Медресе Кукельдаш

Kukeldash Madrasah stands in Tashkent’s old city, beside Chorsu Bazaar and the square once known as the Registan. Built around 1570 from yellow brick, the sixteenth-century Islamic school centres on a rectangular courtyard lined with student cells, open halls, and a mosque. A high entrance portal rises about 20 metres between two guldasta towers, while white, blue, and ochre majolica decorates the facade.

Dervish Sultan, a vizier under the Shaybanid dynasty, founded the school for Islamic sciences, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. Its role changed over time: a caravanserai served merchants in the seventeenth century, and Kokand khans later used the building as a fortress. Earthquakes, neglect, and the removal of a floor caused serious damage before restorations in 1902–1903, the 1950s, and after Uzbekistan’s independence. Soviet authorities turned it into museums of atheism, folk music, and national instruments before it returned to religious education.

Today, classrooms, computer rooms, a calligraphy hall, library, gym, cafeteria, and dormitory support an active four-year programme. Visitors can walk through the garden and see the architecture, including window grilles engraved with the names of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad. One hall carries a striking inscription: “Death is inevitable but the work done by a person is immortal.”