{{Short description|Timurid ruins in Herat, Afghanistan}} {{use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox ancient site | name = Musalla complex | native_name = د مصلی ترکيبي<br>مجتمع مصلی | native_name_lang = | alternate_name = Musallah complex, Gauhar Shad Musallah | image = Overview of the Musalla Complex, with the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum in the center.jpg | image_size = 300 | alt = | caption = Overview of the Musalla Complex, with the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum in the center | map = | map_type = Afghanistan | map_alt = | map_caption = Location in Afghanistan | map_size = 220 | altitude_m = | altitude_ref = | relief = yes | coordinates = {{Coord|34|21|33|N|62|11|10|E|region:IN-DL_type:landmark_scale:50|display=title,inline}} | gbgridref = | map_dot_label = | location = Herat, Afghanistan | region = Herat Province | type = Islamic religious complex | part_of = | length = | width = | area = | volume = | diameter = | circumference = | height = 55 m (180 ft) minarets | builder = Queen Goharshad of Timurid Empire of Herāt | material = | built = 1417 | abandoned = 1885 | epochs = <!-- actually displays as "Periods" --> | cultures = Islamic | dependency_of = | occupants = | event = Ruins, razed in 1885 | discovered = | excavations = | archaeologists = | condition = Ruined | ownership = | management = | public_access = Yes | other_designation = | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | architectural_styles = Timurid | architectural_details = Timurid Mosque, Shah Rukh madressa, mausoleums, 20 minarets | notes = }}
The '''Musalla complex''' (Pashto: د مصلی ترکيبي, Dari: مجتمع مصلی; <small>lit.</small> 'prayer complex'), also known as the '''Musallah complex''' or the '''Musalla of Gawhar Shah''', is a former Islamic religious complex located in Herat, Afghanistan, containing examples of Timurid architecture. Much of the 15th-century complex is in ruins today, and the buildings that still stand are in need of restoration. The complex ruins consist of the five '''Musallah Minarets of Herat''', the Mir Ali Sher Navai mausoleum, the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum, the ruins of the Gawhar Shad mosque, the Gawhar Shad madrasa complex, and the Sultan Husayn Bayqara madrasa and mausoleum complex.
Construction of the complex began in 1417 under Queen Gawharshad, chief consort of Timurid ruler Shah Rukh, and ended in the late 1400s with the building of a madrassa by Sultan Husayn Bayqara. It was seriously damaged in 1885 during the Panjdeh incident, when the British and ruling Emir of Afghanistan demolished most of the complex buildings. Due to earthquakes and war, four additional minarets fell during the course of the 20th century.
== History == Shah Rukh made Herat the capital of the Timurid Empire in 1405, moving it from Samarkand. The complex was then commissioned by Timurid Queen Gawhar Shad and construction began in 1417, likely under architect Kavamad-Din of Shiraz who also built a similar madrasa in Khar Gerd.<ref name="DupreeGuide">{{Cite book |last=Dupree |first=Nancy Hatch |url=https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_acku_ds351_d87_1977 |title=Historical guide to Afghanistan |date=1977 |publisher=University of Arizona Libraries |doi=10.2458/azu_acku_ds351_d87_1977 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072519/http://www.afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/azu/189/azu_acku_ds351_d87_1977_w.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The madrasa was built between 1417 and 1426,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |date=15 January 2006 |title=Musalla Complex & Minarets {{!}} Herat, Afghanistan Attractions. |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan/herat-and-northwestern-afghanistan/herat/attractions/musalla-complex-minarets/a/poi-sig/451137/355747 |url-status=live |website=Lonely Planet |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210819203251/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan/herat-and-northwestern-afghanistan/herat/attractions/musalla-complex-minarets/a/poi-sig/451137/355747 }}</ref><ref name="a2">{{cite news |title=Monuments Of Herat, Afghanistan's Ancient Cultural Capital, In Danger Of Destruction |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1101519.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920011319/https://www.rferl.org/a/1101519.html |archive-date=20 September 2018 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=11 May 2010 |accessdate=19 September 2018 |df=dmy-all |last1=Podelco |first1=Grant }}</ref> possibly as late as {{Circa|1432}}. The complex had two minarets by its eastern façade on either side of the main entrance and the mausoleum in its northwest corner.<ref name="CassarNoshadi184" /> The Gawhar Shad Mosque was completed in 1437.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="collet" /> A madrasa by Sultan Husayn Bayqara called Madrasa Ni'matiyya was built sometime between 1469 and 1506, probably around 1493 (898 AH).<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Masjid-i Jami'-i Gawhar Shad- |url=https://archnet.org/sites/3935/media_contents/40280 |url-status=live |access-date=5 September 2021 |website=Archnet.org |archive-date=29 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729232231/https://archnet.org/sites/3935/media_contents/40280 }}</ref>
===Destruction=== The Musalla complex was heavily damaged in the late 19th century. The buildings of the complex were destroyed in 1885 by Anglo-Afghan forces, only leaving a few minarets and the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum. During the Panjdeh incident of 1885, Russian soldiers had attacked Afghan soldiers southeast of Merv. Most of the buildings in the complex were leveled by the British and Emir Abdur Rahman Khan in order to prevent the Russians from using the buildings as cover.<ref name="collet" /> Only the Gawhar Shad mausoleum and nine of the original twenty minarets were allowed to remain.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="collet" /> The Heratis had petitioned Abdur Rahman to save the complex, but he responded that saving the living was more important than saving the dead's resting places.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |url=http://www.afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/azu/3344/azu_acku_pamphlet_ds375_h47_w65_1966_w.pdf |title=Herat : a pictorial guide / text Nancy Hatch; photography Inger Hansen; Drawings Brigitte McCulloch |date=1966 |publisher=University of Arizona Libraries |doi=10.2458/azu_acku_pamphlet_ds375_h47_w65_1966 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917021743/http://www.afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/azu/3344/azu_acku_pamphlet_ds375_h47_w65_1966_w.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Ultimately the crisis was resolved, and fighting never broke out, making the destruction unnecessary.<ref name="a1" /><ref name="a3">{{cite web |title=The sad story of the Musalla Complex: art crime and destruction |url=https://squarekufic.com/2017/11/16/musalla-complex-herat/ |website=squarekufic.com |date=16 November 2017 |accessdate=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920011641/https://squarekufic.com/2017/11/16/musalla-complex-herat/ |archive-date=20 September 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Nine minarets and two mausoleums were spared destruction.
An earthquake in 1932 destroyed two of the mosque's four minarets,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Masjid-i Jami'-i Gawhar Shad {{!}} General view of the complex from west, with Gawhar Shad's Mausoleum seen at center and a canal in the foreground. The three minarets on the left marked the corners of Sultan Husain Baiqara's Madrasa, while the minaret at center once flanked the portal to Gawhar Shad's Madrasa. The two minarets seen on the right are the only remnants of Gawhar Shad's Mosque|url=https://archnet.org/sites/3935/media_contents/40280|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Archnet}}</ref> and another earthquake in 1951 destroyed another, leaving only one standing.<ref name="auto" /><ref name="DupreeGuide" /> Only five of the original twenty minarets in the complex remained in 2021.<ref name="auto" />
The complex was visited and photographed in the 1930s by the travel writers Robert Byron and Annemarie Schwarzenbach. Byron's book, ''The Road to Oxiana'', mentions the minarets and discusses Timurid history.<ref name=":0" /> The mausoleum of 'Ali Shir Nawa'i was rebuilt in 1950.<ref name="collet" />
=== Preservation efforts === By the 20th century, the mausoleum had been extensively damaged, with the cupola in particular being severely deteriorated. Intervention in the 1950s supervised and led by Fikri Saljuqi resulted in drastically changing the appearance of the building, with construction of an entirely new eastern façade and a partly new southern facade, and the hexagonal ''Mihrab'' being demolished and replaced with a rectangular one. The interior dome was decorated and mosaics were installed on the outside walls to a height of {{convert|1|m|spell=in}}.<ref name="collet" /> Restoration and repairs to the mausoleum often were of poor quality using inappropriate materials.<ref name="CassarNoshadi184" />
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) along with Italian architect Andrea Bruno began preliminary conservation and restoration efforts in 1974–75. Work started on the minarets of the Nicmatiyya madrassa in April 1977. A year later, structural reinforcement started in cooperation with the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government. Its aim was to restore the faience decoration and to prevent masonry erosion. The work was slowed due to a lack of steel piping. While close to finishing the mosque restoration, Herat's March 1979 uprising and the resultant suppression caused work to end. UNESCO returned briefly in 1989 to review the situation.<ref name="collet" />
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Gawhar Shad Mosque southeast minaret (minaret No.8), with other minarets in the background (Herat, Afghanistan). Frédéric Gadmer, 1928.jpg | image2 = Gawhar Shad Mosque southeast minaret (minaret No.8, Herat, Afghanistan). Frédéric Gadmer, 1928.jpg | footer=The Gawhar Shad Mosque south-eastern minaret (minaret No.8) in 1928, now lost.<ref name="Aube"/>{{rp|Fig. 3}}}} During the Soviet–Afghan War, the mausoleum and minarets suffered additional damage. Herat was the only urban battlefield during the war, and historical buildings were often targeted to lower morale. The mausoleum's roof was struck in 1984–1985 and lost several tiles, especially on the northern and western portions. At the bottom of the dome, writing in Kufic was partially destroyed on the eastern side and completely gone on the north. The 1950 eastern façade was hit by a shell and repaired with regular bricks. Evidence of the former connections to the madrasa to the east and south was destroyed. Its inner square chamber remained in good condition. The last minaret that stood at the corners of the mosque was almost completely destroyed by Soviet heavy artillery during this period, leaving only {{cvt|12|m}} of its base remaining. The middle minaret also suffered damage, with tile work in the best condition on the southern side and partly remaining on the eastern side. The balcony supports were destroyed and shells hit the minaret. A {{convert|2|m|adj=on|spell=in}} hole was created {{cvt|17|m}} up, exposing the staircase inside. A scar two meters below the hole was also created. The eastern minaret in the southeast corner was the most affected of the four eastern minarets: two holes were created by howitzers {{cvt|30|m}} off the ground and 2 metres in diameter. Further repairs were conducted by the Danish Committee for Aid to Afghan Refugees (DACAAR) and the WFP between 1992 and 1994. DACAAR added masonry and covered the dome of the mausoleum along with the base with a thin layer of cement.<ref name="collet" />
Emergency preservation work was carried out at the site in 2001 by the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural Heritage (SPACH). These efforts included erecting walls to protect the mausoleum and Sultan Husain Madrasa, restoring garden landscaping at the mausoleum, and measures to forestall the collapse of the Gawhar Shad Madrasa's remaining minaret.<ref name="auto" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.touristspots.org/mousallah-complex-in-herat-afghanistan |title=Mousallah Complex in Herat – Afghanistan – Tourist Spots Around the World |website=Touristspots.org |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121232855/https://www.touristspots.org/mousallah-complex-in-herat-afghanistan/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1059997.html |title=Afghanistan: Race To Preserve Historic Minarets Of Herat, Jam |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-date=30 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730021724/https://www.rferl.org/a/1059997.html |url-status=live |last1=Podelco |first1=Grant }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adventuretravelphotos.com/ |title=Tư vấn sản phẩm |website=Adventuretravelphotos.com |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-date=25 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190125042848/http://www.adventuretravelphotos.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, UNESCO and the Afghanistan government coordinated to attempt to preserve and replicate the tile work on the exterior dome.<ref>{{cite web |title=Italian-Funded Conservation of Gawhar Shad Mausoleum in Herat Underway by Afghan Government and UNESCO |url=https://en.unesco.org/news/italian-funded-conservation-gawhar-shad-mausoleum-herat-underway-afghan-government-and-unesco-0 |access-date=15 November 2019 |website=unesco.org |date=6 November 2014 |publisher=UNESCO |archive-date=15 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115150905/https://en.unesco.org/news/italian-funded-conservation-gawhar-shad-mausoleum-herat-underway-afghan-government-and-unesco-0 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004, UNESCO added the City of Herat, including the entire Musalla complex, to the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1927/ |title=Tentative List: City of Herat |website=unesco.org |publisher=UNESCO |date=17 August 2004 |access-date=15 November 2019}}</ref>
During the occupation of Afghanistan, Soviet troops used the site as a base. Mujahedeen fighters launched attacks against the troops stationed there and the Soviet forces laid anti-personnel mines around the base of the minarets.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.halotrust.org/latest/halo-updates/news/halo-partners-with-unesco-in-afghanistan/ | title=HALO partners with UNESCO in Afghanistan }}</ref> In 2015 the landmine clearance NGO The HALO Trust began work clearing the site of mines following an accident in which a young man playing football stood on an anti-personnel mine and lost a foot. The site was cleared of mines by May 2016.
In 2020, the Aga Khan Development Network made a pledge to the President of Afghanistan to restore a minaret in danger of collapsing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AKDN Vows to Restore Ancient Minaret in Herat |url=https://tolonews.com/arts-culture-167680 |access-date=8 February 2021 |website=TOLOnews |language=en |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125022126/https://tolonews.com/arts-culture-167680 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=AKDN Vows to Restore Ancient Minaret in Herat|url=https://avapress.com/en/204601/AKDN-Vows-to-Restore-Ancient-Minaret-in-Herat|access-date=2021-02-08|website=AvaPress {{!}} Breaking Updated news and Latest headlines from Afghanistan|language=en|archive-date=21 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121074146/https://avapress.com/en/204601/AKDN-Vows-to-Restore-Ancient-Minaret-in-Herat|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ambassador Hirji discuss Afghan peace process with Minister Naderi |url=http://www.afghanistantimes.af/ambassador-hirji-discuss-afghan-peace-process-with-minister-naderi/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |website=Afghanistan Times |language=en-US |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303113757/http://www.afghanistantimes.af/ambassador-hirji-discuss-afghan-peace-process-with-minister-naderi/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This work is being completed through the work of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-04|title=President Ghani stresses immediate action to restore Minaret Five of Herat Musallah|url=https://president.gov.af/en/president-ghani-stresses-immediate-action-to-restore-minaret-five-of-herat-musallah/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=English|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-11-25|title=بازسازی منار پنجم مصلی گوهرشاد در هرات آغاز شد|url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/afghanistan-55068968|access-date=2021-02-08|website=BBC News فارسی|language=fa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-29|title=A Sufi Lodge, a Leaning Minaret and a Polymath's Shrine: A look at recent efforts to preserve – and appreciate – historical Herat|url=https://www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/context-culture/a-sufi-lodge-a-leaning-minaret-and-a-polymaths-shrine-a-look-at-recent-efforts-to-preserve-and-appreciate-historical-herat/|access-date=2021-02-08|website=Afghanistan Analysts Network - English|language=ps-GB}}</ref>
== Description == thumb|Plan of the Musalla complex, Herat. Remaining minarets are shown in a darker shade.<ref name="Aube"/>{{rp|Fig. 8 }} The Timurids built the complex initially north of the city along the Khiyaban avenue {{cvt|1|mi|km|order=flip}} north of Darvaza-yi Malik.<ref name="collet" /> The location was convenient because of its close vicinity to the royal residence in the Bagh-i Zaghan.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Golombek |first=Lisa |year=1969 |title=The Timurid Shrine at Gazur Gah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZvpAAAAMAAJ |journal=Occasional Paper - Royal Ontario Museum, Art and Archaeology |publisher=Royal Ontario Museum |issue=15 |page=90 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072521/https://books.google.com/books?id=5ZvpAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2015, Herat's suburbs were surrounding the site.<ref name="CassarNoshadi184" /> The complex was centered around a musalla {{cvt|106|x|64|m}}. The inner court had four iwans, with two arcades going around it.<ref name=":2" /> The madrasa with the mausoleum in its corner was built to the northwest Mosque. Husayn Bayqara's madrassa was built to the northwest of Gawhar Shad's madrasa.<ref name="collet" /> There was also the mausoleum of Ali-Shir Nava'i between the ruins of the madrasas.<ref name="DupreeGuide" /> Across from the mausoleum of Gawhar Shad there was the tomb of Sheikh Zadeh Abdallah. Abdallah's tomb was octagonal with four iwans, with the north iwan being the largest.<ref name=":2" />
===Minarets=== The complex had 20 minarets adorned with tiles in intricate patterns and designs. By 2002, the five remaining '''Musalla Minarets of Herat''' had their tiles scattered on the ground around them.<ref name="a2" /><ref name="collet">{{Cite journal |last=Tirard-Collet |first=Olivier |date=1998 |title=After the War. The Condition of Historical Buildings and Monuments in Herat, Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4299980 |url-status=live |journal=Iran |volume=36 |pages=123–138 |doi=10.2307/4299980 |issn=0578-6967 |jstor=4299980 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823213314/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4299980 |archive-date=23 August 2021 |access-date=6 September 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="a1">{{cite web |title=7 must-see minarets in Central Asia |url=https://caravanistan.com/best-of/minarets-central-asia/ |website=caravanistan.com |accessdate=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171630/https://caravanistan.com/best-of/minarets-central-asia/ |archive-date=19 September 2018 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Minarets of Herat |url=https://en.alalam.ir/news/1891353/historical-minarets-of-herat |website=alalam.ir |publisher=Alalam News Network |accessdate=20 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920084310/https://en.alalam.ir/news/1891353/historical-minarets-of-herat |archive-date=20 September 2018 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
The minarets are each {{convert|55|m}} tall, braced with steel cables.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Musalla Complex & Minarets |title=Herat, Afghanistan Attractions |date=2006-01-15 |publisher=Lonely Planet |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan/herat-and-northwestern-afghanistan/herat/attractions/musalla-complex-minarets/a/poi-sig/451137/355747 |access-date= }}</ref>
Nine towers survived the events of 1885, but the explosions had weakened them structurally, and they remained neglected over the next few years due to an unsettled political situation. No repairs or restorations were undertaken, and over time, four more towers collapsed due to structural weaknesses, earthquake and sheer decrepitude.<ref name="a2" /> Only five of the original twenty minarets survived.
===Sultan Husayn Bayqara madrasa (1492–3)=== {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center | align = right | direction =horizontal | image1 = Musalla Complex and Minarets - Herat, Afghanistan (4112215444).jpg | image2 = Tiled mosaics on a minaret of Sultan Husayn Bayqarah Madrasa. Musalla complex, Herat.jpg | footer=The four minarets of the Sultan Husayn Bayqara madrasa and mausoleum, and tile mosaics on one of the minarets }} [[File:Babur visiting the Begums at Herat in Sultan Husain Baiqara Mirza’s college at his mausoleum (1506) (Khizr Chela).jpg|thumb|upright|Babur visiting the Begums in "Sultan Husayn Bayqara’s madrasa at his mausoleum in Herat", in 1506. ''Baburnama'' (1590).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Subtelny |first1=Maria |title=Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation in Medieval Iran |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-16031-6 |page=361 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QqryxbUEkbUC&pg=PA361 |language=en |quote=Fig. 7. Zahir al-Din Muhammad Babur paying his respects to the widows of Sultan-Husain Bayqara at the latter's tomb in the Royal madrasa in Herat, in 912/1506. India, ca. 1590. Babur-nāma, MS, British Library, Or. 3714, fol. 256b. British Library Board. All rights reserved.}}</ref><ref name="Baburnama">{{cite book |last1=Babur |first1=Emperor of Hindustan |last2=Beveridge |first2=Annette Susannah |title=The Babur-nama in English (Memoirs of Babur) |date=1922 |publisher=London, Luzac |page=301 |url=https://archive.org/details/baburnamainengli01babuuoft/page/300/mode/2up?view=theater|quote= May 24th 1506- May 13th 1507 (J. Babur visits the Begims in Herat) All the Begums, i.e., my paternal aunt Payanda-sultan Begum, Khadīja Begum, Apāq Begum, and my other paternal aunt Begums, daughters of Sl. Abū-sa'id Mirzā, were gathered together at the time I went to see them in Sl. Husain Mirza's College at his mausoleum. (...) After sitting there for some time during the recitation of the Quran, we went to the South College where Khadīja Begim's tents had been set up and where food was placed before us.}}</ref><ref name="BD">{{cite book |last1=Dupaigne |first1=Bernard |title=Afghanistan: monuments millénaires |date=2007 |publisher=Imprimerie nationale éd |location=Paris |isbn=9782742769926 |pages=150–155}}</ref><ref name="Green66">{{cite book |last1=Green |first1=Nile |title=Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban |date=2017 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-29413-4 |page=66 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6swDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |language=en}}</ref>]] Sultan Husayn Bayqara's madrasa was built circa 1492–3, to the north of the Gawhar Shad Mosque and Gawhar Shad madrasa. Only ruins of the mausoleum and the four minarets, originally set at the angles of the madrasa, remain to this day.<ref name="RA565"/> There are no known depictions of the monument built by Bayqara, but the remains of fine enamel tileworks on the minarets are a testimony to his past splendour.<ref name="RA565">{{cite book |last1=Allchin |first1=Raymond |title=The Archaeology of Afghanistan: From Earliest Times to the Timurid Period |date=2019 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-0748699179 |page=565 |edition=Revised and updated |quote=Later, in 1492–3, Sultan Husain Baiqara built a madrasa to the east on the other side of the canal. Here there were lofty gateways, arcades, domes and, again, majestic minarets. Only the minarets and mausoleum remain, with corbels encircling the drum (Figs 8.29, 8.30). Unlike the Gawhar Shad monuments, there are few surviving descriptions on which to base a reconstruction, although a standard madrasa design can be assumed. The tile work on the minarets is particularly fine, with each panel framed by marble, although most has been lost due to wind erosion.}}</ref> Babur, the future founder of the Mughal Empire, who visited Herat immediately after Sultan Husayn Bayqara'death in May 1506, confirmed that he was buried there in the mausoleum next to the madrassa.<ref name="Green66"/><ref name="Baburnama"/>
The four eastern minarets stood at the corners of Sultan Husayn Bayqara's Ni'matiyya madrasa before it was demolished, and outlined a courtyard {{cvt|103|x|105|m}}.<ref name=":3" /> They had one balcony each and were a brighter blue than the four minarets that stood in the west. When built, they were at least {{cvt|70|m}} tall. Due to wind and changes in temperature, they all lean westward. The minarets had an ornate turquoise tile covering before it was destroyed. Robert Byron wrote it "was as if one saw the sky through a net of shining hair planted suddenly with flowers". There were also two tall arches over an entrance, depicted in 1887. The tombstone of Bayqara's grandfather, called the Stone of the Seven Pens, is nearby.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="collet" />
:{| class="wikitable" |+Minarets of Ni'Matiyya Madrasa<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |url=http://afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/azu/4308 |title=Restoration of monuments in Herat: strengthening government's capability for the preservation of historical monuments |publisher=United Nations Development Programme |year=1981 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=8 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908050713/http://afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/azu/4308 |url-status=live }}</ref> !rowspan=2 | Designation !rowspan=2 | Location !colspan=2 | Height !colspan=2 | Lean{{Efn|A measurement of how off-balance the minaret is}} |- ! m ! ft ! cm ! in |- |M1: ''Minar-i Nahbas'' |Southwest |{{convert|51.83|m|ft|disp=table}} |{{convert|70|cm|in|disp=table}} |- |M2 |Northwest |{{cvt|54.75|m|ft|disp=table}} |{{cvt|50|cm|in|disp=table}} |- |M3 |Northeast |{{cvt|58.23|m|ft|disp=table}} |{{cvt|200|cm|in|disp=table}} |- |M4 |Southeast |{{cvt|58.72|m|ft|disp=table}} |{{cvt|170|cm|in|disp=table}} |} The four minarets in the west stood at the corners of the former mosque and outlined a court {{cvt|350|x|210|m}}.<ref name=":4" /> These were wider, eight-sided, and had one balcony each. They were supported by white marble panels and the color of grape-blue. Three fell due to earthquakes in the 20th century.<ref name="auto" /> The remaining minaret, called Minar-i Nahbas, stood in the southwest. It was {{cvt|37.5|m}} tall before the Soviet–Afghan War. Fakhr-ul Madaris, a religious school with 350 students, was built at its base around 1940, incorporating the minaret into its northern façade.<ref name="DupreeGuide" /><ref name=":4" /> Both minaret and school were destroyed by Soviet artillery in 1985, and only {{cvt|12|m}} of the minaret's base remains.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="collet" />
The middle minaret with a height of {{cvt|42.40|m|ftin}} has two balconies and was decorated with blue lozenges separated by regular bricks with flower mosaics. The top of the minaret (above the second balcony) was hit by artillery and destroyed. It had a lean of {{cvt|90|cm}} before the Soviet–Afghan War which had extended to {{cvt|350|cm}} by 1998. The minaret was one of a pair that had stood at the sides of the entrance to the madrasa.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="collet" /><ref name="DupreeGuide" />
===Gawhar Shad Mosque (1417–1438)=== thumb|right|Gawhar Shad Mosque in Herat. Illustrated London News, 1863 {{main|Gawhar Shad Mosque (Herat)}} The Gawhar Shad Mosque in Herat was built by Gawhar Shad. It is located in the southwestern corner of the Musalla complex.<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|94}}
thumb|upright|left|Decorative slab, from the base of minaret No. 8, Gawhar Shad Mosque.<ref name="Aube"/>{{rp|Fig. 3}} The mosque was built by the architect Qavam al-Din b. Zayn al-Din Shirazi, after he had finished the Gawhar Shad mosque in Mashhad in 1418. Construction began in 1417–18, and partial completion was achieved in 1437–38.<ref name="KMK">{{cite book |last1=Khairzade |first1=Khair Mohammad |last2=Franke |first2=Ute |title=The 'Musalla'-Complex in Herat Revisited: Recent Archaeological Investigations at the Gawhar Shad Madrasa: Drawing the Threads Together Studies on Archaeology in Honour of Karin Bartl |editor1=Ahrens, Alexander |editor2=Rokitta-Krumnow, Dörte |editor3=Bloch, Franziska Bloch |editor4=Bührig, Claudia |date=1 January 2020 |url=https://www.academia.edu/44391825}}</ref>{{rp|102–104}} The mosque measured {{circa|{{convert|130|by|74|m}}}}, and was built around a four-iwan structure and crowned by four minarets.<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|102–104}} The decoration consisted in blue glazed tiles, in a style similar to that of the nearby Gawhar Shad Mausoleum.<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|102–104}}
The mosque was demolished by Afghan-British troops in 1885, in the Panjdeh incident.<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|102–104}} Nothing remains of it, apart from the half-length ruins of the northwestern minaret (minaret No.6).<ref name="Aube">{{cite journal |author1=Aube, Sandra |author2=Lorain, Thomas |author3=Bendezu-Sarmiento, Julio |title=The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations (View supplementary material) |year=2019 |journal=Iran Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies |location=Iran |doi=10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769 |volume=58 |issue=1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/39863473}}</ref>{{rp|Fig. 8}} The half-minaret was still nicely decorated in lapis lauzuri tiles in the 1970s, but all decoration has now disappeared.<ref name="Aube"/>{{rp|Fig. 9, Fig. 22}}
._Musalla_Complex_(Herat%2C_Afghanistan)._Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Gadmer%2C_1928.jpg){kind=link}
A few decorative slabs from the base of the minaret have been reused in the Shrine of Khwaja Abd Allah of Herat.<ref name="Aube"/>{{rp|Fig. 3}}
===Gawhar Shad Madrasa (1417–1438)=== [[File:Gawhar Shad Madrasa eastern portal (Herat), from the northeast, with Gawhar Shad Mosque in the background. Durand 1885 (Illustrated London News 87, 1885).jpg|thumb|Gawhar Shad Madrasa eastern portal (Herat), from the northeast, with Gawhar Shad Mosque in the background. Durand 1885 (Illustrated London News 87, 1885).]] The Gawhar Shad Madrasa was a madrasa in Herat, built by Gawhar Shad,<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|104–105}} and is part of the Musalla complex.
The madrasa measured approximately {{convert|83|by|60.75|m}} and was built between 1417 and 1438. According to Siraj al-Din Saljuqi the madrasa was decorated "with seven-colour glazed tiles (''kashiha-i haft rang'') … suls inscriptions …. On the inside … with plaster ''muqarnas'' and designs in blue and gold colour, and lapis colour. …. Water was brought from the Jui-i Injil by means of a pipe. On the interior of the external portal vault of the Madrasa a large piece of marble was erected, which bore the following in tall suls script, … written by Jalal Ja’far."<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|104–105}} A variety of decorative tile techniques are used, from ''banna’i'' monochrome turquoise-glazed bricks, to colored-glaze “cloisonné” tile (''haft-rang'' with black lines), to ''mo'araq'' cut-tile mosaics.<ref name="LSA">{{cite journal |last1=Aube |first1=Sandra |last2=Lorain |first2=Thomas |last3=Bendezu-Sarmiento |first3=Julio |title=The Complex of Gawhar Shad in Herat: New Findings about its Architecture and Ceramic Tile Decorations |journal=Iran |date=2 January 2020 |volume=58 |issue=1 |page=Figure 31 |doi=10.1080/05786967.2019.1571769 |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02174899/file/05786967.2019.1571769.pdf |quote=The dome of the mausoleum is covered by an assemblage of varied techniques. The shell of the dome is covered with monochrome turquoise-glazed bricks, highlighted with gadroons with a pattern of friezes of cobalt, white and yellow diamonds on a turquoise background (see the upper section of the photo Figure 16). In addition to these banna’i bricks, the dome is decorated with colored-glaze “cloisonné” tiles (better known as “cuerda seca”),62 as well as with cut-tile mosaics (note 62: The technique is better known as “black line”, “cuerda seca” or even “haft rang” type.}}</ref>
At the northwest corner of the madrasa was established the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum, completed in {{AH|827|link=yes}}. The mausoleum now stands alone, since the madrasa has completely disappeared. From the madrasa, only the southeastern minaret (minaret No. 5) remains.<ref name="KMK"/>{{rp|104–105}}
<gallery> File:Herat Panorama1.jpg|The remains of the madrase today: minaret No. 5, and the Gawhar Shad Mausoleum File:Herat 6918a.jpg|The southeastern minaret of the madrasa (minaret No. 5) File:Colored-glaze “cloisonné” tile found in the area of M5 (south-eastern minaret of the Gawhar Shad madrasa), Musalla complex. Herat National Museum.jpg|Colored-glaze “cloisonné” tile (haft-rang technique with black line) found in the area of minaret No. 5.<ref name="LSA"/> File:Vol.2 f.257r Babur entertained to a meal at the South College, 1506. By Jamshid Chela. Asset ID 32362.jpg|Babur entertained to a meal at the "South ''madrasa''", 1506.<ref name="Baburnama"/><ref name="BD"/><ref name="Green66"/> </gallery>
===Gawhar Shad Mausoleum=== {{main|Gawhar Shad Mausoleum}} [[File:Herat_Gawhar_Shad_mausoleum.jpg|thumb|The Gawhar Shad Mausoleum.]] The mausoleum was originally constructed to house the remains of Prince Baysunghur, a son of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh and Gawhar Shad.<ref name="KnoblochP137" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Roemer |first=H. R. |date=1989 |title=BĀYSONḠOR, ḠĪĀṮ-AL-DĪN |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baysongor-gia-al-din-b |access-date=November 14, 2019 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica |publisher=Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation |archive-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114221606/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/baysongor-gia-al-din-b |url-status=live }}</ref> Some members of Baysunghur's family were interred alongside him. They included Gawhar Shad herself and her brother Amir Sufi Tarkhan,<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Nile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6swDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |title=Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban |publisher=Univ of California Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-520-29413-4 |page=66 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072521/https://books.google.com/books?id=g6swDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |url-status=live }}</ref> her other son Muhammad Juki,<ref>{{cite book |last=Barthold |first=Vasilii Vladimirovitch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-twUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA147 |title=Four Studies on the History of Central Asia |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1963 |volume=2 |page=147 |authorlink=Vasily Bartold |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072521/https://books.google.com/books?id=-twUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA147 |url-status=live }}</ref> Baysunghur's sons Sultan Muhammad<ref>{{harvtxt |Golombek |1969 |p=86}}</ref> and Ala al-Dawla, as well as the latter's son Ibrahim. More distantly related Timurids, Ahmad and Shah Rukh (sons of Abu Sa'id Mirza, who was responsible for Gawhar Shad's execution), were also buried in the mausoleum.<ref name="KnoblochP137" /> Baysunghur's father Shah Rukh was briefly interred as well, before later being transferred to the Gur-e-Amir in Samarqand.<ref>{{cite book |last=Manz |first=Beatrice Forbes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BfkpHz9q_RMC&pg=PA258 |title=Power, Politics and Religion in Timurid Iran |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-139-46284-6 |pages=258, 263 |authorlink=Beatrice Forbes Manz |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072522/https://books.google.com/books?id=BfkpHz9q_RMC&pg=PA258 |url-status=live }}</ref>
thumb|left|Gawhar Shad Mausoleum in 1885 Gawhar Shad's mausoleum is {{cvt|27|m}} tall. It lies is between the two western minarets and was built in the madrasa's northwest corner.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="collet" /> The building forms a cruciform shape, with a dome covering the center.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9A-EAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111 |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-61365-6 |page=111 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811052952/https://books.google.com/books?id=9A-EAgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> This dome is the most impressive feature of the structure, in that it is actually three domes superimposed over one another: a low inner dome, a bulbous outer cupola and a structural dome between them.<ref name="CassarNoshadi184">{{cite book |last1=Cassar |first1=Brendan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGx5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |title=Keeping history alive: safeguarding cultural heritage in post-conflict Afghanistan |last2=Noshadi |first2=Sara |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |year=2015 |isbn=978-92-3-100064-5 |pages=184–186 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072522/https://books.google.com/books?id=mGx5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA184 |url-status=live }}</ref> The outer cupola is decorated with flowery light-blue-green mosaics. The inner dome is adorned with gold leaf, lapis lazuli and other colours which form intricate patterns. The interior of the tomb itself is a square chamber with axial niches.<ref name="Dupree318">{{cite book |last=Dupree |first=Louis |authorlink=Louis Dupree (professor) |title=Afghanistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvr_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA318 |year=2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-5891-0 |page=318 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=20 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820035121/https://books.google.com/books?id=yvr_AwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="collet" />
Due to the widespread habit of tombstones being taken and re-used, it is unknown how many burials there are in the mausoleum. Though some sources claim there were as many as twenty grave markers at one time, at present there are only six.<ref name=KnoblochP137>{{cite book |last=Knobloch |first=Edgar |authorlink=Edgar Knobloch |title=The Archaeology & Architecture of Afghanistan |page=137 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-ROAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=978-0-7524-2519-1 |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925072522/https://books.google.com/books?id=6-ROAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lying in the center of the room, they are oblong shaped and made of matt black stone, with floral patterns carved on them. There are two larger stones, three smaller cenotaphs, and a child-sized tomb.<ref>{{cite book |last=Byron |first=Robert |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.77447 |title=The Road to Oxiana |publisher=Macmillan and Co. Ltd |year=1937 |pages=97–103 |authorlink=Robert Byron (travel writer)}}</ref><ref name="collet" />
In 1998, some objects were located inside the mausoleum to preserve them and prevent robbery. They include twelve {{cvt|100|x|60|cm}} marble slabs, a piece of the base of a minaret rising from the mosque, a large slab with seven lines of writing, and other marble panels.<ref name="collet" />
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Herat- Musalla-Komplex2 - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-19-162 (cropped).jpg|Photo by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, 1939 File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Herat- Musalla-Komplex - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-19-164.jpg|Photo by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, 1939 File:2009 Musalla Complex Herat Afghanistan 4112214896.jpg|Dome interior, 2009 File:Gawhar shad-1417-2.jpg| Ruined Gawhar Shad Mausoleum File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Herat- Musalla-Komplex - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-19-173 (cropped2).jpg|Remaining minarets in 1939–40 File:2009 Musalla Complex Herat Afghanistan 4112214558.jpg| Mausoleum in 2009 File:2009 Herat Afghanistan 4072962142.jpg|Vegetable Stands near the ruins, 2009 File:2009 Musalla Complex Herat Afghanistan 4112214218.jpg| A minaret in 2009 File:Musalla Complex in 2009.jpg| New replanted trees in complex garden, 2009 File:Gawharshad Musalla D60.jpg|Musalla complex in 1962 File:Herat 6918a.jpg| Minaret in 1969 File:Minarety - Herat - 001467s.jpg|The site in 1975 File:Herat 6961a.jpg|Herat skyline with Musallah minarets, 1969 File:2009 view Herat Afghanistan (4072191719).jpg|Herat skyline with Musallah minarets, 2009 File:Herat Panorama1.jpg|A panorama of the ruins File:Herat Remains of Musallah complex.jpg|Traffic passing on road near the Herat minarets, 2005. File:2009 view Herat Afghanistan (4072191719).jpg|Herat skyline with Musallah minarets, 2009 File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Herat- Musalla-Komplex - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-19-172.jpg|Minarets in 1939–1940. </gallery>
==See also== {{stack|{{portal|Islam|Afghanistan|Architecture}}}} * Gawhar Shad Mausoleum * Ghazni Minarets * Islam in Afghanistan * Minaret of Jam * Musalla Minarets of Herat * Timurid Empire
== Notes == {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == {{commons category|Musalla complex}} *[http://www.afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/azu/7512 Timurid Herat by Terry Allen] *[http://afghandata.org:8080/xmlui/handle/azu/3348 The Timurid architecture of Iran and Turan]
{{Herat Province}} {{Mosques in Afghanistan}}
Category:14th-century religious buildings and structures Category:Arts in Afghanistan Category:Archaeological sites in Afghanistan Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1885 Category:Buildings and structures in Herat Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Afghanistan Category:Destroyed sculptures Category:Former mosques in Afghanistan Category:Former religious buildings and structures in Afghanistan Category:Islam and other religions Category:Mosque buildings with minarets in Afghanistan Category:Mosque ruins Category:Timurid mosques Category:Vandalized works of art Category:World Heritage Tentative List