The Heart of Silk Route S8 EP.16 | Samarkand | Pakistan to Japan Motorcycle

The Heart of Silk Route   S8 EP.16 | Samarkand | Pakistan to Japan Motorcycle

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Assalamu Alaikum everyone and welcome back to the channel from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Central Asia. A very beautiful and important historical city of Silk Route. We are going to explore it in this vlog. I am very excited for this.

We had a very good breakfast in the morning. That's why I feel quite energetic. The best breakfast of this tour so far was here in Samarkand. There were some fruits along with local bread and such things. We have so much energy that we will explore all the important historical sites of this city today.

But before starting this vlog, I would like to tell you that there will be a lot of questions about Silk Route. This is a trade route from ancient times which started from China and went all the way to the Roman Empire. The route included many important markets, where merchants would take their goods to sell. And slowly the goods used to reach the Roman Empire.

Samarkand was the most important market of this city. And there are many historical buildings in this city. We will try to show you one by one. So let's go. When we talk about the history of Samarkand, it has seen the rise and fall of many empires.

Some built this city and some destroyed it. From Chinese to Persian, Mongols, Arabs, Russians, Europeans, Greeks, Alexander the Great. But when we talk about Islamic history, it starts from the Umayyad Caliphate, followed by the Abbasid Caliphate.

And during that time, Samarkand was the hub of Islam in Central Asia. That is why you will see a lot of Islamic history here. This is the tomb of Amir Timur.

It is truly among the most magnificent tombs in the world. We haven't gone inside yet. We have seen it from outside. The main entrance of the building is like a gate. There are two minarets on the sides.

In the middle, there is an azure colored dome. You will see blue and azure colors on it. Islamic calligraphy has been done in the middle. Let's go inside and show you the tomb from inside. This is the courtyard of Amir Timur's mausoleum. He is considered a great leader and national hero in Uzbekistan.

That is why Uzbeks respect him a lot. They come from far to pay respect here. When we talk about his dynasty, it goes from current Central Asia to Afghanistan all the way to Delhi.

He conquered Delhi by defeating Nasiruddin Shah Mehmood of the Tughlaq dynasty. If you go in the other direction, he ruled over Iran, Iraq and almost half of the modern day Turkey. He remained undefeated and never lost a battle. He loved art and architecture.

If you look at it from outside, the mausoleum looks magnificent. But when you go inside, it is equally beautiful from the inside. It has four sides and is built in a symmetrical style.

You will see beautiful golden and blue artwork on all four sides. You can also see works of calligraphy. The dome is very high. You will see beautiful golden artwork on top of it. We are walking from the mausoleum to the Registan Square.

It will be a 5 to 7 minute walk. Mostly tourist attractions are nearby. This area is full of cafes, bars, and restaurants.

Since it is a tourist area, it is full of such things. We are just crossing the road. The square is on the other side. What a beautiful place! Honestly, there is no place like this in the world, historically. You feel yourself to be at a loss of words to express its beauty. This is the Registan Square.

It was built during the reign of Timur. For public gatherings. The three buildings behind me are madrasas. Let me explain to you. The madrasa on the left is called Ulugh Beg Madrasa.

It was built in the 15th century. Then we have Tilla Kari Madrasa. And here is Sherdor Madrasa. Both were built in the 17th century.

Let's walk from here and visit each madrasa. Let's capture some of their architecture and share it with you. First of all, I am visiting Ulugh Beg Madrasa. It was built during the reign of Timur. Ulugh Beg was a scientist and mathematician.

When you reach the entrance of this madrasa, you see beautiful geometrical patterns. Besides, there is also Islamic calligraphy. It has four minarets and four domes. The colors of the domes are not visible. But there was a replica inside.

It was shown that the colors of the domes were also azure. It has two floors. There were dormitory rooms for students on both floors. There was a room for education. Now it has become a museum.

The students used to stay in these small rooms. Now they are selling souvenirs for tourists. As soon as you leave Ulugh Beg Madrasa, you will see Tilla Kari Madrasa. You can see how beautiful it is. There are large domes and small ferozi-colored domes on the minarets. You can see two minarets.

This is the main entrance gate. Let's go there. When you enter Tilakari Madrasa, Of course, when you see the architecture of the main court, It is quite similar in colors and patterns.

But the special thing about this Madrasa is The Jamia Masjid which is built inside this Madrasa. What a beautiful architecture it is. And the combination of golden and blue colors is awesome. But what impressed me the most is... The way they have preserved this.

Honestly you don't feel that this is such an old building when you enter. And this mosque is not active now. If you look behind me, you'll see that this area is closed. And there are museums on both sides. Its dome... its whole combination.

I would say it is a rather amazing architecture. You can't help yourself but praising this wonder. I expected all the architectures to be similar. Of course, they are similar but you will definitely see something different here. On your way out, you get to see the beautiful view of Sherdor Madrasa.

I am visiting the Sherdor Madrasa at the end. It's relatively smaller than the other two Madrasas. You can say that it is similar in architecture. It has two floors as well. There are rooms for students on both floors.

But one feature of it is different from the other two Madrasas. And that is the two lions on the main entrance gate. And the rising sun behind them. Because normally you won't see such an artwork on an Islamic building. The one that depicts birds, animals or humans.

But here you will see these two lions on the front. You won't see it on other places that I have visited so far. It seems like it's the most difficult day of this tour. And it is very tough for me to make this video. Because the temperature is around 40 degrees. And I haven't experienced such a hot day anywhere else before.

But when you have to travel in the city. And then continuously go from one historical site to another. Where there is so much history and you don't have to miss a thing.

I think it becomes a little difficult for me. Uzbek food is very good. But I don't feel like eating in this hot weather so I have ordered ice latte for me.

I'm gonna drink my latte and water. The weather here is very pleasant. We better relax a bit as we have to visit a lot of places. We paid 1.5 to 2 Euros for this coffee. Good price, no doubt.

No doubt it's really hot here. But there's something that I really liked here. How they have made walking paths with all the tourist attractions. There are electric cars for tourists to go from one place to another. There are trees along the entire walking path. And there is a place to sit down.

And because of this, it becomes easy to travel even in this weather. The monument in front of me now... You can say... All the monuments we have seen here... Each better than the other.

And this is Bibukhanam Mosque. What an impressive and such a big gate...! It feels like you are going to a fort. But this is the entrance of the mosque Masha Allah, very impressive The mosque is behind it.

Just see how beautifully it has been preserved. So many old mosques... And all the madrasas we have seen today. Despite being hundreds of years old... They are in great shape.

As soon as you enter the mosque from the main gate you see two buildings; one on each side. With small domes. There is a building with a big dome, in front of the main gate. There are four beautiful minarets on all four sides of this mosque. You can visit the two small buildings on the left and right. Both have been renovated from inside.

There they sell souvenirs for the tourists. But here you can see calligraphy and different architecture and designs. The domes look very beautiful from inside. And both have different designs. But the big dome buildings you see behind me Unfortunately, we can't visit it from inside.

Because it is closed and has not been renovated yet. Maybe that's why it is closed. If tourists go inside, it may cause more damage to the mosque. There are many trees in the courtyard.

You can sit here comfortably and enjoy the atmosphere. And there is a Quran in the middle of the courtyard. And there are big stones on both sides.

This is the historical Siyob Bazaar in front of us . Let's see what we can see in this bazaar. At this time, there is not much rush, probably due to the heat. And it looks very quiet. On the right side, mostly local ladies' dresses are being sold.

And on this side, there are fruits and dry fruits. Let's take a tour of the bazaar. We don't have anything particular in mind to buy from here.

Hopefully, people won't be angry if I am making a video. Hello, thank you. There are a lot of sweets. If you look here, there are dry fruits. It is good option to buy as a souvenir.

They are selling small packages. People are very fond of sweets here. Look at this. We saw this in Iran as well. This is sugar to be added to your tea. Otherwise, they had smaller chunks there.

Like this one. To be added to tea. I didn't know its purpose, at first. They just dip it in tea and keep it there for a while. And then just take it out, if the tea is sweet enough for you. All of these are sweets here.

What a beautiful collection of utensils this is. I really feel like buying some for my home. Very traditional... The problem is how will I carry these on motorcycle.

Assalamualaikum Is it all made in Uzbekistan? Yes Fergana, near to Kyrgyzstan. So these are from a region called Fergana. And some small souvenirs on this side.

This is a very big market. I thought there might be just this one hall here. But here you can see another very big hall here. There are small shops at the back as well where people have their shops.

Very big area. And here are Uzbekistan's fruits. There are a lot of fruits in this whole region.

I am not sure that all of these are from Uzbekistan. But I have seen a lot of fruits in this whole region. The quality is also very good. Prices are very reasonable. This is the historical Hazrat Khizar AS mosque. Before Arabs, there was a Zoroastrian temple here.

As the local population accepted Islam, this mosque was built. But when Genghis Khan attacked Samarkand, this mosque was completely demolished. Then in 1855, this mosque was rebuilt at the same place. And this mosque has a very colorful and unique interior. The interior design of this mosque is very different from all the other monuments I have visited.

It is very colorful. And especially if you look at its roof and dome, the colors used in it are a little different from other monuments. And right in front of it, because it is built on a hilltop. The view of Bibikhanum mosque and the old city from here is beautiful. Now I have reached Shah-e-Zinda.

This is a very historical cemetery. Where people were buried from the 11th to the 15th century. And then in the 19th century. And as the name Shah-e-Zinda suggests, Shah-e-Zinda means the living king. It is named so because Hazrat Qasim Ibn-e-Abbas, who was a companion and cousin of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). He was also the ruler of Mecca during the time of Hazrat Ali.

So when Muslims came here in the 7th century, He came here with them. He then decided to stay here and preach Islam. When he was martyred, he was buried here in this graveyard.

That's why this place was named Shah-e-Zinda. Here you'll see mausoleums and graves with very unique architecture. Since there's a walking path in there, let's go there and show you this area. This is the entrance of Shah-e-Zinda.

And on both sides you will see the shrines. Mostly royal families or religious personalities. And leaders have been buried here.

Some of them are very beautiful. Some have been renovated. And let's see if we find something interesting. Especially what you are seeing here. This is the shrine of sister of Amir Timur. It is said that this is the most beautiful shrine here.

Let me show you from inside. You can see that it is made in a very beautiful style. And it is still well maintained. You can see the walls.

And similarly if you see its dome. They have used different colors. White, azure, blue. You will see it almost all over Samarkand.

And right in front of it is another graveyard, which was made by Amir Timur himself. And it is also very beautiful. Let's go inside and see. Its name is written outside Shirin Beka Oka Mausoleum I am not sure who it was. But you will see that a lot of white color has been used here.

It looks like it has been renovated. Because despite being so old, their condition is very good. Just look at the roof.

How beautiful..! Let's keep walking. You can say that this is the second or third biggest tourist attraction here. That's why mostly tourists come here. Here is the grave of Hazrat Qasim Ibn Abbas. But it is not allowed to make a video here.

That's why I won't make a video from inside. Because I can see a 'No Video' sign. Finally our dinner has been served.

Since the last 3-4 days when I have come here, I am getting very good food every day. I have become sort of a fan of the local food. And I come to the same restaurant again and again.

Because this is very close to my hotel. In fact, this is the hotel, Platan. And apart from that, there are a lot of options here.

One can go to any other restaurant. But when their food is good, why go anywhere else. So today we have lamb, roasted lamb. And there are potatoes inside it. So let's try it.

With that, we have told you that bread is very important. Bread, roti or bread, whatever you say. Lamb is very good. Delicious.

You know how hot it is here during the day. If it was any less hot... I think, be it morning, noon or evening, I would have been eating a lot more of this food. Anyway, I think this food will cost around 10 dollars. It is a little expensive restaurant. I hope you liked my vlog.

I have worked very hard on this vlog because there is a lot of history. And I have tried to give it a little historical touch I did as much as I could cover. There are many other places. But I shared what I felt deserved the most. Remember in prayers Do Like, Subscribe and Share. See you in the next vlog.

Allah Hafiz

2024-10-16 22:29

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