2025, vol. 13, no. 3. Zilivinskaya E.D.

2025, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 640-655

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-3.640-655

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/MAWNPV

   TWO MAUSOLEUMS IN THE MASLOV KUT VILLAGE:
ON THE QUESTION OF THE CONNECTIONS
OF THE CRIMEAN KHANATE AND THE NORTH CAUCASUS

E.D. Zilivinskaya
N.N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Moscow, Russian Federation
eziliv@mail.ru

Abstact. Research objectives: To examine data on mausoleums in the Maslov Kut village in the vicinity of Madzhar.
Research materials: Two 18th-century drawings depicting mausoleums of various types located in the Maslov Kut village.
Results and scientific novelty: This work analyzes the architectural features of two burial structures. The mausoleum in the watercolor by artist M.M. Ivanov belongs to the type of portalless cubic mausoleums with a round drum and a conical dome. This form is typical for the mausoleums of the Golden Horde. Similar buildings are known, in particular, in nearby Madjar. The drawing from the works of P.S. Pallas belongs to the authorship of the Italian architect, A.P. Digby. The octagonal mausoleum depicted on it is interpreted ambiguously. Based on the drawing of the tombstone with a Kufic inscription, a number of researchers date it to the 11th–12th centuries and believe that it was erected by Muslim Polovtsians. Other authors attributed it to the corpus of Golden Horde buildings. Тhe work examines the architecture of this building in detail and concludes that it is an example of Ottoman architecture. Similar mausoleums are known both in Asia Minor and in Crimea. The Crimean Khanate’s ties with the Western and Northern Caucasus are well known from written sources. Perhaps the octagonal mausoleum in Maslovy Kut is further evidence of these ties. The presence of at least two mausoleums in one place, dating back to different eras, allows us to conclude that a Muslim necropolis existed there for several centuries. Perhaps, a “holy place” revered by Muslims was located there.

Keywords: Northern Caucasus, Golden Horde, Majar, mausoleums, architecture, Ottomans, Asia Minor, Crimean Khanate

For citation: Zilivinskaya E.D. Two mausoleums in the Maslov Kut village: on the question of the connections of the Crimean Khanate and the North Caucasus. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2025, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 640–655. https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-3.640-655 (In Russian)

Acknowledgements: This work is published in accordance with the research program “Patterns of the Population Differentiation of Humanity in Space and Time” of the N.N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

REFERENSES

  1. Arcihovskiy A.V. Old Russian miniatures as a historical source. Moscow: MGU, 1944. 213 р. (In Russian)
  2. Bartol’d V.V. On the issue of the crescent as a symbol of Islam. Bartol’d V.V. Works VI. Moscow: Nauka, 1966, pp. 489–491. (In Russian)
  3. Bretanickiy L.S. Architecture of Azerbaijan 12th–15th centuries. and its place in the architecture of the Middle East. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1966. 785 p. (In Russian)
  4. Gavrilyuk N.A., Ibragimova A.M. Turbe of Khan Khadzhi Giray (based on archaeological research from 2003–2008). Kiev-Zaporozh’e: Dikoe Pole, 2010. 176 p. (In Russian)
  5. Zaitsev I.V., Khotko S.Kh. The Relations of the Crimean Khanate with the Circassians in the second half of the 16th–17th c History of the Crimean Tatars. In 5 volumes. Vol. III. Crimean Khanate of the 15th–18th centuries. Ed. by I.V. Zaitsev. Kazan: Marjani Institute of History of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, 2021, pp. 292–306. (In Russian)
  6. Zilivinskaya E.D. Golden Horde Mausoleums of the North Caucasus. Golden Horde civilization. Kazan, 2010, no 3, pp. 52–69. (In Russian)
  7. Zilivinskaya E.D. Architectural monuments of Majar according to drawings and descriptions of the 18th century. Materials for the study of the historical and cultural heritage of the North Caucasus. Archeology, local history, museology. Issue. XI. Moscow: Pamyatniki istoricheskoj mysli, 2013, pp. 309–331. (In Russian)
  8. Zilivinskaya E. Architecture of the Golden Horde. Part I. Religious architecture. Moscow-Kazan: «Otechestvo», 2014. 448 p. (In Russian)
  9. Zilivinskaya E.D. Tower Mausoleums of the North Caucasus. Study and Preser­vation of the Archaeological Heritage of the Peoples of the Caucasus. Study and preservation of the archaeological heritage of the peoples of the Caucasus. XXIX Krupnov readings. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. Grozny, April 18–21, 2016. Groznyy: izd-vo Chechenskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2016, pp. 218–220. (In Russian)
  10. Zilivinskaya E.D., Kaparulina O.A. Unknown drawings of Majar mausoleums from the collections of the State Russian Museum. Essays on medieval archeology of the Caucasus. Moscow: Taus, 2013, pp. 82–98. (In Russian)
  11. Kononenko E.I. Anatolian mosque of the 11th–15th centuries. Essays on the history of architecture. Moscow: Progress-Tradiciya, 2018. 480 p. (In Russian)
  12. Lavrov L.I. Epigraphic monuments of the North Caucasus of the 10th–17th centuries. Part I. Moscow: Nauka, 1966. 261 p. (In Russian)
  13. Lazenkova L.M. Kerch architect Alexander Digby (1758-?). Krasnov readings. Collection of scientific articles. Livadia Palace-Museum. Simferopol, 2006, pp. 28–34. (InRussian)
  14. Mihaylova M.B. Alexander Digby – Classicist Architect in Southern Russia. Architectural heritage. Issue 28. Moscow: Stroyizdat, 1980, pp. 80–88. (In Russian)
  15. Nekrasov A.M. Selected Works. Nalchik, 2015. 255 p. (In Russian)
  16. Nechaeva L.G. About the mausoleums of the North Caucasus. Material culture and economy of the peoples of the Caucasus, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Leningrad: Nauka, 1978, pp. 87–112. (In Russian)
  17. Pal’mov N.N. To the Astrakhan period of V.N. Tatishchev’s life. Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 1925, pp. 201–216. (in Russian)
  18. Complete collection of Russian chronicles, published by the highest order of the Archaeographic Commission. Vol. 34: Postnikovsky, Piskarevsky, Moskovsky and Belsky chroniclers. Moscow, 1978. 303 p. (in Russian)
  19. Rtveladze E.V. Majar Mausoleum. Soviet archeology, 1973, no. 1, pp. 271–278. (in Russian)
  20. Usseynov M.A., Bretanickiy L.S., Salamzade A. History of architecture of Azerbaijan. Moscow: Gos. Izd. Po stroitel’stvu, arhitekture i stroitel’nym materialam, 1963. 396 p. (In Russian)
  21. Evliya Chelebi. Book of Travels (Extracts from the works of the Turkish traveler of the 17th century). Issue 2. Lands of the Northern Caucasus, the Volga region and the Don region. Moscow: Nauka, 1979. 287 p. (In Russian)
  22. Evliya Chelebi. Book of Travel. Crimea and Adjacent Regions. Extracts from the Works of the Turkish Traveler of the 17th Century. Simferopol: Dolya, 2008. 270 p. (InRussian).
  23. Hillenbrand R. Islamic Architecture. New-York, 1994. 645 р.
  24. Magazin für die neue Historie und Geographie. Angelegt von D. Anton Friedrich Büsching. Halle: Curt, 1769-1793. Th. 6. 1771. 556 s.
  25. Pallas P.S. Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die südlichen Statthaltersaften des Russischen Reiches in den Jahren 1793-1794. В. I. Leipzig: Martini, 1799. 516 s.
  26. Stierlin H. Turkey from the Selçuks to the Ottomans. Köln: Tachen, 1998. 238 p.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Emma D. Zilivinskaya – Dr. Sci. (History), Leading Research Fellow, N.N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (32a, Leninsky Avenue, Moscow 119334, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0000-0002-3485-0359, ResearcherID: G-4161-2018. E-mail: eziliv@mail.ru

Received  26.03.2025
Revised  28.08.2025
Accepted  01.09.2025