Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan is no instant charmer. But by the end of the day, hey, maybe it’s not all that bad after all.
The Arabs took it in AD751 and was given the name Toshkent (Tashkent, ‘City of Stone’ in Turkic) in about 11th century.
Our first visit in the morning was to the Mustaqilik maydoni (Independence Square) and Crying Mother Monument. Fronted by an eternal flame, it was constructed in 1999 to honour the 400,000 Uzbek soldiers who died in WWII.
Next we visited the Earthquake Memorial to remember the New Soviet men and women who rebuilt Tashkent after the 1966 earthquake.
Physically, Tashkent was changed forever on 25 April 1966, when a massive earthquake leveled vast areas of the town and left 200,000 people homeless.
Local kids taking a dip in the irrigation canal within old Uzbek town
We also visited the Hazroti Imom Friday mosque (Karasaray) and the 16th century mausoleum of Abu Bakr kaffal Shoshi, a famous and important Islamic scholar and poet of the Shaybanid period.
The most important attraction in Tashkent remains the Moyie Mubarek Library Museum which houses the 7th century Osman Quran (Uthman Quran), said to be the world’s oldest.
The deerskin Uthman Qur'an- one of the five original Qur'an
*pictures courtesy from our Uzbek guide because no photograph allow in the library
This copy of the Qur'an is attributed to the third caliph Uthman. In 651, 19 years after the death of Muhammad, Uthman commissioned a committee to produce a standard copy of the text of Qur'an.
Five of these original Qur'ans were sent to the major Muslim cities of the era, with Uthman keeping one for his own use in Medina.
Uthman was succeeded by Ali, who took the Uthman Qur'an to Kufa, now in Iraq. When Tamerlane destroyed the area, he took the Qur'an to his capital, Samarkand, as a treasure.
Coca Cola for 2500Som?
Our dinner was simple over at a local fast food restaurant.
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