Faizullah Khojayev House Museum .
How did the rich live in old Bukhara? A good place to find an answer is the house of Faizullah Khodjaev, which is now a museum.
Faizullah Khoiayev (1896-1938) is a famous Bukharian politician. He began his political career with the Jadidists and later was attracted to Bolsheviks,
though seeing them as the only hope of overthrowing the carist regime. He became president of the Council of Peoople’s Comissars of the Soviet
Uzbekistan and pursued policy of greater independence for the people of Turkestan.
Fayzullo Khodjaev’s Museum House, which is located in Goziyon neighborhood, the old section of the city, is a wonderful example of the
19th – century residential architecture. The house belonged to Fayzullo Khojaev’s father Ubaydullokhoja, who was a rich merchant traded in karakul
pelt in Russia, Germany and other countries.
The total area of the building is three hectares. It consists of a household section and havli darun, inside, female area and havli berun, external, male
area. The balconies, reception and living rooms of the house demonstrate splendid examples of woodcarving and wall painting. Like other rich houses,
it’s built around three courtyards: the sais-khanah, or stable; the tashkari, for visitors; and the ichkari, for the family. The pictures here are of the rooms
around the ichkari.
The house-museum has the following exhibitions: the ethnographic exhibition, featuring rich merchants’ life of the 19th- 20th centuries,
exhibition devoted to the life of Fayzullo Khodjaev, and the “Kitchen of a Wealthy Merchant’s House” exhibition.
The exhibits of special interest are the crockery items (19th c.) made in the Gardner and Kuznetsov Russian factories, oriental musical
instruments of the 19th century, the silk and velvet clothes of the Bukharans of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and the
19th -20th – century silver -and copperware of everyday use.
