Narbutabey Madrasah, Kokand

Narbuta Bi ruled Kokand in the second half of the 18th century, when the khanate was still a small state in the western Fergana Valley. He consolidated the power of his dynasty, the Ming, and laid the foundations for the expansion of Kokand under his sons, Alim Khan and Umar Khan, who took the title of khan and extended the state across the valley and beyond. The madrasah he built was one of the main religious and educational institutions of the young capital.

The madrasah is a large, two-storey building of baked brick around a courtyard, with student cells (hujra) on both floors, a domed lecture hall and a mosque. Its main facade has a tall portal decorated with brick patterns and tiles, and the corners are marked by small towers. The decoration is restrained compared with the tile-covered facades of Samarkand and Bukhara, reflecting the more modest scale of 18th-century Kokand. Inside, the courtyard is shaded by trees and is quiet and calm.

Around the madrasah lies a cemetery with the graves of members of the ruling family and notable townspeople.

After the Bolshevik revolution, most religious schools in Central Asia were closed in the 1920s, and their buildings used as warehouses, clubs or museums. The Narbutabey madrasah was also closed, but, according to local accounts, it was allowed to reopen at times in the Soviet period as one of the few functioning madrasahs in the country, alongside the Mir-i-Arab madrasah in Bukhara. Since independence it has operated as a religious school, training students in Islamic studies.

Because it is an active school, visitors usually see the courtyard and entrance, with some areas reserved for students.

Location: in the centre of Kokand, near the Juma mosque.

Tickets: usually free; donations welcome.

Time needed: 20–30 minutes.

Etiquette: dress modestly; women should bring a scarf. Ask permission before photographing students and teachers, and avoid prayer times.

Combine with: the Khudayar Khan palace and the Dakhma-i-Shakhon necropolis for a full picture of the khanate of Kokand.

In the Kokand khanate, as in Bukhara and Khiva, madrasahs were the main centres of higher education. Students studied Arabic grammar, the Quran, Islamic law and theology, logic, and sometimes mathematics, astronomy and medicine, often for many years. Kokand had dozens of madrasahs in the 19th century, and the city attracted students from across the valley and from Kashgar in China. The Narbutabey madrasah, one of the oldest and largest, was among the most prestigious, and it trained judges, imams and teachers for the whole khanate.

Its students lived in the small cells around the courtyard, two or three to a room, and were supported by the income of the madrasah’s endowment, shops and land donated by its founder and by later benefactors.

A day in Kokand can start at the Khudayar Khan palace in the morning, continue to the Juma mosque and the Narbutabey madrasah, and end at the Dakhma-i-Shakhon and the Modari Khan mausoleum. In between, visit the bazaar to taste Kokand halva, the city’s famous sweet, sold in many varieties. Kokand is also a convenient base for visiting Rishtan, about 40 minutes away, for its blue ceramics, and continuing to Margilan for silk. See our Fergana Valley itinerary and how to get to the Fergana Valley.