Trading domes (Taki) of Bukhara (1569–1570)

In the sixteenth century the Shaybanids came to power in Central Asia and made Bukhara their capital. The city grew and built fast, and the domes of its covered bazaars became the emblem of its standing on the Silk Road. Such a dome — a taqi — was raised where two or three busy streets crossed: it directed the flow of people, took pressure off the main thoroughfare and organised trade. Shops and workshops ran around the central space. Four have come down to us.

**Taqi-Sarrafon** stands where the streets linking the Registan with the rabat — the medieval suburb — met. The name comes from the sarrafs, the money changers, usually Indians dealing in foreign currency, which made this one of the old Eastern exchanges. The main dome rests on four massive arches, and the vaults beneath them use the Bukharan charzamin technique. No money changers now, but carpets, gold-embroidered skullcaps, pendants, decorated harness, necklaces and tableware.

**Taqi-Telpak Furushon** is a six-sided complex, its centre covered by a spherical dome pierced with small openings, with the domes of annexes around it. Books were sold here first, and the bazaar was called Kitab-Furushon, the booksellers' dome. Later it turned to headwear: kerchiefs, beaded skullcaps, fur hats, elaborately wound turbans — hence the present name, the dome of the hat sellers.

North of Telpak Furushon stands the **Tim of Abdullah Khan** (1577). Its distinction is the light, which pours in through small apertures and windows in the domes; inside it stays cool whatever the weather. Fabrics and carpets were sold here for centuries, and in the same tradition you can still buy a genuine hand-made Eastern carpet.

**Taqi-Zargaron**, the jewellers' dome, is the northernmost and the largest of the four. Built in 1569–70, it was the first trading dome raised after Bukhara became a capital, and it stands beside the Poi-Kalyan complex. It is known by the elongated form of its dome and its projecting vertical ribs. Thirty-six workshops and shops sat beneath it, making and selling traditional jewellery.