Qyluet

Qyluet underground mosque – a monument included in the list of republican significance historical and cultural monuments of Turkestan region, a monument of urban planning and architecture.

Location

Located 120 m south of the Khoja Ahmed Yassaui mausoleum in Turkestan city, it is one of the medieval religious architectural structures built in the 12th century. The word “Qyluet” in Arabic is “khala’ūn” – meaning to remain alone, to stay in solitude, to be private, and gives the meaning of worshiping the Creator in solitude. There are accounts that Khoja Ahmed Yassaui, at the age of 63, specifically built the Qyluet mosque, spent the rest of his life there, and wrote many works there, such as Diwani Hikmet, Mirat‑ul‑Qulub, Pakirnama, etc.

Description of the mosque

At an altitude of 228 m above sea level, the Qyluet mosque is partially underground and originally consisted of 18 rooms. The underground location of the mosque was intended to make living conditions independent of weather. For example, underground it is warm in winter and cool in summer. Inside the mosque, conditions are comprehensively suitable for a person to live and worship. The rooms of the mosque:

“Ghar” room – a private room intended for one person’s worship. It is located underground at a depth of 4–4.5 meters. The walls of the “Ghar” room are built of burnt bricks and covered with a four‑sided dome made according to the “balkhi” method. The walls have circular niches and depict the plan of the 12th‑century “Saint Kumshyk Ata” mosque construction. The room’s length is 135 cm, width 135 cm and height 175 cm.

“The Jamagatkhana” room – the largest and the only room with a window in the Qyluet mosque. The main dome of the mosque is located above this Jamagatkhana room. The inner side of the dome is made of wood, the roof is covered with iron. Special columns were placed as the base supporting the roof. The room’s length is 20.9 meters, width 14.7 meters and, including the dome, the height is 6.4 meters.

“Quzhira” room – a room for students.

“Mosque” room

Rooms for preparing hot water, bathing, and using the toilet. According to some sources, the mosque also had guesthouses and stables for tying horses.

Archaeological investigations

The Qyluet mosque was damaged during the Great Patriotic War years to use its bricks for a butter factory. Nevertheless, as a result of archaeological research conducted by T.N. Senigova in 1972‑1973 and by E.A. Smagulov in 1979, the location of the “Qyluet” mosque characteristic of the 15th‑16th centuries was identified. In 1942, according to a model made by architect scholar A.L. Shmid, it was restored there.

During the study and restoration it was determined that the construction of the Qyluet consists of several stages. In 1994 it was entered into the “Catalogue of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Kazakhstan” for the South Kazakhstan region with entry number 590.11 and taken under state protection.

Based on the archaeological research by Senigova T.N. and Smagulov E.A., it was found that the construction of the Qyluet consists of two phases. The earlier part includes rooms numbered 1 to 7, built between the 15th‑17th centuries, while the north‑east part numbered 8 to 20 was built between the 18th‑20th centuries. Only room No. 18 “Ghar” (located under room No. 3) was built in the time of Ahmed Yesevi, i.e., the 12th century. (Fig. 1).

In 1996 the Turkestan archaeological expedition (Smağulov E., Tūyaqbaev M.) conducted archaeological excavations in the Mosque room (room 3) of the Qyluet complex, located under the floor of the Gar in the Gar area. First of all, the walls of the Gar room do not align with the walls of the Mosque room, which is evidence that they were built in different periods. The walls of the Gar room are inclined at 15 degrees, so the Gar room is now situated under the entrance of the Mosque. In the building plan, the hatch leading to the Gar is located outside the south‑west wall of the Mosque, as can also be seen in A. L. Schmid’s 1942 model. Later, when drawing the plan of Qyluet in the 1980s, the south‑west wall of the Mosque room was shifted outward by about 1 meter, leaving the Gar hatch inside the Mosque room.