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Abstract:

Mulla Qirgʻiz madrasa (1910–1912) and Ota Valixon toʻra mosque (1915), both in Namangan, Uzbekistan, are two masterpieces of late Islamic architecture in Central Asia. My paper is dedicated to its architectural features and its place in the context of Russian colonial period.

There are no special studies dedicated to these monuments, just some brief notes (Azimov 1982, Nielsen 1988, O'zbekiston ziyoratgohlari 2014). The architectural analysis that I did in situ revealed many special features, some already mentioned in the literature, some new (the use of Russian brick- and woodwork, pentagonal plan in the madrasa, very high cupola and interpenetration of inner and outer spaces in the mosque, etc.). The innovative approach to the tradition is clearly seen in both buildings. That supports an opinion that the mosque was built by the same architect as the madrasa, namely usto Mulla Qirgʻiz ibn Ibrohimboy.

These buildings were never studied in the wider architectural and cultural context. Unfortunately, this architectural context itself is almost unknown: the late Islamic / early colonial period is the less studied from the whole history of architecture in Central Asia. There are only some case studies (Muradov, first of all), one short monograph (Nielsen) and unpublished surveys of typology (Kondriakova). My preliminary research (including the study of the monuments in situ) shows that in the first decades after Russian context Central Asian clients and builders did shown no interest in new Russain/European forms. New approaches became visible in the 1910s only. Mosque and madrasa in Namangan are among the very few that represent new approaches in the traditional Islamic architecture. The most interesting thing that their builders took new spaces and plans, and not the decoration. I argue that the very long survival of traditional architecture after Russian conquest can be viewed as kind of stubborn resistance of the Islamic communities of Central Asia to the changes brought by the colonisation. This approach changed with time. The ruling elites started to use European decoration as a sign of its Europeanization, as in palaces of Bukhara and Khiva. The religious clients in Namangan use different approach: they took new construction practices and spacial solutions in search of internal renovation of Islamic buildings, and not for its superficial modernisation.