Zindan

All ancient tales, legends and fairy tales about the East are inextricably linked with love, rulers, zindans and executioners. One of the most ancient and famous zindans of Central Asia, which today is a landmark of the city, is located near the Ark Citadel in Bukhara. 

Zindan has been known since the Middle Ages as the emir's prison. Zindans were built in every major city and had the appearance of an underground prison, where people were thrown for offenses ranging from theft and non-fulfillment of their Muslim duties to murderers and rapists. Also in Zindan, people were waiting for the execution or the verdict of the court. 

Bukhara Zindan was built during the rule of the Bukhara Emirate by the Mangit dynasty, which dominated here from the XVIII to the beginning of the XX century. The largest Zindan of the Bukhara Emirate functioned from the XVIII century until the Bukhara Revolution, after which the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic was formed, and Zindan remained only a landmark of the city, which was overgrown with numerous legends. 

Zindan was built 100 meters from the Ark fortress of ceramic bricks, surrounded by high walls. The entrance to the territory of the Emir's prison is through a wooden gate. Traditionally, zindan consisted of two parts: “Zindani bolo”, which translates from Tajik as “Upper prison” and “Zindani poen”, which means “Lower prison”. The first part of it, the upper part, is the chambers located on the ground on the sides of a long corridor. There were 12 rooms in total for the detention of criminals. These rooms were united by a large courtyard, where criminals, shackled, were taken for a walk twice a month. Most often, the criminals were barefoot in any weather. 

The lower prison is the same zindan from fairy tales and legends, which was called Kanakhona by the people. The Zindan was a niche in the ground, which was covered with a lattice from above. The diameter of this basement was about 5 meters, and its depth was more than 6 meters. Criminals were lowered here on a special rope. The meager food, which consisted of stale bread and water from the nearest khauz (water reservoir), was also lowered here on a rope. The zindans were not heated, so in cold weather the prisoners were forced to make a fire themselves. The hostages of the prison most often did not know for how long they were in this terrible imprisonment. Here, relatives of prisoners exerted a great influence, who tried to pay a ransom for a family member or pay for the damage that was inflicted. There were also frequent cases of bribing kaziyes (judges) and prison chiefs for the release of prisoners by his relatives. At the same time, up to 40 people could be placed in Zindan, and most often rebels, robbers, opponents of the government and murderers got into prisons. 

The most famous foreign prisoners of Bukhara Zindan were British Army Captain Arthur Conolly and British Army Colonel Charles Stoddart. It is not known for certain why they were put in prison, however, it is known that the British side refused to rescue them and later both were executed on the Bukhara Registan Square. 

Today Bukhara Zindan is included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is one of the attractions of the city.