Lyab-i Hauz
Encyclopedia
Bukhara
Bukhara , from the Soghdian βuxārak , is the capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 263,400 . The region around Bukhara has been inhabited for at least five millennia, and the city has existed for half that time...
. Until the Soviet period there were many such ponds, which were the city's principal source of water, but they were notorious for spreading disease and were mostly filled in during the 1920s and 1930s. The Lyab-i Hauz survived because it is the centrepiece of a magnificent architectural ensemble, created during the 16th and 17th centuries, which has not been significantly changed since. The Lyab-i Hauz ensemble, surrounding the pond on three sides, consists of the Kukeldash Madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
(1568-1569) (see picture), the largest in the city (on the north side of the pond), and of two religious edifices built by Nadir Divan-Beghi: a khanaka (1620) (see picture – a khanaka is a lodging-house for itinerant Sufis) and a madrasah (1622) (see picture) that stand on the west and east sides of the pond respectively. The small Qazi-e Kalyan Nasreddin madrasah (now demolished) was formerly located beside the Kukeldash madrasah.
History
Vizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
, and also an uncle of the Emir of Bukhara
Emirate of Bukhara
The Emirate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of...
Imam Quli Khan. It is said that when Nadir Divan-Beghi built the Khanaka which bears his name, near the site of the building there was a large holding owned by an old Jewish widow. (There was a substantial population of Bukharan Jews
Bukharan Jews
Bukharan Jews, also Bukharian Jews or Bukhari Jews, or яҳудиёни Бухоро Yahūdieni Bukhoro , Bukhori Hebrew Script: יהודיאני בוכאראי and יהודיאני בוכארי), also called the Binai Israel, are Jews from Central Asia who speak Bukhori, a dialect of the Tajik-Persian language...
.) Nadir Divan-Beghi had decided that this site would be the perfect place for a pond, but the widow turned down his offer to buy the property. Then Nadir Divan-Beghi brought her before Imam Quli Khan in the hope that the Emir would coerce her into selling. The Emir of Bukhara ordered a congress of mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
s to inquire into the question. However, these specialists in Muslim law decided that there was no legal way to purchase the property, other than with the widow's consent, since Jews had rights on a par with Muslims if they paid the Jizyah or poll-tax on non-Muslims.
So, Nadir Divan-Beghi had to build a small reservoir near the house of that stubborn Jewess. But he dug an aryk
Aryk
An aryk is a term widely used for a irrigation canal throughout Central Asia, where in most areas agriculture is impossible without some measure of artificial irrigation....
, an irrigation ditch, to his new pond in such a way that the water ran right near her house, although it was more expensive. Soon the water began to undermine the foundations of the widow's house. When she came to Nadir Divan-Beghi for justice, he confirmed his readiness to buy her house for a fair price. But widow rejected the money, laying down her own conditions instead. She promised give up her property if the Bukharan rulers would give to her another piece of land with permission to build a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
. In return for the widow’s holding Nadir Divan-Beghi gave her a plot of land, belonging to him, in a residential area, which later was named the Jewish quarter
Jewish Quarter
The Jewish Quarter is one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem. The 116,000 square meter area lies in the southeastern sector of the walled city, and stretches from the Zion Gate in the south, along the Armenian Quarter on the west, up to the Street of the Chain in the...
(Mahalli Kuma).
Soon the first synagogue at Bukhara and a large pond were built. People started to call it Lyab-i Hauz (see picture), which means in Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
"by the pond". The date of its construction is about 1620. But folk memory still retains another epithet – Haus-i Bazur, "made with force".
Magak-i Attari Mosque
Before the construction of the first synagogue Jews had shared a place in a mosque with Muslims. This mosque was called Magak-i Attari (see picture), i.e. "the mosque in a pit". Some say that Bukharian Jews and Muslims worshipped alongside each other in the same place at the same time. Other sources insist that Jews worshipped after Muslims.Before the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
conquest there was a bazaar on the site of Magak-i Attari. It was a market for idols, potions and spices – attar (perfumes) and other goods. Besides this, there was formerly a Temple of the Moon (Mokh) close to this place. Narshakhi
Narshakhi
Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi , from the village of Narshak in the Bukhara oasis, can be considered the first historian in Central Asia. His unique History of Bukhara was written in Arabic and presented to the Samanid ruler Nuh ibn Nasr either in 943 or 948. In 1128 Narshakhi's book was...
, in his History of Bukhara (ca. 950), named the mosque built on the site of the former temple "magok", i.e. "in a pit", because even then half of it was concealed from view by the rising soil level.
Other details
As stated above the Kukeldash Madrasah is the biggest in Bukhara (80 x 60 meters). Kulbala Kukeldash ('the brother') was the name of the Emir's foster-brother who was the builder of this structure.
The Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasah was initially erected as a caravanserai
Caravanserai
A caravanserai, or khan, also known as caravansary, caravansera, or caravansara in English was a roadside inn where travelers could rest and recover from the day's journey...
. At the inauguration ceremony Imam Quli Khan unexpectedly proclaimed the supposed caravanserai is to be a madrasah. So Nadir Divan-Beghi was obliged to rearrange the caravanserai by adding on to the front the loggias, the portal (Aywan) and angular towers. He also constructed an additional storey with cells.
The Nadir Divan-Beghi Khanaka is located opposite the Nadir Divan-Beghi Madrasah on the western side of the Lyab-i Hauz.