9th day - Timi Abdullakhan

 Timi Abdullakhan

Hello dears ! 

Today we have been one of the most famous Trading Domes of Bukhara , Timi Abdullakhan that is located near the Toqi Zargaron and Toqi Telpakfuruushon Domes in the Old Part of Bukhara. We visited there with our coursemates, as well as our lovely teacher was with us ✨ We learned much more new information about it during todayʼs trip. Now I will share some of them . 

In the 16th century people also started to build in the town huge roofed shopping passages. Such a passage was called tim. One of them still exists. It is Abdullakhan Tim, named after its constructor, a ruler from the Sheibanids dynasty. It built in the XVI century in the historical center of Bukhara.

Abdullah-khan II (1533-1598), was the most successful khan of the Shaybanid dynasty. During his reign, trade and commerce were booming in Bukhara. The Tim Abdulla Khan was built in 1577 as Bukhara’s primary covered market. Also known as “Tim-i Kalan”, or the “Great Market,” it was, and remains, an important site for Uzbekistan’s silk fabric trade. The  market is also known as a Trading dome, built during the time of the Bukhara ruler Iskander Khan, but named after his son Abdullah Khan.The word Tim itself means a closed room for public use, from where the market takes its name.

The main difference between the Shopping Dome and other bazaars is that it is completely closed and has a gate on the west side. The bazaar is built in the Persian style, which is why it resembles the traditional market of ancient Iranian cities.

It is attractive because it is cool here in any weather, and the sun's rays reach the benches only through the holes in the dome. On hot summer days the customers could enjoy refreshing air, shade and beneficial coolness. So it is easy to imagine how great the travelers felt being inside the construction after their long caravan journeys across salt marshes and sands. Under the domes of hospitable Bukhara they could finally have a deserved rest.

Here you can buy famous Bukhara carpets, various handicrafts, paintings, musical instruments and much more. The diverse abundance of fabrics, as well as beautifully embroidered carpets captivates the customers’ attention. Nowadays you can buy different fabrics with the image of national patterns and ornaments, gold embroidered skullcaps and robes, as well as real works of art - national suzane, hand-embroidered wall carpets and other items of gold embroidery like many centuries ago.

Abdullakhan Tim was used for carrying out trade in silk, which Bukhara had been famous for even before Arabian conquest. In the village of Zandana near Bukhara they made the patterned silk zandanachi, which was exported along the Great Silk Road from Sogd to the western territories. In the 16th century Bukhara masters began making the silk velvetbahmal with abr patterns. For several centuries the shopboards of local tradesmen have caught the visitor’s eyes with the famous locally made khan-atlas fabric. The secret and technology of its production have been passed down from father to son.

In general, carpet weaving in Bukhara is considered to be the most ancient and popular kind of craft to this day, and the famous Bukhara carpets are widely known all over the world. The best wool has always been used by masters sewing carpets, and manual embroidery made a lot of work, that's why carpets were considered a luxury item of rulers and nobles. There are a great variety of silk fabrics: "satin", "shoi", "podshohi", and cotton with the addition of silk: "adras", "bekasab", "banoras" and others.

Tim Abdullakhan like many other sights of Bukhara, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993.

And this is a photo with my dears ! 

I will wait for your comments 🙃 Good luck to you and your blogs ✨