City of the Dead, Mizdahan. A huge hill in the vicinity of Khojeyli that has served as a cemetery for the local population for two millennia. Mizdahan has been explored several times in the last century and is incredibly interesting to archaeologists for its intactness and strangeness. However, only a tiny percentage of the necropolis has been explored. The lowest layer of burials here are Zoroastrian ossuaries from the beginning of the first millennium.
We are looking at Mizdakhan from the walls of the ancient settlement of Gyaur-Kala. From here it is marvelously beautiful. All the constructions spread before us are mazars over graves. Houses built for the souls of the dead. Because Mizdahan is the city of the dead.
A cemetery on the side of the Great Silk Road
Mizdahan has several famous structures, about which people have legends. This necropolis has been the site of pagan cults prevalent in the ancient Khorezmian kingdom since time immemorial, since the pre-Islamic period. The echoes of these cults are still alive today. But this is a separate story.
Now, from the central entrance to the necropolis we go up to the Mazlumkhan-sulu mausoleum. The mausoleum is so strange in its architecture that architects had to be involved in its research. The thing is that the mausoleum is completely underground. And only the entrance-portal and domes over the rooms are brought to the surface.
Mausoleum, temple or caravanserai?
Most of all disputes caused the original purpose of this construction and the type of its construction (above-ground with a dungeon, or underground with a small upper part). The versions were as follows: a mausoleum proper, a dwelling, a cult building and even a caravanserai. There are quite a few signs that speak for all assumptions at once.
The famous archaeologist Vadim Nikolaevich Yagodin, who has researched Mizdakhan a lot, proved that Mazlumkhan-sulu was originally built as a cult building for rituals and prayers. Later, burials were made here in separate rooms. Later, annexes were created on the top of the building, where people who served the premises and the cult servants themselves lived. As the number of pilgrims increased, there were also rooms for them.
The version with the original civil purpose of the underground room is not completely crossed out. Since somewhere there, behind the niches, there are many other premises of Mazlumkhan-sulu. However, they are completely blocked by the collapsed soil, and it is impossible to investigate them yet. So, everything hidden behind the survived halls of Mazlumkhan-sulu is still a mystery.
And Chigiz-khan did not even notice
The dispute about what was earlier – the underground or the upper buildings, unequivocally decided by Yagodin in favor of the former. There is a legend about Genghis Khan’s hordes that did not touch the mausoleum. That Mazlumkhan-sulu is so well preserved, because when the Mongol-Tatar troops pounced on these regions, they simply did not see Mazlumkhan-sulu. By that time the portal had collapsed and the mausoleum was completely hidden underground. The hole in the body of the cemetery did not interest the destroyers. So they passed by without seeing the beautiful underground halls.
Chillya-hona and Hanaka
Chillya-hona or Hanaka is the first thing that come to mind when one descends into the fabulous Mazlumkhan-sulu dungeon. If you raise a voice the dome will respond back like a perfect equalizer with a competently tuned reverberator, amplifying and enriching the sound. Such an acoustic effect is invariably found in ancient hanakas, the abodes and places where dervishes chant. It certainly could have served as a hanaka. Yagodin’s statement about the cultic purpose of Mazlumkhan-sulu also speaks in favor of this.
Chillya-hona is an underground deep room for hermitage, prayers, fasting and, often, astronomical studies related to the Muslim calendar. Chillya is a Central Asian term meaning a terribly hot, about 50 degrees, stage of summer. It is not an easy task to fast without water in chillya. That’s what such rooms were built for.
All at once
The Mazlumkhan sulu hall is very similar to the chilla hall. Only much more multifaceted and richer. Chillya-hona is never decorated so elegantly, it is usually dark. Here again, everything converges on Yagodin’s statement about the original cult purpose of Mazlumkhan-sulu, in which burials were made at a certain stage.
It turns out that this beautiful underground palace, a part of which has been perfectly preserved, was at the same time a dwelling, a caravanserai, a chilla-hona, a khanaka, a temple and a mausoleum. That is why its architecture and decoration are so complex and unusual.
The Legend: According to legend, the construction of the mausoleum was commissioned by a governor of Khoresm who wished to have a grand structure that would reflect his greatness after his death. A young architect was tasked with this monumental project, and he diligently set to work. However, during the construction, the architect caught sight of a maiden whose beauty surpassed that of the sun and moon. He instantly fell in love with her, only to discover that she was the daughter of the governor. Despite knowing the consequences, the architect confessed his love to the maiden, who, in a moment of cruelty, told him that she would only love him if he jumped off the building. Without hesitation, the architect leaped to his death. Upon realizing the depth of his love, the maiden was overcome with grief and took her own life. The mausoleum is believed to be named after this maiden, Hansulu, and her body is said to be buried in the necropolis..
In the image of a palace
The fact that the underground central part of Maslumkhan-sulu looks like a palace cannot be taken away. It is decorated with terracotta stalactites with majolica and stunningly beautiful glazed “bows” with various patterns. But it is difficult to imagine that someone wanted to build a palace in the cemetery. There is an assumption that part of Mazlumkhan-sulu is built in the likeness of someone’s palace. Maybe one of the Golden Horde khans. There is archaeological evidence of that.
Mazlum means oppressed
As for the name of the mausoleum, the word “Mazlum” is translated from the Tatar and Uzbek languages as “oppressed, persecuted”. Mazlum Khan, accordingly, Oppressed ruler. Who knows what happened to this ruler. Maybe by his order this strange complex was built, maybe the exile hid in the dungeon from enemies, or maybe he was buried there.
The inscriptions on the walls
If you look closely at the brickwork of the walls, exquisitely decorated with turquoise Khorezm majolica, you can clearly see inscriptions in Arabic script. These inscriptions are of great interest to specialists and are well studied. Some of them are from the series “Vasya was here”, only from the Middle Ages. They were made by pilgrims marking their visit. However, there are also many beautiful meaningful messages. For example, one of the entries reads:
The purpose is to leave a trace of myself.
For I see no permanence in existence.
Maybe some enlightened person
will pray magnanimously for the deeds of the dervishes.
Written by Yahya Vardanzi. (Translation from the 13th volume of the collection “Epigraphy of Uzbekistan”, published within the framework of the project “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan in World Collections”). This is another plus in favor of the khanaka version.
Mazlumkhan-sulu mausoleum was built in the first half of the 14th century AD. Historically – these are the times of the Khanate of Khorezm of the Golden Horde period. Yagodin during excavations were found here coins minted during the reign of khans Janibek and Berdibek. These are the seventh and eighth khans of the Golden Horde respectively. That is 13ХХ some year.
All visiting the mausoleum, local guides tell a common legend about the daughter of the khan and the young palace builder who fell in love with her. And as if the Khorezm princess is buried here, according to legends. However, there is no actual confirmation of this. I don’t even know whether the bodies buried in Mazlumkhan-sulu have been examined for gender and age. Many architecturally beautiful buildings in Central Asia have similar legends about the unhappy love of the architect for the ruler’s daughter.
Be that as it may, Mazlumkhan-sulu still hides a lot of secrets, the time for which has not yet come. The underground premises of the complex are very energetically pleasant and atmospheric. In spite of the fact that in the ground of a two-thousand-year-old cemetery. There is no heavy or creepy feeling of a crypt. Here, in the semi-darkness and coolness, you want to stay longer. To sit and think about eternal things.
If you are in Nukus, you should definitely go to Mizdakhan. Go down to the underground mausoleum Mazlumkhan-sulu, look at the inscriptions, garlands of stalactites and majolica of marvelous beauty. Wander around the city of the dead, contemplate the surroundings from the height of the ancient hill. There is much to discover there for the traveler who can see.