Dorus-Saodat and the Crypt of Timur, Shakhrisabz

Dorus-Saodat, “the seat of power and might”, was meant to be the family necropolis of Timur’s dynasty. He began it after the death of his eldest and favourite son, Jahangir, in 1376, and planned to be buried here himself. History decided otherwise: when Timur died in 1405 in Otrar, snow blocked the passes to Shakhrisabz, and he was buried in Samarkand, at Gur-e-Amir.

The Jahangir Mausoleum

The surviving part of the complex is the mausoleum of Jahangir, a tall building crowned by a ribbed conical dome on a high drum, a profile unusual in Central Asia and more familiar from Khorezm, whose craftsmen Timur brought to Shakhrisabz. Jahangir is buried here, and by tradition so is another of Timur’s sons, Umar Sheikh. The rest of the original complex, which was reportedly very large, was destroyed in the sixteenth century.

The crypt of Timur

Behind the mausoleum, a small entrance leads down steps to a vaulted underground chamber, rediscovered in the mid-twentieth century. It contains a single stone sarcophagus with inscriptions linked to Timur; when it was opened it held not Timur but the remains of two unidentified people. It is generally accepted as the tomb Timur prepared for himself, and it is a striking place to stand: a quiet stone room meant for the conqueror of half of Asia, which he never occupied.

Hazrat-i Imam Mosque

Beside the ensemble stands the Hazrat-i Imam Mosque, a working mosque with a pleasant courtyard and an old plane tree, rebuilt in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Visiting

Dorus-Saodat is a few minutes’ walk from Dorut-Tilovat, so the two are visited together. The crypt is small and low; if you are claustrophobic, look in from the entrance.