KOSH MADRASA

To the west, the Koutloug Murad Inak madrasa was built between 1804 and 1812 by Allah Kouli khan's grandfather. The Koutloug Murad Inak khan wished to be buried in his madrasa, but death surprised him while he was in Dichan kala, the outer city. Since the law forbade bringing the dead into the inner city, Allah Kouli Khan found a solution by demolishing the city walls that separated the madrasa from the outer city. Nothing stood in the way of the khan being buried in the vestibule of his madrasa!

This was the first madrasa in Khiva to have two floors of cells. Another peculiarity is that it was built on top of an earlier madrasa dating from 1688: the Khodjamberdibi madrasa, which was redesigned and renamed Khourdjoum during the new construction: its cupolas and portal were removed, and a passageway was cut through the middle. It now serves as a terrace for the portal of the Koutloug Murad Inak madrasa. The arches of the cells can be seen at the front of the large madrasa. The large underground well in its courtyard supplied the entire inner city with pure water. Today, children come to fish out the bills that pilgrims have thrown into it, and no-one drinks its water any more. In season, a puppeteer puts on a show for visitors, for whom a few benches have been set up in the courtyard.

The Allah Kouli Khan madrasa was built in 1834 opposite that of Koutloug Mourad Inak, forming the traditional kosh madrasas or double madrasas, one of the largest in the city. It housed Khiva's library. At this time, Allah Kouli Khan wanted to completely reorganize the eastern entrance to the city. He tore down the inner city walls and built a whole new complex of commercial and religious buildings, moving the urban center closer to the Tash Khauli palace. The new complex included a huge caravanserai, a covered market, baths, a madrasa and a mosque.

The caravanserai was converted into a supermarket by the Soviets. A real curiosity! It opens onto a 14-domed tim . A 6-domed gallery runs alongside the Allah Kouli Khan madrasa and leads to Palvan Darvosa, the eastern gateway to the outer city and bazaar. The Allah Kouli Khan madrasa is really only interesting for its majestic, deep-blue portal. Inside, around a rectangular courtyard measuring 30 m by 34 m, the cells are distributed over two floors, as in the Koutloug Murad Inak madrasa.