in the country. There's also plenty of op-
portunity to escape the metropolis for great
hiking, rafting and skiing in Ugam-Chatkal
National Park, just a 1½-hour drive away.
History
Tashkent's earliest incarnation might have
been as the settlement of Ming-Uruk (Thou-
sand Apricot Trees) in the 2nd or 1st century
BC. By the time the Arabs took it in AD 751 it
was a major caravan crossroads. It was given
the name Toshkent (Tashkent, 'City of Stone'
in Turkic) in about the 11th century.
The Khorezmshahs, one of the ruling dy-
nasties of Central Asia and Persia from the
late 11th to the early 13th centuries, and
Chinggis Khan stubbed out Tashkent in the
early 13th century, although it slowly recov-
ered under the Mongols and then under
Timur and grew more prosperous under the
Shaybanids, the founding dynasty of what
effectively became modern Uzbekistan, rul-
ing from the mid-15th until the start of the
17th century.
The khan of Kokand annexed Tashkent in
1809. In 1865, as the Emir of Bukhara was
preparing to snatch it away, the Russians
under General Mikhail Grigorevich Cherny-
aev beat him to it, against the orders of the
tsar and despite being outnumbered 15 to
one. They found a proud town, enclosed by
a 25km-long wall with 11 gates (of which not
a trace remains today).
The newly installed Governor General
Konstantin Kaufman gradually widened
the imperial net around the other Central
Asian khanates. Tashkent also became the
tsarists' (and later the Soviets') main centre
for espionage in Asia, during the protracted
imperial rivalry with Britain known as the
Great Game.
Tashkent became the capital of the Turke-
stan Autonomous SSR, declared in 1918.
When this was further split, the capital of
the new Uzbek Autonomous SSR became
Samarkand. In 1930 this status was restored
to Tashkent.
Physically, Tashkent was changed forever
on 25 April 1966, when a massive earth-
quake levelled vast areas of the town and
left 300,000 people homeless. The city's cur-
rent look dates from rebuilding efforts in
the late '60s and '70s, though a slew of post-
Independence structures to house the new
institutions of state have also graced the city.
Security in the city, particularly in the
metro stations, has been high since Febru-
ary 1999, when six car bombs killed 16 and
injured more than 120. The blasts were
attributed by the government to Islamic
extremists, but it will probably never be
known who was responsible.
1
¨Sights
Modern Tashkent is a big, sprawling city
that's best appreciated for its whole rather
than its parts. If you're short on time, pick
your spots and hone in on them by car. At
minimum check out Khast Imom, Chorsu
Bazaar and a few museums. If you have a
few more days cover as much as you can on
foot - you'll catch random glimpses of city
life that are often more rewarding than the
sights themselves. Old Town makes for the
best wandering.
Sheikhantaur¨
Mausoleum¨Complex¨
MAUSoLeUM
(Navoi ko'chasi;
m
Alisher Navoi)
Across Navoi
from the Navoi Literary Museum are three
15th-century mausoleums. The biggest, on
the grounds of the Tashkent Islamic Univer-
sity, bears the name of
Yunus¨Khan
, grand-
father of the Mughal emperor and Andijon
native Babur. The mausoleum itself sits
locked and idle, but you can check out its
attractive Timurid-style
pishtak
(entrance
portal)
.
Access is from Abdulla Kodiri.
Two smaller mausoleums are east of the
university grounds, accessible via a small
side street running north from Navoi - the
pointy-roofed
Kaldirgochbiy
and the twin-
domed
Shaykh¨Hovendi¨Tahur
. Next to the
latter is a mosque with beautifully carved
wooden doors and attractive tilework.
