Erected on the initiative and at the expense of Timur in 1404, the masterpiece of Persian architecture[1] of the Timurid era occupies an important place in the history of world Islamic architecture. The main architect of the mausoleum was Muhammad ibn Mahmud Isfahani, a native of the Iranian city of Isfahan.

Construction  Back side of the Gur-e-Amir

In 1403, after a military campaign against the Ottoman Empire, Muhammad Sultan, Timur's heir to the throne, died. Returning to Samarkand in the fall of 1404, Timur ordered for his grandson[clarification needed] to build a mausoleum, which became the family tomb of Gur-e-Amir.[2] The mausoleum was built in the southeastern part of medieval Samarkand, near the madrasa and khanqah of Muhammad Sultan.

Timur died during a campaign in China. In January 1405, he arrived in the city of Otrar (its ruins - near the confluence of Arys into the Syr Darya), where he fell ill and died (18 February according to most historians, 15 February according to the tombstone of Timur). Timur's body was embalmed, placed in an ebony coffin upholstered in silver brocade, and contrary to the will of Timur, who willed to be buried in his native Kesh, was taken to Samarkand on the initiative of his grandson Khalil-sultan. Tamerlane was buried in the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum, at that time still unfinished. The official mourning events were held on 18 March 1405 by Timur's grandson Khalil-Sultan (1405-1409), who seized the Samarkand throne against the will of his grandfather, who bequeathed the throne to his eldest grandson Pir Muhammed.[3]

During Ulugh Beg's reign, the mausoleum became the Timurid family crypt; a doorway was made to provide an entrance to the mausoleum.

Later enlargement

In this architectural ensemble are the tombs of Timur himself, his sons Shah Rukh (died in 1447 in Herat) and Miran Shah (killed on April 21, 1408 in the vicinity of Tabriz), grandsons - Ulugh Beg (1394-1449) and Muhammad Sultan, also Timurids Abdullo Mirzo, Abdurahmon Mirzo, teacher and mentor of Timur Mir Said Baraka. By the will of Timur's youngest son Shah Rukh, Mir Said Baraka's remains are buried in the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum. Timur was a Muslim and an admirer of Sufi orders. The main spiritual mentor of Timur was the descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Sheikh Mir Said Baraka. He was the one who gave Timur the symbols of power: a drum and a banner when he came to power in 1370. Mir Said Baraka predicted a great future for the Emir. He accompanied Timur on his great campaigns. In 1391 he blessed him before his battle with Tokhtamysh. In 1403 they together mourned the unexpected death of the heir to the throne - Muhammad-Sultan. According to the Arab historian Ibn Arabshah Timur constantly said: "All that I have reached in the state and the strongest countries conquered by me - all this was achieved because of the prayer and blessing of Sheikh Shamsuddin al-Khavoriyyah and all the luck found only from Said Baraka".[4] Therefore, Timur himself was also buried at his feet.

Decline and restoration  The tomb of Timur, as photographed by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky c. 1910. Wooden gate from the Gur-i Mir, with sculpted decoration, traces of polychromy and micro-mosaics (khatamkari). State Museum of History of Culture of Uzbekistan.

In 1740, king Nader Shah of the Afsharid Empire tried to carry away Tamerlane's sarcophagus. Nader idolized Timur. He imitated Timur's military prowess and, later in his reign, Timur's cruelty, but in the process of removal the sarcophagus broke in two. This was interpreted as a bad omen. His advisers urged him to return the stone to its rightful place.

Unfortunately, after the end of 17th century Samarkand suffered a long period of decline. The city lost the status of capital to Bukhara. The great Silk Road bypassed the city and its great historical monuments stood empty and forgotten. Only after the Second World War did extensive restoration work in Gur-Emir begin.

Tamerlane's tomb was opened shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 19 June 1941. The exhumation of Timur in 1941 was made under the direction of Soviet scientist and anthropologist Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov, who was able to reconstruct Timur's facial features from his skull, and it was also confirmed that he was 172 cm in height and would have walked with a pronounced limp.[5]

In the 1950s the dome, main portal and minarets were refurbished[citation needed]. By that time the maiolica tiles had mostly fallen away. In the 1970s, the restoration of the interior was undertaken. Neither the Madrasah nor the Khanaka of initial Muhammad Sultan's complex were reconstructed at that time. With the resurgence of the interest in Tamerlane after the founding of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991, care of his places of worship has intensified.[5]

Curse of Timur

When Soviet scientists wanted to open Timur's tomb, rumors went around Samarkand that opening the tomb would curse those who opened it. Local leaders attempted to warn the excavation team of the "risks".[6]

The tomb is inscribed with two warnings that read "When I rise from the dead, the world shall tremble". Allegedly, once opened another inscription was discovered: “Whosoever disturbs my tomb will unleash an invader more terrible than I".[7][better source needed] Even though people close to Gerasimov claim that this story is a fabrication, the legend persists.[8]

The tomb was opened by Mikhail Mikhaylovich Gerasimov, a Soviet archaeologist on 20 June 1941, two days before the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union.[6][7]

Apparently, Stalin believed in the curse[citation needed] and ordered Timur be reburied. Tamerlane was reburied with full Islamic burial rites on 20 December 1942, about one month before the Soviet victory at Stalingrad (though by this time the German Army at Stalingrad was already encircled).[6][7]