This photograph of the Ulugh Beg Madrasah in Samarkand (Uzbekistan) is from the archeological part of <em>Turkestan Album</em>. The six-volume photographic survey was produced in 1871-72 under the patronage of General Konstantin P. von Kaufman, the first governor-general (1867-82) of Turkestan, as the Russian Empire’s Central Asian territories were called. The album devotes special attention to Samarkand’s Islamic architecture, such as 14th- and 15th-century monuments from the reign of Timur (Tamerlane) and his successors. In the center of Samarkand is the Registan ensemble, composed of three major examples of a <em>madrasah</em> (religious school). The oldest madrasah on Registan Square is named after the astronomer-king and grandson of Timur, Ulugh Beg (1393?-1449), who built it in 1417-20. During Ulugh Beg’s reign, the madrasah was considered a leading center of Islamic education. Shown here is the back facade of the courtyard niche of the great <em>iwan</em> (vaulted hall, walled on three sides, with one end open) arch. Much damage is visible, including the reconstruction of the central area with a loss of ceramic tiles and a reduction in size of the lattice window. Nonetheless, much of the delicate polychrome work has survived, including a horizontal inscription band in elongated Perso-Arabic script. Above the inscription is a row of faience elements with a symmetrical arrangement of botanical patterns. The lower part displays an array of decorative ceramic bands, inscriptions, and panels in the form of a pointed arch.
<br>Architectural decorations and ornaments; Inscriptions; Islamic architecture; Madrasahs; Photographic surveys
Bogaevskii, Nikolai V., 1843-1912
between 1868 and 1872 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1868-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1872-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
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<ul><li>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3818/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3818/</a></li></ul>