Nuriddin Basir Mausoleum

Nuriddin Basir mausoleum (Uzbek: Nuriddin Basir maqbarasi, Persian: حرم نورالدّین باسیر‎‎) is one of the 20th‑century Muslim mausoleums in the city of Samarkand. The mausoleum contains the burial of Shaykh Nuriddin Basir Qutbiy Chahordahum.

The mausoleum is located in the north‑eastern part of Samarkand, in the area called the old city, on the southern edge of the ancient Afrasiyob settlement, within the ancient Khazrati Khizr cemetery area, 230 metres north‑west of Hazrat Khizr Mosque. It is situated 200 metres north‑west of Hazrat Khizr Mosque and the Islam Karimov mausoleum, and the Maxsumbobo mausoleum.

History

Shaykh Nuriddin Basir Qutbi Chaxordahum (translation from Persian: XIV Qutb), known by the epithet, lived from the middle of the 12th century to the first half of the 13th century. He was a prominent Islamic theologian of his time. He was born in Tashkent. He was born blind. From Persian he took the pen name Basir, meaning “seeing with a closed eye” or “sharp sight”. He received his initial religious education from his father, then from the famous Shaykh Zayniddin Kuyi Orif. In his youth he moved with his mother to Samarkand, where he settled along the ancient Novadon canal. At that time, after the destructive Mongol invasions, Samarkand was being rebuilt and he found many supporters and disciples there. He died in Samarkand in 1242 and was buried not far from his home, along the Novadon canal, in an ancient cemetery. One hundred and thirty years later, Amir Timur (Timur), the ruler of the great empire whose capital was Samarkand, decided, according to the advice of his spiritual teachers, to build a mausoleum with turquoise domes over his grave. The domes rose to a height of five metres and were visible from all points of Samarkand. At that time Amir Timur’s troops were stationed on the Ko‘ksaroy hill, where there was a fortress, many buildings and palaces were constructed, the most famous of which were Ko‘ksaroy and Bustansaroy, places where Amir Timur himself often stopped. By the middle of the 15th century, respect for Nuriddin Basir in Samarkand was so great that, according to the historian Abdulhasan, “pious men, religious leaders, including Shaykh al‑Islam, walked on foot beside his tomb.”

In 1868, as a result of the Russian troops' campaigns in Turkestan, Samarkand became part of the Russian Empire. In place of Timur's fortress, a defensive fortress of the Russian troops was built. Within the Russian fortress area, the Nuriddin Basir mausoleum and other buildings from the Timurid period were destroyed.

According to sources, the Vatkin mausoleum was destroyed by the Russians during the construction of the current fortress on the site of the Qutbi Choardaxum mausoleum.

In 1881, during the expansion and strengthening of the Russian fortress, the mausoleum of Nuriddin Basir on the Koksaroy hill and other architectural monuments (including the splendid palaces of Koksaroy and Boʻstonsaroy) were blown up and destroyed by the officials of the Russian Empire. The destruction of the structures, especially the mausoleum, caused sharp protest among the people of Samarkand, and the then chief Qazi (Sharia judge) of Samarkand, Said Mir Nizomiddin Khoja (who belonged to the generation of Maxdumi Azam), relocated the saint’s grave to another place.

After Uzbekistan achieved independence in 1991, scholars studied historical manuscripts and sources and determined the exact location of the Nuriddin Basir tomb. In 1997, the present mausoleum was built on the saint’s grave by the descendants of Mir Nizomiddin Khoja, using personal funds as well as voluntary charitable contributions. There is a sacred and healing spring next to the mausoleum.

Together with other architectural, archaeological, religious and cultural monuments of Samarkand, it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List under the name “Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures”.