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ON THE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT DURING THE REIGN OF AMIR TEMUR AND
THE TEMURIDS
Jizzakh State Pedagogical University
Faculty of History Teacher of the
Department of History of Uzbekistan (PhD)
Tugalov Boburjon Bakhodir ugli
Jizzakh State Pedagogical University
2nd year student of the Faculty of History
Karimov Boburjon Bobomurod ugli
e-mail:
Abstract:
The era of Amir Temur and the Timurids is sometimes called the Timurid Renaissance.
The development of science, sharia, and art in Central Asia reflected a strong interest in the
environment. Striving for perfection in one's field became the main feature of the craftsmanship of
Timur and the Timurid era. This was especially evident in architecture. For Temur, the
magnificence of the structures built according to his order was one of the tasks in the political
sphere. "If you want to see our power, look at our buildings!" clearly expressed in the inscription.
Construction in Samarkand and other cities of Movarunnahr during the Temur period gained an
incomparable scale. First of all, in the construction of the city, the construction of fortifications, the
arrangement of the main streets, was clearly organized. Taking this into account, this article tried to
provide information on the cultural environment during the period of Amir Temur and the Timurids
based on the analysis of sources.
Key words:
A. Temur, Timurids, Aksaroy, M. Ulug'bek, Samarkand, Gori Amir, Bibikhanim
mosque.
Annotatsiya:
Amir Temur va
temuriylar davrini ba’zan temuriylar Renessansi deb ham
atashadi.O‘rta Osiyo zaminidagi ilm-fan, sheriyat, san’at rivojida atrof borliqqa nisbatan kuchli
qiziqish aks etdi. O‘z
sohasida
kamolotga
intilish
Temur
va
temuriylar davri
hunarmandchiligining asosiy xususiyatiga aylandi. Bu ayniqsa me’morchilikda yaqqol
namoyon bo‘ldi.Temur uchun uning topshirig‘iga ko‘ra barpo etilgan inshootlarning ulug‘vorligi
siyosiy sohadagi vazifalardan biri edi. U Oqsaroy peshtoqiga bitilgan "Qudratimizni ko‘rmoq
istasang - binolarimizga boq!" degan yozuvda aniq ifodasini topgan. Samarqandda va
Movarounnahrning boshqa shaharlarida Temur davrida amalga oshirilgan qurilish beqiyos ko‘lam
kasb etdi. Bunda avvalambor shahar qurilishida istehkomlar barpo qilish, shoh ko‘chalarni tartibga
solish, aniq uyushtirilgan.Shularni hisobga olgan holda mazkur maqolada Amir Temur va
Temuriylar davrida madaniy muhit xususida manbalar tahlili asosida ma’lumot berishga harakat
qilingan.
Kalit so‘zlar:
A.Temur,temuriylar,Oqsaroy,M.Ulug’bek,Samarqand,Go‘ri Amir,Bibixonim masjidi.
Аннотация:
Эпоху Амира Темура и Тимуридов иногда называют Тимуридским Ренессансом.
Развитие науки, шариата и искусства в Центральной Азии отражало сильный интерес к
окружающей среде. Стремление к совершенству в своей области стало главной чертой
мастерства Тимура и эпохи Тимуридов. Особенно это проявлялось в архитектуре. Для
Темура великолепие построенных по его приказу сооружений было одной из задач в
политической сфере. «Если вы хотите увидеть нашу силу, посмотрите на наши здания!» ясно
выражено в надписи. Строительство в Самарканде и других городах Моваруннахра в период
Темура приобрело несравненный размах. Прежде всего, при строительстве города было четко
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организовано строительство укреплений, регулирование главных улиц. Учитывая это, в
данной статье была предпринята попытка предоставить информацию о культурной среде в
период правления Амира Темура и в период правления Амира Темура. Тимуриды на основе
анализа источников.
Ключевые слова:
А. Темур, Тимуриды, Аксарой, М. Улугбек, Самарканд, Гори Амир,
мечеть Бибиханум.
The era of Amir Temur and the Timurids is sometimes called the Timurid Renaissance [1].
Indeed, the development of science, law, and art in Central Asia reflected a strong interest in the
surrounding world. Humanistic ideas were clearly manifested in the work of poets, historians, and
authors of the Sufi movement.
For Timur, the grandeur of the buildings erected on his orders was one of the tasks in the
political sphere. It was clearly expressed in the inscription on the facade of the Oksaroy: "If you
want to see our power - look at our buildings!" The construction carried out in Samarkand and other
cities of Transoxiana during the reign of Timur was of an unprecedented scale. This included, first
of all, the construction of fortifications, the arrangement of main streets, and a clearly organized
During the reign of Timur and the Timurids, the main part of the cities was called "Hisar", and
this term differs from the concept of "shahristan" that existed in the Middle Ages before the Mongol
era. After all, the hissar included the main buildings and trade and craft sectors of the city, or it was
created in a completely new place, but still architecturally harmonious with each other, including the
main administrative and ideological units. The fortresses of large and small cities are different, but
their importance and function are the same. We can see their formation on the example of two cities
that are inextricably linked with the activities of Timur and Ulugbek - Shahrisabz and Samarkand.
Archaeological excavations of Shahrisabz, then better known by its ancient name Kesh, have
revealed that it was founded before the Muslim Middle Ages, and then rose and fell several times
[2]. During the reign of Timur, who was born and raised in these places, Kesh, which was the
hereditary property of his clan, found its final form in terms of city construction. According to Hafiz
Abru, the construction of the fortress wall began in 780 AH (1378 AD) and was completed in one
year. The rectangular wall had gates on all four sides. According to another source, when Timur
captured Herat, the city's iron-clad gates were brought to Shahrisabz and installed. Two main roads,
starting from the gates, intersected in the center. Shops located along the roads increased towards
the center, and in the center was the main bazaar. In the middle of the bazaar, there was probably a
domed Chorsu, while the Chorsu that has survived to this day was built much later and is located
further from the center. In the southwest of Hissar, Oqsaroy, Timur's government palace, was built,
and opposite it were the neighborhoods of nobles and priests. The southwestern part of the city
consisted of neighborhoods of artisans and city citizens. The rabots around Hissar were lined with
gardens and vineyards along the canals, and this lush greenery, pleasing to the eye, shows that Kesh
was not given its second name - Shahrisabz - for nothing. However, the main political, economic
and cultural center of the empire was Samarkand, and Timur attached special importance to its
decoration, and the city's citadel was appropriate to this. One of Timur's chroniclers wrote that he
moved the capital to Samarkand, "located in a very beautiful, paradise-like place. This incomparable
city with its magnificent steppes, beautiful groves, charming buildings, and lush canals - a unique
jewel of the empire and a place to be envied by other cities and villages - (Timur) made it the center
of state administration and made it the capital, ordering the construction of fortresses and forts,
magnificent buildings, and gilded palaces."
The image of Samarkand is especially vividly reflected in the "Diary" of Ruyu Gonzalez de Clavijo,
the Spanish ambassador to Timur. This unique document of his time, with the meticulous spirit of a
representative of the European Renaissance, shows a wide-ranging interest in the surrounding world,
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including the Muslim East. "The city of Samarkand," writes Clavijo, "is located on a plain and is
surrounded by an earthen embankment and a very deep moat. Its inner part (surrounded by a city
wall) is slightly larger than the city of Seville (in Spain), and around the city there are many
residential buildings approaching it from all sides. The whole city is surrounded by gardens and
vineyards... The city is located in the midst of gardens. These gardens are divided into streets and
squares, where a large number of people live, where bread, meat and many other things are sold.
That is, the outskirts are more crowded than the city itself. In these gardens outside the city there are
many large and famous buildings, palaces and main cellars belonging to the senor (Temur). In
addition, there are houses and various buildings of influential citizens in these gardens. These
gardens and vineyards around the city are so numerous that it seems as if the trees are approaching a
tall forest, and the city is located in the middle of it. Many irrigation canals were laid through the
city to these gardens... On the vast plain outside the city there are many large villages, where the
king settled the population brought from other lands he conquered" [3].
By the twenties and thirties of the 15th century, when Shahrukh began to rule the Timurid empire,
large-scale work on the construction of the city was carried out in its capital, Herat. The elevated
part of the city was surrounded by new walls and moats. The Herat citadel was rectangular in shape,
with two central avenues intersecting in the city center, and the construction was freely planned in
the four parts of the city formed by them. Around the citadel, there were rabotas, along the wide
avenues, residences for the nobility, religious and architectural complexes were built, gardens, and
vineyards were planted. It is possible to reach the city not only along the Shahrisabz road, where
Spanish ambassadors came, but also along the distant Tashkent road and the Zarafshan bridge, and
climb to the top of the Kohak hill. Here, the boundless views of Zarafshan, the valleys that approach
it, and a chain of high mountains in the distance are visible. Kokhak is a peak of a ridge of rocks that
penetrate underground, at the foot of which begins one of the outskirts of Samarkand.
It is not easy to observe the construction of the city from here - even today, Samarkand, despite its
multi-storey modern buildings, is still surrounded by gardens. In the 15th century, neighborhoods
were buried in gardens. The main streets are distinguished by continuous rows of shops and
workshops, sheltered by domes or covered with awnings. In this general view, the main architectural
structures of the capital city are clearly visible - one after another, magnificent mosques, minarets,
madrasas and mausoleums. In the distance, the mighty walls of the fortress are visible. On the top of
the hill there is a small and beautiful building. It is revered among the people as the mausoleum of
Shepherd Father, who is considered the elder of shepherds. Some graves have indeed been found
here, but according to archaeological data, they are "younger" than the building itself. The
architectural aspects of the mausoleum - its layout, construction and decoration - date back to the
30s-40s of the 15th century. That is, this structure is a monument of the era of Ulugbek. Whether it
was built as a mausoleum or for another purpose - is unknown. Most likely, it was a kind of beacon
visible from afar, especially a shed where rulers who were fond of hunting, like Ulugbek, could rest
a little and admire the city views when they returned from hunting. It later acquired religious and
architectural significance due to the shepherds who sat here, watching their herds grazing on the
slopes of the Kokhak. The structure has amazing proportions, elegance of the general form, and
elegance in the decorations, as if this place was destined for this structure, it is in perfect harmony
with nature.
Another structure near the Chopon Ata ridge attracts attention - a powerful and unusual building in
the form of a circle, decorated with arcades, with part of a huge arch rising above it. This is
Ulugbek's observatory, which has not survived to us. From it rises a huge plain, surrounded by the
remains of a wall with towers, and inside there are hills with various buildings and ruins of a fortress.
This ancient city is Afrosiab - Samarkand, which was conquered by Alexander the Great in the 15th
century BC, by the Arabs in the 7th century, and by the Mongols in the 13th century. In the period
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between these tragedies, Samarkand was the main city of the historical and cultural Sogdian region,
flourishing and with a high standard of living, as medieval orientalists and geographers described in
beautiful lines. For example, the 10th-century Arab geographer Ibn Khawqal writes: "Samarkand,
the capital of Sogd, is a city located south of the Sogd River and above it. It consists of a fortress, a
shahristan, and a rabad. In the fortress, a dungeon has been built in our time, and the ruined palace
of the ruler is also located here. I climbed to its top and watched the most wonderful sight that has
ever struck and amazed the human eye: lush green groves, sparkling palaces, overflowing canals,
and a vibrant culture. No matter which way you look, you will see some beauty that pleases the eyes.
The squares and buildings that add beauty to the city's beauty stand out... Samarkand has large
bazaars, rows of neighborhoods typical of large cities, baths, caravanserais, and houses. In the 14th
and 15th centuries, homeless people lived in some parts of the ruins of Afrosiab, and cemeteries
appeared. On the southeastern slope Gradually, the magnificent mausoleum complex called
Shahizinda began to emerge.
Timur founded Samarkand south of Afrosiyob, on the site of the pre-Mongol inner and outer cities
(Shahri Darun and Shahri Berun). During Timur's reign, in 773 AH (1371 AD), the entire area was
surrounded by a fortress wall and a moat, and it is now called "hisor", and a fortress was built on a
natural hill in its western part. The remains of these fortress walls have not reached us, but their
simple and mysterious tiled towers have been preserved. The Ikhtiyoriddin Fortress in Herat gives
some idea of this. At one time, even the guardhouse building of the Samarkand fortress was
luxuriously decorated, for example, the gate posts were cast from an alloy of seven different ores
(Temur took them to his hometown of Shahrisabz). In some miniatures from the 15th century, one
can see a magnificent interpretation of the city's fortifications. For example, a miniature depicting a
scene of an attack on a fortress also shows a circular corner tower surrounded by a moat. It was built
of brick, covered with a mysterious tile, with an inscription on the top and a kungur on top of it,
from which the defenders of the fortress would stand under the cover of these kungurs and throw
stones at the enemy. A miniature made for the Shahnameh in 1444 and called "Isfandiyar is killing
Afrosiyob" depicts the fortress very expressively. In this miniature, the city is surrounded by a wall,
and both the wall and the four-sided towers extending along it are decorated with kungurs and
decorated with colorful tiles. The image of the city inside the wall shows houses of various shapes -
flat stone, domed, and with porches. Timur's fortress in Samarkand was not just a fortress, but, first
of all, a fortified administrative and military center of the capital. Outside its mighty walls are the
main government headquarters, Kuksaroy, and the more private Bostansaroy, with its treasury,
weapons workshops and warehouses, and the government office. Somewhere, on a separate
platform, there was a Koktash - a high pedestal carved from a single stone (now it stands in the
courtyard of the Guri Amir Mausoleum). According to tradition, the ceremony of enthroning the
next puppet Mongol khan, who practically did not play any role in the political life of the country,
was held on this stone. During the reign of Timur, Suyurgotmish, who had the simple title of "emir",
was considered a khan in this way only in name, while in practice all power was in the hands of
Timur from head to toe.
By this time, the appearance of Samarkand was as follows [4]. A serpentine wall surrounded the
500-hectare Hissar. The city had six gates - Sheikhzade and Okhanin in the north, Feroza in the east,
Sozangaron and Korizgoh in the south, and Chorsu in the west. The main streets, radiating from the
city center - Registan Square, to these gates were not straight like arrows, but had many turns,
sometimes connecting with the historically formed streets of large neighborhoods.
After returning to Samarkand in 1404, Timur decided to completely rebuild, straighten, and expand
the city's main streets. It is not surprising that he came to this idea after seeing the main streets of
Western cities during his campaigns in Eastern Europe.
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The Spanish ambassador Clavijo describes how this decision was implemented: "In the city of
Samarkand, every year, many (and diverse) goods are sold, imported from China, India, Tatarstan
and other places, and produced in this (Samarkand) land, which is quite rich. However, since there is
no special area in the city that is convenient for trade, the lord ordered a street to be laid out through
the city with shops and tents on both sides for trade. This street crossed the city from one end to the
other. The lord entrusted this work to his two mirassas (squires), saying that if they did not work day
and night, they would be killed. These mirassas, according to the lord's order, began to demolish the
houses on the lands where the street was supposed to pass, regardless of who the owners were.
Seeing their houses being demolished (and the people who saw them), took their belongings and
fled. As soon as the demolition workers finished their work, others would come and continue it. In
this way, the street was greatly widened, and tents were erected on both sides, and in front of each
tent were placed high benches covered with white stones. All the tents were joined together in pairs,
and the entire street was covered from top to bottom, leaving windows to let in light. As soon as the
work on the tents was finished, merchants were sent to them and they began to sell their various
goods. Fountains were built in some parts of the street. The workers here received a fee from the
city, so that as many people came as the people in charge of this work asked. As soon as the workers
who worked during the day left, the workers who worked at night arrived. Some of them painted the
houses, others leveled the ground, and others built similar ones, and all of them made such a noise
day and night that it looked like a devil's party. "In less than twenty days, so much work was done
that it was impossible not to be amazed" [3]. However, this grandiose undertaking was not destined
to be completed. Timur went on a campaign, winter came early, construction work stopped, and
after Timur's death it was not resumed.
In general, architecture in the state of Timur and the Timurids rose to a new high stage of its
development, having borrowed much from the previous era. The factors that contributed to this were
the construction of new, sometimes grandiose buildings, the unification of creative movements of
architects from different parts of the vast territory within the framework of a single state, and, finally,
the "spirit of the times" - specific aspects that prompted a number of researchers to speak of the
"Temurid Renaissance". This term is controversial, of course, since the ideological views of the
Renaissance in Europe differed from those in the Middle East. But the emerging humanism was a
characteristic feature of both sides. Since the laws of life established by Sharia in the Muslim East
were extremely strict, humanism was manifested in the creative freedom of people engaged in
creative work. It can be seen in the lines of a famous poet, in the blue flowers drawn on a ceramic
bowl, in the carvings on a rice vessel by a craftsman, or in the magnificent mosque, elegant shed,
and other structures built by an architect.
In general construction - in the construction of dwellings, neighborhood and village mosques, shops
and workshops, the main material was still clay - mud brick, pakhsa, fine mortar. Domes made of
mud brick are found in them, but roofs consisting of beams resting on walls and columns are the
majority. In the architecture of magnificent buildings, which in themselves reflected the progress in
construction work, baked brick became the main material, sometimes stone was also used, but in
conditions of high earthquake risk it was used only for decoration, not as a supporting material. The
development of the dome technique was largely determined by baked brick. The 15th century was a
period of the rise of architectural art from head to toe, which in turn paved the way for the
development of volumetric and spatial structures in a new form. During the reign of Timur, the
increase in the scale of construction largely depended on the will of a single ruler, for whom the
grandeur of form was a means of glorifying Timur's power and authority. At the same time, this
process posed new tasks for engineers, architects, and decorators, and required their implementation.
According to the testimony of the Spanish ambassador Clavijo, when Timur arrived in Samarkand
and got acquainted with the construction of the Mausoleum of Guri Amir, he was not satisfied with
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its height, and the builders hastily began to rebuild the dome, further increasing the height of the
base dome supporting it. At that time, the main facade of the mosque also did not seem grand
enough to Timur, and he ordered it to be rebuilt [3].
The structure of the dome was one of the most important engineering tasks that arose before the
architects of grandiose buildings [5]. During the reign of Timur, the structure of the domes remained
the same, only the span of the edges was expanded, the dome passed from the traditional four-sided
base to an octagonal portico with a portico. Two-tiered domes were known earlier, but by this time
the height of the base dome, supporting the outer dome, which rested on arc-shaped ribs from the
inside, had increased. In the construction of the reign of Ulugbek, new types of sub-dome structures
were sought and developed. They consisted of intersecting multi-faceted shapes in the design. In
spatial terms, they form a system of diamond-shaped joints, called "shield leaves", which form a
star-shaped base for the sloping bowl of the dome, but the diameter of the dome is much smaller
than in domes based on octagonal portico sails. As a result of such engineering research, a new
system was created in the form of four porticoes ("spiral"), which run from wall to wall, intersect
and support the dome, the spaces between the ports being filled with shield-shaped arches and
hanging entablature. Intersecting circular arcades were known long ago in Armenia, from where
they may have spread to Khorasan and Transoxiana in the 15th century. However, there these
structures were made of stone, and the spaces between the arcades were filled with flat stone blocks.
In local conditions, where the main building material was baked brick, the builders found their own
methods for developing the entire system - thanks to the spatially complex ways of filling the spaces
between the arcades, the system achieved not only expediency from an engineering point of view,
but also gave it expressive decorative features. Another advantage of this system is that instead of
closed jambs, wide and deep niches or completely open spaces between the main arcades allowed to
significantly expand the interior.
The high development of the exact sciences under the patronage and participation of Ulugbek was
also clearly manifested in architecture. The study of the monuments that have survived to our time
(the mausoleums of Shahizinda, Ahmad Yassavi, and Guri Amir, the Bibi Khanum Mosque, and the
Ulugbek Madrasah) has shown that in the plans of their facades and interiors, there is a clear
correlation of geometric structures that determine the overall harmony of architectural forms [6].
Neither before nor after the Timurid era, nor in general, never before in the architecture of
Transoxiana and Khorasan had architectural decoration reached such a high level. Using its types
and the experience of previous generations, the masters not only improved technical methods, but
also developed new ones, and enriched the themes of decoration. On the facade of the building,
there was a step-by-step pattern of colored and glazed tiles, smoothed out on a brick wall; wood,
stone and stucco carvings; multi-colored rivets decorating the frames; individual parts of the
patterns and whole panels; and finally, bright patterns made of separately polished tiles. In the
interior, from the border of the tiles to the center of the dome, a mural was created: it was multi-
colored and rich in gold, or, conversely, some colors, for example, blue patterns on a white
background, prevailed. Moreover, all of this was executed at the highest technical level, and it is this
execution that has preserved the unfading beauty of these decorations to this day, in places where
the destructive influence of human hands has not reached.
The architecture of the era of Timur and Ulugbek was characterized by the study of multicolor and
richness of pattern in decoration [7]. Two stages are distinguished in the use of tiled decoration: one
covers the middle of the 14th century, and the second covers the end of the 14th century and the first
half of the 15th century. For the first stage, it was customary to cover the front of the building and
often the interior from head to toe with tiles. In the second stage, on the front of the building, against
the same colored background of the brick wall, some areas such as the roof, porch, dome and wall
frame were selected and given bright colors, the domes were a clear blue color.
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The three types of patterns, as in the pre-Mongol period - hand-made, plant-like and epigraphic
(inscriptions on stone, metal, ceramic), still coexist, but now their styles were different. If the hand-
made pattern filled individual frames and small panels in the first stage, then in the second stage it
began to participate in the decoration of the vast surfaces of walls and minarets. In this case, colored
and mysterious tiles form a very large circle against the background of the wall, which is usually not
in a straight line, but in a diagonal pattern, and in the minarets - a hand-made pattern created in a
spiral. And inside the shapes they form, a large-sized word is often written - the names of the
Prophet Muhammad, Hazrat Ali, or one of the countless attributes of Allah. A plant-like pattern is
used to fill the gaps between mysterious tiles or step patterns: it can be in the form of a branch with
flowers and leaves (Islamic), a luxurious flower head (Chinese), or a large spiral with leaves and
flowers.
Epigraphy is of great importance in the decoration of architectural structures. The inscriptions were
inscribed in special places reserved for them, directly on the brick surface of the panel or wall, tower,
or dome, by people called "kundunavis", that is, "writers of large letters". These unique masters,
who perfectly mastered the art of calligraphy, were also unparalleled in their ability to inscribe six
types of complex inscriptions on the exterior and interior of buildings. According to the copy they
made, these inscriptions were inscribed on the common brick surface using blue, cyan, and white
tiles, step patterns, and inside the building using paint.
The "Kufic" script, which is very close to the Khandas pattern, was used in the magnificent wall
girikhs, as well as in the inscriptions that surrounded the domes of the domes. In the inscriptions of
the Hoshiya-peshtoq, the "Devoni" script, which was close to book calligraphy, was used at the first
stage, and then the "suls" script took the leading place, since it is characterized by the continuity of
the lines, the linearity of the vertical letters (alif, kof, lom) and the arrangement of the letters in two
or three rows. The inscriptions are usually written in white letters on a blue background, sometimes
with gold water applied over them, and often a yellow line is drawn parallel to it in the not very high
Kufic script. The figure of leaves and flowers spreading from a large spiral branch served as the
background for the "suls" script.
In the centers of the Timurid Empire, such as Samarkand and Herat, there were special workshops
for calligraphers to prepare copies of inscriptions for the facade and interior of buildings, and then
these inscriptions were copied onto stone, wood, carved ornaments and walls. The names of these
masters have not survived to this day, but, in any case, the name of the calligrapher Haji Bangir
Tabrizi appears above the Shahizinsa complex, which was built in 1405 by Timur's wife Tuman
Agha in Samarkand. According to Sharafuddin Ali Yazdi, at the end of 1404, "the letter sent by
Timur to the ruler of Egypt was three gaz wide and seventy gaz high (2x40 m in size), and it was
written in gold water by the son of Haji Bangir Tabrizi, Mawlana Sheikh Muhammad." That is, both
father and son worked on this work. The figurative theme is extremely rare in tile coverings. On the
roofs of Timur's palace in Shakhrisabz, Oqsaroy, there are paired images of a lion and the sun,
which is a purely symbolic theme.
In the luxurious architecture of the era of Timur and Ulugbek, the interior decoration of buildings
was also unusually rich and diverse. Here, tiles were used only occasionally to cover the floor and
altar. The walls and ceiling, even the dome, were decorated with patterns. In the buildings of the
Timur era, a luxurious pattern dominated by blue and gold colors, while during the time of Ulugbek,
a blue pattern on a white background, imitating Chinese porcelain, which was then a painting,
became popular.
The inscriptions on some monuments have preserved the names of a number of great architects and
masters of architectural decoration, and their nicknames, indicating the place of birth, cover an
extremely vast territory.[8] For example, the chief architect of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmad
Yassawi, built in Turkestan (southern Kazakhstan) in 800 AH (1387-88 AD), was Shams
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Abdulwahab Shirazi, and another master from Shirazi, Haji Hassan, executed its mosaic decorations.
There were also ceremonial objects of the highest artistic quality, such as candlesticks made by
master Izoeddin bin Tajiddin Isfahani, and a huge cauldron made by Abdulaziz bin Sharafuddin
Tabrizi, the "miracle of rice burning". It is clear that the main creators of these beautiful monuments
were masters from the capitals of Iran, brought thousands of kilometers from their birthplace by the
will of the ruler. The master of the Tabriz mosaic, Muhammad Yusuf, decorated the facade of
Temur's palace in Shahrisabz (786/1385). The name of the master (architect? kundunavis?)
Muhammad ibn Makhmud Isfahani appears on the main facade of the Muhammad Sultan Khanaqos
and Madrasah complex in Samarkand (completed by 1404). The name of another master from
Isfahan, Ismail ibn Tahir, has been preserved in the Ulugbek Madrasah in Bukhara (830/1417). The
woodcarver Yusuf Shirozi decorated the door of the mosque with a mosaic in the Shahizinda
complex in Samarkand (507/1404-1405).
However, the names of many masters who built the main structures during the reign of Timur and
Ulugbek have not reached us. It can be said that the names of only Iranian masters appear in the
above list, it is only a coincidence. However, they did not come to an empty place. Judging by the
inscriptions found on some monuments of the Shahizinda complex in Samarkand, this land had its
own architectural school and masters of decoration in the period before Timur's campaigns to the
west. The names of some masters include the city of Movarunnahr, while others do not, because
they are masters from Samarkand, and it was not possible to indicate that they were born here in
their own city. These include the names of Fakhri-Ali in the Khoja Ahmed mausoleum (second half
of the 14th century), Badriddin and Shamsiddin in the Shodimulk mausoleum (773/1373), as well as
the third master Zayniddin Bukhari, who participated in the decoration of this mausoleum. The
nameless tomb in the middle of the complex bears the names of Master Ali and Alim (perhaps the
same person?) Nasafis. It also appears that Temur's chief gardener, Shahobiddin Ahmad Zardakashi,
who was well-versed in local flora, was also from Samarkand. It is precisely this situation - the
mutual creative influence of local and foreign masters - that gives rise to a new style in the
architecture of the Timurid era, which combines the knowledge and creative potential of masters
gathered from all corners of the great empire. No matter how difficult life in captivity was, the
greatness of the tasks set before the architects and the possibility of their implementation could not
but inspire them as creators.
List of used literature:
1.Масон М.Е., Путаченкова Г.А. Шаҳрисабз при Тимуре и Улугбека. Тр. САГУ, Ташкент,
1953.
2. Де Клавихо Руи Гонсалес. Дневник путишествия а Самарканд ко двору Тимура (1403-1406).
Пер. И. С. Мироковой, м., 1990, с. 138.
3. Масон М. Е. Самарканд времени Улугбека, Звезда Востока, 1958, № 5.
4. Засыпкин Б.Н. вып. 13. М., 1961, с. 119 сл., Пугаченкова Г.А. Зодчество Центральной Азии.
15 век. Ведущие тенденции и черты. Ташкент., 1976, с. 17 сл.
5. Булатов М.А. Геометрическая гармонизация в архитектуре. Средней Азии. X-XV вв. М.,
1978, с 137. с
INTERNATIONAL MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL FOR
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
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eISSN :2394-6334 https://www.ijmrd.in/index.php/imjrd Volume 12, issue 04 (2025)
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6. Ремпель Л.И. Архитектурный орнамент Узбекистана. История развития и теория
построния. Ташкент, 1961, с. 256. сл.
7. Пугаченкова Г.А. Садова-парковое искусство Средней Азии в эпоху Тимура и тимуридов.
Тр. САГУ. История. Новая серия. Вип. 23. ташкент, 1951, с. 125.
