Kish

Kish, later known as Shahrisabz, lies in a green oasis south of the Zarafshan mountains. The old city was the centre of the surrounding Kesh region and the homeland of Timur. Its walls enclosed streets, gardens and monuments built over many centuries, but it was under Timur and his successors that the city acquired its most imposing buildings. The name Shahrisabz, “green city”, evokes the cultivated landscape around it.

In 1380 Timur began the vast Ak Saray palace here, employing artisans brought from conquered Khwarazm to provide its rich decoration. The immense entrance portal displayed the scale of his ambitions, even though Samarkand remained his principal capital. Its surviving foundations still suggest the bold dimensions of a building designed to impress visitors to the city. Nearby the Dorus Saodat complex was intended as a burial place for his family; his son Jahangir was laid to rest at Shahrisabz. A chamber was also prepared for Timur himself, although he was ultimately buried in Samarkand.

Building continued under the Timurids, adding religious and memorial structures to the city. The surviving gateways and tombs preserve a picture of the ruler's attachment to his birthplace and the wealth his empire could command. Their brickwork, tiles and carved stone made Kish an architectural counterpart to the great capital beyond the mountains.