ABSTRACT
Cheehel-Dookhtaron, meaning 'Forty Maidens', is one of those ancient names which crop up unexpectedly in various parts of Central Asia. It is connected with a very old and rather confused legend about forty beautiful ladies. As the author was once loitering on the Reghistan, in the very centre of Samarcand, the familiar sound of Cheehel-Dookhtaron caught his attention, and upon making inquiries, the author learnt that the spot consecrated to the forty ladies was round the corner. This seemed rather unexpected, as the Reghistan is one of the great arteries of popular life, not at all the sort of half-abandoned, out-of-the-way locality that one would associate with legends. Three sides of it are bounded by three mosques; the history of each of them is well known, and is entirely unconnected with the forty maidens. The fourth is bordered by a row of fruit booths.
