Skip to content
A Tog's TrekA Tog's Trek
Menu
The carved brick gate of the Rabati Malik caravanserai standing alone against a cloudy sky

Malikrabot

Malikrabot

A Karakhanid caravanserai on the Samarkand to Bukhara road, an 11th-century carved gate standing over low brick foundations, and the domed cistern that kept travellers supplied with water.

Published 2026-04-17 · Updated 2026-11-08

Malikrabot is a roadside stop on the M37 between Samarkand and Bukhara, in Navoi Region, where a Silk Road caravanserai from the late 11th century has been reduced to a single gate and a set of low foundations. Local people took the bricks for their own buildings through the 19th and early 20th centuries, which accounts for most of what is missing. It has been on UNESCO's Tentative List since 2008, and it is worth the stop for the gate alone.

Sights & Culture

Rabati Malik Caravanserai

A caravanserai ruin located on the M37, commissioned by Karakhanid Shams al-Mulk Nasr, son of Tamgachkhan Ibragim, in about 1078. Little but the gate remains whole, the low foundations of the walls can be seen.

Rabati Malik Caravanserai Cistern

Also known as Malik Sardoba. It had a dome with an inner diameter of 13 m and its cistern of the round form in plan was lowered into the ground by 6 m and was a source of clean water for travellers, collecting from underground water sources.