Samarkand paper
Creamy paper made by hand from mulberry bark and burnished with stone — the writing material of Islam’s golden age, revived in the village of Konigil.
Gold embroidery and skullcaps
Lavish embroidery in gold thread and skullcaps whose patterns change from oasis to oasis — needle crafts still alive in Samarkand and Urgut.
© Marat Nadjibaev, CC BY-SA 4.0
Gold at Timur’s court
Zardozi is embroidery on velvet, silk and other fabrics with thread wrapped in gold or silver. Clavijo, the Castilian envoy who reached Samarkand in 1404, wrote admiringly of the gold-embroidered tents, hangings and robes at Timur’s court, and the historian Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi recorded that in 1442 Shah Rukh’s envoys presented the ruler of Calicut in India with a gold-embroidered skullcap.
Between the 15th and 18th centuries gold embroidery flourished in Bukhara, Samarkand and Herat; by the 19th century it was tied above all to the court of the Emir of Bukhara, while Samarkand was known for robes of kimkhob brocade. The craft revived after independence, and Samarkand and Urgut are now counted among its modern centres.
The doppi, a crown for every oasis
The doppi, or skullcap, is one of the most recognisable pieces of Uzbek dress. It is made of a crown, a band and a binding, and each oasis decorates it differently: Chust caps carry white pepper-pod motifs on dark green, Shahrisabz caps are worked in fine iroqi cross-stitch. In Urgut district of Samarkand Region they make round piltadoʻzi caps with simple patterns, flowers turned towards the centre and ribbed quilting.
A doppi is treated with respect — dropping one on the ground or stepping over it is considered rude. It is also one of the most popular souvenirs in Samarkand’s bazaars; ask the seller which oasis yours comes from.
Crafts
Crafts
Silk carpets
Hand-knotted carpets of naturally dyed silk — in Samarkand you can follow the whole journey from cocoon to finished rug in a single workshop.
Suzani and embroidery
Bold red and black rosettes on a white ground — the Samarkand suzani; alongside it, Urgut’s embroidered skullcaps and the work of today’s needlewomen.
Ceramics
From Afrasiyab bowls lettered in Kufic script to the glazed platters of Urgut’s potters, Samarkand ceramics span more than a thousand years.
Woodcarving
From the patterned doors of Gur-e-Amir and Rukhobod to the pillars of neighbourhood houses, Samarkand’s carvers have cut geometry and arabesque into wood for centuries.
Ganch carving
Snow-white patterns carved in ganch, a mix of gypsum and clay, and the gilded kundal of Tilya-Kori — the inner world of Samarkand’s monuments.
