Margilan ( uz, Marg‘ilon/Марғилон, ; russian: Маргилан) is a city (2022 pop. 242,500) in
Fergana Region
Fergana Region ( uz, Fargʻona viloyati, russian: Ферганская область) is one of the regions of Uzbekistan, located in the southern part of the Fergana Valley in the far east of the country. It borders the Namangan and Andijan Re ...
in eastern
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
. Administratively, Margilan is a district-level city, that includes the
urban-type settlement
Urban-type settlementrussian: посёлок городско́го ти́па, translit=posyolok gorodskogo tipa, abbreviated: russian: п.г.т., translit=p.g.t.; ua, селище міського типу, translit=selyshche mis'koho typu, ab ...
Yangi Margilan
Yangi Margilan ( uz, Yangi Margʻilon/Янги Марғилон, russian: Янги Маргилан) is an urban-type settlement in Fergana Region, Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is part of the city Margilan
Margilan ( uz, Marg‘ilon/Марғ ...
.
It is located at latitude 40°28' 16 N: longitude 71°43' 29 E. at an altitude of 487 meters.
In the south of the Fergana Valley lies Margilan, at the crossing of trade caravans from China to the west and vice versa, in a picturesque square. Margilan's root is in close association with the Silk Road opening. While it is not considered the birth of a city on this old caravan road, the Silk Road definitely made the center of silk and the head keeper of its secrets for Margilan. Margilio was renowned for their silk goods from far west to far east as far back as the 10th century – the largest city in the Ferghana Valle
According to European legend, Margilan was founded by
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
. On a lunch stop, he was given chicken (''murgh''; in fa, مرغ) and bread (''nan''; in Persian: ), from which the town took its name. More reliable records indicate that Margilan was an important stop on the
Silk Road
The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and reli ...
by the 9th century AD, along the route going across the
Alay Mountains
The Alay or Alai Range ( ky, Алай тоо кыркасы; russian: Алайский хребет) is a mountain range that extends from the Tien Shan mountain range in Kyrgyzstan west into Tajikistan. It is part of the Pamir-Alay mountain syst ...
to
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
.
Writing in the early 16th century, the founder of the
Mughal dynasty,
Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
, mentioned that “the
pomegranate
The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall.
The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...
s and apricots are superb .... the game in Margilan is good; white deer may be found nearby. The people are
Sart
Sart is a name for the settled inhabitants of Central Asia which has had shifting meanings over the centuries.
Origin
There are several theories about the origin of the term. It may be derived from the Sanskrit ''sārthavāha'' "merchant, t ...
s. They are a feisty people, ready with their fists. The custom of
exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
is widespread throughout
Transoxiana
Transoxiana or Transoxania (Land beyond the Oxus) is the Latin name for a region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to modern-day eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...
, and most of the renowned exorcists of
Samarkand
fa, سمرقند
, native_name_lang =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from the top:Registan square, Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, Bibi-Khanym Mosque, view inside Shah-i-Zinda, ...
and
Bukhara
Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region.
People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...
are Margilanis. The author of the ''
Hidaya
Hidaayah ( ar, هداية, ''Hidaayah '' ) is an Arabic word meaning "guidance". According to Islamic belief, guidance has been provided by Allah to humans primarily in the form of the Qur'an. Not only through the Quran, but Hidayah, or guidance, ...
'' (
Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani
Burhān al-Dīn Abu’l-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Abī Bakr bin ‘Abd al-Jalīl al-Farghānī al-Marghīnānī ( ar, برهان الدين المرغيناني) was an Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. He was born in Marghinan nea ...
) was from a Margilan village called
Rishtan
Rishton ( uz, Rishton, tg, Рештон, russian: Риштан, alternative spellings ''Rishtan'', ''Rishdan'', ''Roshidon'', previously called also ''Kyubishev'' by Russians) is a city in Fergana Region, in Uzbekistan. It is the administrative ...
”. This reputation for toughness extends to modern times. Margilan merchants were key players in Central Asian commerce, and were said to be a law unto themselves during
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
days, when Margilan was the heart of Uzbekistan’s
black market
A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...
. Margilan today is also a stronghold of conservative
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
.
Economy
The town is the location of Uzbekistan’s largest traditional
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
factory, the Yodgorlik Silk Factory. Employing over 2,000 workers, everything is done in the traditional manner, for an annual output of some 250,000 square meters of highly premium silk cloth
The neighboring Margilan Silk Factory employs 15,000 workers using modern machinery, and produces some 22 million square meters per year. It is uncertain when the secrets of silk production came to the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
, but certainly, Margilan has been active in the industry since ancient times.
Main sites
Yodgorlik Silk Factory
Established in 1983 in an attempt to preserve traditional
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
weaving techniques in the face of industrialisation, the Yodgorlik Silk Factory focuses on producing high quality handmade goods. It employs over 200 workers, and the full production process takes place in the factory, from the feeding of
silk worms
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically im ...
with
mulberry
''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...
leaves, to dyeing the silks with natural mineral and vegetable dyes, to weaving the silk. The factory is open to the public for guided tours, enabling tourists to learn about Margilan’s traditional silk weaving industry.
Margilan Silk Factory
Margilan Silk Factory is a huge, state-run facility for industrial silk production. At its peak, it employed 15,000 workers, who produced up to 22 million square metres of silk each year.
It is still possible to visit.
The Kuntepa Bazaar
Kuntepa Bazaar is one of the most vibrant markets in Central Asia. It takes place on Sundays and Thursdays in a location 5km west of the city centre. It is a good place to buy textiles, fresh produce, and household goods.
Toron Mosque
Toron Mosque is just north of Margilan’s Central Bazaar. It was founded in the 19th century by Said Akhmad Khodjaev, a wealthy philanthropist and advisor to the tsarist administration who fled to Margilan during the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
.
In the 20th century, the building was used as a jail and then became an office. It now houses the Margilan Crafts Development Centre, which preserves traditional atlas and adras textile making technologies.
Istirokhat Bogi
Margilan’s largest and most attractive park is the Istirokhat Bogi. It is well laid out with paths, lawns, and trees, and is popular with local families.
Khonakhan Mosque
The
Khonakhan Mosque
Khonakhan Mosque is a mosque in Margilan, Fergana Region, Uzbekistan.
See also
* Islam in Uzbekistan
Mosques in Uzbekistan
{{Uzbekistan-mosque-stub ...
(also known as the Khonaqoh Mosque) was built in the 16th century and has been renovated by the Ministry of Culture. The mosque has two impressive minarets, each 26m high, and original carved wooden pillars made from cedarwood by master craftsmen in Margilan.
The carved wooden ceiling and chandelier hanging below the mosque’s dome are also attractive.
![Khonakhan Mosque](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Khonakhan_Mosque.jpg)
*Said Akhmad Khodja Madrasseh – functioning 19th century school
* A statue honoring ill-fated Uzbek dancer
Nurkhon Yuldasheva
Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva ( uz, Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva, often anglicized as ''Nurkhon Yuldasheva'') was one of the first Uzbek women to dance onstage without a paranja Paranja, veil. She was born in 1913 in Margilan, a city in Fergana Province ...
was built and placed in Margilan in
Soviet times
The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...
, but it was taken down shortly after the distestablishment of the
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
in 1991.
[Colin Thubron, ''The Lost Heart of Asia''. Vintage Books. 1994]
See also
*
Nurkhon Yuldasheva
Nurkhon Yuldashkhojayeva ( uz, Nurxon Yoʻldoshxoʻjayeva, often anglicized as ''Nurkhon Yuldasheva'') was one of the first Uzbek women to dance onstage without a paranja Paranja, veil. She was born in 1913 in Margilan, a city in Fergana Province ...
References
{{Authority control
Populated places in Fergana Region
Cities in Uzbekistan