Fayzabad Khanqah in Bukhara

Fayzabad Khanqah, Bukhara

Fayzabad Khanqah was built in 1598-1599 by Sufi Mavlono Poyand-Mukhammad Ahsi. That time Fayzabad Khanqah had two functions. Fayzabad Khanqah was the place of prayers and Sufi rites and the temporary residence of dervishes.

This mosque, whose parishioners consisted of the population of the Shokhi Akhsi quarter, served both for daily fivefold prayers (machiti panchvakti), and for Friday, general prayers (machiti jumahoni). It was also the site of the ritual gatherings of the Sufis and the temporary shelter of the dervishes. Ishanas (heads and mentors of the Muslim community) of this mosque enjoyed great fame and power and had numerous students (murids).

The construction of this large solid brick mosque was carried out by the famous Sufi Mavlono Poynda-Muhammad Ahsi (Akhsiketi) Yay Fayzobodi, who died in 1601. He was the founder of the Sufi center, known as Fayzabad. The ishanov family of Shokhi Ahsi continued to exist in Bukhara until the establishment of Soviet power.

The composition of the mosque is ceremonial, balanced; through the arched-domed galleries adjoin the representative volume of the central hall on both sides, in the pylons of the main portal and behind the mihrab (a niche that orients the worshipers facing Mecca) three-floor residential hujras are located for the temporary shelter of dervishes. The cup bowl in the interior is decorated with spectacular two-color ganch carving using the chaspak technique.

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