Ulugh Beg Madrasa

History

When Shah Rukh made his son Ulugh Beg ruler of Transoxiana, the young scholar-prince founded colleges in Bukhara as well as Samarkand. The Bukhara madrasa was finished in 1417, making it the oldest of Ulugh Beg's three madrasas (in Bukhara, Samarkand and Gijduvan). A mosaic medallion in the portal arch names the architect, Ismail ibn Tahir Isfahani.

It has been repaired many times: in 1585, under Abdullah Khan II, it was faced with glazed tiles, and in 1586 the Juybari sheikh Khoja Saad had its outer walls restored. Twentieth-century restorations took place in 1950–1970 and 1990–1996.

Architecture

A rectangular building with a two-iwan courtyard ringed by cells sits behind a tall portal. Star-like, celestial motifs dominate the ornament, which scholars link to Ulugh Beg the astronomer. Its disciplined proportions made it a model for later madrasas across Central Asia.

Since 1994 it has housed the Museum of the History of Restoration of Bukhara's Monuments. With the Abdulaziz Khan Madrasa opposite it forms a kosh madrasa.

Did you know?

The hadith 'Striving for knowledge is the duty of every Muslim man and woman' is carved in thuluth script on the door — an inscription often quoted as a symbol of Ulugh Beg's devotion to learning.