Dorus Saodat Memorial Complex in Shakhrisabz

Dorus Saodat Memorial Complex

Dorus Saodat means "repository of power". This vast complex was the burial place of the ruling family and contained a prayer hall, a mosque and accomodation for the religious community and pilgrims. The main facade was decorated with white marble and the tomb of Temur is a masterpiece of art of this period.

Dorus Saodat Complex dates from the same time as Ak-Saray. Construction works began in 1379. The idea was to create a monumental building combining tomb, ziaratkhona (common hall for morning ceremonies), mosque, room for clergy, Quran readers and pilgrims. The main facade of the building had a powerful portal and its dome was only a little bit smaller than Ak-Saray. The building of Ak-Saray was intended to turn Shahrizabz into the second capital of the empire.

The creation of the Dorus Saodat expressed Temur's wish to turn Shahrizabz into the spiritual center of Movarounahr. Each pile contained a mausoleum. Today only the left part of the portal is preserved, containing the tomb of Jahangir. The buildings of the Dorus Saodat Complex were destroyed by the forces of the Sheybanid ruler Abdullah Khan in the second half of the 16th century, but the mausoleum of Jahangir survived.

Tomb of Jehangir. Jehangir was Timur's eldest son who died at the age of 22. The mausoleum consists of a high square room with the arch on the axis. The prototype of this construction was the Mausoleum of Turabekh Khanum in Konye Urgench, dating from the 1360s. The mausoleum is also the resting place of Timur's second son Umar Sheikh who was killed at the age of 29 during the siege of Kurd in Iran.

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