kazakhstan
Mausoleum was built on
the grave of poet and preacher of Khoja Ahmad Yassay. It is
located in the city of Turkestan in South Kazakhstan region of
Kazakhstan. It is the central subject in
the historical-cultural reserve of Azret-Sultan. One of the main
places pilgrimage for Muslims.
Modern mausoleum was
built on the burial place of Sufi poet
Khoja Ahmad Yassavy
who had been famous among Muslims in the
region and had a significant impact on Islam in Central Asia. He
died in 1166 (67), and was buried with great honor in the small
mausoleum, which later became a place of pilgrimage for Muslims
all over the world. It is believed that three times visit of
mausoleum equal to Hajj to Mecca
The existing mausoleum was erected after 233 years after his
death by order of Tamerlane.
In the numerous battles of Tamerlane destroyed the Golden Horde
and burned its capital city of Sarai-Berke. In honor of this
victory, the commander decided to build a new, grandiose
memorial complex on the site of the old mausoleum of
Khoja Ahmad Yassavy,
which by then had become very dilapidated.
This decision was
guided by Tamerlane as religious beliefs and political
goals. Raising the mausoleum on the grave of a respected man, he
claimed his authority and consolidated his authority among the
nomads of the steppe. Some historians believe that Tamerlane
himself took a personal part in the drafting for the future of
the mausoleum and gave instructions to the builders.
Tamerlane himself identified the key dimensions of the building,
in particular, the diameter of the big dome was supposed to be
30 gyazam (unit of measure of length equal to 60.6 cm). This
module (gyazom) were determined by the size of all the rest of
the building. The decree also contained Tamerlane
recommendations for some decorative details of the building and
its interior decoration.
In 1385 on the orders of Tameralana in place of his grave was
laid khanaka (monastery) of the Sufis, followers of Yassvy, but
the completion of construction stopped immediately after his
death in 1405. Only the entrance portal left unfinished
after the death of Tamerlane.
Later, after the conquest of Turkestan by Bukhara Khanate
entrance portal was finished.
In the construction of this building Persian architects used a
number of innovative architectural and construction solutions,
which were also used in the construction of Samarkand, the
capital of the Timurid Empire. Today, the mausoleum is one of
the most important and best preserved buildings of the era.
According to legends all
attempts to build the walls of Mausoleum failed, a violent storm
demolished them, according to another version the appearance of
a green bull destroyed everything. Appeared in a dream of
Tamerlane saint said that first you need to build a mausoleum
over the grave of the saint Arystan Baba, and then over the tomb
of Khoja Ahmad Yassavy. Tamerlane did the same is he was
instructed.Therefore, the pilgrims first visit the mausoleum of
Arystan Baba, and then Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad Yassavy.
