Tradition says Caliph Uthman was killed while reading this Quran; Russia took it as a trophy, and Lenin gave it back

Tradition holds that Caliph Uthman ordered the standard text of the Quran and was killed in 656 while reading one of the copies. UNESCO's register repeats this tradition. Scholars date the large Kufic manuscript kept in Samarkand to the 8th or 9th century, and conclude it is not the copy Uthman was reading. One account says Timur brought it to Samarkand. Another says Naqshbandi disciples of Khoja Ahrar brought it from Istanbul. It was kept in the Khoja Ahrar madrasa. Russian troops took Samarkand in 1868. In 1869 the manuscript was sent to the Imperial Public Library in St Petersburg. Governor-General von Kaufmann reported that the clergy handed it over for 100 roubles. Historians doubt the handover was voluntary. In 1905 about 50 facsimiles were printed, with faded text re-inked, introducing errors. After the October Revolution Muslim organisations petitioned for its return. Lenin approved in December 1917, and it went to Ufa in January 1918. On 25 July 1923 the Soviet executive ordered it returned to the Muslims of Turkestan. It reached Tashkent on 9 August 1923, was taken off display in 1927 and stored in a museum from 1941. In 1989 it was handed to the Muslim spiritual administration. About a third survives in Tashkent. In November 2025 it moved to the new Center for Islamic Civilization, Tashkent.