Varakhsha
Appearance
![]() Ruins of Varakhsha | |
Alternative name | Varakhsha |
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Location | Uzbekistan |
Coordinates | 39°51′49″N 64°04′23″E / 39.86361°N 64.07306°E |
Type | Settlement |
Site notes | |
Condition | Ruined |
Varakhsha, also Varasha or Varahsha, was an ancient city in the Bukhara oasis in Sogdia, founded in the 1st century BCE.[1] It is located 39 kilometers to the northwest of Bukhara. Varakhsha was the capital of the Sogdian dynasty of the kings of Bukhara, the Bukhar Khudahs.[1][2] It ultimately never recovered from the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana.
Murals
[edit]Beautiful murals have been recovered from the palace area, dated to the 8th century CE.[3][1] They show a king and his retinue riding elephants and fighting tigers and monstruous beasts.[4]
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Varahsha mural from the red room of the Palace. Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan.
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Varahsha, Relief of a hunter, 5th-7th century CE. State Museum of History of Uzbekistan
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Varakhsha high-relief, end of 8th century.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/Wall_Paintings_in_the_Palace_at_Varakhsha.jpg/660px-Wall_Paintings_in_the_Palace_at_Varakhsha.jpg)
References
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Varahsha.
- ^ a b c Azarpay, Guitty; Belenickij, Aleksandr M.; Maršak, Boris Il'ič; Dresden, Mark J. Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art. University of California Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-520-03765-6.
- ^ Starr, S. Frederick (2 June 2015). Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Princeton University Press. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-691-16585-1.
- ^ Azarpay, Guitty; Belenickij, Aleksandr M.; Maršak, Boris Il'ič; Dresden, Mark J. (January 1981). Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art. University of California Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-520-03765-6.
- ^ "A painting on the palace - wall at Varaksha shows a king hunting a tiger riding on elephant back along with his retenue" in Kumāra, Braja Bihārī (2007). India and Central Asia: Classical to Contemporary Periods. Concept Publishing Company. p. 6. ISBN 978-81-8069-457-8.