Arab Muhammad Khan Madrasa

History

Arab Muhammad Khan, who ruled from 1602 to 1621, built the madrasa in 1616, and the sources describe it as the first madrasa raised after the capital moved to Khiva. Its walls were originally a timber frame — “nigirik” in Khivan usage — filled with mud brick and plastered with straw-clay, so locals called it the Chobin, or wooden, madrasa. When it fell into disrepair, Allakuli Khan rebuilt it in 1838 in fired brick on two floors, with guldasta turrets at the corners of the façade. It was added to the national heritage register in 2019 and is managed by the Itchan Kala Museum-Reserve.