GRAVESTONE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MIR-I JANDI ATA SHRINE (GUZAR DISTRICT IN THE KASHQADARYO REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN)

Abstract

In order to conduct systematic and complex studies of the epigraphic monuments located in the southern part of Uzbekistan, the researchers inspected the gravestones of the Guzar shrine Mir-i Jandi Ata. The only bollardshaped marble slab in the sanctuary belongs to the great amir of the Timurid epoch Sultan Ali Curci bin amir Muhammad Ilchi Buga (died 912/1506) whose life ended during the Shaibanid period. The remaining oblong gravestones correspond to a later period (18th–19th centuries) and were primarily erected in honour of teachers and religious figures. They include persons with the title of a bek, and local hereditary clerics with the highest clergy titles (mullahs, akhunds, sadry). All information obtained on the basis of funerary epigraphy materials indicates that in the latest period the shrine was used as a burial ground for Maverannahr clergy.