Kukeldash Madrasah

Kukeldash Madrasah (Kukaltosh Madrasah) — a two‑storey madrasah building located in the historic centre of Bukhara city, Bukhara region, Republic of Uzbekistan, on the north‑eastern side of the Labihovuz ensemble.

In the capital of the Bukhara Khanate, the madrasah was built in 1568/69 by Qulbobo Kukaldosh; since that time it has retained the status of the largest madrasah in Central Asia up to the present day.

The Bukhara Khanate, the Bukhara Emirate and the Bukhara Soviet Socialist Republic each had their own Academy of Sciences (Dor ul‑fununi).

It is now one of the cultural heritage objects in Bukhara that has fallen into the most serious condition, housing a women's beauty salon, a video‑editing workshop, offices, shops, a craft workshop and a room‑museum. Most of its rooms remain in need of repair.

Research on the waqf documents of the madrasah

The waqf documents of the Kukaldosh madrasah were first studied by Professor Muso Saidjonov and translated into Uzbek. Later, the documents were re‑examined during the research of Abdusattor Jumanazar.

Two waqf documents of the madrasah have reached us. One is the original (compiled in 1593–1594), the other is a copy made during the reign of the Bukhara Emirate ruler Amir Shokhmurod (1785–1800). The original copy is bound in leather, in the form of a scroll, written in Persian in nastaliq script. The copy matches the original.

The waqf document contains the following information about the construction of the Kukaldosh madrasah: Amir Yormuhammad’s son Qulbobo Kukaltosh built a magnificent madrasah of many rooms, with brick arches, tiled roofs, interior and exterior façades, a mosque, a classroom and a ablution facility, using baked bricks.

Foundation of the madrasah

During the Uzbek dynasty period, the city of Bukhara, the state capital, became a hub of scholars and enlighteners. In the era of Ubaydullah Khan (1509–1540) the artisans and scholars of Bukhara reached such a high level that, in this respect, the city recalled the Hirot of Sultan Husayn Bayqara, while under the rule of Abdullakhon II (1557–1598) the capital’s boundaries expanded. Reconstruction work continued in the city; during this renovation and improvement process, old collapsed buildings were either repaired or completely demolished and some streets were widened. In the areas of the old city and the New City markets, distinctive religious‑social centres comprising architectural complexes—mosques, baths, caravanserais, etc.—emerged. As the markets expanded, residential buildings were compressed and displaced. New residential quarters, mansions, mosques and madrasahs began to be built in places abandoned by people on the outskirts of Bukhara. Abdullakhon II and his amirs, among whom the most prominent was Qulbobo Kukaldosh, acted as one of the main patrons (sponsors and clients) of the constructions.

Kukeldash madrasa was built in 1568–1569 on one of the central streets of the capital of the Bukhara Khanate, in the Qoqilai market or Kukeldash bazaar, during the reign of the Uzbek ruler Abdullakhon II (1557–1598), at the khan’s wish, by his close minister and commander Qulbobo Kukeldash’s endowment. In size and occupied area it surpassed earlier madrasas, and at that time it was not only the largest madrasa building in Bukhara but also in Central Asia, a status it has retained to the present.

For the madrasa Qulbobo Kukeldash endowed the tim, kitchen, bakery, bathhouse, 2 caravanserais, more than 27 shops (cotton trade, tailoring, butchery, cooking, painting, watermelon selling, etc.); the entire village of Nayiston in Kasbid; the villages of Xatoizza (or Xatog‘arra) and Zulayho in Harqonrud; the village of Qasri quzzot in G‘ijduvan. After some time, community leaders, scholars and religious figures also endowed various amounts of their property for this madrasa. In addition, books of the library on religion, fiqh and Arabic grammar were also endowed for the madrasa, and their list has reached us.

According to tradition, the bathhouse endowed to the Kukeldash madrasa was located at the present site of the Mavlon Sharif prayer room. According to the founder’s will, students of the madrasa were to bathe there free of charge. When the building fell into disrepair, Dungiyon village purchased a plot of land to transfer the bathhouse to the madrasa endowment. In return the bathhouse became his private property, he demolished the bathhouse and built a prayer room in its place.

The Kokaldosh madrasa’s courtyard that was included in the usage is one of two caravanserais called Soxta. As a result of a fire, it burned down and in its place the Nog‘ay caravanserai, which has survived to the present, was built. It repeated its predecessor almost exactly with only insignificant changes and setbacks.

Life of the madrasa and its educational system

The Kokaldosh madrasa was the highest‑ranked educational institution of the Bukhara khanate (amirate) – a unique Academy of Sciences. It did not lose this status after the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic was established. During this period the madrasa remained the sole Dor ul‑funun. The other large madrasas became known as Dor ut‑tolibin (the madrasas of Mulla Tursunjon, Govkushon, Abdullaxon) and Doril‑mudarrisin (the Mir Arab madrasa).

The highest‑ranked scholars of the Bukhara science and education system – oxunds, alim, muftis – usually gathered in this madrasa to resolve a particular issue. The madrasa’s director was an oxund, appointed from among the distinguished scholars who held the highest degree in higher education. Abdurahmon Abdulloh oxund wrote the following note about this category representative: