Tours to Mizdakhan necropolis.

"Do not think that I am unhappy in the cell of ashes: Knowing that I am the closest sanctuary of holiness And consider that I am one of the hermits of paradise." "Life is Beautiful. What a pity that it is not eternal."

Epitaph in the mausoleum of Mazlumkhan Sulu on the northern tombstone.

History of Karakalpakstan.

The mausoleum of Mazlumkhan Sulu is located in the western part, on a natural hill 104.6 meters above sea level on the necropolis of Mizdakhan, 4.4 kilometers to the west and slightly south of the city of Khojeyli, 1.4 kilometers to the north-east of the Gyaur settlement kala (Khojeli) in the Khojeli region of the Republic of Karakalpakstan.
- Initially in the XII - XIV centuries. the underground group of premises of the Nazlymkhan Sulu mausoleum is being built. After a while, two burials are performed in the niches of the large hall. Then the portal of the mausoleum is destroyed and a group of ground premises is built and a series of burials are performed.
Most of the Mazlumkhan Sulu mausoleum is located in the ground. Only the remains of the hipped roof of the main room and the dilapidated entrance portal rise above the earth's surface. Down, through a vaulted corridor, a staircase leads from the portal to a small intermediate domed room.
From here, a second staircase descends to the central room. The room is square in plan, with three deep and one shallow niches. It is covered with an octahedral dome faced with blue glazed bricks. The western wall of the room is opened by an arch into a small hall, also covered with an octahedral dome, faced with bricks with blue glaze.
There is a deep niche in the northern wall of the room, and shallow niches in the western and southern walls. From the north, two dark rooms with “balkhi” vaults adjoin the large hall. In both rooms, the transition to the domes is made by systems of structural stalactites, worked in the form of carved terracotta blocks.
Delicately drawn floral motifs are covered with a layer of light blue glaze, in perfect harmony with the pinkish-yellow terracotta background. The star-shaped mosaic endings of the stalactites are made of white and blue herringbone tiles.
The surfaces of the walls and arches are paved with paired bricks with carved majolica blue “bows”. There is also a ground group of rooms, built after the destruction of the portal. According to coin finds, the construction of the mausoleum is dated to the first half of the XIVth century.
It is associated with the flourishing of the trading cities of the Golden Horde Khorezm, one of which was Mizdahkan, which found itself on the busy routes of international trade. The construction history of the monument is as follows: initially, the main underground group of premises is being erected.
Two burials are performed in the niches of the large hall. Then the portal of the mausoleum collapses. After the event, a group of aboveground rooms is built and a series of burials are performed in the large and small halls of the underground group.
Partial destruction of the mausoleum occurs, apparently, at the end of the fourteenth century. and may be associated with the punitive campaigns of Timur to Khorezm. The mausoleum is completely unusual in its plan.
In addition to the main, cruciform in the plan room with a central square of 7.40 meters, covered with an octahedral tent, the mausoleum contains a second room of the same plan, but smaller in size, only 4.48 meters, also covered with an octahedral tent.
It is connected to the first hall by an arched passage. Behind the entrance to the mausoleum there is a small square vestibule, from which a corridor leading to the main hall descends slightly. In addition to these artistically decorated rooms, the mausoleum contains three rectangular chambers without any artistic decoration.
The dark chambers of the mausoleum were covered with balkhi-type domes formed by converging trumpets. Such an overlap was preserved only over one of the chambers. In the other two, the vaults collapsed and formed obstructions that made the cameras inaccessible.
Attention is drawn to the magnificent technique of artistic layout of the walls of the mausoleum. Small in size, very regular in shape and high strength, fired brick is composed of paired spoons, between which halves of bricks with relief glazed blue bows of 6 - 7 different patterns, framed by a blue frame, are vertically inserted in a checkerboard pattern.
The deep niches of the premises are covered with beautifully laid lancet vaults with underlined masonry archivolts. In the vaults, the masonry is also ornamental. The tents are covered from the inside with an even blue cladding, fragments of which are still preserved.
The transition from the square base of the walls surrounding the central room to an octagonal tent was made with the help of spherical sails, decorated with decorative terracotta stalactites with relief blue floral ornaments in several versions.
It should be especially emphasized the purity and brightness of the blue, turquoise hue, the glaze covering the tiles, facing from the inside of the tent, and the relief of the pattern on the stalactites and patterned bricks.
In the northern and eastern niches of the main hall of the mausoleum, there are sagan tombstones characteristic of a Muslim burial, with the remains of a beautiful majolica facing. Against the blue background of the tombstones, a white ornament of two-leafed and single-leafed plants, as well as inscriptions made in white in the Arabic naskh script, are perfectly arranged.
Ornament rosettes combine blue, red, white and black with ornamentation. Unfortunately, the inscriptions do not contain any dates or names. From the texts of the northern tombstone, one can only conclude that the ashes of a woman are buried under it.
The epitaphs are philosophical and contemplative. Here are some excerpts from the northern gravestone inscriptions: "Do not think that I am unhappy in the cell of ashes: Knowing that I am the closest sanctuary of holiness And consider that I am one of the hermits of paradise."
"Life is Beautiful. What a pity that it is not eternal.". The mausoleum in Mizdahkan is a unique monument of Central Asian, pre-Mongol architecture and deserves the most careful study by its originality and artistry. The mausoleum consists of five rooms.
Perhaps the most romantic legend is covered with the Nazlymkhan Sulu mausoleum. The first legend says that the master who built the mausoleum and finished the work under the dome made a marriage proposal to the daughter of a high-ranking person for whom he worked.
The proud beauty said that she would love the guy if he rushed down. Without a moment's hesitation, the master threw himself down and crashed on the stone floor. Seeing this, the girl immediately committed suicide. According to the second legend, the beautiful Nazlymkhon was the daughter of a ruler, and the most noble and wealthy sought her love.
But she loved a simple architect who could not count on marrying a princess. Angry that his daughter rejects all suitors in a row, the ruler announced that he would give her in marriage to someone who would build a tower to the sky in one night.
The loving architect, inspired by luck, fulfilled this condition. But, of course, he still did not receive his father's consent. Then, in grief, he threw himself down from the minaret he had built himself. The princess rushed after him.
The ruler, of course, repented, and ordered to bury the beloved together, folding over their grave a mausoleum made of bricks of the minaret, which in despair he ordered to destroy and turn into the depths of the earth.
Geographic coordinates of the mausoleum Mazlumkhan Sulu: N42 ° 24'09.51 "E59 ° 23'18.01"

Authority:
http://sovminrk.gov.uz

Literature:
1. Grazhdankina NS "Building materials for the mausoleums of Mizdahkan". Architectural heritage of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, 1960.
2. Esbergenov H.E., Yagodin V.N. "Some results of the study of Mazara Shamun-nabi." VKK FAN UzSSR, No. 4, 1966.
3. Nekrasov A.A. "Inscriptions on the gravestones of the Mazlumkhan-Slu mausoleum in Mizdahkan." ZKV, vol. U, L. 1930.
4. Pilyavsky V.I. Urgench, "Mizdahkan". M. 1948.
5. Filimonov V.M. "Mazlum-Slu Palace, a unique monument of civil architecture." In the collection: Materials and research on the history and restoration of architectural monuments in Uzbekistan. Issue 1,
ashkent, 1967.
6. Yagodin V.N. "New data on the history of the religion of Khorezm." SE, No. 4, 1963.
7. Yagodin V.N. "To the study of the chronology and topography of the ancient Mizdahkan." In the collection “History, archeology and ethnography of Central Asia”. M. 1968.
8. Yagodin V.N., Khodzhayov T.K. "The necropolis of the ancient Mizdahkan". Tashkent, 1970.
9. Yakubovsky A.Yu. "Mizdahkan Settlement". EKV, vol. U, L. 1930.

Photos by
Alexander Petrov.