*
17.12.2021
The International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) has announced the
names of the researchers who have won the IICAS Research Funding Grants for the
2022-2023 research year.
We would
like to provide you some information about the projects that have received
funding from our Institute. Today let us focus on one of them.
In the Publication
Category, one of the grantees is a group of seven scholars from the Republic of
Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the United States – all of whom were united
by the joint research interest in the history of the Jochi Khan Mausoleum.
The Mausoleum
of Jochi Khan (the Kazakh name for this personality is Zhoshi Khan) is located
45 km from the city of Zhezkazgan, on the left bank of the Karakengir River (48°09'
20.08536" N; 67° 49' 02.10342" E). It is a single-chamber portal-and-dome
mausoleum with a double spherical-conical dome. The outer dome is mounted on a
ribbed sprocket-like drum. Both the dome and the drum had the exterior cladding
of flat square bright blue [or turquiose] glazed tiles. The mausoleum has an
unusual appearance for an architectural monument of the Mongol and post-Mongol Golden
Horde periods.
Recently,
the active study of the Golden Horde period historical processes, which took
place on the lands of Kazakhstan, has sparked the interest of the scientific community
and that of the general public in the Mausoleum of Jochi Khan. The new
reconstruction project has been completed on the Mausoleum, deployed in
parallel to the construction of a Visitor Center for tourists. These
developments have significantly changed the natural and historical landscape
and the very appearance of the Jochi Khan Mausoleum.
The
historical research on the Jochi Khan Mausoleum is both scientifically relevant
and required from the practical point of view, as there is a need for a research-based
understanding of the history of formation of the Kazakh statehood. In recent
years, the history of the Ulus of Jochi (the Golden Horde) has attracted
attention not only of the broad scientific circles, but there is a clear call
for this for the political and ideological purposes. The latter is clearly
evidenced by the state strategic and program underlying documents being published
in Kazakhstan.
In the meantime,
the principal questions about the time of construction of the Mausoleum, about
who was buried under its dome, remain open. The study of the architectural
features, funerary ritual, and artifacts of the Mausoleum, the absolute dating
efforts, the analysis of the the Mausoleum’s structural elements using modern-day
interdisciplinary methods will all help provide new information for the
interpretation of the religious architecture, for understanding of historical
events in the eastern part of the Ulus of Jochi.
The mysteries of the Jochi Khan Mausoleum will
be somewhat unraveled in the forthcoming joint publication of the research
team, which is to come out in 2023.
Поделиться: