Zolotoordynskoe Obozrenie (Dec 2023)
Islam and survivals of pre-islamic beliefs in the Golden Horde on the materials of architectural funeral structures
Abstract
The purpose of the study: To consider how monumental architecture, in particular memorial buildings, reflected the changes in society associated with the adoption of Islam in the Golden Horde and ties with other Muslim states. Research materials: Mausoleums which are the most numerous objects of monumental architecture explored throughout the territory of the Golden Horde. The paper considers both archaeological sites and various images of mausoleums: drawings of the 18th–19th centuries, and photographs of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. Results and scientific novelty: On the basis of building technology in the Golden Horde, two areas of architecture are distinguished – building from brick (fired and raw) and building from stone. An analysis of the planning, construction techniques, architectural details of the mausoleums, and construction equipment leads to the conclusion that several directions can be traced in the composition of the Golden Horde memorial architecture. The influence of the Central Asian school associated with the construction of fired and raw bricks was very significant. The architectural forms of brick mausoleums, distributed mainly in the steppe zone, find direct analogies among the monuments of Central Asia, primarily Khorezm. In the monuments made in the technique of stone construction, the influence of Asia Minor and Transcaucasia can be traced. It is expressed both in the architectonics of buildings and in the use of certain building techniques. The Golden Horde tower mausoleums, most likely, were exact copies of those in Asia Minor and Azerbaijan. Along with the forms of memorial buildings typical for the Muslim world, there were buildings of archaic appearance in the ulus of Jochi. Pyramidal mausoleums were built there, the shape of which the researchers deduce from the tomb structures in the form of barrows; these can be associated with the Turkic memorial buildings of the 9th–11th centuries.
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