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The Aisha-Bibi is an 11th or 12th-century mausoleum for an Uyghur noble woman located in the village of Aisha Bibi, 18 km west of Taraz, Kazakhstan on the Silk Road. It is locally famous as a monument to love and faithfulness.

Design
According to legend, the mausoleum was built by a Karakhanid Dynasty ruler for his beautiful fiancée Aisha-Bibi, a daughter of Sufi poet Khakim-Ata. Matching the legend, the mausoleum looks light, well-proportioned, and delicate. The mausoleum’s architectural forms and decoration are reminiscent of fine lace. The whole building is covered with carved terracotta tiles using 60 different floral geometric patterns and stylized calligraphy. As with many Islamic tombs, a legendary recipient replaced the one whose name was lost.

Site
Aisha Bibi is park of larger complex. Ten meters away is a second mausoleum called Babaji Khatun ("wise queen"), and across the road is a sacred limestone cavern. Together with a garden area and parking lot they form the national monument. The complex is sited on a ridge overlooking the Taraz Oasis from the west. The complex is associated with the other monuments in the Taraz Oasis; Tektor Mas and Qarakhan Mausoleum.

Typology
Aisha Bibi is a direct stylistic descendant of Samanid Mausoleum in Bukhara. Both use the same stylistic conventions of Pre-Mongol Central Asian architecture. These two mausoleums rank among the few surviving examples of Pre-Mongol architecture in Central Asia. The entire mausoleum is covered with terracotta panels this creates the illusion of masslessness typical in Islamic Architecture. The Terracotta decoration also uses light and shadow rather than color, a Pre-Mongol style, Functionally, this type of decoration scatters the light so the viewer is not blinded as he might from a smooth light colored wall in full sun. The decorations include symbolism from islamic sources such as the 8-pointed sufi star and also steppe art similar to Pazyryk era designs. The Columns on the corner are shaped after wooden columns used extensively in Sogdian Pre-Islamic architecture. there is a band of calligrahpy at the point of constriction in each column. In general they describe the beauty of Aisha Bibi and of love in general. One of the old distichs reads: "Autumn... Clouds... The Earth is beautiful".

Materials
Sauran clay was used to make the bricks in both the original and restored Aisha Bibi. When properly crafted by traditional methods the bricks ring like a bell with struck.

History


There was just an hour to go for 16-year-old beauty Aisha-bibi to meet with her lover. But a tragedy cut the life of the girl… She had estimated herself worthy to marry the Emir of Taraz, and left her home Otrar with her nurse. At the end of their voyage, the two women stopped at the edge of the Talas River to refresh themselves. It is there that bit by a snake, Aysha lost her life. The Emir, informed at the same time of the mission of the young woman and her fine tragedy, came in haste to collect its last sigh and ordered the construction of this tomb. Today nobody can say what color her eyes were. Nobody remembers her voice, habits, and warmth of her hands. But we know the main thing about her: she loved and was beloved.

Legend of Aisha Bibi
There are 28 variations of the legend of Aisha-Bibi. According to the most popular version, Aisha-Bibi was the daughter of well-known in 11th century scholar and poet Khakim-Ata Suleiman Bakyrgani. After her father's death, Aisha was brought up by Sheikh Aikhodzha (Zangi-Ata). When the governor of Taraz Karakhan Mukhammed (for whom Karakhan Mausoleum in Taraz was built) asked for the young beauty's hand, her stepfather rejected the suitor, because Karakhan was not a descendant of the prophet (sayyid), as Aisha was. She then outwitted her hard-hearted stepfather by pretending to lead an army for jihad against the idolaters (Kara-Khitans). Secretly however, she rode towards Taraz. Unfortunately, Karakhan never met his young bride; she died of snakebite at Assa River. Mourning the death of the girl, Karakhan erected the mausoleum of fairytale beauty at this place. A friend and fellow traveler of Aisha named Babadzhi-Khatun became the custodian of the grave. When she died, she was buried within 20 steps from Aisha, and a mausoleum was erected over her as well. All legends follow the same general plot: A girl disobeys her parents out of love for her a noble in Taraz and dies by entering a body of water near the city. The legend emphasizes the belief in Central Asia of obedience to elders as the highest value.

Current Use
The site has been venerated since the Middles Ages. Local women from the Taraz Oasis still pray for children and a happy family. It is customary for newlyweds in Taraz to have their union blessed by the dead lovers. Their ritual reenacts the myth, after the ceremony the wedding party retraces Karakhan's journey from to Taraz to the site of his fiancee's death. The journey begins at Karakhan Mausoleum in Taraz and ends at the Aisha Bibi, at each location the bride and groom venerate the dead lovers and ask for their blessing.

Russian Archeologist V.V. Bartold was the first scientist to record the and study the ruins in 1893. The Soviet Union built a protective glass shell to preserve the monument (c 1960) and used it for the education of students in Taraz and tourism. In 2002 The Repulic of Kazakhstan paid Nishan Rameto to restore the Aisha Bibi and built the park infrastructure around it. It is a national monument and is listed by UNESCO.