The historic city of Bukhara has been a hub for traders and travelers since its foundation over 2,000 years ago. Situated on an oasis in the Zerafshan River delta in central Uzbekistan, Bukhara lies at the crossroads of ancient trade routes that stretched across Central Asia and was a vital stopping point for merchants on the edge of the Kyzyl Kum (Red Sand) and Kara Kum (Black Sand) deserts. It was one of the most prosperous cities in Central Asia throughout the Middle Ages. It became a center not only for exchange between merchants but also for culture, scholarship, and the study of religion. Bukhara also contributed many locally produced goods that enriched the Silk Road trade and was particularly renowned for its textile industry. 

Karakul lambs' fleeces, silk, cotton, leather, carpets, and clothing were all traded from Bukhara, as well as gold embroidery and metalwork. Many of these crafts are still practiced in the city today.

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Bukhara's ancient history was closely intertwined with the growth of the Silk Roads through Central Asia. Indeed, a settlement on the site of Bukhara has been discovered dating from as early as the 2nd millennium BC and the city grew up nourished by the merchants that arrived from Persia, India, China, and Russia, as well as those traveling east from the Caspian Sea and beyond. Its geographical situation, on the edge of the deserts but also close to Uzbekistan’s most prosperous agricultural region, meant that Bukhara was a popular and essential resting point in developing these routes. Following the Arab conquest of the city in 709 AD, Bukhara also became a major cultural and religious center. It was chosen by the Emir Ismail ibn Amad to be the capital city of the independent Samanid kingdom in 892. 

The Emir’s tomb, built in Bukhara in the early 10th century, is one of the most striking and well-preserved examples of Islamic architecture from this period. The city increasingly attracted intellectuals and religious scholars, gaining a reputation as a center of Islamic learning and earning the title of Bukhoro-i-Sharif, or "Noble Bukhara". Scholars and students from across the Muslim world, who gathered in the city to learn and teach, were themselves partaking in the travel along the Silk Roads and brought their own cultures and ideas with them. The city continued to expand economically and socially under the rule of the Karakhanids in the 11th century, up until the invasion by Ghengis Khan in 1220, and became part of the Timurid Empire in 1370. 

 However, in the 16th century, Bukhara reached its peak of prosperity and renown as a cultural, trading, and religious center on the Silk Roads.
Conquered in the late 15th century by Khan Sheibani, a nomadic Uzbek tribal leader, the city became the capital of the Khanate of Bukhara under the Sheibanid dynasty. 

As Sheibanid rule expanded and was consolidated over large areas of Central Asia, Bukhara was the first to benefit from this prosperity, and the majority of the most celebrated and striking monuments that distinguish the city today date from this period. Many of these reflect Bukhara's status as a spiritual, cultural, and economic center, such as the remarkable Poi-Kalyan complex, consisting of the Kalyan mosque, minaret, and the Mir-i Arab madrassah. 

The Lyabi-Khauz ensemble, the Kosh madrassah, and the Gaukushon madrassah also date from this period. The Taki Sarafon (Dome of the Moneychangers) and the Taki-Tilpak-Furushan (Dome of the Headguard Sellers) both hint at the vibrant commercial activity that was taking place in Bukhara during this period. The Magoki Kurns and Abdullaziz-Khan madrassah were added in the mid-17th century. 

This historic old town is, in fact, the most complete example of a medieval city in Central Asia today. Its well-preserved urban structure, striking medieval architecture, and the remains of many covered bazaars all reflect the influence of the Silk Roads throughout Bukhara's long history.

Mapping of Usbek
Ancient cartography shows that the Central Asian region was referred to as Usbek (Usbec, Usbeck, Vsbek) or Usbekia (Usbechia) in political world maps published in Western Europe during the 16th-18th centuries. Some territories within this region were called Usbek Bucharia, Usbek Bochara, Usbek Chowaresmia, Usbek Mawaralnahra, Usbek Turkestan, Usbek Turan, Usbek Tartaria, and Usbek Zagatay.

More than two hundred historical maps have been recorded with terms such as Usbeck, Usbekia, and Özbegistan.
These maps show that the name ‘Uzbekistan’ was not invented by the Russians in 1924. Instead, toponyms such as Usbeck and Usbekia, which were used in the political and historical-geographical system of Europe in the Middle Ages, are Latin forms of the place name for the land of the Uzbeks – Özbegistan.
These terms were used to refer to Central Asia in the 16th–18th centuries, specifically to describe the states of the Shaybanids and Ashtarkhanids. Later, the centres of these states were divided into several Uzbek khanates, which Europeans then used in their maps. On maps, the toponym ‘Uzbekistan’ was used synonymously with the historical term ‘Turkestan’.
Both ethnonymies, Turkestan and Uzbekistan, politically united various ethnically related clans in the 16th to 18th centuries.

The development of cartography in Europe dates back to the Renaissance period, specifically the 15th and 16th centuries. By this time, caravan travel along the Silk Road had ceased and Europeans had begun to travel by sea to India and China. As a result, Central Asia remained outside the focus of European travellers and cartographers. In the first quarter of the 18th century, however, the situation changed. Travellers sent to Central Asia as spies by the Russian ruler Peter I and the Iranian ruler Nadir Shah drew new maps of the region. The geographical and ethnographic information on these maps should be considered primary sources.

Two of the most important maps of the region are:
- The map by Abraham Maas (1728).
- The map showing the Caspian and Aral Seas (Sharta, in qua cruditis spectanda exhibeteur pas Asiae [...] Tabula Maris Caspii et Maris Aral), by Basilios Battatzis,  published in London in 1732.

The same cartography of Central Asia was used without change on maps and globes. In Great Britain, the most advanced country in Europe in geography and cartography during the 18th–19th centuries, the term ‘Uzbekistan’ was widely used for at least 135 years (from 1730 to 1865), and this name was reflected in all scientific literature and educational globes related to geography. The maps and globes produced in Britain after 1865 showed the Central Asian region as ‘TURKESTAN’.
This was because, after the Russian invasion, the historical term ‘Uzbekistan’ had been removed by the colonizers. A governorate was established and the name ‘Turkestan’ was used on maps and globes to refer to the Central Asian region. In short, during the 16 th –18 centuries, the peoples of Central Asia were at different stages of socio-political development. The nomadic Uzbek tribes from the Dasht-i Kipchak (Kipchak steppe) gained political power in the region from the 16th century. 

In the 16th – 18th centuries, the Uzbeks had a unified territory, a single written literary language and a common culture. Therefore, on the political maps and globes of the time, the country was referred to as Usbeck, Usbekia, and Özbegistan.
Consequently, the toponym ‘Uzbekistan’ was used in the 16th – 18th centuries and even until 1865 (before the Russian invasion) as a synonym for the names Turan and Turkestan, covering the entire Central Asian region. Thus, there is ample reason to consider ‘Uzbekistan’ as one of the historical names for the whole of Central Asia. In world historical geography, this term, along with Turan and Turkestan, was used as a macrotoponym for the entire Central Asian region for a period of 365 years until 1865.
At the same time, the term ‘Uzbek’ also had a unifying ethnopolitical and ethnocultural meaning during this period, serving as a superethnos for all peoples living in Central Asia.

The Silk Road

Humans have permanently moved from place to place and traded with their neighbors, exchanging goods, skills, and ideas. Throughout history, Eurasia was crisscrossed with communication routes and trade paths, which gradually linked up to form what is known today as the Silk Roads, routes across both land and sea, along which silk and many other goods were exchanged between people worldwide.

Maritime routes were an essential part of this network, linking East and West by sea, and were used for the trade of spices in particular, thus becoming known as the Spice Routes.

These vast networks carried more than just merchandise and precious commodities; the constant movement and mixing of populations also transmitted knowledge, ideas, cultures, and beliefs, profoundly impacting Eurasian peoples' history and civilizations.

Travelers along the Silk Roads were attracted not only by trade but also by the intellectual and cultural exchange that was taking place in cities along the Silk Roads, many of which developed into hubs of culture and learning. Science, arts, and literature, as well as crafts and technologies, were thus shared and disseminated into societies along the lengths of these routes, and in this way, languages, religions, and cultures developed and influenced each other.

Silk Road is a relatively recent term, and for most of their long history, these ancient roads had no particular name. In the mid-nineteenth century, the German geologist Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen named the trade and communication network Die Seidenstrasse(the Silk Road), and the term, also used in the plural, continues to stir imaginations with its evocative mystery.

The Silk Road extended approximately 6,437 kilometers (4,000 miles) across some of the world’s most formidable landscapes, including the Gobi Desert and the Pamir Mountains.
View our maps depicting maps of Central Asia and the Far East, or maps showing the trade and caravan routes.

The Silk Road, a network of routes connecting Constantinople (Turkey) and Xián (China), covered all of Central Asia. For fifteen centuries, it was the dominant force in international trade.

An abundance of goods traveled along the Silk Road. Merchants carried silk from China to Europe, where it dressed royalty and wealthy patrons. Other Asian favorite commodities included jade and other precious stones, porcelain, tea, and spices. In exchange, horses, glassware, textiles, and ma

The network of routes, which included cities like Constantinople (Turkey) and Xián (China), crosses all of Central Asia. 

Interesting reading: https://en.unesco.org/silkroad

• Maps including the Silk Road

Istanbul (Turkey)
Perched between East and West, ancient Constantinople was an essential stop for merchants from both sides of the world. This historic city, today renamed Istanbul, was the gateway to the Silk Road.

Alexandria (Egypt)
The great African powers also had their slice of the Silk Road pie. Egypt quickly became the largest importer of silk in Africa, with Alexandria a transit city on routes to the East.

Teheran (Iran)
Undoubtedly, another of the essential part of the Silk Road is Iran. Some of its major cities, such as Bam, Tabriz, and of course its capital, Tehran, were key stops for silk merchants.

Kazan (Russia)
Kazan has a long history as one of the cities through which the Silk Road passed,

Xian (China)
Xi’an, the Chinese city eternally protected by the terracotta warriors, was also the place that captured the heart of all of Asia and all of Europe for several centuries. The Silk Road ended in Xi’an, home to producers and a destination for merchants. The city itself has been destroyed on several occasions.