The history of Bukhara Called the Ark Golden age of the Samanids

Golden age of the Samanids
During the golden age of the Samanids, Bukhara became the intellectual center of the Islamic world and therefore, at that time, of the world itself. Many illustrious scholars penned their treatises here. Muhammad al-Bukhari, a prominent Islamic scholar who gathered the authentic sayings (hadiths) of the Prophet Muhammad, was born in this city. During this time[which? Bukhara was by far the largest city in Central Asia and it was one of the biggest and most populated cities (having a population of over 300,000) in the world along with Córdoba, Cairo and Baghdad. The city was also a center of Sufi Islam, most notably the Naqshbandi Order. In 999 AD the Samanids were toppled by theKarakhanid Turkic dynasty. Later, Bukhara became part of the kingdom of Khwarazm Shahs, who incurred the wrath of the Mongols by killing their ambassador, and in 1220 the city was leveled by Genghis Khan. The city slowly recovered, and was part of first the Chaghatay Khanate, then the Timurid Empire. Ibn Hawqal gives a detailed account of the chief canals which, starting from the left bank of the Sughd river, watered Bukhara and the gardens in the plain around the city.