THE MAUSOLEUM OF MUHAMMAD BOSHARO

Abstract

mad Bosharo stands in the village of Mazar-i Sharif in the Zeravshan River valley, not far from the city of Panjikent. In this mountainous area many architectural monuments of pre-Islamic and early Islamic culture have been preserved. The mausoleum of Muhammad Bosharo, one of the most noteworthy among them, gave its name to the village in which it stands; Mazar-i Sharif means noble sanctuary. Although the mausoleum was mentioned in scholarly works as early as the 1930's, it did not become the subject of special scholarly attention until more recently. The first paper devoted to it and based on measurements and research on the site was published by L. Bretanitskii in 1958.' His article points out, among other things, that the various parts of the structure were built at different times, and he mentions some peculiarities of its layout and disposition on the site. Bretanitskii hypothesized that the portal of the mausoleum (one of the most beautiful in all Central Asia, it bears the original construction date of 1342-43) was erected later than the main structure, which he attributed to the late eleventh or early twelfth century. A second article on the mausoleum, based on new measurements and further research, was published by V. Voronina and K. Kriukov in 1978. The authors