Oqdaryo District

Oqdaryo is a flat, well-watered district between the Oqdaryo and Qoradaryo channels of the Zarafshan, centred on Loyish; at Dahbed stands the 16th–19th-century complex of the Naqshbandi sheikh Makhdumi Azam.

Setting and landscape

The district lies north-west of Samarkand, in the valley of the Zarafshan’s two main channels, the Oqdaryo and the Qoradaryo. It borders Ishtixon, Pastdargom, Samarkand, Jomboy and Payariq districts and covers 390 km². This is an alluvial plain sloping gently from east to west at around 450 metres, with old river terraces left by the shifting Zarafshan. Between the two channels stretches the Miankal “island”, almost 100 km long and up to 15 km wide.

The district takes its name from the river. As the orientalist V. V. Bartold observed, water flowing in its own natural bed was called Oqsuv or Oqdaryo (“white water”), and water led through a dug canal Qorasuv or Qoradaryo (“black water”). The Oqdaryo is 131 km long. The climate is continental, with 200–300 mm of rain a year and July averages of 27–28 °C. Reeds and tamarisk grow in the riverside thickets, home to pheasants, ducks and waders.

History

The district was created in the 1920s; part of it became Ishtixon District in 1943, and it was abolished in 1963 and restored on 25 December 1968. The historic heart of the area is Dahbed. Under the Shaybanids, at the invitation of Janibek Sultan, the celebrated Naqshbandi sheikh Ahmad Kasani, known as Makhdumi Azam (1461–1542), moved here from Kasan in the Fergana valley. Legend says he planted ten willows, and the village became Dahbed, Persian for “ten willows”.

In the 16th century Dahbed grew into a major Naqshbandi centre. According to historical accounts, by the 19th century its twice-weekly bazaar out-traded Samarkand’s own market. A 34-cell madrasa built under the Manghit dynasty was demolished in Soviet times.

Economy

On 1 January 2026 the district had 180,900 residents, 69,400 of them in its ten urban-type settlements; there are 35 mahallas. Cotton leads farming, alongside grain, potatoes, vegetables and melons, orchards, vineyards and silkworm breeding, plus cattle, sheep and poultry. The district centre, Loyish, has brick and canning works; its name is linked to the reedy, muddy (loy) ground on which it grew up. A major highway between Samarkand and Bukhara crosses the district. Under the Senate decision of August 2026, 1,410.6 hectares of the district pass to Samarkand city, so the area given here is the pre-reform figure.

What to see

The chief monument is the Makhdumi Azam complex in Dahbed (16th–19th centuries). In 1610 Yalangtush Bahadur, governor of Samarkand, built a khanqah and burial vault beside the sheikh’s grave; a large mosque followed in the 17th century, and later Nadir Divan-Begi enclosed the site with a wall. The burial court holds Makhdumi Azam’s grey-marble cenotaph and marble slabs of his descendants, as well as of Yalangtush Bahadur and his daughter Iqlim, while a minaret and a broad pool stand nearby. The complex was restored in 1998.

Getting there

Dahbed is just 15 km north of Samarkand, about 20 minutes by car; Loyish is some 33 km by road, 35–40 minutes. Take a taxi, or combine Dahbed with a trip to the nearby Imam al-Bukhari complex.