Uzbekistan | Bukhara | Abdullah Khan Tim | Carpets

I left the northern entrance to Tok-i-Tilpak Furushon and proceeded along Shah Restan Street 430 feet to the entrance of the Abdullah Khan Tim on the right. While a trading bazaars with several entrances, like Trade Dome #1 and Trade Dome #2, are called tok, a trade arcade with only one entrance is known as a tim. At one time there were at least six tim on this street, plus numerous other bazaars and caravanserais. The Abdullah Khan Tim, the only one now remaining, was built in 1577 by the Shaybinid Abdullah Khan. Once it was one of Bukhara’s most upscale trading venues, specializing in high-quality silk and wool goods. At least fifty small trading booths, many manned by Afghani traders, lined the interior. The entire tim now serves as a spacious carpet store.

Shah Restan Street, with the entrance to the Abdullah Khan Tim right of center and the Tok-i-Tilpak Furushon (Trade Dome #2) just visible at the end of the street (see Enlargement). 

Entrance to Abdullah Khan Tim

Interior of Abdullah Khan Tim (see Enlargement)

Once Bukhara was known the length and breath of the Silk Road for its carpets, and the very term Bukharan Carpet eventually became synonymous with a high-quality—or at least pretending to be high quality—carpet made anywhere in Inner Asia. Now most carpets sold in Bukhara are machine-made in China. Yet the better stores like the Abdullah Khan Tim still stock a few carpets handmade in Bukhara, usually in their own workshops. These are instantly recognizable by anyone with even a modicum of knowledge about carpets.  

Bukharan Carpets in the Abdullah Khan Tim

Bukharan Carpets (see Enlargement)

Bukharan Carpets (see Enlargement)

 Detail of Bukharan Carpet (see Enlargement)

 Bukharan Carpets (see Enlargement)

  Detail of Bukharan Carpet (see Enlargement)