Bukhara as a Centre of Learning in the Samanid Era and Its Significance for the Knowledge Society of New Uzbekistan

This paper examines Bukhara in the 9th–10th centuries, when the city became the capital of the Samanid state and one of the leading intellectual centres of the Muslim East. On the basis of historical sources and modern research, it analyses the institutional foundations of Bukhara's scholarly life – state patronage, the court library, the culture of the written word and the coexistence of Arabic and New Persian learning. The paper argues that the Samanid experience of combining political stability, respect for scholars and open access to knowledge has practical significance for the education and science policy of New Uzbekistan and for the upbringing of young people in the spirit of historical memory.