Xalifa Rajab maqbarasi

Xalifa Rajab mausoleum – one of the XII‑century tomb ruins in Mizdaxqon (Uzbekistan).

History

The tomb in Mizdaxqon was opened in 1928. In publications its name was changed three times – Qalpirijeb, Xalifa Erejep and Xalifa Rajab. Archaeological research began only in 1984.

The problem of determining the tomb’s date was solved thanks to excavations. Previously it was considered a building of the X–XI centuries, and although it did not spread widely until the XII century, the Xalifa Rajab mausoleum has its own archaeological, technical and stylistic features – for example, covered with turquoise glaze, worked with carved panels and ceramic details – a cohesive brickwork, their lime‑clay cementation among them.

Excavations carried out in place of the collapsed south‑west wall revealed many parts of plastic decorations made of glazed bricks with dimensions 24‑25 cm and thickness 4.5‑5 cm – this is ordinary building brick, its dimensions reduced by smoothing and cutting. Large arch fragments, profiled frame parts, tympana filled with relief geometric patterns, parts of the portal façade’s U‑shaped frame covered with a relief epigraphic seal, and several slabs from a horizontal panel – “book”, its façade crowned with a dome and covered with turquoise glaze, decorated with carved terracotta inscription. The finds, together with the preserved lower parts of the wall, made it possible to strictly reconstruct the long‑lost main façade of the mausoleum.

Architecture

The mausoleum’s rectangular hall, 9.2 metres long, has corners directed toward the main points. The unusual orientation of the graves may be related to the building’s connection with a now‑lost mosque. The external dimensions of the building are 12.25 × 12.35 metres; a ten‑centimetre difference is directed toward the south‑west and results from the slightly greater thickness of the main façade wall, which is almost completely ruined. According to researchers, this wall once detached from shaking, fell forward and took almost the entire dome with it.

The main (wall) material of the bin is square planks with side lengths 25-28 and thickness 5-6 centimeters. Foundations standing on stone ground are made of baked bricks of the same size, built with clay lime. On top, the foundation is laid with a 10 cm thick layer of reed – the walls’ salted reeds are collected in the reeds, preventing them from rising, protecting from underground waters; this method was refined and widely used in the 16th century; its earliest and simplest example is presented in the Xalifa Rajab maqbarasi. The thickness of the maqbara is 1.5 meters, and the square of the plank walls rises inside to a height of 4.3 meters. Inside, an octagonal shape of unusual form begins, with a height slightly more than four times (4.35 meters). The axial edges of the octagon are naked walls, the edges are made of the same material and are connected to the corners by the axis. edges.

The dome built of baked brick of the given size is almost preserved.