Said Kamol Madrasa: A 19th-Century Islamic School in Bukhara
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 5
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Uzbekistan
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Emirate of Bukhara
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Madrasa
On this page4 sections
History
Said Kamol Madrasa is a Sunni Islamic educational institution in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, built in 1864–1865 in the Central Asian architectural tradition during the reign of Muzaffar, the emir of the Bukhara Emirate from 1860 to 1885. It was established in the Fathullo Qushbegi neighborhood, then part of the capital of the emirate, and the area later became known as Said Kamol.
Foundation and Endowment
The madrasa was financed by Said Kamol, also known as Mir Sayyid Kamol ibn Mir Abdurasul Karvonboshi. His father, Abdurasul-Karvonboshi, was both a donor and a leading figure among Bukhara’s major wholesale merchants. The institution’s finances and purpose were supported through a waqf, an endowment assigning property or income to a religious, educational, or charitable institution. Its surviving endowment papers include one sealed by Sadriddin ibn Mir Bayzo, a qazi, or Islamic judge and legal official. The madrasa is first recorded in a waqf deed dated 1873–1874.
Later History
Teaching at Said Kamol Madrasa ended after Soviet rule was established. In 2019, the building was placed on Uzbekistan’s National List of Immovable Objects of Material and Cultural Heritage and remained under state protection. It is state property administered by the Bukhara regional cultural-heritage authority. The building now operates as the Amulet Hotel.
Remains
Said Kamol Madrasa stands in Bukhara’s historic center on Bahouddin Naqshband Street, within the Kukaldosh mahalla, a local neighborhood district. It is a two-storey structure built of fired brick in the Central Asian architectural tradition. The surviving building contains 19 student cells and a classroom, preserving the basic educational character of the madrasa’s physical arrangement.
