BUKHARA: THE PRINCESS OF CITIES - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 80

HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

KALYAN MOSQUE AND KALYAN MINARET (1127)

It was built in 1127 by the Karakhanid Qakhan, Arslan-khan (1087-1130).
Although the mosque remaining today took its last form in 1574 during the
time of Shaybani Uzbek Khan, the 74 meters high Kalan Minaret (Fig. 16),
which is a glorifying example of stone carving, belongs to the Karakhanid
period. As told by Narshakhi in his book History of Bukhara written in
933, minarets built in Samanid era were wooden; hence, they were com-
pletely destroyed by fires. On the other hand, Karakhanids erected monu-
ments constructed of stone and brick (Narshakhi, 1954). As a result of this,
the oldest minarets remaining today in Turkestan are from Karakhanid era.
Another significant minaret in Bukhara is Vabkent Minaret, which was
built in 1196-1197 and which has simpler motifs. Kalyan Minaret, as a
major Karakhanid architectural form, was an archetype to many Timurid
and Seljuk minarets, and especially the Bibi Khatun Mosque in Samar-
kand (Aslanapa, 2007). If Princess Bukhara had had a seal, it certainly
would have been Kalyan Mosque. On account of the symbols the mosque
and its minaret represent, it is not wrong to describe these two as a signet
ring, worn on the right hand finger of Princess Bukhara. Considering the
fact that almost all minarets in Central Asia took Kalyan Minaret as a
model, the Princess can be assumed to have stamped her seal on the whole
Turkestan land, as if she registered the spread of Islam in Central Asia.

FIGURE 16 Kalyan Minaret (1127) (www.bura.org.tr).