Celestial and mythical origins of the citadel of Bukhara

Abstract

Narshakhī's The History of Bukhara, an account from the tenth century AD that has been narrated as a mythical and strange story about the formation of the citadel of Bukhara, has received scanty scholarly attention. This study addresses some of the unknown semantic and symbolic origins of Iranian citadels and fortresses through an analysis of documented legends and other classical sources. This analysis shows that the citadel (qal'a) was built based on the conceptual archetype of the Utopia of Kangdiz (Siāvošgerd) and the geometric shape of Banāt Naʿsh (Big Dipper), which has played a symbolic role in protecting and guarding in Persian cosmology. This celestial analogy can explain the causes and origins of the irregular shape of some other Iranian citadels.