Rabati Malik caravanserai

For centuries, the road between Samarkand and Bukhara was one of the busiest stretches of the Silk Road. Caravans of camels carried silk, cotton, spices, metalwork and slaves across the dry steppe of the Malik desert. Along the way, caravanserais (rabats) offered shelter, water, food and protection to merchants and their animals.

Rabati Malik, the "royal rabat", was not an ordinary inn. It was built around 1078–1079 by Shams al-Mulk Nasr, ruler of the Karakhanid dynasty, who governed from Bukhara and Samarkand. It probably served both as a caravanserai and as a residence for the ruler when he travelled or hunted in the steppe.

Originally, Rabati Malik was a large, square fortress-like building, with thick walls reinforced by rows of semi-circular buttresses, giving a "corrugated" appearance, and towers at the corners. Inside, rooms were arranged around a central courtyard, with halls, living quarters and stables. It must have been an impressive sight for travellers arriving from the desert, a sign of the wealth and power of the ruler who built it.

Over the centuries the building decayed. By the 20th century, only the portal and parts of the walls survived; much of the rest was dismantled or eroded. Archaeologists have excavated the site and traced the layout of the courtyard and rooms, which can be seen at ground level behind the portal.

The surviving entrance portal is one of the finest examples of Karakhanid architecture in Uzbekistan. It is built of fired brick and decorated with carved terracotta and brick patterns: geometric motifs, rosettes and bands of inscriptions in Kufic script. The deep arch framed the gate, and the fine detail shows the skill of 11th-century builders, before the coloured tiles that later decorated Timurid monuments.

The portal was restored in the 20th century. Rabati Malik is on Uzbekistan’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage, as part of the Silk Road sites.

Across the road from the portal stands a sardoba, a domed water cistern. Water was precious on this route: the cistern collected water from an underground channel (or from rain and melt water) and stored it underground, protected from the sun and evaporation by a brick dome. Steps lead down to the water level. Sardobas like this one were built along caravan routes across the steppes of Bukhara and Navoi.

The Rabati Malik sardoba is usually dated to the same period as the caravanserai or later, and was restored. It is easy to miss: ask your driver to stop and walk across the road carefully, as traffic on the highway is fast.

Location: beside the main highway between Navoi and Bukhara, roughly 20 km west of Navoi, in the Malik steppe.

Tickets: there may be a small entrance fee for the portal and excavated area.

Time needed: 20–30 minutes.

Tips: stop on the way between Samarkand and Bukhara by car; the site is on the main road and easy to reach. Combine with the Sarmishsay petroglyphs if you leave early, or with lunch in Navoi. The light is best in the morning, when the sun lights the portal. There is little shade.

If you travel between Samarkand and Bukhara by train, you will pass close but not stop; to see Rabati Malik, take the road with a private driver. See our transfer service for cars between the cities.