Khoja Ahrar Complex
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| Khoja Ahrar Complex | |
|---|---|
 A view from inside the courtyard of the madrasa established by Nadir Devonbegi. | |
 Interactive map of Khoja Ahrar Complex | |
| Type | Islamic religious complex consisting of a mosque, madrasa and tombs. |
| Location | Samarkand, Uzbekistan |
| Coordinates | 39°37′07″N 66°57′13″E / 39.6187289°N 66.9536551°E |
| Built | 1635–1636 |
| Architectural style | Timurid architecture |
The Khoja Ahrar Complex (Uzbek: Xoja Ahror majmuasi, Russian: Ансамбль Ходжа-Ахрар, Arabic: مجمع خواجة أحرار; also spelled as Khodja Akhror) is an Islamic religious complex located in the Ulugbek district in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It is made up of a mosque, madrasa and the tomb of Khwaja Ahrar, a 15th-century Muslim statesman. The present-day complex dates back to the 17th century and was built during the rule of the Astrakhan Khanate.
Originally, the site was where a khanqah established by the 15th-century ascetic, Khwaja Ahrar, was situated.[1][2] Khwaja Ahrar, whose real name was Nasir ad-Din ibn Mahmoud Shashi, was a leader of the Naqshbandi order as well as a very prominent statesman of Samarkand during a time of instability under the reign of Sultan Ahmed Mirza.[3][4] When the famed scholar died in the 1490s, he was buried behind his khanqah and his grave became an important site for locals to visit.[1] Years later, in 1630, Nodir Mirzai Tagay Devonbegi, the vizier of Astrakhanid ruler Imam Quli Khan, ordered the construction of a mosque and madrasa next to the grave site of the ascetic.[1][5][6] Two mosques were built, one for the winter season and the other for the summer season, both in a single building. The whole complex was completed between 1635 to 1636.[1][5][6] The Samarkand Codex of the Quran of Uthman was historically kept at the madrassa, having either been brought from Istanbul by the murids of Khoja Ahrar, or by Amir Timur as a war trophy from his conquests in Western Asia. After the Russian Empire conquered Samarkand in the 1868, the Russian army under Major General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov forcibly removed the Quran from the madrassa, despite the local ulama's attempt to prevent this by evacuating the manuscript to Bukhara, and sent it to the Imperial Library in Saint Petersburg (now the Russian National Library).[7]
During the Soviet period, the mosque and madrasa were abandoned, resulting in the building undergoing a state of dilapidation.[8] After World War II, restoration works were gradually carried out to the buildings in the complex.[1][5][6] At the beginning of the 21st century, the complex was completely restored and is now a major tourist attraction in Samarkand.[1][5]
