New data on the bāzārs of the medieval Samarqand

Abstract

The medieval sources provide some data on the bazaars of Samar-qand at that time. One of such source is the historical and biographical work “al-Qand fi dhikr ‘ulama’ Samarqand" (“Sweet in the Knowledge of Samarqand Scholars”) in Arabic by the famous Central Asian scholar-ency-clopedist Najm al-Din Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi al-Maturi-di (460-537/1068-1142). Abu Hafs al-Nasafi was a resident of Samarqand and knew his hometown well. Therefore, his work contains valuable infor-mation on the historical topography of medieval Samarqand, in particular about its city bazaars and trading centers (rabats, tims), which played an important role in the economic life of our region.