The mausoleum of Sheibanids

Samarkand is the pearl of the East, the city of poets, artists, architects and great rulers. A city where every street is like a monument of history, tells its own unique legend, and the wind envelops the breath of antiquity. Among the many architectural and historical monuments that the city is rich in, to the east of the Tilla Kori Madrasah located in the center of Registan, there is the mausoleum of the Sheibanids. The history of the mausoleum goes back to the XVI century.

Muhammad Sheibani, founder of the Sheibanid dynasty, Khan of the Bukhara Khanate, descendant of Genghis Khan, his son Jochi and grandson Shiban Khan. In 1500, he was able to defeat the Temurids and conquer Samarkand and Bukhara. Later, he expanded the territories of his rule by annexing Tashkent, Khiva, Merv, eastern Persia and western Afghanistan. 

Despite the fact that Muhammad Sheibani was a competent commander and spent most of his time in battles, he also conducted active spiritual and educational activities in his country. Excellently educated in the best Bukhara madrassas, Sheibani Khan, continuing the traditions of the Temurids, undertook to rebuild bridges, mosques, madrassas, and mausoleums, respecting the memory of the Sufi sheikhs and religious figures who preceded him. One of the most grandiose of its buildings was considered to be the madrasah of Sheibani Khan, to which the library was adjacent with its amazing wealth of books and manuscripts. However, the madrasah and the library were destroyed in the XX century with the coming to power of the Soviet Union. 

He also built a bridge over the Zerafshan River, one brick arch of which has been preserved to this day. 

After the death of his great grandfather, the founder of the state of nomadic Uzbeks, Abdulkhair Khan, Sheibani Khan erected a mausoleum for him, which he later often visited. 

Muhammad Sheibani was no stranger to art. Under the pseudonym Shibani, he wrote poems in the Turkic language, a collection of which is currently on display at the Topkapi Museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. His other manuscript “Bahr ul-khudo" is in one of the museums in London. 

Another poetic nickname “Shahbakht”, which translates as “happy shah”, was given to Mukhammad Sheibani by his grandfather Abdulkhair Khan, however, despite such a nickname and outstanding activity, Khan's death turned out to be sad and cruel. 

The Iranian khan of the Safavid dynasty, Ismail I, was concerned about the victories of Sheibani Khan, since he and Muhammad Sheibani clashed not only political, but also religious interests. Ismail Safavi was a Shiite who spread his religious views on the territory of Iran. Muhammad Sheibani was a Sunni supporter, but at the same time he suppressed all the contradictions of various Muslim religious communities on the territory of his state, since his main conviction was: “All Muslims are brothers.”

After learning about the losses of Sheibani Khan in the battle with the Khazars, Ismail I decided to attack and surrounded the city of Merv. The city was under siege for a month, but did not surrender. Ismail I decided to change tactics by playing a retreat and then attack Sheibani Khan. After the retreat of Ismail Safavi, Sheibani Khan and other nobles at the negotiations in Merv almost decided to wait for 30 thousand reinforcements, and then attack Ismail Safavi. However, the khan's beloved wife Aisha Sultan (Mogul Khanum) intervened and shamed the soldiers, saying that this was the only chance to attack the Safavids, and if they did not dare, she would take the soldiers and attack herself. After that, despite the small army, the council decided to immediately attack the army of Ismail I. In the decisive battle, Sheibani Khan lost, was killed by beheading and his decapitated body was buried in Samarkand. According to one of the legends, the cruel Ismail Safavi set the skull of Sheibani Khan with gold and made a cup out of it. 

A mausoleum and a tombstone were erected over the Khan's grave, which were destroyed in the 1920s. The tombstone of Sheibani Khan, dating from the XVI century, is currently represented in the Hermitage of St. Petersburg. 

Mihr Sultan khanum – the daughter-in-law of Sheibani Khan, the wife of his son Temur Sultan, proposed to build a Dakhma (family tomb) at the burial place of Sheibani Khan. The burial structure, dakhma, was built in the form of a rectangular prism. Representatives of the Sheibanid dynasty and representatives of the nobility were buried here. Of the representatives of the dynasty, Hamza Sultan, Mahdi Sultan, the daughter of Sheibani Khan Shahrbanu Khanum were buried here, and Pirmukhammad Sultan, who died during the internecine war in 1598, was the last to be buried here. Dakhma, who changed her location twice, eventually stayed on Registan Square. 

Today, tourists can visit the tomb of representatives of the great dynasty, which is represented by a rectangular slab with ten tombstones on it. The gray slab, worn by time, is located to the east of the Tilla Kori Madrasah on Registan Square.