A Persian Inscription at the Shah-i-Zinda Tomb Ensemble – Samarqand, Uzbekistan

The Persian language has an ancient and deep history in the modern nation of Uzbekistan, where until the advent of the Soviet rule of Central Asia it both served as the lingua franca of the region as well as the native ethnic language in many cities and villages- most notably in the ethnic Tajik majority cities of Samarqand, Bukhara, and the Ferghana valley. This is why most historic architectural inscriptions there from before the Soviet era are written in Persian or Arabic.

The glorious Shah-i-Zinda tomb complex which contains the blessed tomb of the Prophet’s (saw) cousin Qutham ibn Abbas is no exception to this. This beautiful inscription pictured here, painted onto the ceiling of a wooden iwan (porch) at the entry of the tomb was added in 1910 AD- during the final years of the Emirate of Bukhara. Architecturally, the heavy use of wood and painted ornamentation over masonry and tile ornamentation is typical of the more vernacular tuned architecture of the period.

Aside from it’s architectural beauty, the text of the inscription is fascinating, written in formal Persian it contains a brief testimony regarding the sanctity of the tomb and attributing the new construction to the master builder Usta Muhammad Siddiq. What amazes me most though is how different the Persian dialect used in this inscription from a mere 100 years ago is to the Persian dialect spoken in Samarqand today. While the Persian used in this inscription is nearly indistinguishable from formal Persian still used in Iran, the same cannot be said about the Persian dialect used by many in Samarqand today- heavy with Uzbek and Russian influences (yet still mutually intelligible), due to nearly a century of being sidelined and given little importance by ruling governments in favor of Russian during the Soviet Union and now Uzbek. Despite this, during my own visit there I was impressed at the devotion of the population there towards speaking their dialect of Tajiki Persian wherever possible, particularly in the domestic sphere and passing it onto the next generation, all while it’s use unfortunately remains institutionally discouraged.