Afaq Khoja Mausoleum

The Afāq Khoja Mausoleum or Aba Khoja Mausoleum (Uyghur: Apakh Khoja Mazar) is the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. It is located some 5 km north-east from the centre of Kashgar City,[1] in Haohan Village (浩罕村; Ayziret in Uyghur[2]), which has also been known as Yaghdu.[1]

History

The mausoleum was initially built ca. 1640 as the tomb of Muhammad Yūsuf, a Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi master who had come to the Altishahr region (today's southern Xinjiang) in the early 17th century, and possibly was also active in spreading Sufism in China proper.[3] Later, Muhammad Yūsuf's more famous son and successor, Afāq Khoja, was buried there as well. All told, the beautiful tiled mausoleum contains the tombs of five generations of the Afāqi family, providing resting places for 72 of its members.

The monument is also known as Xiangfei's tomb, as it is the burial place of one of Afaq Khoja's descendants, Iparhan, said to be the legendary "fragrant concubine", Xiangfei, who was the wife of a rogue leader who was captured by the Qianlong emperor and taken to Beijing to be his imperial concubine.[4] Refusing to serve him, a Ugyhur tale said she was forced to commit suicide or was murdered by the Emperor's mother.[4]

Description

The Mausoleum is perhaps the finest example of Islamic architecture in Xinjiang. A large dome of 56 ft (17 m) is at the center surrounded by four corner minarets with stripes and arabesque floral patterns.[4] Each of the windows of the minarets are in a different geometric pattern while the tops have turrets with an inverted lotus dome and scalloped edges. The entrance to the mausoleum is a majestic facade and a tiled iwan-niche style typical of Central Asian mosques.[4]

The tombs are decorated with blue glazed tiles and draped in colorful silks. Inside the tomb hall is the Casket of Ikparhan which supposedly carried her from Beijing.

There is a mausoleum, four prayer halls which are supported by wooden beams with muqarnas on the capitals, a lecture hall and a cemetery which is still in use by the Ugyhur population and has distinctive mud and brick tombs.[4] A gateway also has blue glazed tiles and there is a pond in the courtyard for people to cleanse before entering.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b Fletcher, Joseph F. (1978), "Ch'ing Inner Asia", in Twitchett, Denis Crispin; Fairbank, John King, The Cambridge history of China, Volume 10, Part 1, Cambridge University Press, pp. 35–106, ISBN 0521214475, http://books.google.com.au/books?id=9skBUtc0YTwC&pg=PA75 , page 75.
  2. ^ Display board at the site
  3. ^ Due to scanty and imprecise documentary evidence, the late career of Muhammad Yūsuf and the date of his death remain uncertain. According to Joseph Fletcher's research, Muhammad Yūsuf had worked among Hui and Salar people in today's Gansu and Qinghai in the mid-17th century, then returned to Altishahr, and died there in 1653, poisoned by his rivals. On the other hand, the dean of Hui studies in China, Ma Tong, thought that Muhammad Yūsuf died in 1622, and all preaching in Qinghai and Gansu was done by his son Afāq Khoja. (Lipman, Jonathan Neaman (1998). Familiar strangers: a history of Muslims in Northwest China. Hong Kong University Press. p. 59. ISBN 9622094686. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=4_FGPtLEoYQC.  Lipman's source is: Joseph Fletcher, "The Naqshbandiya in Northwest China", in Beatrcie Manz, ed (1995). Studies on Chinese and Islamic Inner Asia. London: Variorum. )
  4. ^ a b c d e f China. Eye Witness Travel Guides. pp. 512–513.