Treasures of the Great Silk Road

by Edgar Knobloch

  The palace of Afrasiyab was found in 1912, and excavations began the following year. In 1919, Professor Masson found several ornamental panels, dating from the ninth to the tenth century. A further set of decorative panels was found by Vyatkin in 1925, but all were destroyed during transport. On those now kept in the Afrasiyab Museum, the ornament is divided into several fields, square and rectangular. Inside the square ones are circles with inscribed hexagonal and octagonal stars of various kinds, and some minor decorative elements filling up the space. In others there are intersecting circles and crosses of circular ornaments, as well as interwoven squares and octagons.

  Fig. 7 Samarkand. 1 Observatory of Ulugh-beg; 2 The Shah-i Zinda group; 3 Mosque Bibi Khanum; 4 Mausoleum Bibi Khanum; 5 Mausoleum Ak-Saray; 6 Mausoleum Rukhabad; 7 Mausoleum Gur Emir; 8 Mausoleum Ishrat-Khana; 9 Mosque Hazret-i Hizr; 10 Registan

  The massive walls of the palace, built of pakhsa (beaten clay) bricks, probably in the sixth to the seventh century, have been preserved up to the height of 10ft. The layout shows large halls alternating wirh smaller rooms, auxiliary premises, corridors etc. In one of the halls, which was apparently destroyed by fire, remnants of wooden ceiling beams were found with ornamental carving, together with fragments of several supporting caryatids. In another there was a richly carved alabaster panel, and in another the walls were profusely decorated with fresco paintings. These frescoes can now be seen in the Afrasiyab Museum. They are ‘without doubt masterpieces of Soghdian art, outstripping even the famous wallpaintings of Pendzhikent’. Apparently the walls were divided into three horizontal bands; the lowest one, just above the benches that lined the walls, consisted of ornaments displaying stylised leaves with ancient acanthus motifs; in the middle was the main field, a monumental pictorial composition with, scattered about, tiny Soghdian inscriptions accompanying some of the figures. The top was formed by a stucco frieze. On the southern wall there is a splendid caravan, led by an elephant carrying a palanquin with a princess, followed by three ladies on horseback, an old man, another old man with a black beard on a camel, and a rider on a dun horse. The caravan brings gifts to the ruler – a herd of horses, some strange white birds that could be swans – but the main gift is the princess herself. On the western wall are the members of an embassy in ceremonial attire, holding gifts in their hands. Above them are figures of armed women with swords and kinzhals (short swords or daggers), obviously some warrior Amazons, whose legend was well known in Central Asia. The uncovering of the eastern wall was hardly begun, but spiral-shaped waves can already be seen with fishes, tortoises and figures of naked children.

  The colour scale of these paintings is rather limited: white, black, red, pale blue, brown and yellow, with a background usually painted in bright pale blue. Human figures are drawn very accurately, with all their ethnic and even personal characteristics; however, age is indicated only by the colour of the beard, and there are no individual features or any emotional expressions. The style of the Samarkand paintings clearly shows that they are contemporary with those of Varakhsha and Pendzhikent, and also with those of Kucha in Eastern Turkestan; they can all be dated to between the sixth and the eighth centuries, thus representing the peak period of Soghdian art.

  The eighth century, the time of the Arab occupation of Soghd, on the whole represents a period of decay, or at least a position of stalemate in development of Samarkand. Intensive building activity was resumed in the ninth century, when the rule of the Abbasid caliphs became firmly established in Transoxania. It continued throughout the tenth and eleventh centuries, under the rule of the Samanid and Karakhanid dynasties.

  The ornamental panels, described above, were found in the ruins of the Samanid palaces. New houses were built on top of the ruined buildings of the pre-Arab period; remnants were found, for instance, of a Karakhanid mausoleum from the twelfth century, decorated with beautifully incised terracotta – but no building survived the catastrophe of 1220 as a whole. It was almost 150 years after the Mongol destruction before Samarkand regained some of its former significance. The heyday of the city came when Timur, himself a native of nearby Kesh, made Samarkand the capital of his vast empire. Building was an integral part of Timur’s governmental programme, and mosques, palaces, madrasas, mausoleums, caravanserais and bazaars began to grow on a grandiose scale. As Clavijo aptly noticed, master craftsmen were brought from Fars, Azerbaidzhan, Iraq, Syria, Khorezm, India and Khorassan. Huge buildings of an unprecedented size and complexity were built here with a speed that was possible only under a despotism with unlimited power and resources. This feverish activity continued under Timur’s successors, especially under his grandson Ulugh-beg, for the greater part of the fifteenth century.

  Fig. 8 Alabaster carving (girikh) from the palace of Afrasiyab (tenth to eleventh centuries) in the Samarkand Museum

  In pre-Mongol times the foremost among the sanctuaries of Samarkand was the tomb of Kussam ben Abbas. He, allegedly, was a cousin of the Prophet, and is supposed to have arrived in Samarkand in the year 676; according to one source he was killed, according to another, he died a natural death. His tomb, or what is believed to be his tomb, became the object of a cult and a place of pilgrimage. It is now known as Shah-i Zinda (The Living Prince). There is a legend that he was not killed, but in saving himself from the infidels entered a cliff that opened miraculously before him and closed again after him.5 Already in the twelfth century people of importance were buried near his tomb. A detailed description is given by Ibn Battuta (1333):

  Outside Samarkand is the tomb of Kussam ben Abbas. The inhabitants of Samarkand come out to visit it every Sunday and Thursday night. The Tartars also come to visit it, pay vows to it and bring cows, sheep, dirhams and dinars. All this is used for the benefit of visitors and the servants of the hospital and the blessed tomb. Above it is a square edifice with a cupola. At each corner are two marble columns, green, black, white and red in colour. The walls … are of different coloured marble and the roof is made of lead. The tomb is covered with black wood adorned with precious stones… Above it burn three silver lamps. Outside the building flows a large canal … on both banks there are trees, grape vines and jasmine.

  Evidently, the architectural complex of the ‘Old’ Shah-i Zinda did not survive the Mongol destruction. In Ibn Battuta’s description we find nothing about the other tombs and religious buildings that formed the complex in the twelfth century. It seems probable that the Mongols destroyed everything but the actual shrine of Kussam – although it is not quite certain if what Ibn Battuta described was the original edifice, or one already rebuilt. Nevertheless, in the fourteenth century the building began of what is now known as the ‘New’ Shah-i Zinda, extending south of the shrine of Kussam and across the remnants of a former city wall. The majority of the buildings date from the Timurid period – the reigns of Timur and of Ulugh-beg.

  The oldest surviving building of the present complex is the mausoleum and the adjacent mosque of Kussam. They are dated 1334–35 and described by Cohn-Wiener as follows:

  The building is characterised by the severity of its ornamental décor which consists almost exclusively of arabesques, and by the sharpness with which the squinches are cut into the walls. It was in the interior of this building, where a special technique of gilding, imitating local brocade embroideries and known as kundal, was used for the first time.6

  In the mosque of Kussam, the mihrab in the western wall is especially interesting, decorated with incised mosaics in the brightest blue and with religious inscriptions executed in fine white letters framed with soft-lined and colourful floral ornaments. In the dark and narrow corridor leading to the mosque, some remnants of a pre-Mongol building have been found – a smallish minaret walled into the later structure, with simple patterns of small bricks.7

  The whole complex of Shah-i Zinda consists of sixteen buildings clustered along an alley 225ft long. Some of them are in a bad state of preservation – a good deal of restoration work has been carried out, but at least two or t
hree of the buildings are obviously beyond repair. Moreover, the absense of informative inscriptions on some of them has led to a divergence of views on the dates and chronology of these buildings. In the plan above, the buildings are numbered 1–16, beginning with the entrance portico (1) and ending with Kussam’s mausoleum (16). Building 14, the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad, is the oldest after Kussam’s, also built in the first half of the fourteenth century. Mausoleum 15 is dated 1360. Under Timur (1375–1405) were built mausoleums 4–7 (central group I), 9–1 1 (central group II) and, in the northern group, beyond the central portico, buildings 12 and 13. Central group II is in the worst state. It seems as if only members of Timur’s family, including women, were buried here. Dating from the reign of Ulugh-beg (1409–49) are the main entrance portico (1) and the southern group of mausoleums (2 and 3), as well as building 8, an open octagon that probably served as a minaret. (See 21, 25, 26 and colour plates 5 & 7.)

  Fig. 9 Shah-i Zinda

  The buildings of the central and northern groups are quite small, and were all built on a rectangular plan, with brick cupolas sometimes raised on a drum and with magnificently articulated and ornamented porticos. The iwan in most cases has a honeycomb or stalactite vaulting, with a rich ceramic tiling. Neither of the mausoleums of the southern (bottom) group has a portico with an iwan, but both their domes are raised on high drums. During the excavations a crypt was discovered underneath the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad, with fragments of several marble tombstones painted in gold and blue. This mausoleum and building 15 (1360) were built and decorated in a similar way. It is probable, therefore, that they are contemporary, and perhaps even the work of the same master or masters. One name is actually given – Fakhri Ali, probably of local origin. Both buildings are cube-shaped and domed, with cupolas resting on squinches and with an elevated and prominent portico. Portals and interiors are covered with flat ornamental tiles, mainly of glazed incised terracotta with some specimens of black or blue majolica painted under the glaze. The ornaments are geometrical, imitating the pattern of bricks, floral and textual. Their main colour is turquoise blue. The geometrical girikh (knot) in the iwan of Khoja Ahmad is complicated, being constructed on a heptagonal grid.

  Rempel8 compares the decor of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad with that of the Karakhanid mausoleums in Uzkend (twelfth century). The ornaments of Khoja Ahmad represent a continuation of the Uzkend style, the difference being mainly in the tiling technique, and correspondingly in the treatment of the surface and the colour range. In Uzkend, the terracotta is unglazed, ochre or brownish in colour, and sometimes incised in alabaster. In Samarkand, glazed incised terracotta and sometimes majolica can be found. In Uzkend, monochrome, with light-and-shade effects, prevails. The plastic concept of the carved or incised ornament is of overall importance. In Samarkand, one finds polychrome, with design based exactly on the same principles, but enriched with colour both in the relief and on the flat surfaces. The graphic design, colours and reliefs combine here to give an effect unknown in the architecture of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

  The mausoleum of Tuman Aka, 13 (1404), in contrast to the preceding two, is distinguishable by its violet colouring and exclusively flat design, more graphic and more sophisticated than the other two. Its cupola rests on a high drum. Inside, tiny idealised landscapes (trees, shrubs, flowers etc.) may be seen painted in small rectangular fields underneath the cupola. The cool whiteness of the interior contrasts sharply with the rich mosaics of the portal outside.

  Building 11 is believed to be the mausoleum of Emir Burunduk, one of Timur’s generals, and can be dated back to 1380. Both the cupola and the arch of the portal have disappeared, but the ornaments of the iwan offer some interesting patterns.

  The central group I consists of four buildings: 5 (Shadi Mulk, 1372), 4 (Emir Zade, 1386), and on the opposite side, 6 (Emir Husayn, 1376) and 7 (Shirin Bika Aka, 1385). Building 5 (Shadi Mulk) is also known as Turkan Aka. These were two female members of the family, daughter and mother, who were both buried here. Apart from a ribbed cupola, some architectural innovations are immediately apparent. The iwan is far more articulated, corner columns are more slender, their capitals and bases finer and more elaborate. The iwan is not covered by an arch, but by a half-dome filled with stalactites (honeycomb vault). The same applies to 4 and 6, while 7 (Shirin Bika Aka) is again different and in many aspects more advanced. A sixteen-sided drum resting on a square base, a low cupola, and a highly ornate portico entrance are the main features of this building. Outside decor consists of incised mosaics in bright colours, floral ornaments, and inscriptions in the Thulth style. Inside are mosaic panels with fine gold painting on the glaze, others with landscapes (flowers, shrubs, rivulets, trees with birds, clouds), showing a remarkable Chinese influence, which may also be found in the stylised dragons and phoenixes in the wall ornaments. The strange octagonal structure next to it (8) is believed by some authorities to be a minaret; others prefer to describe it as a rather unusual type of mausoleum, yet no grave has been found in it. It is a sober, early-fifteenth-century building, with a tiny cupola and ornaments mainly formed by patterns of glazed bricks.

  29 Ark, Bukhara

  30 Mosque Maghak-i Attari, Bukhara

  31 Mausoleum of Hazret Bahauddin Nakshbandi, Bukhara

  32 A vaulted bazaar, Bukhara

  33 Madrasa Nadir Divan Begi, Bukhara

  34 Mausoleum of Ismail Samanid, Bukhara (detail)

  35 Northern Mausoleum, Uzkend

  36 Southern Mausoleum, Uzkend

  37 Southern Mausoleum, Uzkend (detail)

  38 Northern Mausoleum, Uzkend (detail)

  39 Mausoleum of Nasr ben Ali, Uzkend (detail)

  40 Mausoleum of Nasr ben Ali, Uzkend

  The southern group is believed to be the burial site of Ulugh-beg’s teacher, the renowned astronomer Kazi Zade Rumi. (Rumi means from Turkey.) It is a whole complex, not a single-room compact structure. Building 2 is the main shrine; there are cells in the corners, some auxiliary premises, and an adjacent room (3). High slender drums, one of them twice as high as the other, carry high bulbous cupolas covered with turquoise tiles.

  Inside, the dome is profusely decorated with monochrome mukarnas. Outside, decoration exists only on the portals and the drums. The portals have no iwans. In contrast to the central group I, this complex attracts attention not by the richness of its decoration but by the sobriety and harmony of its architecture. The same principles apply to the main entrance (1), also built during the reign of Ulugh-beg (1434). In the eighteenth century another mosque (not numbered in the plan) was built just behind the main portico.

  Next to the Shah-i Zinda group on the southern side of Afrasiyab, stands the mosque of Hazret-i Hizr, built in the mid-nineteenth century. (See 18.) This is a modest building, restored in 1915, but quite remarkable for its asymmetrical composition and the harmonious effect achieved by the combination of the smallish portico, the colonnade of wooden columns, the massive bulk of the main mosque building, and the adjacent minaret, which is not very high. The road passes here through a depression, marking the site of the ancient moat, over which the main city gate (Iron Gate) was erected. Having entered the city by this gate, the fifteenth-century traveller could see in front of him two giant buildings – Timur’s cathedral mosque now known as Bibi Khanum (The Old Queen) and, opposite, the madrasa of Serai-Mulk Khanum. The gate and the madrasa are no longer in existence, but a ruined little mausoleum, also called Bibi Khanum, which formed part of its complex, is still there.

  The cathedral mosque Bibi Khanum is being thoroughly restored. (See 16 & 19.) It is one of the largest buildings of its kind in the Islamic world, with an inner court of 270ft by 180ft, an entrance gateway 120ft high and a main building 43ft long on the inside. The cupola, on a high drum, was heavily damaged, as was the main iwan and both side buildings. Clavijo was in Samarkand when the mosque was under construction.

  The Mosque which Timur had caused to be built … seemed to us the noblest of all tho
se we visited in the city of Samarkand, but no sooner had it been completed than he began to find fault with its entrance gateway, which he now said was much too low and must be forthwith pulled down. Then the workmen began to dig pits to lay the new foundations when, in order that the piers might be rapidly rebuilt his Highness gave out that he himself could take charge to direct the labour for the one pier of the new gateway while he laid it on two of the lords of his court, his special favourites, to see to the foundations of the other part. Thus all should see whether it was he or those other lords who first might bring this business to its proper conclusion… Timur was already weak in health, he could no longer stand for long on his feet, or mount his horse… It was therefore in his litter that every morning he had himself brought to the place, and he would stay there the best part of the day urging on the work. He would arrange for much meat to be cooked and brought and then he would order them to throw portions of the same to the workmen in the foundations, as one should cast bones to dogs in a pit … and he even with his own hands did this. Thus the building went on day and night until at last came the time when it had perforce to stop – on account of the winter snows, which began now constantly to fall. 9

  The building was created so that shortly after being completed it began to crumble. Until recently, all that could be seen were the ruins of the entrance gate, of three domed buildings – one of them the main mosque – and of one corner minaret. Originally there was an outer wall forming a rectangle 500ft by 330ft, enclosing the inner court with a huge stone pedestal for the Koran in the centre. There were four high-vaulted iwans, one in the middle of each side of the wall; three of them were entrances to the domed mosques – one main and two minor entrances. There were colonnades on the inside around the courtyard, and in each corner stood a high slender minaret.