Uzbekistan • City chronicles
Historic Cities of Uzbekistan
Explore the stories behind Uzbekistan’s cities: ancient oases, scholars, khans, craftsmen and the communities that rebuilt after conquest and disaster. Choose a city for an illustrated chronicle, a timeline and places where its history can still be read.
Start with our original History of Samarkand, or explore the sixteen companion histories below. This is a guide to notable cities and historical towns, not an exhaustive list of every ancient settlement in Uzbekistan.
The great oasis cities
Samarkand
Sogdian origins, the Timurid capital and the many lives of a Silk Road city.
Read the history of Samarkand →Bukhara
The oasis, Samanid scholarship, trading domes and the city of the emirs.
Read the history of Bukhara →Khiva
Khorezm, the rise of the khanate and the architectural layers of Itchan Kala.
Read the history of Khiva →Tashkent
From Chach and the old city to the 1966 earthquake and the modern capital.
Read the history of Tashkent →Southern Uzbekistan
Shakhrisabz
Ancient Kesh, Timur’s homeland and the monumental remains of Ak-Saray.
Read the history of Shakhrisabz →Karshi
Nakhshab, Nasaf and the rise of a new centre around Kebek’s palace.
Read the history of Karshi →Termez
Bactria, Buddhist monasteries and Islamic scholarship beside the Amu Darya.
Read the history of Termez →The Fergana Valley
Kokand
Khans, poets and the palace of a former Fergana Valley capital.
Read the history of Kokand →Margilan
Silk, merchants and the transmission of atlas and adras weaving skills.
Read the history of Margilan →Andijan
Babur’s birthplace, the eastern valley and a city rebuilt after disaster.
Read the history of Andijan →Namangan
Migration, irrigation, crafts and the religious architecture of the northern valley.
Read the history of Namangan →Fergana
A modern city founded in 1876, distinct from the ancient valley around it.
Read the history of Fergana →Shahrihan
How canals, settlers and craftsmen helped create a nineteenth-century town.
Read the history of Shahrihan →Beyond the main route
Nurata
The spring, fortress and water systems of a foothill town.
Read the history of Nurata →Karmana
Early brick architecture, religious patronage and caravan-route infrastructure.
Read the history of Karmana →Gijduvan
Sufi teaching, Ulugh Beg’s madrasa and the work of ceramic-making families.
Read the history of Gijduvan →Shafirkan
Vardonze archaeology, sacred places and embroidery in the Bukhara oasis.
Read the history of Shafirkan →How to read these histories
Each city has its own chronology. The age of a settlement is not necessarily the age of the buildings visible today. The chronicles distinguish archaeological evidence, surviving architecture, later reconstruction and local tradition.
Modern Fergana and nineteenth-century Shahrihan are included for their historical importance, without assigning them the antiquity of the surrounding valley. Outlying sites such as Vardonze and Aksikent are identified separately from the present towns.
For practical monument guides, continue to Bukhara, Khiva or Tashkent.
Cover photograph: Poi Kalyan, Bukhara — Fulvio Spada, CC BY-SA 2.0. Photographs in the city histories carry their own credits.