Building National Identity through Timurid Architecture in Modern Central Asia

Lecture by Dr Elena Paskaleva

In 2001 the architectural centre of Samarqand was put on the UNESCO world heritage list. But how old were the buildings really? Why was it important to list 20th-century reconstructions as 15th-century monuments? Why was their designation vital for boosting national identity across post-Soviet Central Asia?

After its Independence in 1991, the post-Soviet republic of Uzbekistan was looking for a common framework to define the discourse on nation building and nation branding. The great emperor Timur (rule 1370-1405), one of the few mortals to give their name to a worldly-recognised architectural style, was branded as the epitome of Uzbek national identity. Timur was a nomadic conqueror whose empire stretched from Constantinople to China in the 15th century; he is also considered as the founder of the Mughal dynasty. The architectural monuments of the Timurid empire, situated mainly in present day Uzbekistan, are regarded as masterpieces of Medieval Islamic architecture.

Uzbekistan seems to have claimed the Timurid legacy for political purposes ever since Stalin. The powerful personality of Timur and his megalomaniac architectural ambitions fostering state legitimation have made him a popular figure among Soviet and post-Soviet political elites. They in turn elevated the status of Timur as the father of the Uzbek nation. After the Independence, the Timurid cult has become a key term in the process of state formation. Timur as the national hero, who fostered the spread of Islam across his steppe empire, enjoys mass appeal among the Uzbek general public in a predominantly Muslim nation with nomadic roots. The Timurid architecture, in turn, has been used to boost the sense of belonging and pride among the Uzbek population in the course of ethno-nationalisation.

The Timurid cult offered “signs of certainty” (Cummings 2009), familiar to the Uzbek nation. While the alluring persona of Timur played the role of a symbol, the production of meaning was created by the Timurid artefacts, i.e. Timurid architectural monuments. By focussing on their restorations, Dr Paskaleva's research elicits the link between politics and symbolism. She regards architectural monuments as symbolic material resources.

Although a number of excellent cultural analysis of Uzbekistan in the post-Soviet period have appeared in recent years, the modern architectural history of the region and in particular the restorations of the Timurid monuments, remains still unstudied. Yet it is precisely in the period after 1991 that crucial transformations have been made to UNESCO world heritage sites. The project evaluates the restorations between 1991-2001 when some monuments have been rebuilt from scratch, not restored.