Probably every nation has a legend or the traditions of wise kings, peace-loving and just, who patronize the sciences and the arts and instead of robbing their people in aggressive campaigns, are engaged in creation and enlightenment. Such tales reflect the fatigue of people from constant wars and civil strifes, which were so rich in the Middle Ages. The grandson of the formidable and great Tamerlane, Ulugbek, seemed to be ideally suited for the role of dream-king. An outstanding scientist, a just and humane ruler. During his time, Samarkand lived peacefully for almost twenty years. Twenty years without wars and bloodshed! And this is in the former empire of Tamerlane, which his descendants tried to tear to shreds. However, the son of Tamerlane and the father of Ulugbek Shahruh managed to retain power. One part of the empire he ruled personally, and the second part in 1411 transferred to the management of his son. Ulugbek was a worthy king. He carried out a monetary reform, thanks to which the life of all strata of the population significantly improved. Also, Ulugbek encouraged the development of science and art. But, how often it happens - the better a person, the more tragic his fate is. Ulugbek was executed by order of his own son, who was eager to sit on the Samarkand throne. His observatory - the work of his entire life - after some time after his death was destroyed, and the lands transferred to the clergy.
In the autumn of 1449, the son of Ulugbek Abd al-Latif forced his father to make a pilgrimage and when Ulugbek with a small retinue drove away from Samarkand and stopped for an overnight stay - he sent killers who Killed the great scientist. But the parricide did not last long - after six months, one of Ulugbek's loyal soldiers was killed by Abd al-Latif.
Only a few centuries later, the Russian archaeologist V.Lyatkin found and explored the remains of one of the largest observatories of the Middle Ages. His case was completed by another Russian, or rather the Soviet archeologist V.A. Shishkin. Thanks to their labors, today we can see the rest of the sextant and imagine how grandiose this structure was.
Preserved entrance to the observatory .
So the stars came together that Ulugbek, being a scientist, was also a ruler with sufficient resources and power to build such a complex and expensive construction for observing the stars (forgive the pun for that). Due to its ruling position, there were no special problems with the construction of the observatory. It was built in three years, and Ulugbek was the inspiration and scientific leader of all the works.
Observatory layout. Source
According to the research, it was a three-story building with a height of more than 30 meters and a diameter of more than 46 meters. The arc of the sextant remaining to this day is limited by the barriers faced with marble. At each degree of the circle on the marble the figures are knocked out. There are brick stairs along the barriers.
The remaining fragment of the giant sextant
In this observatory worked the most prominent mathematicians and astronomers of that time - Kazi-zade ar-Rumi, al-Cauchy and al-Kushchi. By the way, all of them once led the work of the observatory. First of all was al-Cauchy . After his death - ar-Rumi, and then when he died - al-Kushchi.
Due to the observatory Ulugbek and his associates made up the Catalog of the starry sky, which he called "Gurgan Zidj" ("zidj" - In the East called star catalogs). This catalog contains data on 1018 stars. By the way, this catalog was translated into Latin and used as a manual for astronomy in all observatories of Europe. In addition, the observatory scientists determined the length of the year - 365 days, 6 hours, 10 minutes and 8 seconds (The error was just + 58 seconds). The scientific work of the observatory was calculated for at least 30 years (the period of Saturn's conversion). In addition to the star catalog, Ulugbek also compiled a table of coordinates of 683 localities of the world, including Russian ones.
Museum is located opposite the observatory, in which are collected some objects of that era - astronomical instruments, books, an observatory model.
From the hill where observatory is located you can see Bibi-Khonim Mosque and Registan
Near the entrance to the observatory complex you can see the monument to Ulugbek established in 2010
