Hirayama Ikuo said, "Samarkand lies at the crossroads of East-West cultural exchanges since ancient times. The first Scythian nomads lived here. In the 4th century B.C., Alexander the Great ruled over Samarkand during his Eastern Expedition to India. There are also the fortresses of the Bactrian Dynasty. The Kushan Dynasty also ruled Central Asia, and ancient Persian culture in the South was introduced here. Timur pacifies Central Asia, where many Islamic temples were built, and the prosperity of that time is beyond our imagination.