Some Features of the Historical Topography of Samarkand of the 17th Century

Abstract

The authors analyze the main points of the town planning history of Samarkand in the 17th century. On the basis of written data, archaeological sources and unpublished archival materials, a reconstruction of the plan of the central part of Samarkand in the 17th century was carried out. The stages of the archaeological study are analyzed. Based on the observations of the earthworks on the territory of the former citadel of Timur and the ancient Samarkand, it was possible to identify some features of the topography of the administrative center of the city. On the basis of unpublished archival materials, the names of quarters, streets, quarter mosques of the city were revealed and the location of some of them was determined. Unpublished records of the results of archaeological studies on the location of monumental buildings that have not survived to the present in the Registan region are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the topography of one of the sacral centers of Samarkand in the area of the Shah-i-Zinda gates of the city. A hypothesis has been put forward that monumental buildings were built on the territory of the citadel, where with further archaeological studies it is possible to reveal unknown large architectural structures of the 16th –17th centuries.