Samarkand as a Key Urban Hub of the Silk Road & How the Sogdians Used Wine on the Silk Road (Matsura Sidikova & Nargis Nurulla-Khoja, Silk Road International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, Samarkand)

Mastura Sidikov is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of History and Cultural Heritage at the Silk Road International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Her research encompasses the archaeological and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, with particular focus on the Timurid era, including the significance of the Ulugbek Observatory. She has also contributed scholarship on gastronomy tourism in Uzbekistan, bridging historical legacies with contemporary tourism development.

Nargis Nurulla-Khoja is a culturologist, orientalist, and philosopher who hails from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. She is a professor at the Silk Road International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with a position in philosophy and history. Her research focuses on Central Asian culture and history, exploring cosmopolitanism and cultural identity in historic cities such as Samarkand and Bukhara, and she has published peer-reviewed research on medieval Central Asian intellectual history, including the influence of scholar Ali Qushji.