Khodja Akhrar Necropolis, Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Sheikh Khodja Akhrar, (1404-1490) headed the Central Asian branch of Sufi order of 'naqshbandiyyah' in the middle of the 15th century. He directly influenced on the political life of Temurid states in Central Asia due to his great spiritual power. The great sheikh was buried in a Samarkand suburb and a sacred cemetery was built around in the 16th century. For the group of burials around Khodja Akhrar's grave there was constructed a special dahma with column aivans and halls of mosques built in different periods. In the 17th century Nadir Muhammad Divan-beghi - a rich Bukhara dignitary constructed there a mosque and madrasah on the portal of which there were pictured tigers.