Ulugh Beg Observatory
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The story of Ulugh Beg Observatory
Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand is remembered for the huge astronomical instrument built into its cylindrical core: the sextant sat in the middle of a brick building 46 meters across, with a radius of 40.04 meters, making it the largest astronomical instrument in the world at the time.
It was founded by Ulugh Beg in the 1420s, under the Timurid Empire. Ulugh Beg was the ruler of Samarkand in the 15th century AD, and he was known for mathematics and astronomy as well as for teaching astronomers including Ali Qushji. The observatory belonged to a school of astronomy that was the last of its kind from the Islamic Medieval period.
Ulugh Beg’s name is attached to both the building and the famous Zij-i Sulṭānī, published in 1437. That work was written in Persian and listed around 1,000 stars. It followed Ptolemaic work and did not suggest any changes in the planetary model. Islamic astronomers associated with the observatory include Jamshid al-Kashi, Ali Qushji, and Ulugh Beg himself.
The building stood on a hill 21 meters above the ground. Its form is described as cylindrical, with a height of 30 to 33 meters, and it was made of brick. The observatory is identified as Timurid architecture, with three floors. Qazizada-I Rumi was asked to find an experienced architect, and he recommended Kashani, a mathematician and architect.
The observatory was destroyed in 1449, and it was rediscovered in 1908. Today it is part of Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures, and it is also listed as an object of tangible cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. Britannica describes it as an astronomical observatory in modern day Samarkand, Uzbekistan, built in the 1420s by the Timurid astronomer Ulugh Beg.
When you visit the site, the most striking thing to look for is the surviving trace of the great measuring instrument, because the observatory was designed around that central sextant rather than as a conventional palace or temple-like building. The surviving remains connect Samarkand to a period when courtly patronage, teaching, and astronomical measurement were closely linked in one place.