Tashkent or Toshkent
[tosh–]
, city (1992 pop. 2,133,000), capital of Tashkent region and of
Uzbekistan, in the foothills of the Tian Shan mts.; the name is also spelled
Dashkent. The largest and one of the oldest cities of Central Asia, it is the
economic heart of the region. It is also a major cultural center, a rail and
highway junction, and an important air terminal. The city lies in a great oasis
along the Chirchik River and on the Trans-Caspian RR. There are
many museums and parks, a Muslim university, and several theater companies.
The modern section of the city coexists with
the old quarter (partly reconstructed), with its narrow, twisting streets,
numerous mosques, and bazaars;
First mentioned in the 1st cent. B.C.,
Tashkent came under Arabic rule in the 7th cent. A.D.
and passed to the Turkish shahs of Khwarazm in the 12th cent. It developed as a
commercial center on the historic trade route from Samarkand to Beijing.
Tashkent was captured in the 13th cent. by Jenghiz Khan and in the 14th cent. by
Timur. With the breakup of the Timurid empire, the city passed to the khanate of
Kokand.
It's worth taking a stroll around the remnants of the old town, eski
shakhar. This maze of narrow dusty streets lined by low, mudbrick houses,
mosques and medressas (Islamic academies) have been spared by Soviet
planners to show what things would have been like without the glories of
socialism.
Tashkent houses many museums of Uzbek and pre-Uzbek culture. These include the State
Art Museum, which houses a collection of paintings, ceramics and the
Bukharan royal robes. The Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts exhibits
embroidered wall hangings and reproduction antique jewellery. As important
historical figures, such as Amir Timur - better known as Tamerlane in the West -
are being given greater prominence, the exhibits and perspective of the museums
are also changing.
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