Varakhsha Settlement

Ancient Bukhara is a treasure trove of architectural monuments and a storehouse of deep history. Every day this city reveals new details of its thousand-year-old past.

For example, scientists from the National Archaeological Center of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, together with scientists from New York University, are conducting research at archaeological and cultural heritage sites in the Varakhshan massif of the Zhondor district of the Bukhara region.

It is here that a unique archaeological monument is located – the ancient settlement of Varakhsha, dating back to the beginning of the 1st millennium AD.

This ancient settlement with a citadel is considered the main residence of the Bukharkhudats, who ruled the territory of the Bukhara oasis even before the arrival of the Arabs to the local lands. The settlement of Varakhsha played an important role in resisting the Arabs, and large and grandiose battles took place near its walls.

A historian wrote about the ancient settlement of Varakhsha in the 10th century. 
Narshahi:

"The residence of the kings was located here, and a fortified fortress was located nearby, because the kings fortified this place several times. The former walls of the village were the same size as the walls of Bukhara. In Varakhsh, there are 12 irrigation ditches (irrigation channels), and the village is located inside the Bukhara wall. There was also a beautiful palace there, the beauty of which is proverbial, it was built by Bukhar-Khudat more than a thousand years ago.

The Varakhshi palace itself is located directly at the southern fortress walls of the settlement, on the western side of the citadel. The palace building was built in the 5th century AD and lasted until the beginning of the 9th century. The palace building consists of large ceremonial halls arranged in a row, richly decorated with picturesque scenes: royal receptions depicting kings and hunting rare animals.

The very first archaeological excavations were carried out in the oasis in the 1930s by archaeologist V. A. Shishkin.

After recent excavations, scientists from Uzbekistan and the United States have discovered more than 100 metal objects made of copper, bronze, silver and lead. Presumably, the objects date back to the XI-XII AD. These items are currently undergoing restoration treatment. In the future, they will be preserved in the laboratory of cultural heritage of Uzbekistan.