There is almost no honest information about Samarkand online: search results are filled with sites that confuse Samarkand with Samara and offer «state-supported cremation», which does not exist in Uzbekistan. Here is the real picture: tariffs, market prices, and how a Samarkand funeral differs from a Tashkent one.
The overall level. Samarkand runs roughly 20–30% below Tashkent across all services. The main reason is not tariffs — those are similar — but that the mahalla is stronger here: washing, plov, chairs, awning, dishes and hands come from the community rather than being bought. That removes millions from the estimate.
The official part is the same nationwide. Death registration — a state fee of about 15,300 UZS. A plot is free by law. Cemetery work tariffs are approved by the regional mayor; Samarkand does not publish them as widely as Tashkent, so treat the capital's order as the upper bound of normal: 60,000–150,000 UZS for grave digging. Asking for the tariff at the cemetery is your right.
Samarkand cemeteries. The city cemetery and the Siab district plots are the main Muslim grounds. Separately there are historic confessional necropolises: the old Jewish cemetery of the Bukharian community and the Polish Catholic cemetery — both matter to the diaspora and both follow their own approval procedures. Shah-i-Zinda is a heritage necropolis; no new burials take place there.
Real figures by rite. Muslim rite with the mahalla handling washing and preparation: kafan 150,000–500,000 UZS, grave digging 200,000–500,000, in-city transport 300,000–800,000. The burial itself lands at 1.5–2.5 million. Add roughly 700,000–800,000 if a specialist is hired for the ghusl.
Christian and Jewish rites. A coffin in Samarkand starts around 900,000 UZS for a standard model, 2.5–3 million mid-range. Wooden cross from 100,000, cemetery cross from 400,000. In the Bukharian Jewish community, preparation (tahara) and burial are handled by the community and are generally not a commercial service — costs shift towards the matzevah and subsequent plot care.
The wake. Samarkand stays closer to tradition than the capital: plov in a mahalla toykhana or courtyard is the norm, not a compromise. Restaurant format runs 90,000–140,000 UZS per head, noticeably below Tashkent's 150,000–190,000. Fifty guests in a restaurant — 4.5–7 million; the same meal via the mahalla — 1.5–2.5 million.
The 2026 bottom line for Samarkand. Modest Muslim format with plov in the mahalla: 3–5 million UZS. Mid-range with a restaurant for 50: 7–11 million. Christian rite with a standard coffin and a meal for 40: 6–10 million. The state benefit of about 2,016,000 UZS covers a substantial share of the modest format.