This photograph of the courtyard of the Tillia Kari 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 third Registan component, the Tillia Kari Madrasah, was built in 1646-60 on the site of a former caravansarai. This remarkable view shows the courtyard side of the large brick structure containing the <em>iwan</em> (vaulted hall, walled on three sides, with one end open) arch at the center of the two-story main facade. The courtyard side has its own pointed arch and niche surfaced with intricate polychrome ceramic ornamentation in geometric and floral designs. The niche, containing a lattice window, is flanked by secondary arches with entryways to the courtyard. Above the arch are fragments of a horizontal inscription band in a decorative cursive style. Each niche of the arcaded upper floor is covered in ceramic work, with a lattice window above each individual entrance.
<br>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/3810/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/3810/</a></li></ul>