The Role of the Khorezmian School in the Architecture of Amir Temur and the Timurids: Structural Forms, Master Builders and Continuity of Tradition

Drawing on the studies of G.A. Pugachenkova, M.Q. Ahmedov, S.P. Tolstov, A.Yu. Yakubovsky, Ya.G. Gulyamov and V.V. Bartold, the “Zafarnama” of Nizam al-Din Shami, the diary of Ruy González de Clavijo and the ICOMOS evaluations of Kunya-Urgench and Shahrisabz, the article examines the role of the Khorezmian school of architecture in shaping the architecture of Amir Temur and the Timurids. It shows that the tradition of tent-shaped (conical) domes, which developed in the 12th-14th centuries mainly in Khorezm and the northern regions, was used under Temur in the Dorus Saodat complex in Shahrisabz, and that Khorezmian artisans were deported to work on the Aq Saray palace, begun in 1380. A synchronised chronology of Temur's campaigns and building activity demonstrates that construction in Kesh had already started in 1373-1376, before the conquest of Khorezm in 1379. Building inscriptions, including the signature of Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Tabrizi on the Aq Saray, confirm the participation of masters from Bukhara and Iran. The Devkesgan mausoleum shows that Khorezmian architectural traditions persisted in the oasis itself until the end of the 15th century. The architecture of Temur's era is thus assessed as a synthesis of several schools, of which the Khorezmian school was an important component.