Termez Archeological Museum gallery of stone architecture with objects from Ancient Bactria and the period of Alexander the Great.

Upon finally entering the Surkhadarya region of Uzbekistan, the air is noticeably warmer and the wheat-fields are a sea of gold.  Here the harvest comes a full month before the rest of Uzbekistan.

To the west lies Turkmenistan and to the east, Tajikistan. Abror, my driver, maintains a course due south for Termez. Pine trees fringe  the road and the carnations and wild roses are in full bloom.  

Termez, located on the banks of the Oxus River between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan has attracted a veritable who’s who of history through its gates. Hakimai-Tirimizi, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Amir Timur and Prince Babur have all passed through Termez, leaving their stamp on the city often referred to as the “Motherload of Antiquities”.  

Considered the crossing point into northern Bactria and the Hindu Kush since time immemorial, Termez is also recognized as the capital of the Greco-Bactrian Empire. Later, when the Kushan Empire solidified, trade between the Indus and Oxus rivers increased and the Silk Road’s traffic through Termez became greater than ever.  

Before departing Tashkent for this trip, I pay a visit to Mr. Alisher Shamsiev, deputy chairman for international relations with Uzbektourism, the government’s department of tourism. He introduced me to Professor Zia Ul-Haq, who has spent more than 20 years traveling the Silk Road researching the origins of Buddhism in Central Asia, a contact that proved most valuable.  

“The treasure trove of Buddhism in Uzbekistan is in the valley of Surkhadarya region,” Professor Zia explains. “Buddhism in these parts was influenced from the northern parts of India, present day Peshawar, then known as Gandhara.”

“[Termez] was an important Transoxian city of the Bactrian Kingdom constructed at a strategic point,” Professor Zia continues. “If you look at the geographical situation, right at the point where the Oxus [Amu Dayra] River is very narrow, this is the gateway to India. All the armies from the north invaded from here. The mughals started in the Ferghana Valley and passed here, the Aryans also entered at this point.”  

It is Wednesday, and Muslims from all over Central Asia are making the pilgrimage to the mausoleum of Hakimai-Tirimizi, an important Islamic holy site. Tirimizi, a famous Sufi dervish and saint of Termez, was also the author of a number of compositions of mystic philosophy and was the founder of the dervish order. “Hakimi” is considered one of the 12 sects of mysticism.  

With the banks of the Oxus River as a background, I was shooting photographs of an imam and his young followers when suddenly I was invited by a group of men to sit at their chaikhana (tea house) for some tea. The head of the clan, wearing a baby blue jacket, a white turban and proudly sporting a long, snow-white beard, said that his family had made the pilgrimage from Sherobod, several hours drive away. There were 47 members in his family and they had brought a sheep to be sacrificed and cooked into a plov (a local stew) in the communal kitchen. I called over Abror and we stayed with the family enjoying the food and the warm hospitality of the Uzbek people.  

Interestingly, it is not only Muslim pilgrims that flock to Termez to worship; it also attracts also large number of Buddhist pilgrims, drawn to Termez’s ancient monasteries and stupas of Fayaz Tepe and Kara Tepe, both of which are considered holy sites.  

“The Buddhist monasteries of Fazy Tepe and Kara Tepe have recently been re-excavated and undergone a lot of restoration work,” Professor Zia informs me.

The site of Kara Tepe is under a restricted radar station and can be accessed only with special permission from the Tashkent Foreign Ministry. I was denied access.   Once, monks wishing to find spiritual awareness could look out over a vast delta at the Hindu Kush and Oxus River. Now, razor wire and electric fences, minefields and of course, a river patrol greet the eye. Welcome to Uzbekistan’s front line of defence against al-Qaeda and militant Islamic extremists from bordering Afghanistan.  

Considered by most experts as the finest and most unique museum in all of Central Asia, the Termez Archaeological Museum is alone worth the entire trip. The amount of information the museum contains is incredible to say the least. You could spend days inside the museum and still find something new to capture your imagination. There are nine main halls and a gallery of stone architecture, a library of thousands of volumes of ancient maps and books. And in the basement a heavily guarded bank full of coins and other prized antiquities from the Hellenistic period. A large relief map of the Surkhadarya region shows reference points to the different periods of history in the region.  

Guiding me through the museum is director Ismoil Botirov who has served his post proudly for eight years now. His enthusiasm is contagious as he leads me to the Stone Age display in the first hall, then through the separate halls of other periods: Bronze, Ancient Bactria, Northern Bactria in the period of Alexander the Great and Hellenic States, Kushan Epoch, Early Middle Ages, Amir Timur and Timurids Epoch, and Khanates Epoch. Coins, textiles, statues and tools add life and color to the museum.  

“Predominately a Turkic people, the Uzbeks have been significantly influenced through the immigration of both Mongol and Persian races,” Botirov says.  “However, the invasion of Mongol troops under the authority of Genghis Khan inflicted enormous damage on the city of Termez.”  

For my last night in Termez, Abror guided me to a local restaurant. There the hostess, smiling with a mouth full of gold-capped teeth, escorts us to a dense grove of pine trees where a chaikhana full of carpets and blankets stands in peaceful solitude.

A pot of black tea and still hot, round bread, baked like a wheel, was brought out.   

With the wind rustling the branches of the pine trees it is cold eating out under the stars. Smoke billows from the brazier like a fog through the night air. We relaxed quietly, each absorbed in our own thoughts by the light of torches, much like the caravans following the Silk Road must have done centuries ago.

For the historian, aficionado of Islamic and Buddhist architecture, student of culture and passionate explorer, Uzbekistan offers a splendid experience of the fabled Silk Road and the ancient cities along its sprawling paths.  

— Photos by Robert Davis

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