Gur-e-Amir

Gur-e Amir
Gur-e Amir
	Exterior view of the Gur-e Amir
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Location
Location	Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Architecture
Type	Mausoleum
Style	Persian
Specifications
Dome height (outer)	30 m?
Minaret(s)	2
Minaret height	30 m?

The Gūr-i Amīr or Guri Amir (Template:Lang-uz, Template:Lang-fa), is a mausoleum of the Asian conqueror Timur (also known as Tamerlane) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It occupies an important place in the history of Persian-Mongolian Architecture as the precursor and model for later great Mughal architecture tombs, including Gardens of Babur in Kabul, Humayun's Tomb in Delhi and the Taj Mahal in Agra, built by Timur's Persianised descendants, the ruling Mughal dynasty of North India. It has been heavily restored.

Construction

Gur-e Amir is Persian for "Tomb of the King". This architectural complex with its azure dome contains the tombs of Tamerlane, his sons Shah Rukh and Miran Shah and grandsons Ulugh Beg and Muhammad Sultan. Also honoured with a place in the tomb is Timur's teacher Sayyid Baraka.

The earliest part of the complex was built at the end of the 14th century by the orders of Muhammad Sultan. Now only the foundations of the madrasah and khanaka, the entrance portal and a part of one of four minarets remains.

The construction of the mausoleum itself began in 1403 after the sudden death of Muhammad Sultan, Tamerlane's heir apparent and his beloved grandson, for whom it was intended. Timur had built himself a smaller tomb in Shahrisabz near his Ak-Saray palace. However, when Timur died in 1405 on campaign on his military expedition to China, the passes to Shahrisabz were snowed in, so he was buried here instead. Ulugh Beg, another grandson of Tamerlane, completed the work. During his reign the mausoleum became the family crypt of the Timurid Dynasty.

Architecture

The entrance portal to the Muhammad Sultan ensemble is richly decorated with carved bricks and various mosaics. All the extensions of Ulugh Beg's time are attributed to the architect Muhammad ibn Mahmud from Isfahan.

Inside the mausoleum – deep niches and diverse muqarnas decoration.

Outwardly the Gur-e Amir Mausoleum is a one-cupola building. It is famous for its simplicity of construction and for its solemn monumentality of appearance. It is an octahedral building crowned by an azure fluted dome. The exterior decoration of the walls consists of the blue, light-blue and white tiles organized into geometrical and epigraphic ornaments against a background of terracotta bricks. The dome (diameter – 15 m (49.21 ft), height – 12.5 m (41.01 ft)) is of a bright blue color with deep rosettes and white spots. Heavy ribbed fluting gives an amazing expressiveness to the cupola.

During the reign of Ulugh Beg a doorway was made to provide an entrance into the mausoleum.

Inwardly the mausoleum appears as a large, high chamber with deep niches at the sides and diverse decoration. The lower part of the walls covered are by onyx slabs composed as one panel. Each of these slabs is decorated with refined paintings. Above the panel there is a marble stalactite cornice. Large expanses of the walls are decorated with painted plaster; the arches and the internal dome are ornamented by high-relief papier-mache cartouches, gilded and painted.

The ornate carved headstones in the inner room of the mausoleum merely indicate the location of the actual tombs in a crypt directly underneath the main chamber. Under Ulugh Beg's government a solid block of dark green jade was placed over the grave of Tamerlane. Formerly this stone had been used at a place of worship in the Chinese emperor's palace, then as the throne of Duwa (a descendant of Genghis Khan) in Chagatay Khanate. Next to Tamerlane's grave lie the marble tombstones of his sons Miran Shah and Shah Rukh and also of grandsons – Muhammad Sultan and Ulugh Beg. Tamerlane's spiritual teacher Mir Said Baraka, also rests here.

Subsequent history

Unfortunately, since the end of 17th century Samarkand has suffered a long period of decline. The city lost the status of capital which transferred to Bukhara. The great Silk Road bypassed the city and its great historical monuments stood empty and forgotten. Only after the Second World War did extensive restoration work in Gur-Emir begin. In the 1950s the dome, main portal and minarets were refurbished. By that time majolica tiles mostly fell away. The 1970s, was followed by the restoration of the interior. Neither the Madrasah nor the Khanaka of initial Muhammad Sultan's complex were reconstructed. With the resurgence of the interest to Tamerlane after the founding of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, care of his places of worship has intensified.^[1]

The tomb of Timur, as photographed by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky c. 1910.

In 1740, king Nader Shah of the Afsharid Empire tried to carry away Tamerlane's sarcophagus. Nader idolized Timur. He imitated Timur's military prowess and, later in his reign, Timur's cruelty, but in the process of removal the sarcophagus broke in two. This was interpreted as a bad omen. His advisers urged him to leave the stone to its rightful place.

Tamerlane's tomb was opened shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, although the inscription on his tomb threatens great misfortune to any of his rest breaker. Exhumation of Timur in 1941 was made under the direction of Soviet scientist and anthropologist Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov who was able to reconstruct Tamerlane's facial features from his skull, and it was also confirmed that he was 172 cm in height and would have walked with a pronounced limp. Also it is rumoured that Soviet Union won a victory in the Battle of Stalingrad owing to the re-burial of Timur's bones, according to Muslim rites in 1942.^[1]

Nearby monuments

Some consider the Gur-e Amir, Ruhabad mausoleum and Aksaray mausoleum to be a combined ensemble because of their closeness.^[1]

Ruhabad (14th century) is a small mausoleum and is said to contain a hair of Prophet Muhammad. The one-story madrasah now accommodates craftsmens' shops. There is a functioning mosque next door to the madrasah. All three combine into one ensemble.^[1]

The Aksaray mausoleum (15th century), unrestored, is located on a quiet street behind Gur-e Amir.