RUKHOBOD MAUSOLEUM
The mausoleum of Sheikh Burhanuddin Sagarji, known as Rukhobod or "residence of the spirit", was built in 1380 by Tamerlane to house the remains of his mentor and his family. It is one of the city's oldest monuments. Its architecture is simple: a cubic base with symmetrical sides, topped by an octagonal drum on which rests a conical dome 22 m high. These large dimensions are a reminder of the building's Timurid origins.
Itis said that a lock of the Prophet's hair was buried with the saint's remains. His tomb lies practically in the center of the mausoleum, next to that of the sheik's wife, Bibi Khalfa. When he died in China, his body was mummified and brought back to Samarkand on a camel, which was also buried under the cobblestones! It is said that the cobblestones were scratched by the architect's fingernails, thus signing his work.
The other ten tombs are those of Sheikh Burhanuddin Sagarji's children, eight boys and two girls. The tombs of the latter two can be recognized by their more tapered shape, and are adorned with suras from the Koran. The door is original, and still bears Tamerlane's favorite phrase engraved in Arabic: "Allah is the only God and Mohammed is his prophet". The 14th-century minaret has been restored. Its architecture is a reflection of the khanaka's entrance portal. Just to the rear, the splendid traditional iwan house, with colonnades and painted woodwork, belongs to Khodja Muin Shukurullaev (1883-1942).
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