On August 25, as part of the International Media Forum “Islamic Civilization: New Perspective — New Discoveries,” the book-album "Masterpieces of Oriental Miniature: Great Figures in the History of Uzbekistan" was presented.
This publication was published in cooperation with the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan and the Turkish publishing house "Mega Basim."
The book includes about 300 color miniatures from the 13th–18th centuries, depicting more than 80 rulers, princes, and queens, as well as more than 20 poets, scholars, thinkers, and artists. Miniatures were taken from manuscripts stored in museum and library collections in various countries.
During the presentation, Hasanbey Kondu, Chairman of the Board of Mega Basim Publishing House, spoke about the book-album, stating in particular:
— For this magnificent book-album, I want to express my gratitude, first of all, to your esteemed President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Firdavs Abdukhalikov, who worked on the book for 24 hours, if necessary. The book is truly magnificent and important. More than 300 miniatures depict great figures from the history of Uzbekistan. Today at the forum, I see that young researchers, scientists, and media representatives are showing great interest in the book.
After that, a video showing the printing process of the book-album at the Mega Basim publishing house was shown.
Special gift edition: "Diary of Ruy González de Clavijo's journey to Samarkand - the palace of Amir Temur"
The media forum also featured a presentation of the diary of the Spanish ambassador's trip to Samarkand—the Temur Palace—published jointly by WOSCU and the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan. The President of the "Kulturalis" publishing house in Spain, Charlotte Kramer, participated in it with a report on how Clavijo saw the Samarkand of the great Amir Temur.
It is noted that this work is a unique testimony of a contemporary who visited the capital of Sahibkiran's empire, and it provides detailed information about the state administration, palace life, diplomatic relations, architecture and daily life of Samarkand in the early 15th century. Therefore, Clavijo's work is recognized as one of the most valuable European sources on the history of the era of Amir Temur.
During a short period in the capital of Amir Temur's empire, Clavijo gathered a large amount of information about the nature, population, political system, palace customs, economy, diplomatic relations, and military structure of Mawarannahr. He recorded in detail in his diary all the events he witnessed during his stay in Central Asia. The detail of these observations made Clavijo's work one of the most important European sources on the history of the era of Amir Temur and international relations at the beginning of the 15th century," said Charlotte Kramer.
The gift album includes excerpts from Don Ruy González de Clavijo's "Diary of a Journey to Samarkand – the Palace of Amir Temur." By reading them, one can form a certain idea of the atmosphere of that time, the characteristics of the era of Amir Temur, the courage and human qualities of Sahibkiran, and his status as a head of state.