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blue tiles, is quite impressive. The big entrance next to the minaret opens
up to a wide hole with 212 wooden columns, each of which is 3.15 m. tall,
all parts of the bodies having been covered with local motifs (Aslanapa,
1996). The area, which is covered with a flat ceiling with no ornaments,
is lit up by two light holes through which the blue Khiva sky is seen, and
leaves an ethereal effect on people. Some of these columns are from the
10th, 12th, 15th and 16th centuries (Mankovskaya, 1982).
FIGURE 10
Friday Mosque inner view (commons.wikimedia.org, Photo by dalbera /
CC-BY 2.0).
Retrieved November
15, 2013 from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_
mosquée_Juma_Masjid_(Khiva,_Ouzbékistan)_(5587004464).jpg
Khiva, like Bukhara, has been the center of Islamic science since the
Middle Ages. The most important sign of this is that, the buildings which
shape the city panorama the most, are madrassahs some of which have
capacities reaching 250 students and contain large libraries. Generally,
among the madrassahs which are recognized by the name of the statesman
by whom they were built, the ones that should be seen are Mohammed
Rakhim Khan, Mat-Niyaz-Divanbeyi, Allah Kuli Khan, Kutluq Murad
Inaq, Muhammad Amin Khan and Shir Gazi Khan madrassahs. Madras-
sahs form squares by lining up opposite each other with their high tiled
portals (also called
pishtak
).
SHIR GAZI KHAN MADRASSAH
Shir Gazi Khan is the oldest madrassah in Khiva, and was built by 5000
Iranian slaves between 1718-1720, who were taken over by Shir Gazi Han
(1715-1728) after a campaign to Mashad. When the khan, who promised
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