Gumbazi Seyidon Mausoleum

Two years after the construction of the Kok-Gumbaz mosque, by order of Ulugbek, a tomb known as the Gumbazi-Seyidon mausoleum, the "dome of the Seyids," was erected next to the southern wall of the mausoleum of Shamsiddin Kulol. Thus, the Dorut-Tillawat ensemble has received its completion.

The small, elegantly proportioned, single-chamber mausoleum is decorated with a blue dome on a high drum, on which a kufic inscription is laid out in mosaic. The building, which is almost square in plan, is built in a style typical of the time of Ulugbek. From the west, the entrance is decorated with a small, slightly extended portal and a wooden door covered with deep, three-plan carvings with floral ornaments, into which epigraphic inscriptions are woven.

The lower part of the main hall of the mausoleum is decorated with a panel of blue hexagonal slabs. The ceiling and sails of the dome, arched niches and all the walls of Gumbazi Seyidon are covered with amazing, delicate red and blue paintings. The belt under the dome is filled with geometric ornaments forming a star motif. The dome itself is decorated with a complex multi-faceted girih. The medallions between the arches are painted with a floral pattern, and the planes of the walls are decorated with spirals. Through the windows cut into the drum, the interior of the mausoleum is illuminated by a mysterious shaded light, in which the dome appears to hover at an unattainable height.

On the portal of the mausoleum is inscribed in Arabic script "Sultan the great, honorable and generous, worthy of sultans, ruler and defender of people and faith, Ulugbek Guragan ordered the construction of this mausoleum-makbarat, called "Awlad al-Mubarak" ("Blessed descendants"). May Allah perpetuate his kingdom and rule, in the month of the moon of the year 841 AH (1437), "For a long time there was disagreement among scholars about the ownership of the graves in the mausoleum. At one time, it was believed that Ulugbek built a mausoleum for the descendants of the Temurids. However, there is no evidence on any of the tombstones in the mausoleum that any of Ulugbek's descendants are buried there.

Among the marble tombstones dating back to the 10th–17th centuries, which were moved to the mausoleum of Gumbazi Seyidon, four belong to notable historical figures from the family of the Termez Seyids. It should be noted that in the second half of the 14th century, the Seyids provided great assistance to Amir Temur in the fight against the Mongol Khans. In particular, Abu al-Muali, whose tombstone, among others, can be seen in Gumbazi Seyidon, directly participated in the battles with the Mongols. He also attended the celebrations on the occasion of Temur's ascension to the throne. There are several more graves around the mausoleum.

The tomb of the Seyids is one of the best creations of the Central Asian architecture of the era of Ulugbek.