Muhammad Amin Khan Madrasa

History

Muhammad Amin Khan (r. 1845–1855) built the madrasa by the west gate of Itchan Kala, facing the Konya Ark; work took about three years and was finished in 1855. At the same time construction began on a giant minaret in its forecourt — the tower now known as Kalta Minor. Leading poets and scholars of the day, among them Laffasi and Mutrib Khonakharobi, studied here.

Since 1979 the building has served tourists, with its cells converted into hotel rooms.

Architecture

It is the largest madrasa in Khiva, about 77 by 60 metres with a 38-by-38-metre courtyard and 125 cells. The plan follows the classic four-iwan courtyard lined with two storeys of cells, but the cells are divided in two, so pointed second-floor loggias open onto the side façades as well as the main one. The inscriptions on the portal and courtyard arches were composed by Ogahiy and written in nastaliq — white letters on a deep blue ground.