Khachin-Darbatli Mausoleum ( az, Xaçındərbətli türbəsi) is a
tomb
A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a :wikt:repository, repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be ...
-
mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
of Katava Hoja the son of Musa (or Kutlu ibn Musa), located close to the
Xaçındərbətli village of the
Agdam District
Aghdam District ( az, Ağdam rayonu) is one of the 66 administrative divisions of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Karabakh Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Khojaly, Kalbajar, Tartar ...
of
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
and was built by ustad Shahbenzer, in 1314. The mausoleum is located 23 km to the northern part of Agdam and is considered a notable monument of memorial architecture of medieval Azerbaijan.
The mausoleum, as well as the Agdam district, where the mausoleum is located, was under the occupation of the unrecognized
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...
since the
First Nagorno-Karabakh war
The First Nagorno-Karabakh War, referred to in Armenia as the Artsakh Liberation War ( hy, Արցախյան ազատամարտ, Artsakhyan azatamart) was an ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in th ...
until 2020, when the district was returned to Azerbaijan per the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement
The 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement is an armistice agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. It was signed on 9November by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the Pre ...
.
Architecture
Architecture and decoration of the mausoleum expand notions about the interconnection of arts of “
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
” and “
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
” oblasts of the
Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
,
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...
and
Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. It has a dodecahedral body finished with a pyramidal marquee and stands on a not small three-laddered basement.
The internal area of the mausoleum consists of a cross-shaped burial vault and an upper cell.
Stalactitical branches of the cross adjoin a multitier stalactitical arch of the cell. A
mihrab
Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
, which surrounds a chain of small, ornamented rosettes, is located in a shell-like multifoil conch in the southern end arch of the mausoleum.
The strictness of the arch's interior is underlined by filigree ligature of the ornament of the biggest rosette located opposite the entry. An
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
ligature on the aperture of the upper cell indicates a name of a buried man, construction date – the year 1314 – and a name of the architect – Shahbenzer. The mihrab and content of the ligature confirm that a “customer” was Muslim.
References
{{coord, 40.032993, N, 46.817041, E, type:landmark_scale:100000_source:ruwiki, display=title
Buildings and structures completed in 1314
Islamic architecture
Mausoleums in Azerbaijan
Tourist attractions in Azerbaijan
Buildings and structures in Aghdam District