Shergazi Khan Madrasah

The numerous Shibanid dynasty, which once ruled the territory of Transoxiana, has grown so much that its descendants have ruled the country and each of its cities for many centuries. The very name of Shibanids originates from the name of Shiban, the third son of Jochi and grandson of the great Genghis Khan. One of the most famous representatives of this dynasty, Shergazi Khan, ruled the Khanate of Khiva at the beginning of the XVIII century.

The excellently educated khan, who graduated from the madrasah in Bukhara, was an excellent strategist and commander. He managed to capture Merv and Mashhad, to defeat the campaign of the Russian mission of 1717, headed by Bekovich-Cherkassky. In 1718, Shergazi Khan was successful again, but already in a campaign against Khorasan. The successful commander was popularly called “The Lion of God”, “The Sun of the World” and “Sahibkiran”. The latter translates as “The Lord of a happy combination of planets”, and before Shergazi Khan, only the great Amir Timur was so called. Good luck in military missions brought income to the treasury of the Khan of Khiva and at the same time replenished the ranks of his prisoners.

So, in 1718, in commemoration of his successful campaigns, Shergazi Khan decided to erect a Madrasah in Khiva, which would bear his name. It was decided to erect a madrasah in the walls of Ichan Kala (fortress wall of Khiva), not far from the mausoleum of Pahlavan Mahmud. As with many buildings of the Middle Ages, there are many legends associated with the Madrasah of Shergazi Khan. One of the legends says that slaves captured in khan's campaigns were mostly involved in the construction of the madrasah. They built the building without enthusiasm and without any desire. Shergazi Khan promised to grant freedom to all slaves after the construction of the madrasah was completed. However, for various reasons, the completion of construction was delayed and postponed from year to year. During one of the khan's visits, in 1728, when he was inspecting the construction work, he was killed by angry slave builders. Khan was buried in the mausoleum, which was erected near the western walls of the madrasah. But despite such a far from cheerful history of the construction of the madrasah, after its construction was completed, it was one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Khiva, where Kazakh Sufi Beke ata, Uzbek poet and historian Pahlavankuli Ravnak, Karakalpak poet Ajiniyaz Kosybayuly, Turkmen poet and philosopher Makhtumkuli and others were graduated from. Madrasah was famous throughout Central Asia as “Maskan-i fazilan”, which means “Abode of knowledge".

The madrasah is a rectangular building, the main facade of which consists of two floors, and the other 3 facades are one-story. The main facade of the building is decorated with a peshtak (a richly decorated portal niche, in the form of a vertical rectangle with a pointed arch, whose height exceeds the height of the building itself), and guldasta towers are located on the sides of the facade. The courtyard is surrounded by aivans, 55 hujras (rooms for madrasah pupils) are located along its perimeter, and a pond is located in the center of the courtyard. Also in the madrasah there is a lecture hall, a darskhana, which crowns the dome.

Over time, the madrasah sank by almost 2 meters and legends associate this with the poor-quality construction of the building by dissatisfied slaves.

To date, one of the oldest educational institutions in Khiva, as well as other monuments on the territory of Ichan Kala, is included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Objects.