The steppe love legend of Aisha Bibi and Karakhan. The steppe legend of love Aisha Bibi and Karakhan Karakhan, who subjugated the lion

The Mausoleum of Karakhan is an architectural monument located in the central part of the city of Taraz, at the intersection of two streets - Bayzak Batyr and Tole Bi. The mausoleum is part of a cult-memorial complex formed on the territory of a medieval settlement.

The architectural structure was built in the 11th century. over the grave of one of the very first khans of the Karakhanid dynasty. According to folk legends, the construction of the mausoleum is associated with the person who erected the Babja-Khatun and Aisha-Bibi mausoleums. His name is still unknown, but what is known is that he was the khan of the Karakhanid dynasty, local rulers of the X-XII centuries.

Today, there are many legends about Karakhan, most of which connect the batyr with the young beauty Aisha, whose mausoleum is located 20 km from Taraz in the village of Aisha-Bibi. The story of their sincere love and the girl’s death from a snake bite leaves no one indifferent.

Square in plan, the portal-domed mausoleum of Karakhan consists of a central hall where the tombstone is located, and three corner rooms (hujra rooms), the fourth corner is occupied by a staircase that leads to the roof of the mausoleum. The façade of the building faces south. The entrance is located in the depths of the arch, on the sides of which there are three niches: pointed, rectangular and square.

In 1906, the mausoleum was somewhat rebuilt; the design principle was preserved, but the original architectural and decorative decoration changed greatly. Inside the mausoleum you can see a stepped tombstone that has survived to this day. Currently, the outer part of the walls of the Karakhan mausoleum is lined with modern brick, and the inner part (the dome and arched niches) is made of brick from the Karakhanid era.

In 1982, the Karakhan mausoleum joined the list of historical and cultural monuments of the Kazakh SSR of republican significance. In 2002, on the eve of the 2000th anniversary of the city of Taraz, the last restoration of the mausoleum was carried out.

Commissioned by the community editors" History Faculty"our author @chika25 begins a series of reports from" archaeological mecca" - the ancient city of Taraz (Dzhambul, Zhambyl), in which it is currently located. A brief history of the city is outlined

The ancient city of Taraz, which is more than 2000 years old, is famous for its numerous architectural monuments, museums and ancient examples of architecture from the Karakhanid era.

There is an opinion of a number of historians that a mausoleum was erected to the great ruler from the Karakhan dynasty, known as Shah-Mahmud-Bugra, and everything that can be surprised in the eastern city of Taraz is in one way or another connected with " Saint Karakhan", who was revered by the people for his piety and holiness.

In fact, it is not known for certain which of the Karakhanids is buried in this Mausoleum. Therefore, local residents prefer to introduce tourists to " collectively"local" Ruler of Karakhan", endowing him with the features of various representatives of the dynasty. Accordingly, the legends about " Karakhan e" are numerous and often contradictory.

Under a layer of asphalt, in the very center of the city, an ancient settlement with historical layers from several eras was discovered.

During archaeological excavations, many artifacts were discovered that date back to the 6th-12th centuries. And a significant part of the historical collection belongs to the era of the Karakhanid reign of the 11th - 12th centuries. Actually, we will talk about this era, or rather about the museum-monument" Mausoleum of Karakhan".

According to legend, the first philanthropist of Taraz, Kali-Yunus, built the mausoleum with his personal funds. By the way, the famous eastern bathhouse, located not far from the mausoleum, also belongs to his authorship. I’ll tell you about it later, as soon as a small internal restoration of the museum is completed.

The mausoleum is located in the central part of modern Taraz, at the intersection of Tole bi and Baizak batyr streets, within walking distance from the archaeological park " Ancient Taraz».
This building is impossible to miss!

The mausoleum is surrounded by a park with stone paths. The area is well-groomed, with benches and neat bushes around. The entrance to the park is represented by a gate in a medieval oriental style.

Nearby there is a sign in three languages.

The building delights with its architectural beauty and you want to touch it with your hands, look inside and get acquainted with the historical heritage of the Karakhanid era.

Historical excavations have shown that 30 types of figured bricks, decorated with 60 ornaments, were used in the construction of the mausoleum. This tells us about the high skill and professionalism of the architects.

In the photo you can see an example of such bricks. It's hard to believe that this is not a modern work. Very often you come across terracotta tiles.

The Karakhan Mausoleum dates back to the 11th century, but it was rebuilt in 1906, losing its decorative decoration, but maintaining the original structure.

The internal walls are made of bricks from the original construction, and the external walls are built of new bricks.

The square plan of the mausoleum is represented by a central hall and corner rooms. They are called hujras. These are the so-called cells, small rooms in the madrasah.

The fourth corner is marked by a staircase that goes to the domed part of the mausoleum. The ceiling resembles a felt yurt.

Friends, I was able to look into the building itself from the main entrance, but I couldn’t enter the hall because it was creepy. And I doubted that they would let me in there without a headdress.

In the center of the hall there is a stone tombstone. It is covered with a white cloth and the tombstone is surrounded by twilight.

The Karakhanids are a proud and warlike Turkic people who, at the end of the 10th century, began to develop the southern lands of modern Kazakhstan. It was the Karakhanids who made Taraz their western capital of the state. Under Suleiman ibn Abd al-Karim from the Karakhanid dynasty, who took the title Arslan Khan, in the middle of the 10th century the entire population of the state was converted to Islam.

We immediately see a monument depicting the holy book of the Koran in an open form.

Hence the architectural design of the mausoleum, made in the Muslim style. Above the entrance we see an inscription in Arabic: “ There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet».

Legends were made about Karakhan (let me remind you that this is a collective image), his reign was famous for his exploits and amazing events. He himself was a great and powerful ruler.
For example, even the fact that the great Karakhan was able to tame a lion! Isn't it a very mythical story?

Karakhan trained the lion to obey commands, and there are rumors that the khan rode him like a rider on a horse. Such a sight inspired fear and respect for the ruler even among his enemies. The fame of Karakhan spread far beyond the city!

However, the ruler's wife was rebellious and capricious. The ruler’s viziers asked Karakhan: “ Why does the whole world and the dangerous lion obey him, and his wife dares to object and be obstinate next to the khan?»

To which Karakhan replied: “ Thanks to my wife, I understand that I am just a servant of Allah and I cannot subjugate the whole world and fall into the trap of my pride.". I think this is a very wise idea!
The original legend can be found in the book " Golden Silsila"(Golden chain of succession).

They say that everyone who visits the Karakhan mausoleum experiences positive energy. This place gives strength and health. I experienced some inspiration for history and joy that such ancient monuments have survived to this day and we can touch them and materially feel pieces of the past.

By studying the past, we can see a wonderful future, and perhaps avoid mistakes and wrong fateful decisions.

Friends, love history, visit historical places, get carried away by the architectural chronicle, because what the walls of ancient buildings write to us is history! And we are its successors and guardians!

To get a closer look at the history of the Karakhanids, I recommend visiting the museum in the park “ Ancient Taraz" There are many artifacts of the era on display, and you can also see models of all the historical buildings of the city of Taraz.

And here, in fact, is the model of the Karakhan mausoleum from the facade

and from the end

Next time, we will continue our journey through the ancient Eastern city of Taraz, which is located on the famous Silk Road, and get acquainted with the beautiful mausoleum of Aisha Bibi.

Tours to historical places of the city of Taraz.

"Glooking at the many erected statues, he said: “And let people ask about me, why there is no monument to Cato, rather than why there is a monument to him.”

Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Censorius Cato).

Excursion to the Karakhan mausoleum in Taraz.

One of the earliest mausoleums was the now lost Mausoleum of Karakhan, built in the 9th – 10th centuries on the territory of the western rabad of Taraz. It was a single-chamber building with a portal-dome composition. The development of the main façade included side ornamental paths and a U-shaped frame, covering from the level of the heels a vaulted niche with an entrance in the depths.
The front arch of the niche is made of wedge-shaped masonry and contoured with bricks laid flat. The arch rested on three-quarter columns lined with paired bricks. Thanks to the excavation site founded in 1961 by T.N. Senigova, a significant number of bricks with ornamental carvings were identified. There are about 30 types of different patterns in the decorative cladding of the main facade.
The secondary walls of the mausoleum were made of patterned geometric masonry from paired bricks. The plastic solution of the portal and the carved decor of the Karakhan mausoleum have analogies in the memorial construction of Transoxiana, Fergana (Middle Uzgend Mausoleum) and regions. Mausoleum of Karakhan located in the old part of the city, at the intersection of Tole bi and Bayzak batyr streets, 24 near the historical core.
Located in the depths of a spacious courtyard, the “Juma Mosque” type, characteristic of religious buildings in the Central Asian region. Located in the depths of a spacious courtyard, the “Juma Mosque” type, characteristic of religious buildings in the Central Asian region. In 1998, reconstruction was carried out, the mosque was expanded with a new extension. Only the building from 1913 is of artistic value.
A one-story rectangular in plan, an extended volume, with a ceiling raised high on columns, plannedly divided into southern and northern parts. The old prayer hall in the southern part (1913) is a spacious room up to 21 m long and up to 12 m wide, in the center of the blank western wall there is a mihrab niche, the ends of the walls are cut through by high windows.
During one of the repairs, the eastern wall was opened towards the ivan, and the outside was completely glazed. Mezzanines were built along the entire width of the hall on both sides of the mihrab at a height of 20 m. The ceiling of the hall is distinguished by its special artistic expressiveness, made in a beam structure with Vass filling and painted with polychrome ornaments of geometric and floral motifs.
Nowadays the ivan is hidden by the extension of the entrance part, topped with a dome. The northern part (an extension of 1973) was a glazed ivan with numerous columns. The mausoleum was erected over the grave of the famous khan from the Karakhanid dynasty Sha-Mahmud Boghr Karakhan. The four walls of the mausoleum and two smooth towers, except for the collapsed dome, were preserved until the 90s of the 19th century.
In 1905, the destroyed parts of the monument were removed, and in 1906 a new mausoleum, unlike the previous one, was built on the site. The construction of the mausoleum was financed by Said Bakkhanov, who was at that time mayor of the city of Tashkent. New mausoleum Aulie-At A - tetrahedral, consists of a medium large room and three small ones. The ceiling of the middle room is closed like a felt yurt.
There are two towers at the back. The main entrance of the mausoleum is located on the south side, the entrance door is inlaid with patterns. The internal walls of the mausoleum are made of the same brick, and new brick is used on the outside. Its beauty delighted connoisseurs of Russian architecture back in 1902, as a brilliant creation of ancient Taraz.
As archaeological excavations have shown, up to 30 types of figured bricks, made with exceptionally high skill, were used to decorate this structure. According to one of the legends, Aulie-Ata Karakhan is supposedly a descendant of the famous Khoja Ahmed Yassawi, buried in Turkestan. Another legend tells that the mausoleum of Abd-ar-Rahim, one of the three saints who came from Syria to Central Asia to spread Islam.
Abd-ar Rahim was named Aulie-Ata Karakhan and had a daughter named Aisha-Bibi. The father is buried on the Talas River in Taraz, and the daughter is two farsangs (that is, about 8 kilometers) from her father’s grave. Information about the Karakhan mausoleum has reached us in the form of photographs from the late 19th century and external descriptions of it by historians, ethnographers, and archaeologists.
During historical, archival and bibliographic research, it became clear that he was one of the outstanding creations of Central Asian architecture, and it is no coincidence that his architecture still attracts the attention of researchers. Folk legends connect the construction of the mausoleum with the man who erected the mausoleums of Aisha Bibi and Babja Khatun. His name is not known for certain, but one thing is clear - he was the khan of the Karakhanid dynasty, which ruled in this region in the 10th - 12th centuries.
A stepped tombstone has been preserved inside the mausoleum. For the first time, the mausoleum was studied in detail by B.P. Denike and described by him in the book “Architectural Ornament of Central Asia.” In 1982, the Karakhan mausoleum was included in the list of UNESCO monuments. For the first time, the Karakhan mausoleum was studied in detail by B.P. Denike and described by him in the book “Architectural Ornament of Central Asia”.
Currently, in the central hall of the mausoleum there is an exposition of the museum-reserve “Monuments of Ancient Taraz”, telling about its rich past. Since 1982, the mausoleum has been under state protection.

Sources:
"Religious and spiritual monuments of Central Asia." Author M. Khashimov. Publishing house "Saga", 2001. "Tourist Kazakhstan". Publishing house "Kainar", 1989. "Ancient Kazakhstan" Publishing house "Aruna", 2006. Goryacheva V.D. "Cult and memorial monuments."

Photos
Alexandra Petrova.

Background

In the first half of the 9th century, a Muslim feudal state existed on the territory of Semirechye. The Karakhanid state included the regions of Kashgar and Semirechye. With the Karakhanids coming to power, qualitative changes occurred in the architecture of these two regions, as well as throughout Central Asia. According to historians, ancient Taraz, which was the Khan’s headquarters of the Karakhanids, reached its greatest prosperity during this period.
The spread of Islamic culture among the urban population was reflected in monumental cult architecture - mausoleums built in memory of noble feudal lords. In Taraz and its surroundings, the mausoleums of Babaji-Khatun, Aisha-Bibi and the Karakhan memorial complex were built.

In modern Taraz, remains of monuments of the once prosperous Karakhanid architecture are still preserved. Many historians agree that the earliest of them is the Karakhan mausoleum. There are a number of legends about this structure.

Legends about Aulie-Ata-Karakhan

According to one of them, Aulie-Ata-Karakhan was a descendant of the famous Sufi poet and mystic of the Turkic-speaking world, the legendary Khoja Ahmed Yasawi. Another legend says that the mausoleum was allegedly erected in honor of a “saint” from Central Asia, who arrived in Taraz to spread Islam. Numerous opinions that this building is not a memorial monument, but a religious and cult object of Karakhanid culture is confirmed by the inscription above the entrance to the mausoleum: “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet.”

Photo http://culturemap.kz

The third legend says that the Karakhan mausoleum bears the name of the khan himself, who built a memorial monument in honor of the saint from Central Asia. However, the true name of this historical figure still remains a mystery, but researchers unanimously claim that he was the all-powerful khan of the Karakhanid dynasty, who founded his state. According to historians, Lord Kara Khan was the first to convert to Islam in the territory of Semirechye.

At one time, the fame of this khan thundered beyond the borders of the Karakhanid state. Historically, he was described as a modest khan who, despite his enormous wealth, preferred to live quietly among the people. Rarely appearing in the guise of a khan, this man dispensed justice, pretending to be a hero. There is even a legend about how he subjugated the king of animals - a powerful lion. Legend says that Kara Khan rode on it as if he were saddled on a horse.

He was also known for his obstinate wife, whom at one time he could not pacify. When asked by his close relatives why, when the whole world bowed down before the khan, his wife still dares to object to him, Kara khan answered: “I am a thousand times grateful to Allah for the obstinate character of my wife. Seeing that the whole world bowed its head before me, would I not consider myself superior to others, deceived by the tricks of the devil, falling into the trap of my pride? Thanks to my wife, I always remember that I am only one of the servants of the Almighty. And this allows me to always remain humble in front of him.”

Before and after reconstruction

The Mausoleum of Karakhan is one of the outstanding works of ancient architecture, which to this day delights connoisseurs of architecture with its beauty and attracts the attention of many researchers and ufologists. This is not accidental, since according to archaeological excavations, up to 30 different types of figured bricks were used to decorate this object, made with special high skill, which was a rarity for that period. But, unfortunately, its original appearance has not been preserved to this day. In 1906 it was completely restored. And when the structure was strengthened, the mausoleum lost its original architectural and decorative appearance.

According to researchers, the early mausoleum of Karakhan, before restoration, was a portal-dome structure, which was a centric composition. It was possible to enter the mausoleum only through a pointed arch. And it rested on three-quarter columns lined with paired bricks. The arch was designed in a similar way, surrounded by U-shaped, slightly protruding frames, laid out with bricks. The mausoleums had a decorative portal, which had not yet been separated into an independent volume, which is typical for the architecture of the 11th century. On both sides of the decorative portal there were paired vertical ornamented stripes with larger diamond-shaped patterns.

To decorate the mausoleum, figured bricks were used in various formats (up to 30 varieties). Obviously, this brick, the surface of which is shaped like a figure eight. then in the form of prominently protruding wedge-shaped bricks with a cross-shaped pattern, the space of the portal between the frames was framed. In terms of plot, they resembled the tiles of the Aisha Bibi mausoleum. Today, the outside walls of the mausoleum are decorated with modern brick. And the former grandeur of the historical monument is reminiscent of the internal walls made of bricks from the Karakhanid era.

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Mausoleum of Karakhan(Aulie-ata mausoleum) (Kaz. Karakhan kesenesi) - built over the grave of one of the representatives of the Karakhanid dynasty. The architectural monument of the 11th century is located in the Kazakh city of Taraz at the intersection of Tole bi and Baizak batyr streets.

The front façade of the mausoleum faces south and is framed at the edges by minarets. The entrance is in the depths of the arch, on both sides of which there are three niches: rectangular, square and lancet.

From the outside, the walls of the mausoleum are made of modern brick, and from the inside, the dome and arched niches ending the window openings are made of brick from the Karakhanid period.

For the first time, the mausoleum was studied in detail by B.P. Denike and described by him in the book “Architectural Ornament of Central Asia.” In 1982, the Karakhan mausoleum was included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of the Kazakh SSR of republican significance and was taken under state protection.

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Excerpt characterizing the Mausoleum of Karakhan

In the second room of the tavern the lieutenant was sitting with a plate of sausages and a bottle of wine.
“Oh, and you’ve stopped by, young man,” he said, smiling and raising his eyebrows high.
“Yes,” said Rostov, as if it took a lot of effort to pronounce this word, and sat down at the next table.
Both were silent; There were two Germans and one Russian officer sitting in the room. Everyone was silent, and the sounds of knives on plates and the lieutenant’s slurping could be heard. When Telyanin finished breakfast, he took a double wallet out of his pocket, pulled apart the rings with his small white fingers curved upward, took out a gold one and, raising his eyebrows, gave the money to the servant.
“Please hurry,” he said.
The gold one was new. Rostov stood up and approached Telyanin.
“Let me see your wallet,” he said in a quiet, barely audible voice.
With darting eyes, but still raised eyebrows, Telyanin handed over the wallet.
“Yes, a nice wallet... Yes... yes...” he said and suddenly turned pale. “Look, young man,” he added.
Rostov took the wallet in his hands and looked at it, and at the money that was in it, and at Telyanin. The lieutenant looked around, as was his habit, and suddenly seemed to become very cheerful.
“If we’re in Vienna, I’ll leave everything there, but now there’s nowhere to put it in these crappy little towns,” he said. - Well, come on, young man, I’ll go.
Rostov was silent.
- What about you? Should I have breakfast too? “They feed me decently,” Telyanin continued. - Come on.
He reached out and grabbed the wallet. Rostov released him. Telyanin took the wallet and began to put it in the pocket of his leggings, and his eyebrows rose casually, and his mouth opened slightly, as if he was saying: “yes, yes, I’m putting my wallet in my pocket, and it’s very simple, and no one cares about it.” .
- Well, what, young man? - he said, sighing and looking into Rostov’s eyes from under raised eyebrows. Some kind of light from the eyes, with the speed of an electric spark, ran from Telyanin’s eyes to Rostov’s eyes and back, back and back, all in an instant.