Central Asia's khans, emirs & conquerors rest in eye-catching mausoleums...Thread

The Samanid mausoleum (10th c.) is a fine example of the Persian dynasty that dominated much of the region. It's said to host the remains of the great Ismail and other Samanid rulers

Bukhara

Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030) established the first great Turkic empire beyond Transoxiana. A ruthless conqueror, he's known for his conquests in India, from which the gates of his mausoleum were said to have come from (not really). The British took them back in the 1842

Ghazni

Ahmad Sanjar (1085-1157) was the last great Seljuk sultan. During his rule, his capital of Merv became one of the most populous cities in the world. His mausoleum was part of a larger religious and palatial complex but none of the other buildings survive. (1911/2009)

Merv

In the UNESCO site of Konye-Urgench lies the mausoleum of Ala ad-Din Tekish (?-1200), ruler of the Khwarezmian empire. While he was a great conqueror he was also a bit of a Game of Thrones character, fighting his brother for the throne and murdering his mother

Konye-Urgench

The Ghorids were the last important dynasty in Central Asia of Persian heritage. Muhammad of Ghor (1149-1206) was one its greatest rulers and conquerors. He died in modern-day Pakistan, where a mausoleum was built for him in the 1990s

Sohawa

Not as known as Kublai Khan's China or the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Khanate also emerged from the Mongol empire, occupying most of Central Asia. Tughlugh Timur (1312-1363) reunited the khanate and converted to Islam. A nomad, he was buried in the town of Almaliq

Almaliq

No thread of this kind would be complete without Amir Timur (Tamerlane). He is buried in the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum together with some of his and grandsons, and his spiritual teacher. The actual crypts are in a chamber beneath the stones (note Timur's jade stone)

Samarkand

Timur's most illustrious descendant was probably Babur (1483-1530), the founder of the Moghul empire. He died in Agra but, as he wished, was reburied in Kabul, in the gardens that bear his name. His mausoleum was recently restored

Kabul

Khans may no longer rule the region but modern authoritarian leaders do behave similarly. One of the most notorious was Turkmenistan's Saparmurat Niyazov (1940-2006). He was buried in the marbled Türkmenbaşy Ruhy Mosque between his parents

Gypjak

Samarkand, known not only for the Gur-e-Amir but also for the outstanding Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, added in 2018 a new mausoleum to its portfolio with the grave of Uzbekistan's first president, Islam Karimov (1938-2016)

Samarkand

I hope you enjoyed the thread! As a bonus track I'll leave you with the grave of another Central Asian ruler, albeit not a very illustrious one, Alim Khan (1880-1944), last emir of Bukhara, who died in exile and whose mausoleum is in need of some restoration

Kabul