Khiva - Turt Shaffaz Madrasah

The Turt Shaffaz Madrasah is located in Dishan-Kala (outer city of Khiva), at the intersection of Allaberganov Street and Turt Shaffaz Street. Construction of the Turt Shaffaz Madrasah in Khiva began in 1875 and was fully completed in 1885, during the reign of Muhammad Rahim Khan II.

It was a cult memorial. Nowadays there are three madrasas, a mosque, a pond, a minaret and a mausoleum. The structures are arranged around a square pond with trees along the perimeter.

The central part of the ensemble is the mosque, a four-columned domed building with aiwans on the façade, its columns decorated with wood carvings. The mosque has a small minaret.

The complex includes three dilapidated madrasahs with walled entrances. They are used as a cemetery, as is the Mazar Mausoleum. Isfandiyar Khan and his three military commanders were buried here.

And that is why people call this complex “Turt Shaffaz” (four warriors).

Isfandiyar Khan – Khan of Khiva in 1910-1918, the twelfth ruler of the Uzbek dynasty of Kungrat in the Khanate of Khiva.

He was born in 1871. In 1910, after the death of his father – Muhammad Rahim-khan II, Isfandiyar Khan came to power in Khorezm. Unlike his father, he was not distinguished by any special talents. During his reign, Islam Hodja, the open-minded vizier – prime minister, played a major role in the state. He financed the construction of a cotton purification factory, a hospital, a pharmacy, a post office, a telegraph and a secular school in Khiva. In 1908-1910, Islam Hodja built a cotton factory, a hospital, a pharmacy, a post office and a secular school. Islam Hodja built an ensemble of the smallest madrasa and the tallest minaret in Khiva in the southeast of Ichan-Qala. Islam Hodja was later murdered, not without Isfandiyar Khan’s knowledge.