Ishrat-Hona

Ishrat-Hona Mausoleum was built in 15^th century by the order of Abu-Seid for his daughter. It’s located in the southeastern part of Samarkand. For its luxurious interior it was called “the House of Pleasure”. Although, it was ruined by several earthquakes and lootings, the mausoleum preserved enchanting atmosphere. Luxurious interior consisted of colorful glazing, walls painted with gold, and facades illustrated with fine pictures.

Ishrat-Hona Mausoleum is a mysterious historical monument surrounded by many legends. One of the legends reads that the mausoleum was built on the place, where Tamerlan met a magnificent girl. The girl was walking around in the peach garden and the ruler was struck by her beauty and immediately asked her to marry him. To immortalize memory of their first meeting, Tamerlan ordered to build the House of Pleasure.

Another legend says how Ulugh-Beg miraculously saved his grandfather in Ishrat-Hona. Ulugh-Beg was known for his passion to science, especially astronomy. With use of horoscope, he figured out that his grandfather was in danger that day. Tamerlan was having a feast in Ishrat-Hona; Ulugh-Beg rushed in the mausoleum and made everyone leave the mausoleum. The second after the last emir left the building, an earthquake ruined the cupola of Ishrat-Hona. Tamerlan decided not to resist God’s will and didn’t reconstruct the mausoleum. The real purpose of the mausoleum was of a tomb for female descendants of Timurids. In 1940, during archeological sites some female burials were found. Mostly descendants of Tamerlan were buried in Ishrat-Hona, but no descendants of Prophet Muhammed, therefore, the mausoleum wasn’t considered holy.

No one cared about locals stealing marble tombstones, bricks, and golden tiles. Stonecutters would erase names of khans and khanyms from marble headstones, carve out new ones, and take them to Hodja Abdu-Darun cemetery. Artist Dudin who was sent to photograph the unique mausoleum in 1907, tried to convince Uzbek government to send ornamentations of Ishrat-Hona to Saint-Petersburg. In 1908, the artist got the permission, but famous archeologist Vyatkin influenced governor-general to stop this process. Although, uniqueness of Ishrat-Hona was mentioned by many archeologist, no restorations have been made yet. Ruins of the Ishart-Hona Mausoleum bewitch everyone. In the near future complete restoration is planned.