Tashkent Khazrati Imam Architectural Complex Barak Khan Madrasa 1532 Shaybanid Window Grille
Khazrati Imam is named after Kaffal Shashi (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Ismail al-Kaffal al-Kabir as-Shashi, also known as Abu Bakr as-Shashi) 904-979, who was born into a family of locksmiths (kaffal means locksmith), became renowned as a spiritual successor to the hadith scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari (810-870); a poet, polyglot, and the author of many books on Islamic Law. After studying in Baghdad he finally returned to Tashkent to become the first Tashkent Imam.
The origins of the madrasa date to the death of Barak Khan's father, Suyunidzh-khan (Suyunich-khan), who was one of the grandsons of the Timurid ruler Ulugh Begh (1394-1449). Upon his death, Suyunidzh was buried in Tashkent to the south of the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum in a mausoleum comprising a domed chamber and a nearby khanqah (Sufi lodge). Another small mausoleum was built beside it, likely for a Muslim cleric whose name has not survived. In the 1550s Barak Khan added a madrasa and integrated the two mausoleums and the khanqah into one harmonious whole, entered via a monumental pishtaq.
Patron: Barak Khan, an alternate name for Muhammad Shaybani Khan, c.1451-1510, an Uzbek leader who consolidated various Uzbek tribes and laid the foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana and the establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara. He was a Shaybanid or descendant of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son. After displacing the Timurids, Barak Khan was appointed ruler of Tashkent at the behest of the ruling khans. Over time, he gained greater autonomy and took the helm of the dynasty itself, ruling as the supreme Khan from 1551-56.
Tashkent Khazrati Imam Architectural Complex Barak Khan Madrasa 1532 Shaybanid Window Grille
Khazrati Imam is named after Kaffal Shashi (Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Ismail al-Kaffal al-Kabir as-Shashi, also known as Abu Bakr as-Shashi) 904-979, who was born into a family of locksmiths (kaffal means locksmith), became renowned as a spiritual successor to the hadith scholar Muhammad al-Bukhari (810-870); a poet, polyglot, and the author of many books on Islamic Law. After studying in Baghdad he finally returned to Tashkent to become the first Tashkent Imam.
The origins of the madrasa date to the death of Barak Khan's father, Suyunidzh-khan (Suyunich-khan), who was one of the grandsons of the Timurid ruler Ulugh Begh (1394-1449). Upon his death, Suyunidzh was buried in Tashkent to the south of the Kaffal Shashi Mausoleum in a mausoleum comprising a domed chamber and a nearby khanqah (Sufi lodge). Another small mausoleum was built beside it, likely for a Muslim cleric whose name has not survived. In the 1550s Barak Khan added a madrasa and integrated the two mausoleums and the khanqah into one harmonious whole, entered via a monumental pishtaq.
Patron: Barak Khan, an alternate name for Muhammad Shaybani Khan, c.1451-1510, an Uzbek leader who consolidated various Uzbek tribes and laid the foundations for their ascendance in Transoxiana and the establishment of the Khanate of Bukhara. He was a Shaybanid or descendant of Shiban, the fifth son of Jochi, Genghis Khan’s eldest son. After displacing the Timurids, Barak Khan was appointed ruler of Tashkent at the behest of the ruling khans. Over time, he gained greater autonomy and took the helm of the dynasty itself, ruling as the supreme Khan from 1551-56.