Hoja Zayniddin Mosque

 Day 8

Hazratova Oysara 🌛 

First of all, Assalomu aleykum 

WE are Meeting again. IT was eighth day of Our practice. It started at 10 a.m as usual. However I was a bit late. Despite this I tried to learn completely about today's Destination. Our today's practice day Passed in HOJA ZAYNIDDIN MOSQUE.

Letʼs Talk about This place

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Hoja Zayniddin Mosque (1540s-early 1550s)
The Hoja Zayniddin is a mid-16th century mosque located at the junction of two side streets 300 meters southwest of the Po-i-Kalyan square within the shahr-i-darun, or "inner city". Although its interior houses the grandest dome in Bukhara, very little of substance is known about the origin of the building—both its sponsor and its architect have been lost to the mists of time. Even so, the quality of construction, its proximity to the heart of the city, and its large footprint strongly suggest it was a product of the city's ruling elite, or even of the Khan himself.

Design and Description

Like all mosques in central Asia, the mosque is organized around an east-west axis canted to the south, toward Mecca, with the qibla wall to the west. The ideal mosque is symmetrical, but the dense urban fabric of 16th century Bukhara likely necessitated a compromise, such that the angle of the building's south and west facades (facing the street) are out of kilter with the primary axis. 
The building's prayer hall is a spacious domed chamber measuring 9.5 x 9.4 meters, with the dome rising 16 meters overhead with a diameter of 8.2 meters. The main entrance, on the east, includes a deeply recessed chamber crowned with stalactite-like muqarnas vaulting. A similar treatment is used on the qibla wall to the west, which also incorporates at its heart a smaller but a more subdued mihrab (niche) indicating the direction of Mecca. The chamber's north and south walls are pierced with a number of doors and windows, some covered by grilles (pandzhara) to attenuate light and prevent entry by birds.
Structurally, the domed chamber is supported by a chahar taq, a set of four sturdy arches perpendicular to one another, forming a square in plan. The chahar taq was introduced to Central Asia only in the late 15th century during the rule of Timur (Tamurlane), suggesting the building was built sometime later. Above the chahar taq, an elegant set of pendentives, squinches, and arches marks the zone of transition from the square walls of the prayer hall to the grand circle of the dome. The body of the dome is inset with four rows of muqarnas vaulting around the outer perimeter, within which thirty-two ribs span tangentially to an inner circle surrounding the dome's apex.

Dating the Monument

No epigraphic or historical evidence mentions the sponsor or architect of the mosque, nor is there any dedicatory evidence indicating the year it was built. Based on the technology used in its construction, it cannot have been built any earlier than the late 15th century as its arch is supported by a chahar taq, as noted above. Badr and Tupev narrow the date further, as land sale records in the vicinity of the site only begin to suggest the presence of the mosque beginning Jan 23, 1552. The records make specific reference to the living quarter being known as the "Hawz-i Khoja Zayniddin", implying that the hauz was under the control or supervision of the Hoja Zayniddin mosque.
Following the above, and based on stylistic analysis, Badr and Tupev propose that both the mosque and the hauz were most likely built in the era of Abd al'Aziz Khan or slightly later under Yar Muhammad Sultan (r. 1550-53) or Borhan Sultan (r. 1550-57). Furthermore, they note that Shaykh Nazar Bi, an influential and politically active amir, was a resident of the quarter. Given his influence and position of power, he is a good candidate for the building's sponsor, but that remains only conjecture.

After  WE had lerned about The complex WE discussed together. This day tought us a lot of interesting facts🥹😊

So Our today's practice day was over IT was very wonderful and unforgettable Experimence .