The primary attraction of Khast Imom square is this library museum, which houses the 7th-century Osman Quran (Uthman Quran), said to be the world’s oldest. This enormous deerskin tome was brought to Samarkand by Timur, then taken to Moscow by the Russians in 1868 before being returned to Tashkent by Lenin in 1924 as an act of goodwill towards Turkestan’s Muslims. It is Tashkent’s most important sight.
The museum also contains 30 or 40 rare 14th- to 17th-century books among its collection, including one thumb-sized koran in an amulet case. Photos are not allowed. The library is in the southeast of the square, next to the spartan 1856 Telyashayakh Mosque.
