Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi
Encyclopedia
The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is an unfinished
mausoleum
in the city of Turkestan
, in southern Kazakhstan
. The structure was commissioned in 1389 by Timur
, who ruled the area as part of the expansive Mongol Empire
, to replace a smaller 12th-century mausoleum of the famous Turkic
poet and Sufi mystic, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (1093–1166). However, construction was halted with the death of Timur in 1405.
Despite its incomplete state, the mausoleum has survived as one of the best-preserved of all Timurid constructions. Its creation marked the beginning of the Timurid architectural style. The experimental spatial arrangements
, innovative architectural solutions for vault
and dome
constructions, and ornamentations using glazed tiles made the structure the prototype for this distinctive art, which spread across the empire and beyond.
The religious structure continues to draw pilgrims from across Central Asia and has come to epitomize the Kazakh national identity
. It has been protected as a national monument
, while UNESCO
recognized it as the country's first site of patrimony, declaring it a World Heritage Site
in 2003.
The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is situated in the north-eastern part of the modern-day town of Turkestan (formerly known as Hazrat-e Turkestan), an ancient center of caravan
trade known earlier as Khazret and later as Yasi, in the southern part of Kazakhstan. The structure is within the vicinity of a historic citadel
, which is now an archaeological site
.
Remains of medieval structures such as other mausoleums, mosque
s and bath houses
characterize the archaeological area. To the north of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a reconstructed section of the citadel wall from the 1970s separates the historical area from the developments of the modern town.
which began in the 9th century. He was born in Ispidjab (modern Sayram
) in 1093, and spent most of his life in Yasi, dying there in 1166. He is widely revered in Central Asia
and the Turkic-speaking
world for popularizing Sufism, which sustained the diffusion of Islam in the area despite the contemporary onslaught of the Mongol invasion. The theological school he created turned Yasi into the most important medieval enlightening center of the area. He was also an outstanding poet, philosopher and statesman. Yasawi was interred in a small mausoleum, which became a pilgrimage site for Muslim
s.
The town of Yasi was largely spared during the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia
in the 13th century. Overtime, the descendants of the Mongols settled in the area and converted to Islam. The town then came under the control of the Timurid Dynasty
in the 1360s. Timur (Tamerlane), the founder of the dynasty, expanded the empire's realm to include Mesopotamia
, Iran
, and all of Transoxiana
, with its capital located in Samarkand
. To gain the support of local citizens, Timur adopted the policy of constructing monumental public and cult buildings. In Yasi, he put his attention to the construction of a larger mausoleum to house Yasawi's remains, with the intention of glorifying Islam, promoting its further dissemination, and improving the governance of the immediate areas.
The new mausoleum was begun in 1389. Timur imported builders from cities which he laid waste during his campaigns, including mosaic
-workers from Shiraz
and stonemasons and stucco
-workers from Isfahan. The master builders were led by Khwaja Hosein Shirazi from Persia. It was reported that Timur himself participated in the design of the structure, where he introduced experimental spatial arrangements, types of vaults and domes. These new innovations were later implemented in the religious edifices of other cities. However, the mausoleum was left unfinished, when Timur died in 1405.
, which made Yasi, then renamed Turkestan, its capital in the 16th century. The khans (Turkic for "ruler") sought to strengthen the political and religious importance of Turkestan to unify the nomadic tribes within the young state. Hence, as the khanate's political center, ceremonies for the elevation of the khans to the throne and missions from neighboring states were received in Turkestan. The Kazakh nobility also held their most important meetings to decide state-related matters in the capital. The town, situated on the border of the nomadic and settled cultures, flourished as the khanate's largest trade and craft center. Fortifications were erected to safeguard this commercial role, including the 19th-century construction of defensive walls around the unfinished mausoleum, which became an important landmark and pilgrimage center of the town. In the succeeding centuries, Turkestan and its historic monuments became connected with the idea of the Kazakh state system. Political struggles and the shift in overland trade in favor of maritime routes soon led to the town's decline, before it finally passed on to the Russian Empire
in 1864.
The town was eventually deserted; a new town center was developed west the area, built around a new railway station. The territory came under Soviet rule
by the 20th century. The new administration carried out preservation and restoration work on site, although they considered it more as an architectural rather than a spiritual structure. Hence, the mausoleum was closed to the devotees who came to pay homage to Yasawi. Nevertheless, the local khoja based at the mausoleum allowed pilgrims to secretly enter the structure at night. Beginning in 1922, several commissions took part in the technical investigation of the building. Regular maintenance has been in place beginning in 1938, while a series of restoration campaigns were started in 1945, with the last one being held from 1993 to 2000. Among the latest conservation steps implemented were the replacement of the structure's clay foundation with reinforced concrete
, the consolidation of walls, the water-proofing of the roofs, and the layering of new tiles, based on historic designs and patterns, on the domes. The continuous conservation works have been in place when Kazakhstan gained its independence. The building is protected as a national monument and is included on the List of National Properties of Kazakhstan. The site is under the administration of the Azret-Sultan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum, in charge with the safeguarding, research, conservation, monitoring and maintenance of the mausoleum.
The primary material used for the building is ganch—fired brick mixed with mortar
, gypsum and clay
—which was made in a plant located in Sauran. Layers of clay reaching a depth of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), to prevent the water penetration, were used for the original foundation. These were replaced with reinforced concrete in modern restoration works. The main entrance to the mausoleum is from the south-east, through which visitors are ushered into the 18.2 x 18.2-m (59.7 x 59.7-ft) Main Hall, known as Kazandyk (the "copper room"). The section is covered by the largest existing brick dome in Central Asia, also measuring 18.2 m (59.7 ft) in diameter. At the center of the Kazandyk is a bronze
cauldron
, used for religious purposes. The tomb of Yasawi is situated on the central axis at the end of the building in the northwest, with the sarcophagus
located exactly at the center of the section, which has a double dome ribbed roof —the inner dome being 17.0 m (55.8 ft) high and the outer dome being 28.0 m (91.9 ft) high. The dome exterior is covered with hexagonal green glazed tiles with gold patterns. The interior is adorned with alabaster stalactites, known as muqarnas
. Additional rooms in the structure, totaling more than 35, include meeting rooms, a refectory, a library, and a mosque, which had light blue geometric and floral ornaments on its walls. The mausoleum's exterior walls are covered in glazed tiles constituting geometric patterns with Kufic
and Suls epigraphic ornaments derived from the Qur'an
. Initial plans also called for the addition of two minaret
s, but this was not realized when construction was halted in 1405.
, Persian miniature painting
, literature
, and various scientific pursuits, gave birth to a distinct Islamic artistic style, to be known as Timurid.
The spacious structure employed a radially symmetrical plan for spatial arrangement. The visual balance created by the precise construction became a characteristic aesthetic feature of Timurid buildings—one which would famously be adopted by the Mughal Architecture
of India, especially in the gardens and structures of Humayun's Tomb
and Taj Mahal
, both commissioned by descendants of Timur.
The double dome technique executed in the mausoleum made possible the huge domes of the Timurid era. The dome is created by employing a squinch, or corner bracketing, that allows for the transition from a square, octagonal or 16-sided base to a dome top. Indeed, the mausoleum's main dome remains the largest existing brick dome in Central Asia.
The use of glazed tiles, mosaics, patterned brickwork, and Islamic calligraphy was also influential. Advances in pottery
techniques allowed for the mass production of glazed tiles used for various decorative functions. Among the techniques devised for tile decoration are:
The employment of tiles and muqarnas bear strong influence from Persia, where many of Timur's architects were from. The covered surfaces create visual effects based on how the observer would view the building, and "read" the calligraphic messages.
The tile work was also used to obscure the structural joints of the building. The use of turquoise
and azure-blue as the prominent color of choice for many structures were meant to contrast with the bright sunlight of the Central Asian desert.
The mausoleum's construction at a time when many other Central Asian settlements had been experiencing building sprees under Timur's political ideology allowed for the exchange of ideas and techniques across the empire. Master builders and laborers from the conquered cities congregated to build projects. The employment of Persian architects in leading the major construction activities resulted in the introduction of Persian elements in the Timurid style. This and the Timurids’ general patronage of the arts have made them the greatest patrons of Iranian culture.
The landmark architectural and artistic solutions realized in the erection of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi were immediately utilized in other building endeavors, such as contemporary works in Samarkand, Herat
, Meshed, Khargird, Tayabad, Baku
and Tabriz
. It is thought that the peak of Timurid Architecture could be found in the buildings of Samarkand. Timur filled his capital with both secular and religious monuments, as well as a plethora of gardens, which featured stone walls and floors with elaborate patterns and palaces outfitted with gold
, silk
and carpets. Among these are:
The mausoleum is thus seen as a prototype, marking the beginning of a new architectural style, which culminated in the monuments of Samarkand, but was also continuously developed as in the case of India's Mughal Architecture. Indeed, the Timurids’ outstanding achievement in architecture is encapsulated in an Arab proverb from one of Timur's buildings, "If you want to know about us, observe our buildings." It is also for this reason that UNESCO has recognized the mausoleum as a World Heritage Site in 2003, following the same international recognition for the sites of Samarkand, Humayun's Tomb and Taj Mahal.
of the neighboring Uzbek Khanate, stopped at the mausoleum before his battle against Babur
, who would later become the founder of the Mughal Empire
. He swore that if he were to emerge victorious, his rule would fully follow the sharia
law.
Despite the public closure of the monument during the Soviet era, the mausoleum has continued to draw pilgrims once the order was lifted. Up to contemporary times, the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi has remained an object of pilgrimage for Kazakh Muslims. Hence, the town of Turkestan became the second Mecca for the Muslims of Central Asia Indeed, the mausoleum's importance to the town is attested by Turkestan's former name, Hazrat-e Turkestan, which literally means "Saint of Turkestan," a direct reference to Yasawi.
As the capital of the preceding Kazakh Khanate, which saw the emergence of the distinct Kazakh nationality, Turkestan remains the cultural heart of modern Kazakhstan. Being the burial site for the Sufi theologian and the khanate's Kazakh nobility, the mausoleum has further enhanced the town's prestige. The continuance of the Kazakh nation and Central Asian Islamic faith in modern times are testaments to the historical
and cultural importance
of Turkestan, with the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi at its center. Perceived as one of the greatest mausoleums of the Islamic world, it has survived and remains a significant monument both to faith and architectural achievement in the region.
Unfinished building
An unfinished building is a building where construction work was abandoned or on-hold at some stage or only exists as a design...
mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
in the city of Turkestan
Hazrat-e Turkestan
-References:*Hill, John E. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. BookSurge, Charleston, South Carolina. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1.*Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. 1979...
, in southern Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. The structure was commissioned in 1389 by Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
, who ruled the area as part of the expansive Mongol Empire
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
, to replace a smaller 12th-century mausoleum of the famous Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
poet and Sufi mystic, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (1093–1166). However, construction was halted with the death of Timur in 1405.
Despite its incomplete state, the mausoleum has survived as one of the best-preserved of all Timurid constructions. Its creation marked the beginning of the Timurid architectural style. The experimental spatial arrangements
Axial symmetry
Axial symmetry is symmetry around an axis; an object is axially symmetric if its appearance is unchanged if rotated around an axis . For example, a baseball bat or a tea saucer looks the same if it is rotated by any angle about the line passing lengthwise through its center, so it is axially...
, innovative architectural solutions for vault
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
and dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
constructions, and ornamentations using glazed tiles made the structure the prototype for this distinctive art, which spread across the empire and beyond.
The religious structure continues to draw pilgrims from across Central Asia and has come to epitomize the Kazakh national identity
Kazakhs
The Kazakhs are a Turkic people of the northern parts of Central Asia ....
. It has been protected as a national monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
, while UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
recognized it as the country's first site of patrimony, declaring it a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
in 2003.
Location
Camel train
A camel train is a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group as part of a regular or semi-regular service between two points. Although they rarely travelled faster than the walking speed of a man, camels' ability to handle harsh conditions made camel trains a vital part of...
trade known earlier as Khazret and later as Yasi, in the southern part of Kazakhstan. The structure is within the vicinity of a historic citadel
Citadel
A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....
, which is now an archaeological site
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
.
Remains of medieval structures such as other mausoleums, mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and bath houses
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
characterize the archaeological area. To the north of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, a reconstructed section of the citadel wall from the 1970s separates the historical area from the developments of the modern town.
Khoja Ahmed Yasawi
Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (Khawaja or Khwaja (Arabic: خواجة khawājah, Persian: خواجه pronounced khâje) corresponds to "master" in Persian), also spelled as Khoja Akhmet Yassawi, was the 12th-century head of a regional school of Sufism, a mystic movement in IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
which began in the 9th century. He was born in Ispidjab (modern Sayram
Sayram
Sayram is a city located in southeastern South Kazakhstan Province on the Sayram Su River, which rises at the nearby 4000 meter mountain Sayram Su. In medieval times, the city and countryside were located on the banks of the Arys/Ares River, into which the Sayram Su river flows.The city...
) in 1093, and spent most of his life in Yasi, dying there in 1166. He is widely revered in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
and the Turkic-speaking
Turkic languages
The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.Turkic languages are spoken...
world for popularizing Sufism, which sustained the diffusion of Islam in the area despite the contemporary onslaught of the Mongol invasion. The theological school he created turned Yasi into the most important medieval enlightening center of the area. He was also an outstanding poet, philosopher and statesman. Yasawi was interred in a small mausoleum, which became a pilgrimage site for Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s.
New mausoleum
Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia
The Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia from 1219 to 1221 marked the beginning of the Mongol conquest of the Islamic states, in the Mongol expansion would ultimately culminate in the conquest of virtually all of Eurasia, save for Western Europe, Fennoscandia, the Byzantine Empire, Arabia, Indian...
in the 13th century. Overtime, the descendants of the Mongols settled in the area and converted to Islam. The town then came under the control of the Timurid Dynasty
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
in the 1360s. Timur (Tamerlane), the founder of the dynasty, expanded the empire's realm to include Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and all of Transoxiana
Transoxiana
Transoxiana is the ancient name used for the portion of Central Asia corresponding approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, southern Kyrgystan and southwest Kazakhstan. Geographically, it is the region between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers...
, with its capital located in Samarkand
Samarkand
Although a Persian-speaking region, it was not united politically with Iran most of the times between the disintegration of the Seleucid Empire and the Arab conquest . In the 6th century it was within the domain of the Turkic kingdom of the Göktürks.At the start of the 8th century Samarkand came...
. To gain the support of local citizens, Timur adopted the policy of constructing monumental public and cult buildings. In Yasi, he put his attention to the construction of a larger mausoleum to house Yasawi's remains, with the intention of glorifying Islam, promoting its further dissemination, and improving the governance of the immediate areas.
The new mausoleum was begun in 1389. Timur imported builders from cities which he laid waste during his campaigns, including mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
-workers from Shiraz
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
and stonemasons and stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
-workers from Isfahan. The master builders were led by Khwaja Hosein Shirazi from Persia. It was reported that Timur himself participated in the design of the structure, where he introduced experimental spatial arrangements, types of vaults and domes. These new innovations were later implemented in the religious edifices of other cities. However, the mausoleum was left unfinished, when Timur died in 1405.
Decline and preservation
When the Mongol Empire disintegrated, control of the immediate territory passed on to the Kazakh KhanateKazakh Khanate
Kazakh Khanate was a Kazakh state that existed in 1456-1847, located roughly on the territory of present-day Republic of Kazakhstan.-History:...
, which made Yasi, then renamed Turkestan, its capital in the 16th century. The khans (Turkic for "ruler") sought to strengthen the political and religious importance of Turkestan to unify the nomadic tribes within the young state. Hence, as the khanate's political center, ceremonies for the elevation of the khans to the throne and missions from neighboring states were received in Turkestan. The Kazakh nobility also held their most important meetings to decide state-related matters in the capital. The town, situated on the border of the nomadic and settled cultures, flourished as the khanate's largest trade and craft center. Fortifications were erected to safeguard this commercial role, including the 19th-century construction of defensive walls around the unfinished mausoleum, which became an important landmark and pilgrimage center of the town. In the succeeding centuries, Turkestan and its historic monuments became connected with the idea of the Kazakh state system. Political struggles and the shift in overland trade in favor of maritime routes soon led to the town's decline, before it finally passed on to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
in 1864.
The town was eventually deserted; a new town center was developed west the area, built around a new railway station. The territory came under Soviet rule
Soviet Central Asia
Soviet Central Asia refers to the section of Central Asia formerly controlled by the Soviet Union, as well as the time period of Soviet administration . In terms of area, it is nearly synonymous with Russian Turkestan, the name for the region during the Russian Empire...
by the 20th century. The new administration carried out preservation and restoration work on site, although they considered it more as an architectural rather than a spiritual structure. Hence, the mausoleum was closed to the devotees who came to pay homage to Yasawi. Nevertheless, the local khoja based at the mausoleum allowed pilgrims to secretly enter the structure at night. Beginning in 1922, several commissions took part in the technical investigation of the building. Regular maintenance has been in place beginning in 1938, while a series of restoration campaigns were started in 1945, with the last one being held from 1993 to 2000. Among the latest conservation steps implemented were the replacement of the structure's clay foundation with reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
, the consolidation of walls, the water-proofing of the roofs, and the layering of new tiles, based on historic designs and patterns, on the domes. The continuous conservation works have been in place when Kazakhstan gained its independence. The building is protected as a national monument and is included on the List of National Properties of Kazakhstan. The site is under the administration of the Azret-Sultan State Historical and Cultural Reserve Museum, in charge with the safeguarding, research, conservation, monitoring and maintenance of the mausoleum.
Architecture
The unfinished state of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, especially at the entrance portal and sections of the interior, allow for the better architectural scrutiny of how the monument was designed and constructed. The structure is rectangular in plan, measuring 45.8 x 62.7 m (150.3 x 205.7 ft), and is 38.7 m (127.0 ft) high. It is oriented from the south-east to the north-west.Mortar (masonry)
Mortar is a workable paste used to bind construction blocks together and fill the gaps between them. The blocks may be stone, brick, cinder blocks, etc. Mortar becomes hard when it sets, resulting in a rigid aggregate structure. Modern mortars are typically made from a mixture of sand, a binder...
, gypsum and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
—which was made in a plant located in Sauran. Layers of clay reaching a depth of 1.5 m (4.9 ft), to prevent the water penetration, were used for the original foundation. These were replaced with reinforced concrete in modern restoration works. The main entrance to the mausoleum is from the south-east, through which visitors are ushered into the 18.2 x 18.2-m (59.7 x 59.7-ft) Main Hall, known as Kazandyk (the "copper room"). The section is covered by the largest existing brick dome in Central Asia, also measuring 18.2 m (59.7 ft) in diameter. At the center of the Kazandyk is a bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
cauldron
Cauldron
A cauldron or caldron is a large metal pot for cooking and/or boiling over an open fire, with a large mouth and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger.- Etymology :...
, used for religious purposes. The tomb of Yasawi is situated on the central axis at the end of the building in the northwest, with the sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
located exactly at the center of the section, which has a double dome ribbed roof —the inner dome being 17.0 m (55.8 ft) high and the outer dome being 28.0 m (91.9 ft) high. The dome exterior is covered with hexagonal green glazed tiles with gold patterns. The interior is adorned with alabaster stalactites, known as muqarnas
Muqarnas
Muqarnas is a type of corbel used as a decorative device in traditional Islamic architecture. The term is similar to mocárabe, but mocárabe only refers to designs with formations resembling stalactites, by the use of elements known as alveole.Muqarnas takes the form of small pointed niches,...
. Additional rooms in the structure, totaling more than 35, include meeting rooms, a refectory, a library, and a mosque, which had light blue geometric and floral ornaments on its walls. The mausoleum's exterior walls are covered in glazed tiles constituting geometric patterns with Kufic
Kufic
Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. Its name is derived from the city of Kufa, Iraq, although it was known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of Kufa. At the time of the emergence of...
and Suls epigraphic ornaments derived from the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. Initial plans also called for the addition of two minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s, but this was not realized when construction was halted in 1405.
Birth of Timurid Architecture
The construction of the mausoleum provided important advances in building technology, displaying unsurpassed records of all kinds in terms of its vaulted constructions and artistic innovations. The achievements derived from the mausoleum's erection, together with the Timurids’ patronage of music, calligraphyCalligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
, Persian miniature painting
Miniature painting
Miniature painting may refer to:* Miniature * Persian miniature* Ottoman miniature* Portrait miniature* Painting miniature figures used in wargaming or role-playing games...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, and various scientific pursuits, gave birth to a distinct Islamic artistic style, to be known as Timurid.
The spacious structure employed a radially symmetrical plan for spatial arrangement. The visual balance created by the precise construction became a characteristic aesthetic feature of Timurid buildings—one which would famously be adopted by the Mughal Architecture
Mughal architecture
Mughal architecture, an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkish and Indian architecture, is the distinctive style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It is symmetrical and decorative in style.The Mughal dynasty was...
of India, especially in the gardens and structures of Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect...
and Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal is a white Marble mausoleum located in Agra, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal...
, both commissioned by descendants of Timur.
The double dome technique executed in the mausoleum made possible the huge domes of the Timurid era. The dome is created by employing a squinch, or corner bracketing, that allows for the transition from a square, octagonal or 16-sided base to a dome top. Indeed, the mausoleum's main dome remains the largest existing brick dome in Central Asia.
The use of glazed tiles, mosaics, patterned brickwork, and Islamic calligraphy was also influential. Advances in pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
techniques allowed for the mass production of glazed tiles used for various decorative functions. Among the techniques devised for tile decoration are:
- Banna’i technique: the "builder's technique," consists of revetment of glazed bricks set within unglazed ones to form geometric patterns
- Haftrangi: a technique that permits the creation of multi-colored patterns on the same tile before firing without letting the colors mix together
- Faience: a patterned arrangement of closely fitted small pieces of tiles which have surface glaze of different colors
The employment of tiles and muqarnas bear strong influence from Persia, where many of Timur's architects were from. The covered surfaces create visual effects based on how the observer would view the building, and "read" the calligraphic messages.
The tile work was also used to obscure the structural joints of the building. The use of turquoise
Turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
and azure-blue as the prominent color of choice for many structures were meant to contrast with the bright sunlight of the Central Asian desert.
The mausoleum's construction at a time when many other Central Asian settlements had been experiencing building sprees under Timur's political ideology allowed for the exchange of ideas and techniques across the empire. Master builders and laborers from the conquered cities congregated to build projects. The employment of Persian architects in leading the major construction activities resulted in the introduction of Persian elements in the Timurid style. This and the Timurids’ general patronage of the arts have made them the greatest patrons of Iranian culture.
The landmark architectural and artistic solutions realized in the erection of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi were immediately utilized in other building endeavors, such as contemporary works in Samarkand, Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
, Meshed, Khargird, Tayabad, Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
and Tabriz
Tabriz
Tabriz is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former...
. It is thought that the peak of Timurid Architecture could be found in the buildings of Samarkand. Timur filled his capital with both secular and religious monuments, as well as a plethora of gardens, which featured stone walls and floors with elaborate patterns and palaces outfitted with gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
and carpets. Among these are:
- Bibi-Khanum MosqueBibi-Khanym MosqueBibi-Khanym Mosque is a famous historical Friday mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, whose name comes from the wife of 14th-century ruler, Amir Timur.-Features:...
: the world's largest mosque when it was completed in 1404; it displays Timur's concern for monumental effect and theatrical arrangement - Gur-i-Amir MausoleumGur-e AmirThe Gūr-e Amīr or Guri Amir is a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Tamerlane in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in...
: the burial place of Timur; it contains a double shell dome for the achievement of a vertical effect - Shah-i Zinda ComplexShah-i-ZindaShah-i-Zinda is a necropolis in the north-eastern part of Samarkand, Uzbekistan.The Shah-i-Zinda Ensemble includes mausoleums and other ritual buildings of 9-14th and 19th centuries. The name Shah-i-Zinda is connected with the legend that Kusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad was...
: a funerary complex presenting the pinnacle of every tile technique known to the Timurids - RegistanRegistanThe Registan was the heart of the ancient city of Samarkand, now in Uzbekistan. The name Registan means "Sandy place" in Persian....
: considered the pinnacle of Timurid architecture; a broad plaza fronted by the towering edifices of three madrassas (Islamic schools)
The mausoleum is thus seen as a prototype, marking the beginning of a new architectural style, which culminated in the monuments of Samarkand, but was also continuously developed as in the case of India's Mughal Architecture. Indeed, the Timurids’ outstanding achievement in architecture is encapsulated in an Arab proverb from one of Timur's buildings, "If you want to know about us, observe our buildings." It is also for this reason that UNESCO has recognized the mausoleum as a World Heritage Site in 2003, following the same international recognition for the sites of Samarkand, Humayun's Tomb and Taj Mahal.
Religious and cultural importance
The larger mausoleum which Timurid ordered further enhanced the shrine's religious importance. During the Kazakh Khanate, prominent personalities chose to be buried within the immediate vicinity of the monument. Among these are Abulkhair, Rabi'i Sultan-Begim, Zholbarys-khan, Esim-khan, Ondan-sultan (the son of Shygai-khan), Ablai Khan, Kaz dauysty Kazbek-bi. The mausoleum's holy reputation also reached foreign lands. In the early 16th century, Ubaydullah Khan, the successor to Muhammad Shaybani KahnMuhammad Shaybani
Abu 'I-Fath Muhammad , known in later centuries as Shaybani Khan , was a khan of the Uzbeks who continued consolidating various Uzbek tribes and laid foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana. of Genghis Khan through his grandson Shayban and considered the Timurids as usurpers of the...
of the neighboring Uzbek Khanate, stopped at the mausoleum before his battle against Babur
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
, who would later become the founder of the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
. He swore that if he were to emerge victorious, his rule would fully follow the sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law.
As the capital of the preceding Kazakh Khanate, which saw the emergence of the distinct Kazakh nationality, Turkestan remains the cultural heart of modern Kazakhstan. Being the burial site for the Sufi theologian and the khanate's Kazakh nobility, the mausoleum has further enhanced the town's prestige. The continuance of the Kazakh nation and Central Asian Islamic faith in modern times are testaments to the historical
History of Kazakhstan
The history of Kazakhstan describes the human past in the Eurasia's largest segment of the steppe belt that was the home and crossroads for numerous human groups starting with extinct Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus 1 mln - 800,000 in the Karatau Mountains, Caspian and Balkhash areas; Neanderthals...
and cultural importance
Culture of Kazakhstan
Before the Russian conquest, the Kazaks had a well-articulated culture based on their nomadic pastoral economy. Islam was introduced to Kazakhstan in the 7th to 12th century. Besides lamb, many other traditional foods retain symbolic value in Kazak culture...
of Turkestan, with the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi at its center. Perceived as one of the greatest mausoleums of the Islamic world, it has survived and remains a significant monument both to faith and architectural achievement in the region.
See also
- Persian architecture
- Islamic architectureIslamic architectureIslamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
- History of KazakhstanHistory of KazakhstanThe history of Kazakhstan describes the human past in the Eurasia's largest segment of the steppe belt that was the home and crossroads for numerous human groups starting with extinct Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus 1 mln - 800,000 in the Karatau Mountains, Caspian and Balkhash areas; Neanderthals...
- List of World Heritage Sites in Kazakhstan
External links
- Detailed information on the town and mausoleum
- Square Kufic decoration on the Yasawi mausoleum
- Photos of the site and brief architectural description
- Detailed 2003 UNESCO report
- Photo reportage (in French)