Ismamut Ata
{{Short description|Shrine in the Khwarazm oasis of Turkmenista}}
{{Orphan|date=February 2024}}
Ismamut Ata is a mausoleum in the Khwarazm oasis of Turkmenistan.{{Cite book|last=Brummell|first=Paul|title=Turkmenistan|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84162-144-9|pages=169–170|language=en|author-link=Paul Brummell}}{{Cite book|last=Karimo’g’li|first=Q.|title=Ismamut ota|year=1997|location=Urganch}}{{Cite book|last1=Man’kovskaia|first1=L.|title=Pamiatniki zodchestva Khorezma|last2=Bulatova|first2=V.|year=1978|location=Tashkent}} A cluster of religious structures, it stands amidst a graveyard and was once considered to be among the most prominent shrines in Turkestan.{{Cite journal|last=Stebliuk|first=Iu. V.|date=1959|title=K tipologii pogrebal'nykh sooruzhenii u narodov Srednei Azii|journal=Sovetskaia ètnografiia|issue=3|pages=89–97}}
Geography
Ismamut Ata lies 13 km south of Görogly.
History
In Turkmen folklore, Ism — a companion of Muhammad— had introduced Islam into the region for the first time, convincing the local Sultan Mahmut. On Ism's death, Mahmut commissioned the mausoleum, which bore the portmanteau Ism-i Maḥmūt, anglicized to Ismamut. However, there is no historical corroboration of either Ism or Mahmut; the identity of the buried figure remains unknown.
It is also believed that these lands were the grazing grounds of Duldul, the mule of Muhammad. This gave rise to a tradition of Turkmen tying their horses to a tree, a few hundred meters away from the site, and circumambulating it three times to seek Duldul's protection.{{Cite book|last=Snesarev|first=G.P|title=Khorezmskie legendy kak istochnik po istorii religioznykh kul'tov Srednei Azii|publisher=Nauka|year=1983|location=Moscow|pages=71–80}}
Site
The main complex oversees a courtyard. The oldest building in the complex can be dated to c. 16th century.
First comes a series of twin-floored domed rooms with a fireplace and an intricately carved wooden door, in what is understood to have been a pilgrim's quarter or madrasa. On one side of the courtyard stands the Summer Mosque. To its right is the remnants of a kitchen and to its left, a covered rectangular enclosure with two tapered pillars. Beyond the Summer mosque, is the Winter Mosque, a domed tetraconch building with latticed windows.
On the east of the mosque complex, is the daskeche — a carpeted corridor, with seven white domes — with niches along the wall. One end of it connects to the Winter Mosque by a four-domed flank-corridor whereas the other end leads to the mausoleum via an anteroom. The cenotaph is housed in a locked chamber; it is only visible from the windows of the prayer-room.
Tourism
The site attracts tourists; rooms have proferred along the complex, offering overnight accommodation. Paul Brummell quips that the tradition of circumambulation continues except that the horses have been replaced by motor cars.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- For late twentieth century photographs, consult {{Cite book|last=Man’kovskaia|first=L.|title=Hiva : Horazm naķķošligi hazinasi|year=1982|location=Tashkent}}
- For late nineteenth century photographs, consult {{Cite book|last=Nedvetsky|first=Andrei G.|title=Khiva|year=1993|location=Reading|series=Caught in time: Great photographic archives|editor-last=Naumkin|editor-first=V.|publisher=Garnet}}
- On Soviet management of these sites and related historiography, consult {{Cite journal|last=Sartori|first=Paolo|date=2019-09-01|title=Of Saints, Shrines, and Tractors: Untangling the Meaning of Islam in Soviet Central Asia|journal=Journal of Islamic Studies|volume=30|issue=3|pages=367–405|doi=10.1093/jis/etz001|issn=0955-2340}}
{{coord missing|Turkmenistan}}