Chupan Ata Mausoleum

In modern Tashkent, revered sites associated in folk legends with the names of legendary Islamic ascetics are not always located among the architectural landmarks of the historical center. Sometimes they are found amidst the dense clusters of standard high-rise buildings, the so-called “sleeping districts,” which have encircled the city over the past fifty years. Among such revered places is the mausoleum of Chupan-Ata (Chupanata, Chupon Ota). It is located a five-minute walk from the Farhad Market, within the 13th block of the Chilanzar residential area, and represents a typical monument to a miraculous event from folk legends. According to local lore, the holy ascetic Chupan-Ata once struck the ground with his shepherd’s staff, releasing a healing spring from the earth that quenched the thirst of both people and animals. Later, a grove of walnut trees grew on this site, providing shade for merchant caravans and gathering places for wandering dervishes.

The legend describes a common occurrence in Central Asian history, where an ancient shrine, worshipped long before the spread of Islam, was transformed into a mazar or “kadam joy”—a site associated with the cult of a Muslim saint. Three kilometers north of Chupan-Ata lie the ruins of the ancient fortress of Ak-Tepe, which from the 5th to the 7th century AD served as one of the main temples of fire worshippers in the Chach oasis. According to archaeologist Galina Pugachenkova, Ak-Tepe was the site of a cult dedicated to Siyavush, the deity of dying and resurrecting nature. After the Arab conquests of the 8th century, the pagan sanctuary was completely destroyed and became forbidden for Muslims, turning into an empty clay hill. However, the sacred grove and spring located nearby were later adapted to the folk cult. This transformation was facilitated by a legend of a miracle strikingly similar to the biblical feats of Moses.

It is entirely plausible that Chupan-Ata actually released a spring from the ground—if he was a dowser. Such skills were known among Sufi mentors, who often combined deep religiosity with secular scholarship and diverse practical abilities. In Chilanzar, groundwater remains so close to the surface even today that it significantly complicates the laying of underground utilities. The grove of mighty walnut trees around the mazar of Chupan-Ata survived until the 1970s, when, after the 1966 Tashkent earthquake, the area was built up with high-rise buildings resistant to seismic activity.

Among the architectural monuments of Tashkent, the miniature mausoleum of Chupan-Ata stands out for its intricate brickwork decoration. Archaeologists date the structure to the late 18th century, though it may have been built on an older foundation. Folk legends claim that the first mausoleum of Chupan-Ata was erected here in the 15th century by order of the ruler of Samarkand, Muhammad Taragai Mirzo Ulughbek. The true mazar—the burial site of the saint Chupan-Ata—is located on the summit of one of the hills surrounding Samarkand, which, according to legend, was saved by this saint from an enemy invasion. The story goes that Chupan-Ata heard the pleas of Muslims besieged by pagan forces, instantly flew from Syria with an entire mountain, and dropped it onto the enemy horde, thus halting the invasion. Centuries after this astonishing event, the enlightened ruler Ulughbek heard of another miracle performed by Chupan-Ata near Tashkent. The tale so impressed the ruler that he ordered a caravan of camels to deliver construction materials for the erection of a commemorative mausoleum, a kadam joy.

It is possible that Mirzo Ulughbek, who visited Tashkent three times—in 1416, 1419, and 1425—made this decision in emulation of his grandfather, the great conqueror Timur (Tamerlane), who had earlier begun the construction of the mausoleum of the saint Zangi-Ata near Tashkent. Historical chronicles indicate that the young ruler of Samarkand, like his famous ancestor, had strained relations with the Tashkent aristocracy from the house of the khans of Moghulistan. Thus, Ulughbek may have ordered the construction of the Chupan-Ata mausoleum for political reasons—to win the favor of the common people and the Muslim clergy. Chupan-Ata and Zangi-Ata are linked by the fact that both saints are considered patrons of shepherds and lived roughly in the same era. However, their cults likely incorporated elements of pre-Islamic folk myths.

Chupan-Ata literally translates to “Father Shepherd.” Yet, in legends, another name is used for this saint—Torgay (“Lark”), which may point to Altaic or Dzhungar roots. Folk tradition holds that Chupan-Ata lived from 1185 to 1275. At that time, the area of Chilanzar was far beyond the walls of the medieval city. It was a marshy lowland where Turkic tribes grazed their herds, leading a nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyle.

The local landscape and way of life had changed little by the end of the 18th century, when historians date the existing mausoleum building. Thus, modern scholars hesitate to assert that the mausoleum contains the remains of a Muslim ascetic from the 13th century. If we assume that the years of life indicated on the mausoleum are based on the Islamic calendar, then the monument could have been erected not for a mythological figure but for a very real person who lived much later. At that time, Chilanzar still lay outside the city limits but had already become an area of active agricultural development. Inhabitants from the ancient urban district of Besh-Agach established their summer houses and plots here, where they grew vegetables and melons and planted fruit orchards. They had already begun to drain the marshes and construct irrigation canals and ditches. It is possible that the mausoleum at that time became the family burial site of a local bay—a landowner and manager of irrigation facilities. However, oral tradition has not preserved his name (Torgay?), and subsequently, folk legends linked the revered site with the popular cult of Saint Chupan-Ata. Inside the mausoleum lies a traditional sagana—a marble tombstone, covered with a dense green cloth. The custom of draping the tombs of holy patrons with large pieces of expensive fabric, donated to the shrine by wealthy pilgrims or local authorities, remains widespread in Uzbekistan even today.

Many revered sites in Tashkent and its surroundings are associated with legends, the exact historical underpinnings of which are now extremely difficult to ascertain, as the information was originally gleaned not from written sources but from oral tradition. For example, located a kilometer east of the ancient fortress of Ak-Tepe, the mausoleum of Khoja Alambardor at the Kamalon Cemetery is dedicated to a saint who, according to legend, died in the 10th century. During his lifetime, he was one of the companions of the famous Muslim preacher Abu Bakr Kaffal al-Shashi. However, the nickname Alambardor—“Standard-Bearer”—was also borne by one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad three centuries earlier. Today, historians find it challenging to assert who exactly is buried in this mausoleum, which, as research has shown, was built on the site of more ancient burials relatively recently—in the early 19th century.

Legends associated with revered sites in Central Asia represent a unique cultural space where the interconnections of times, names, and events often carry a symbolic nature that does not necessarily coincide with historical chronology and topography. To this day, oral traditions are dominated by a mythological consciousness, which means that a place once chosen for veneration is subsequently not relegated to the back alleys of popular memory.

The very name of the modern residential area of Chilanzar is thought by some local historians to have originated from a misunderstanding that arose during the careless transcription of ancient manuscripts. In his ethnographic description “Tashkent Mahallas and Maza,” the famous Russian geographer Nikolai Mallitsky (1873-1947), who was the mayor of Tashkent in the early 20th century, expressed the opinion that due to the similarity of the Arabic script, the word “chinorzor”—meaning “grove of plane trees”—was accidentally altered to “chilan-zar”—meaning “grove of jida plants or dwarf date palms,” which grow abundantly in Central Asia in wet or marshy soils. However, oral tradition links the name of the area to the saint Chilan-Zar-Ata, who, according to legend, lived in this area from 1551 to 1648. From folk legends about him, it is known only that he was a skilled healer, treating many ailments with the fruits of jida. The mausoleum of this saint, built only in the early 20th century, was reconstructed and adorned in 1996 with the help of enthusiasts.