Tomb of Gori Amir is world-renowned and recognized as a unique work of Central Asian architecture. Construction of the mausoleum began in 1403 on the occasion of the death of Amir Temur's successor Muhammad Sultan, was completed during the reign of Mirzo Ulugbek and was turned into a shrine of Amir Temur and the Temurids. The mausoleum was built in the south-eastern part of medieval Samarkand under the ensemble built by Muhammad Sultan, the grandson of Timur, in the late XNUMXth century.
Muhammad Sultan died suddenly in 1403 while returning from a long voyage to the coasts of Asia Minor. The prince's body will be brought to Samarkand and buried in the dahma behind the porch on the south roof of the ensemble. Amir Temur ordered to build a mausoleum named after the prince. After that, an octagonal building will be built on top of the hut. Shurq historian Sharafiddin Ali Yazdi describes the building as "a dome as high as the sky, the lower part of the walls being made of marble decorated with gold and lapis lazuli." But Amir Temur did not finish this work. He died in early 1405 and was buried next to the body of Muhammad Sultan.
After the death of Amir Temur, civil wars broke out for the throne, which prevented the construction of the mausoleum. The country calmed down only in 1409. Shahrukh Mirza, the son of Amir Temur, made Herat his capital. Mirzo Ulugbek will be appointed governor of Samarkand.
Amir Temur inherited a lot of wealth from Mirzo Ulugbek. Scholars, artisans, and painters fall at his disposal. He promotes culture and construction in the country. In honor of his great grandfather, Mirzo Ulugbek turned the octagonal mausoleum into a mausoleum where the descendants of the Timurids will be buried. When the mausoleum is finished, the body of Mirsayid Baraka, the spiritual teacher of Amir Temur, will be moved to this mausoleum. Amir Temur's spiritual self is buried at the feet of his master. According to some narrations, Amir Temur himself made such a will. The interior of the building will be redecorated, huts will be placed on the stage of the mausoleum, and the area will be fenced with elegant marble. The mausoleum is entered from a multi-domed gallery built in 1424 on its eastern side.
Amir Temur's sons Mironshah and Shahrukh are also buried in the mausoleum.
The huge buildings, which began to be built on the west and south sides of the mausoleum, but were left unfinished, probably date back to the last years of Mirzo Ulugbek's rule.
In 1449, as a result of a political crisis, Mirzo Ulugbek was brutally killed. The body of the great astronomer will be buried in the mausoleum of Gori Amir.
According to some sources, the madrasah was functioning in the 20th century, and only the ruins of the khanaqah building have survived. The Muhammad Sultan Madrasa, which was abandoned during the social and economic crisis of the XNUMXs, is in ruins.
For a long time, the first researchers of the Samarkand monuments could not determine the location of the madrasa and the khanaqah, as the Muhammad Sultan madrasah and khanaqah were forgotten. It was only from the middle of the twentieth century that the opportunity arose for an in-depth and comprehensive study of ancient monuments. Remains of the walls and foundations of buildings that were destroyed as a result of archeological excavations have been found. Architectural-research works allowed to determine the size, construction and decoration of some parts of the building in the drawing. The collected materials were used as a basis for the planned restoration work. The completely destroyed courtyard walls were rebuilt. As a result, it was possible to determine the order in which the buildings in the architectural complex fell.
To get a fuller picture of these rare monuments, it is necessary to look at the structures around the courtyard. After the spectator rotates the monument in a clockwise direction and gets acquainted with all parts of the complex, from the roof passes to the tomb of the Timurids Gori Amir.
Only the roof of the Muhammad Sultan ensemble is well preserved. THIS roof is skillfully crafted and is clearly visible against the backdrop of the wall with a variety of tiles. The name of the master Muhammad bin Mahmud Isfahani, who built the building between the tiles, is inscribed in silence. The decoration of the columns is based on geometric shapes called "girih". The arched, rugged wall is decorated with a floral rug. The walls are dark blue, with a picture of a flowering plant creeping into the background. The domes on the shelf are decorated with muqarnas connected at different angles to each other in the form of small arches.
Behind the wall to the east of the courtyard are the remains of the Muhammad Sultan Madrasa. Chtwo-story cells fell around the Russian courtyard. The rooms were as tall and narrow as other madrassas, with domed classrooms in the corners of the doors. The mysterious ornaments found as a result of archeological excavations show that the madrasah was very beautiful. The muqarnas, made of ganch, are laid flat on the wall, starting from the dome, on top of which flowers are placed, and the izora is framed by golden, lavujard tiles. Muhammad Sultan Madrasah is the oldest surviving madrasah in Central Asia. Looking from the south side of the complex, an important part of it is clearly visible from the outside of the mausoleum of Gori Amir. An octagonal prism, which carries many round, giant domed cylindrical circles, forms the basis of the architectural composition of the building. The walls of the mausoleum are covered with blue, air-colored and white glazed tiles, which are geometrically patterned, Arabic hit and masterfully crafted. The architect skillfully decorated the large floors of the buildings, using similar shapes.
The mausoleum is built on a luxurious octagonal foundation, the exterior decoration of which is tiled with marble inscriptions on the walls, and the prayer "subhanallahu bihamdih wa subhanallahul azim wa bihamdih" is inscribed between them, which means praise to Allah in a Kufi letter.
There is a two-meter-wide inscription around the circle, in which Surat al-Mulk of the Qur'an is written in the same way from beginning to end. The interior walls of the rooms are also divided into large frames, with the words "Muhammad sav Allah, Ali" inscribed with small decorative inscriptions.
There are three gates to the mausoleum and one altar, on the top and sides of which are very rare and authentic hadiths. They are:
1. Kafa biddahri is a preacher and the ignorant is a mufrikan.
- Time is enough to advise. Death alone is enough for his separation.
2. Ista'id lil-mavti qabla nuzulil-mavt.
"Before you die, make sure you're ready for it."
3. Mo min baytin min buyutillahi, yatluna kitaballahi and yadrisuna fima baynahum illa nuzila ladum rahmatun and goshiyakhum malaikatu and zikrollohu fimo indahum.
"Allah's mercy is bestowed on every house where the Qur'an is recited and studied, and those who remember Allah are surrounded by angels."
4. As-sultonu zillulohu fil arzi faman akramahu, akramahulloha and man ahonahu ahonahullohu.
"The king is the shadow of Allah on earth, and whoever respects him, Allah will respect him." Whoever humiliates him, Allah will humiliate him.
5. Al-muksitina indallahu alal-manobiri minan-nuri.
- Muksits (humble people) sit in the pulpits of light before Allah.
6. Allazina yadluna fi hukmin soatan hayrun min ibadati sittina sana.
"An hour of justice is better than sixty years of prayer."
7. And Qala alayhissalamu uzkuru mahosina mawtokum wa kaffu an masavihim.
- There are inscriptions that mention the good qualities of the past and refrain from talking about the bad ones.
The mausoleum looks like a silvery-air color from afar. Only the dome is a little bluish and blends in quietly. As you approach the building, the octagonal part of the dome begins to clearly see the air-colored geometric shapes and the inscriptions inscribed in the same order as the circle holding the dome in air-colored capital letters. Then there are intertwined silences between the blue lines and letters that complement the shape of the entrance. As you get closer to the building, you will be amazed at how masterfully its architecture is designed. The magnificent tiles set on top of the windows, the elegant patterns on the marble of the mausoleum foundation, attract attention and make it seem as if no more elegant decoration can be created. But in the miniature courtyard arches of Izora's honor there are such elegant ornaments of gold that they have been worked out only with great skill, leaving rare works.
Great importance was attached to the dome when constructing the exterior of the mausoleum. Although the circumference of the lower part of the dome is 15 meters and the height is 12,5 meters, the weight is not noticeable. This is because the weight of the 64-rib dome falls into a solid foundation-circle through a wonderfully crafted sash. The colorful design of the dome is of great importance. As blue is used more in the dome, this color shines on the curved ribs of the dome, shining in the sun, as if staring at the sky. The top of the dome is covered with mysterious tiles.
In their honor there are also beautiful silences made of such tiles, the size of which corresponds to each other. The outer dome of the mausoleum is mounted on the inner dome to make the exterior of the monument more majestic.
On the south side of the mausoleum are the remains of the gallery. This gallery was part of a building built in the XNUMXth century. Shwith the construction of a large complex there, Gori Amir also spontaneously entered this complex. The hut on the south side of the mausoleum is one of them.
It is known that the birthplace of Amir Temur - S.hin ahrisabz he built a luxurious building for himself and made a marble to the right. After the sudden death of Amir Temur, such a political situation arose that his body was buried in the mausoleum for his grandson in Samarkand. That is why in Shakhrisabz there is no stone hut with the name of the great Amir Temur. There is reason to believe that Mirzo Ulugbek, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, began large-scale construction work to bury the nobles near the mausoleum of Gori Amir. In terms of the beauty of the hut in the mausoleum, Shin the end they will not be left behind the hut built by Timur. However, when Mirzo Ulugbek was brutally killed, the work in the complex stopped and the mausoleum was deserted. Mirzo Ulugbek's body was buried next to his grandfather in Gori Amir.
The shape of the gallery halls can be seen from the remains of the walls, and the wall decorations from the pieces of honor. The size of the structure can be determined by looking at the unfinished complex on its west side. from the great hall only one of the four arches, which had been placed on all four sides, survived. There is a corridor on both sides of the 10-meter-wide arch. On the north side of the corridor is a double-domed two-story building, and on the south side is a gallery. Guri Amir's mausoleum and hut are accessed from this gallery. This means that the area around the mausoleum is surrounded by buildings.
Only the remains of walls and pieces of tiles have been preserved from the Muhammad Sultan khanaqah and madrasa. But these remains also made it possible to unravel the mystery of the structure, which had been hidden for centuries. In the middle of the room was a large hall with a large dome, and around the hall were two-story, transitional rooms, some of which were inhabited by people, some of which were boiler-houses.
The walls surrounding the courtyard are divided into two-story ornate arches. The height and width of the arches, as well as the variety of widths and the use of colors in different places, created a unique landscape. Most of the porch is made of carved bricks, the tops of which are covered with blue tiles depicting various plants. Particular attention is paid to the decoration of the porches in the middle. The decorative pieces preserved on the south porch wall give a clear idea of how beautiful it was. The walls, later plastered with plaster, were covered in ancient times with various colored tiles. At the top of the front wall on the side of the courtyard is a wide belt with Arabic letters. There were four towers in the outer corners of the courtyard. The minaret, which has become narrower as it rises, is decorated with the same honor as the minarets of the Ulugbek Madrasa in Registan Square. The technique of covering tiles on towers with different rotations at the bottom and top is astonishing.
The gap between the base and the top of the tower has been skillfully eliminated in the collection of tile slabs. With the same number of tiles laid on each row of tiles, the seams between them narrow as they rise and reach the top.
The sides and tops of the entrance to the mausoleum, built during the reign of Ulugbek, are elegantly decorated. There used to be a tile slab on the top of the door that read, “This is the tomb of the great Amir Temur…” (this slab is now housed in the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg). The mausoleum is entered through a series of domed galleries. The courtyard side wall and some of the domes of this gallery have been reworked twice. The decorative remnants preserved on the walls show that the interior of the gallery was beautiful. The gallery’s air-colored hexagonal insulation blends in very well with the green patterns on the white wall.
After passing the gallery, enter the tomb of the Timurids. It is a spacious and high hall, and on all four walls there is an air-colored takman. The interior of the mausoleum is very clearly planned. The Arabic letters, written in the form of a broad belt, separate the tier of arched structures, which are the supports of the izora, the walls, the inner and outer domes.
The mausoleum is very elegantly decorated. At the bottom of the wall there is an izora made of blue transparent onyx stone. The stitches of onyx are decorated with a collection of blue stones. The colorful panel on the izora looks like a carpet of gold. Inside the dome, the corners of the dome are decorated with several layers of silk paper embossed in various shapes, which narrow as the dome rises to the top. They are decorated with gold and decorated with small flowers. The ganch plaster, visible from the embossed silk paper, glistens sometimes blue and sometimes white like a small silence.
The mausoleum is illuminated by a barred window with colored glass. The inside of the mausoleum shines brightly from the sunlight passing through these windows.
In the decoration of the mausoleum Middle Shthe high art achieved by the arc masters was exhibited and adapted to local traditions.
There are inscriptions dedicated to the Timurids on the sagans installed in the middle of the mausoleum. Among them is a dark green nephrite stone placed on the tomb of Timur. There are many legends about where this stone came from, its durability and incredible value. Two pieces of nephrite were among the spoils of war when Ulugbek defeated the Mongols in 1425. These two stones were carefully worked out and placed on the tomb of Amir Temur.
In 1740, when the Iranian king Nadirshah conquered the Bukhara khanate (at that time Samarkand belonged to the Bukhara khanate), he ordered to take the stone from the tomb of Amir Temur to Mashhad. But Nadirshah, afraid of being blasphemed, turned away from this intention and put the stone back in its place after long and difficult journeys for that time.
The mausoleum was built in two floors according to the instructions of Timur. On the first floor of the mausoleum there is a shrine, and at the bottom there are real underground huts. Its ceiling is inclined as a twelve-sided dome, and the interior is very simple. The sagans placed on the Timurids are in the same order here as on the upper floor. Each tomb is covered with marble.
In 1941, the tomb of the Timurids was opened by a special commission. In the coffin lay the bone of Amir Temur, wrapped in several layers of cloth and one layer of chimpanzee, his head facing the qibla, his arms straightened, his paws spread. Historical information about the image of the great Amir Temur, the founder of the great empire in the XVI century, whose name shook half of the world, confirmed the authenticity of the tragic assassination of Ulugbek and the burial of other Temurids. The commission also opened the tombs of other Timurids and conducted in-depth research.
In 1994-1996, the mausoleum underwent large-scale repairs.
