Qizbibi Complex

History and layout

The oldest part of the necropolis is the grave of Agha-yi Buzurg, a revered Sufi woman descended from the Prophet, who died in 1523; locals call her Qizbibi and Bibi Makhsumai Pok. Her life was studied in detail in the 21st century by the researcher Gulnora Aminova. The main buildings went up under the Shaybanids and Ashtarkhanids in the 16th to 18th centuries, and the ensemble was complete by the 18th.

Covering about half a hectare, the complex includes a mausoleum with a marble tombstone, a mosque-khanqah, a chillakhona — an underground cell for forty-day fasts and solitary prayer — a kitchen, a bathhouse, pilgrims' cells and rooms where the mentally ill were cared for. The buildings surround two courtyards entered through a domed gatehouse.