Address: Russia, Kasimov, pl. Victory
Build date: 1649 year
Coordinates: 54 ° 55'01.1 "N 41 ° 25'12.7" E
Content:
The ancient city of Kasimov attracts tourists with ancient temples and rich history. It was here, on the banks of the Oka, that the mighty Kasimov Khanate flourished several centuries ago. Three cult Tatar monuments have been preserved in the city since the Middle Ages. One of them is the 370-year-old (2018) mausoleum of Afghan-Mohammed.
Facade of the mausoleum
History of the old building
The future ruler of the Kasimov kingdom was born in 1611 in the family of the Khiva khan. When he was 11 years old, the Russian ambassador Ivan Khokhlov took the boy to Russia. According to the official version - for the service of the Russian Tsar. In fact, the youngest of the khan's sons was saved from certain death. His elder brothers Ilbars and Khabash committed a violent seizure of power in Khiva, killed their father, the Arab Muhammad Khan, and wanted to kill Afghan Muhammad himself.
In Moscow, the young sultan was received with honors by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. From the end of 1622 he began to live and be brought up at the royal court. Then the sultan married the daughter of Khorezm Khan Hadji-Muhammad - Altyn-khanum. By the will of the Russian Tsar, Afghan-Muhammad became the full-fledged ruler of the Kasimov Khanate. However, he lived not in his appanage khanate, but in the capital.
At the age of 37, the sultan died suddenly. It happened during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Moscow. Sultan's wife Altyn-khanum built a Muslim tekie, transported her husband's body to the city on the Oka River and buried him in a new mausoleum. She survived Afghan Muhammad by only three years and in 1651 was buried in the same tomb.
The mausoleum stood at the Muslim cemetery in the city's Old Posad. In those days, besides those, there were tombs of other Kasimov khans and burials of the noble Tatars of the city. Today, not a trace remains of the old graves. Most likely, the Tatar cemetery was "cleaned up" during the years when the Soviet government was conducting an active anti-religious campaign.
It is believed that they wanted to build up the territory of the cemetery or use it for other city needs. However, the land turned out to be useless and is still in a semi-abandoned state. The only undisturbed and undisturbed burial site here is the tekie of the Kasimov Khan. Nothing has survived from the old cemetery today. Around the rectangular one-storey building there is an unplowed field with green grass.
Rear view of the mausoleum
An ancient tomb today
The Sultan's mausoleum was built in the traditions of Islamic architecture and looks like the tomb of Shah Ali Khan. Altyn-khanum ordered a cult building from Ryazan masters, and they decorated the outer walls with the traditional for Russian architecture "brick pattern". Figured brick ornaments frame the expressive entrance, overhanging cornice and window frames. If you do not know that there is a Muslim tomb inside, the tekie may well be mistaken for a typical Russian baroque building, erected in the second half of the 17th century.
The tomb is divided into two rooms of unequal size. In the larger room, the burials themselves are located, and the smaller room is intended for religious rituals and prayers. Twilight reigns inside. The ancient plaster has long been crumbling, but the brick walls themselves look quite solid. In addition to the burials themselves and poorly readable inscriptions on them, there is nothing else in those graves.
The tomb contains four graves. The inscriptions on two of them have been deciphered, and the graves themselves have been identified. One belongs to the Afghan-Mohammed Sultan and the younger brother of Khiva Khan - Abulgazi. And under the second tombstone lies the wife of the Kasimov sultan.
Although the tomb has the status of a historical and architectural monument, it needs major restoration. Only one of the four burials has been restored so far. It remains to be hoped that after Kasimov is included in the list of cities in the "Golden Ring" of Russia, money will be found for large-scale restoration work, and the old mausoleum will be completely restored.
Tourists are allowed in tekie free of charge. The doors of the tomb are open around the clock.
Sign above the entrance to the mausoleum
How to get there
Tekie stands in the city's former Islamic cemetery. This place is located at the end of Malaya Oka Street, far from the Oka, 3.5 km from the Khan Mosque. Regular buses run from Moscow to Kasimov. The journey takes about 6 hours. It is easier to get from the city bus station to the tomb by taxi. Tourists who came to the city by private car should leave the center of Kasimov to the south - towards Ulanova Gora and turn east behind the temple of Elijah the Prophet. The entrance to the tekie is on a dirt road through apple orchards.
