Official name	سمرقند Samarkand
Native name	Samarqand / Самарқанд
Image seal	Samarkand city coa.jpg
Pushpin map	Uzbekistan
Pushpin label position	bottom
Pushpin mapsize	300
Pushpin map caption	Location in Uzbekistan
Coordinates region	UZ
Subdivision type	Country
Subdivision type1	Province
Subdivision name
Subdivision name1	Samarqand Province
Population as of	2008
Population total	596,300
Population urban	643,970
Population metro	708,000
Elevation m	702
Website	http://www.samarkand.info

Samarkand (; ; ; from Sogdian: "Stone Fort" or "Rock Town") is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century, it became the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane), and is the site of his mausoleum (the Gur-e Amir). The Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient centre of the city.

In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.

Etymology

Samarkand derives its name from the Old Persian asmara, "stone", "rock", and Sogdian kand, "fort", "town".

Population

In 1939 Samarkand had a population of 134,346, and in 2005 an urban population of 384,000, mostly Persian-speaking Tajiks. Uzbeks form a sizable minority. Along with Bukhara, Samarkand is one of the historical centers of the Tajik people in Central Asia.

History

Samarkand is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world, prospering from its location on the trade route between China and the Mediterranean (Silk Road). At times Samarkand has been one of the greatest cities of Central Asia.

Early history

Founded circa 700 BC by the Sogdians, Samarkand has been one of the main centres of Iranian civilization from its early days. It was already the capital of the Sogdian satrapy under the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia when Alexander the Great conquered it in 329 BC. The Greeks referred to Samarkand as Maracanda.

Whs	Samarkand – Crossroads of Culture
Imagecaption	Bibi-Khanym Mausoleum
State party
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iv
Id	603
Region	Asia-Pacific
Year	2001
Session	25th
Link	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/603

Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest (except at the time of early Sassanids, such as Shapur I). In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.

Medieval history

At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came under Arab control. Under Abbasid rule, the legend goes, the secret of papermaking was obtained from two Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas in 751, which led to the first paper mill in the Islamic world being founded in Samarkand. The invention then spread to the rest of the Islamic world, and from there to Europe.

From the 6th to the 13th century it grew larger and more populous than modern Samarkand and was controlled by the Western Turks, Arabs (who converted the area to Islam), Persian Samanids, Kara-Khanid Turks, Seljuk Turks, Kara-Khitan, and Khorezmshah before being sacked by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in 1220 . A small part of the population survived, but Samarkand suffered at least one other Mongol sack by Khan Baraq to get treasure he needed to pay an army with. The town took many decades to recover from these disasters.

In The Travels of Marco Polo, where Polo records his journey along the Silk Road, Samarkand is described as a "a very large and splendid city..." Here also is related the story of a Christian church in Samarkand, which miraculously remained standing after a portion of its central supporting column was removed.

14th century

In 1365, a revolt against Mongol control occurred in Samarkand.

In 1370, Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane, decided to make Samarkand the capital of his empire, which extended from India to Turkey. During the next 35 years he built a new city and populated it with artisans and craftsmen from all of the places he had conquered. Timur gained a reputation as a patron of the arts and Samarkand grew to become the centre of the region of Transoxiana. During this time the city had a population of about 150,000.

15th century

Between 1424 and 1429, the great astronomer Ulugh Beg built the Samarkand Observatory. The sextant was 11 metres long and once rose to the top of the surrounding three storey structure although it was kept underground to protect it from earthquakes. Calibrated along its length, it was the world’s largest 90 degree quadrant at the time. However, the observatory was destroyed by religious fanatics in 1449.

From 1599 to 1756, Samarkand was ruled by the Ashtarkhanid dynasty of Bukhara.

From 1756 to 1868, Samarkand was ruled by the Manghyt emirs of Bukhara. |date=August 2010 }}

Notable people

Amoghavajra, an 8th century Buddhist monk who translated Vajrayana scripture, became a powerful figure in the Tang court, and is remembered as one of the three founders of Chinese esoteric Buddhism.

Muhammad Abu Mansur al-Maturidi

Islom Karimov, President of Uzbekistan.

Nizami Aruzi Samarqandi, poet and writer of the 12th century

Suzani Samarqandi, poet of the 12th century

Najib ad-Din-e-Samarqandi, scholar of the 13th century

Shams al-Dīn al-Samarqandī, scholar

Malika Kalontarova, folk dancer and People's Artist of USSR

Popular culture

Fiction

Chapters 37 and 38 of Jin Yong's Wuxia novel The Legend of the Condor Heroes briefly portray the Mongolian siege of Samarkand in March 1220.

Samarcande (1988) is the title of a novel by Amin Maalouf, about Omar Khayyám's life.

The Amulet of Samarkand is the first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy written by Jonathan Stroud.

The Road to Samarcand is one of Patrick O'Brian's early novels (1954) about an American teenage boy, the son of recently deceased missionary parents, who travels from China with a small party on the Silk Road en route to the West.

In Corto Maltese graphical novels by Hugo Pratt one episode is titled "The Golden House of Samarkand"

The fictional city of Zanarkand in the Final Fantasy series, used Samarkand as inspiration.

Samarkand is the name of a continent in the Fable fictional universe, though it is more based on Africa and the Orient than Central Asia.

Poetry, drama and film

Samarkand can appear as an archetype of romantic exoticism, notably in the work by James Elroy Flecker: The Golden Journey to Samarkand (1913).

In Islamic literature and discussions, Samarkand has taken on a semi-mythological status and is often cited as an ideal of Islamic philosophy and society, a place of justice, fairness, and righteous moderation.

Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, explores the metaphysical significance of the marketplace in a volume of poetry entitled Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known, 2002.

Samarkand has a large featuring in the originally Russian film Day Watch, originally written by Sergei Lukyanenko as part of a Trilogy. Samarkand is the place where the fictional battle for the "Chalk of fate" is experienced.

Non-fiction

Ibn Battuta, the Muslim 14th century traveler, spent time in Samarkand in the 1330s

Murder in Samarkand by Craig Murray is a book about the UK Ambassador to Uzbekistan's experiences in this role, until he resigned over human rights abuses in the country in October 2004.

In her 2010 memoir The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them Elif Batuman writes three chapters about her experiences studying the Uzbek language as a graduate exchange student in Samarkand.

Music

In 1972, Swedish composer Thorstein Bergman wrote "Om du någonsin kommer fram till Samarkand" ("If you ever reach Samarkand") made notable by Swedish singer Lill Lindfors in 1978.

In 1977, the Italian singer and composer Roberto Vecchioni issued an LP titled Samarcanda.

In 2004, violinist Lucia Micarelli released the album Music from a Farther Room, which includes the song "Samarkand".

In 2008, the Norwegian singer and musician Odd Nordstoga released the album Pilegrim, which includes the song "I byen Samarkand" ("In the city of Samarkhand").

Sister cities

Nishapur, Iran Bukhara, Uzbekistan Balkh, Afghanistan Merv, Turkmenistan Cuzco, Peru Lahore, Pakistan Lviv, Ukraine Kairouan, Tunisia Istanbul, Turkey İzmir, Turkey Khujand, Tajikistan

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See also

Samarkand Airport

Semerkand a monthly religious magazine published in Turkey, named after this city because Samarkand has long been a major centre for Islamic scholars.

References

External links

Samarkand - Silk Road Seattle Project, Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities at the University of Washington

The history of Samarkand, according to Columbia University's Encyclopædia Iranica

Category:Populated places along the Silk Road Category:Populated places in Uzbekistan Category:Cities in Central Asia Category:Samarqand Province Category:Persian history Category:Archaeological sites in Uzbekistan Category:World Heritage Sites in Uzbekistan

Name	Lev Leviev
Birth date	July 30, 1956
Birth place	Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation	Businessperson
Spouse	Olga
Children	Nine
Net worth	$1,500,000,000
Residence	London, England, UK
Footnotes

Lev Avnerovich Leviev (born July 30, 1956) is a Bukharian-Israeli billionaire businessman, with a net worth of roughly $1.5 billion following the 2008 global financial crisis. Leviev has been described as one of the wealthiest Jewish individuals in the world and has been a major philanthropist for Jewish causes in Eastern Europe and Israel. His diamond mining investments in Angola and his investments in Israeli settlements have been the target of protests.

Personal life

Leviev was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR in 1956, and today lives in England. His parents, Avner and Chana Leviev, were prominent members of the Bukharian Jewish community, and Leviev is a Chabad Orthodox Jew. In 1971, when he was fifteen, his family emigrated from Uzbekistan to Israel. Shortly afterwards, Leviev began to work as an apprentice in a diamond polishing plant, learning the 11 steps of the diamond cutting process. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, he established his own diamond polishing plant.

After the Revolutions of 1989, Leviev expanded his business endeavors into Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He received the blessings for success in business and personal support of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson for his philanthropic activities, which include "an army of some 10,000 Jewish functionaries from Ukraine to Azerbaijan, including 300 rabbis. Most of the 300 rabbis are Chabadniks" - adherents of the Brooklyn-based Chabad Hasidic group. In particular he sponsors many of the activities of the Jewish Learning Initiative.

Leviev moved to Hampstead, London, with his wife Olga and their daughter, Ruthie, in 2007. However, as a keen follower of golf, Leviev maintains a house in the beach resort of Ponte Vedra, Florida

Leviev is currently controlling shareholder and chairman of Africa-Israel. Controlled by Leviev, Africa-Israel is on the verge of insolvency, asking to restructure NIS 21 billion of debt. Trying to save the company from bankruptcy, justice Varda Alshech has confirmed the debt restructuring arragement between Africa-Israel and its creditors. However, the justice experssed her disapproval: "The arrangement is far from being the best," Alshech said, because the company "is passing on the damage of its investments to its investors.". Additionally he is an international investor in residential real estate, shopping malls, energy, fashion, telecom, and media, which attained a market value of $8 billion in 2007. The value of the company plunged with the onset of the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, with company debt reportedly totalling $5.5 billion in September 2009. Soon thereafter the global suprime mortgage crisis broke, and the value of Africa-Israel's real estate investments plummeted, particularly in New York, where it had invested heavily.

Angolan diamonds

As De Beers came under fire during the blood diamonds furor, Leviev increasingly came to dominate the legal Angola diamond market. Leviev says he presented Angola with a plan to reduce smuggling and increase revenue by funneling diamonds through only one source, while others claim the deal was clinched through Leviev’s connections with obscure Russian businessmen and his friendship with the president’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos. Leviev focuses on the benefits his company brings Angola, arguing that before his involvement in 1998, Angola’s tax revenue from diamonds was under $10 million but raised to $49 million by 2001: “The government of Angola has obviously profited from this venture.” When critics query how his company benefits not just the government but the people of Angola, he answers that the Leviev Group's heavy investments in Angolan diamonds "will change the informal way of doing business into a more formalized, educated system that helps individual families... We want to help people who work with their hands. We want Angolans to develop many different new skills.” New York Magazine reported in 2007 that a security company hired by Leviev had been accused by a local human rights group that year "of participating in practices of 'humiliation, whipping, torture, sexual abuse, and, in some cases, assassinations.' Leviev did not directly respond to the charges, but noted his charitable activities in Angola. In 1999, Leviev's company Danya Cebus announced plans to build new homes in the settlement of Ariel Through another subsidiary, LIDAR, Leviev appears to be the sole realtor/developer of the settlement of Zufim.

Leviev's devotion to settlement construction have drawn protest from outside the Old Bond Street store in his London home, to the Leviev-owned jewelry store in New York City, and has impelled Oxfam to make it clear that Leviev has not donated to the charity. UNICEF has also advised Leviev that they will not partner with or accept any contributions from him due to the controversy. In a press release, a spokesperson for Leviev described the protests as "politically motivated" and accused protesters of "deliberately neglect[ing]... extensive humanitarian and philanthropic work, which includes building schools, orphanages, and fostering economic development in communities around the world." Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman condemned UNICEF's decision as "selective political discrimination" that "only gives legitimacy to those who would seek to promote a boycott of the State of Israel and its supporters."

In April 2009, following public pressure for a boycott, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced that it would not be renting its Tel Aviv embassy from Leviev's Africa-Israel company.

Philanthropy

Leviev is a major supporter of Jewish philanthropic causes and president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS (FJC), an umbrella body representing Jewish communities across the former Soviet Union. He is the founder of the Ohr Avner Foundation (named for Leviev's father).

References

External links

Leviev Diamonds

Israel Diamond Industry Official Site

Category:1956 births Category:Bukharan Jews Category:Businesspeople in mining Category:Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidim Category:English Jews Category:Israeli billionaires Category:Israeli businesspeople Category:Living people Category:Mass media owners Category:Orthodox Jews in London Category:People from Tashkent Category:Uzbekistani Jews Category:Israeli philanthropists Category:Israeli Orthodox Jews Category:Israeli Jews