Chidr Mosque (Samarkand)

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The Khidr Mosque of Samarkand 2015, including the road to Tashkent

The Khidr Mosque ( Uzbek Hazrati Xizr masjidi ) in Samarkand is a mosque dedicated to the Islamic saint al-Khidr . It stands about 300 meters east of the Shah-i-Sinda complex on the southern edge of the ruins of the predecessor city Afrasiab a few meters above the old road to Tashkent . The most important city gate of Samarkand, which was also called the "Iron Gate" or "King's Gate", used to be located here. The mosque is of particular importance in Uzbekistan today because in September 2016 the country's first president, Islom Karimov, was buried on its property.

architecture

The mosque, a relatively small building made of bricks, which is particularly notable for its asymmetrical structure, has a prayer hall that opens to the east and is supported by columns. The coffered ceiling and the beams are brightly painted, the columns richly decorated with carvings. This pillared vestibule and the adjoining dome structure are similar to the 18th century Bolo Hovuz Mosque in Bukhara . The building has a rich decor, such as an excellently designed ceiling and mihrabs that are reminiscent of the Hodja Abd-ad-Darun mausoleum . To the right of the pillared vestibule there is a domed doorway that can be reached via several steps and is only slightly surmounted by a minaret, which has a shape atypical for Samarkand.

history

The mosque is mentioned for the first time in the Bāburnāma of the Mughal ruler Babur , which dates from the early 16th century. The location between Afrasiab and the new city of Samarkand, however, suggests that the mosque dates back to early Islamic times. The current building was built around the middle of the 19th century. Inscriptions on the building inform that extensions and repairs were carried out in 1854, 1884, 1899 and 1919. The Samarīya, a Persian pilgrimage guide for Samarkand from the late 19th century, mentions that Muzaffar ad-Dīn, who ruled the Emirate of Bukhara from 1860 to 1885 , had the mosque restored.

The construction work in 1854 and 1884 took place under the direction of the architect Baki Samarkandi, the construction work in 1899 and 1919 under the direction of his son Abd ul-Kadir Bakiyev. Photographs from the end of the 19th century show the mosque with two minarets of the same size, while the dome door was missing. It was probably not added to the larger eastern minaret until 1919. Further restoration and repair work took place between 1967 and 1972. The current decor is attributed to the restoration carried out at the beginning of the 20th century under the direction of Abd ul-Kadir Bakiev.

On September 3, 2016, the Uzbek President Islom Karimov was buried on the site of the mosque. A mausoleum was erected over his grave and was inaugurated on January 30, 2018 in the presence of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev .

  • The mosque on a 1989 Soviet postage stamp

  • The Chidr Mosque in 2011

  • ... and in 2013

  • Vladimir Putin visiting Islam Karimov's tomb in 2016

  • The mausoleum of Islam Karimov in the courtyard of the Khidr mosque

Legends

In the local Samarkand tradition, many legends are associated with the mosque. According to the Samarīya, the Persian pilgrim's manual for Samarkand by Abū Tāhir Chādscha Samarqandī, the Chidr Mosque was the first mosque to be built in Samarkand. Qutaiba ibn Muslim is said to have built it on the instructions of Chidr. According to another tradition, cited by Samarqandī, even Chidr himself is said to have laid the foundation stone for it, while the companions of the Prophets oriented it according to the qibla . Some are said to have said that Chidr also set up the mihrab . Another tradition says that everyone who performs his Fajr prayer in the mosque on 40 Mondays should meet with Chidr.

literature

  • Īraǧ Afšār : Qandīya wa-Samarīya: dū risāla dar tārīḫ-i mazārāt wa ǧuġrāfīya-i Samarqand . Muʾassasa-i Farhangī-i Ǧahāngīrī, Tehran, 1367hš (= 1988). P. 153.
  • Burchard Brentjes: Central Asia, Art of Islam . Seemann, Leipzig, 1979. pp. 127, 357.
  • Yolande Crowe: “Samarḳand. 2. Architecture “in The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition Vol. VIII, pp. 1034b-1038a. Here p. 1036a.
  • Klaus Pander: Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan . 7th, updated edition. DuMont, Cologne, 2008. p. 211.
  • LI Rempel: Ob otrazhenii obrazov sogdiiskogo iskusstva v Islame (K voprosu o kul'takh Shakhi-Zinda, Khazret-Khyzra i Khodzha Daniyara v Samarkande) in G [alina] A [natol'evna] Pugačenkova: Iz istorii iskustva (vel Koda kogo 2500-letiju Samarkanda) . Izd. lit. i iskusstva im. G. Guljama, Taškent, 1972. pp. 36-52.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ GA Pugachenkova : Samarkand, Bukhara . 2nd Edition. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1979, DNB 810440407 , p. 25.
  2. ↑ a b c Afšār: Qandīya wa-Samarīya . 1988, p. 153.
  3. ↑ a b c Brentjes: Central Asia, Art of Islam . 1979, p. 127.
  4. ^ Pander: Central Asia . 2008, p. 211.
  5. ↑ The Baburnama: memoirs of Babur, prince and emperor . Translated by Wheeler M. Thackston. Modern Library, New York, 2002, p. 107.
  6. ↑ Rempel: Ob otrazhenii obrazov sogdiiskogo iskusstva v Islame . 1972, p. 41.
  7. ↑ Mechet 'Khazret-Khyzr Istoricheskiye i arkhitekturnyye pamyatniki Samarkanda
  8. ↑ Шавкат Мирзиёев открыл в Самарканде мавзолей Ислама Каримова Sputnik January 30, 2018.

Coordinates: 39 ° 39 ′ 48.4 "  N , 66 ° 58 ′ 59.7"  E