Description of the attraction
Medieval Bukhara was a unique city. There were practically no crimes here, so there were only two dungeons within the city walls. One - on the territory of the Ark citadel - was intended for those who were dissatisfied with the policy of the khan, and the second - zindan - was used to contain ordinary mortals, for example, who simply did not come to morning prayer. Such deviation from the laws of Islam in Bukhara was severely punished. In order to highlight the violators of the rules, a special official accompanied by a man armed with a whip was sent on a raid on city mosques from the early morning. If someone was absent from the obligatory morning prayer, as reported by the imam, then the official went to the guilty home and inquired about the reasons for his behavior. Recognizing the reason as disrespectful, the official imposed a punishment - either lashes or imprisonment in zindan.
Bukhara zindan was built near the city gates of Shahristan. It is a building with thick brick walls and an arched passageway to which you need to climb the stairs. Zindan was designed for only 40 prisoners. They didn't keep people in it for a long time. The maximum time that a prisoner spent in this dungeon was 15 days, just before the trial of the emir, which was performed twice a month with a large crowd of people on the main square of Bukhara.
Some criminals, accused of grave crimes, could not stand this term in zindan, but died in special pits with poisonous scorpions. There were also chambers for debtors, a torture chamber and an underground dungeon more than 6 meters deep in the zindan. Zindan has now been turned into a museum.
