Juma Mosque and Toshkhovli Palace, Khiva

Khiva, Uzbekistan
28 September 2018.

(Click on any image to see it in a larger size.)

We’ve just left the Kukhna Ark (previous two posts), and here is a most impressive door handle and knocker nearby.

… also a cheerful dromedary camel, lying in sand.

Wedding party on the road, as we walk towards Juma Mosque. Probably Tura Murad minaret in the near background.

We are now inside Juma (or Djuma or Friday) Mosque which has a single hall interior and was built in the late eighteenth century over the remains of the previous mosque, so that many of the pillars here are much older. There are 213 pillars, each different. The oldest four were salvaged in the tenth century from the declining city of Kath, which had been the capital of the Khwarezmian Empire. Another seventeen were added a century later. Other pillars date from the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries but most of them are from the eighteenth. The acoustics of the hall are also impressive.

Kath (modern town: Beruniy) was the capital of Khwarazm under the Afrighids (a Persian dynasty) from 305 to 995AD. They were Zoroastrian until the 8th century when there was a violent forced Moslem conversion. The Ma’munids took over in 995. The Ghaznavids (a Persian dynasty of Turkic Mamluk origin) then took over a couple of years later.

I took quite a few macro shots of carvings on the pillars. Unfortunately most failed but here are two. (Technical note: I think I switched to manual for focus-bracketing the image of the hall above, and forgot to switch back to Auto ISO).

Outside, a young bride-to-be on the street.

… and we walked towards our next destination the Toshkhovli Palace.

A ceiling detail from the palace.

Toshkhovli (or Tosh Hauli or Stone Courtyard) Palace was built from 1830 to 1838 by Allakuli-Khan as an updated dwelling from the Kukhna Ark. Apparently some architects who refused to build it in two years were executed and it took eight years to build. These days it also houses a Khorezm Handicrafts Museum.

This is in the Harem area and the iwan we see (the recessed courtyard decorated with majolica tiles) is one of the four for each of the Khan’s wives. Behind this exterior was her living quarters and a lounge room for her attendants. Even courtiers were refused access here.

A section of the ceiling of the iwan at the left or right.

A section of the ceiling of the iwan in the middle.

They’re clearly not wagon wheels. Perhaps they were used for cattle to grind grain.

This is the iwan of the Khan, and in front of it on the round platform is the framework of a yurt that would have been his summer residence. Behind the iwan are corridors connecting to the iwans of the wives that only the Khan could use.

An impressive door, possibly of greater antiquity than the palace.

There are two sections to see of the palace, and you have to go outside and re-enter to see the second one. That is the exterior of the palace behind the wall.

There is an old well in the Palace, which we did not see. However there is a more important ancient well (which we also did not see) near the north wall of the old city, which is central to the story of Khiva. It was the original reason for merchants stopping here along their Silk Road journeys. It is said that on tasting the clear water they would exclaim “Khey Vakh!” (“How Wonderful”) so the locals named the well Kheyvak, which led in turn to Khiva getting its name.

Another ceiling section.

This is the Khan’s bedroom.

Opposite the iwans of the Khan and the wives, this is the residence for the concubines and the household staff.

Back outside the palace again.

An array of textiles on an open courtyard.

Shown from a different angle, this shows where we are. Pakhlavan Mahmud Mausoleum on the left and the base of Islam Khoja Minaret.

Nearby, a selection of handicrafts.

Remarkable wood carving. Maybe a door, not sure.

We are back near we were staying, cruising the markets for handicrafts. Tura Murad Minaret is in the background. The man sitting in the chair was waiting for prospective customers to don his coat and a hat and pose for a photograph. The locals passing by don’t look that impressed.

Markets and Kalta Minor in the background. I did buy a hat like one of those on the right.

The camel is still there a couple of hours later. That must be the Muhammad Rahim-khan Madrasah in the background. Perhaps that door is solely for camels from the madrassah.