G‘ijduvon

G‘ijduvon (Uzbek: Gʻijduvon, Ғиждувон; Tajik: Гиждувон; Russian: Гиждуван) is a town in the Bukhara Region of Uzbekistan and the capital of G‘ijduvon District (tuman). Its population in 1970 was 16,000.

History

One of the three madrasahs built by Ulugh Beg is in G'ijduvon (the others are in Samarkand and Bukhara). The tomb and memorial of a prominent Central Asian philosopher Abduholik Gijduvoni is also located in G'ijduvon.

Historically, G'ijduvon is used to be an educational, religious, and cultural center for G'ijduvon and the region. However, starting from 1930's the population became increasingly secular and today the religion plays a very minor role in everyday life. Modern G'ijduvon is a commercial center for not only G'ijduvon district but also for neighboring areas.

There remains in G'ijduvon a madrasa with a lofty portal built by Ulugh Beg

Cuisine

G'ijduvon is famous for its local cuisine and is considered to have the best fish frying and shashlik making techniques. Shashlik is beef or lamb marinated overnight and grilled on skewers. Many other restaurants in the country, including those in the capital Tashkent copy G'ijduvon's fish frying technique. The main difference is that in G'ijduvon cooks de-bone the fish before frying while in the rest of the country fish is not de-boned.