Two mausoleums in the Maslov Kut village: on the question of the connections of the Crimean Khanate and the North Caucasus

Research objectives: To examine data on mausoleums in the Maslov Kut village in the vicinity of Madzhar. Research materials: Two 18th-century drawings depicting mausoleums of various types located in the Maslov Kut village. Results and scientific novelty: This work analyzes the architectural features of two burial structures. The mausoleum in the watercolor by artist M.M. Ivanov belongs to the type of portalless cubic mausoleums with a round drum and a conical dome. This form is typical for the mausoleums of the Golden Horde. Similar buildings are known, in particular, in nearby Madjar. The drawing from the works of P.S. Pallas belongs to the authorship of the Italian architect, A.P. Digby. The octagonal mausoleum depicted on it is interpreted ambiguously. Based on the drawing of the tombstone with a Kufic inscription, a number of researchers date it to the 11th–12th centuries and believe that it was erected by Muslim Polovtsians. Other authors attributed it to the corpus of Golden Horde buildings. Тhe work examines the architecture of this building in detail and concludes that it is an example of Ottoman architecture. Similar mausoleums are known both in Asia Minor and in Crimea. The Crimean Khanate’s ties with the Western and Northern Caucasus are well known from written sources. Perhaps the octagonal mausoleum in Maslovy Kut is further evidence of these ties. The presence of at least two mausoleums in one place, dating back to different eras, allows us to conclude that a Muslim necropolis existed there for several centuries. Perhaps, a “holy place” revered by Muslims was located there.