Some Features of the Cultural Identity of Shaybani Khan and the Monumental Construction in Samarkand at the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century

Abstract

Research objective: to analyze the cultural identity of Shaybani khan and his policy of reconstructing Samarkand and to identify the origins of cultural traditions in architectural construction in Samarkand at the beginning of the 16th century. Research materials: The sources mainly used in this study are historical works of Central Asian, Persian and Turkic authors of the sixteenth century: Muhammad Salikh, Fadhlallah ibn Ruzbikhan Isfahani, Shaybani Khan, Hafiz Tanysh Bukhari, and archive materials of L. Mankovskaya and M. Masson from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The publications of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet specialists on the history of the Central Asia – V. Bartold, A. Semenov, R. Mukminova, B. Akhmedov, R. Djalilova, A. Bodrogligeti, R. McChesney, Y. Karasoy, M. Subtelny, T. Sultanov, K. Baypakov, E. Smagulov, D. DeWeese, F. Schwartz, B. Babajanov, A. Muminov, B. Norik and others are also analyzed in detail. Results and scientific novelty: Shaybani Khan, who possessed certain knowledge in the field of Islamic theology, law, Turkic, and Persian poetry, continued the cultural traditions of the Syrdarya regions of Ulus Juchi and Khorezm, which he adapted to the conditions of the Timurid society of Maverannakhr. Unlike the representatives of the Timurid dynasty, he was defiantly dealing with theological issues and supported the importance of the Turkic language as a means of propagating his power in Maverannakhr and Khorasan. In the memorial constructions in Samarkand, Shaybani Khan founded the Sufa, a family necropolis distinguished by its simplicity in comparison with the luxurious mausoleum of the Timurids. He combined certain traditions of the memorial architecture of Dashti Kipchak and funerary structures – dahmas of the higher clergy of Bukhara and Samarkand. The construction of the Shaybani Khan Madrasah in the historical center of Samarkand near the madrasah founded by a representative of the Chingisid dynasty and Timur’s eldest wife, Sarai-mulk Khanum, was not only symbolic in its importance, but also served as the legal and theological center of his state. There is no information in the sources about Shaybani-Khan’s reconstruction of the largest Islamic shrines of Samarkand. At the same time, Shaybani Khan continued the Timurid traditions of building garden and park complexes in Samarkand and erected civilian structures in the form of a water bridge.