For example, one of the historians of Amir Temur’s military campaigns – Nizamad al-Din Shami, briefly and grandiloquently describing the palace, writes:
«The portal and domes of it [the palace] reach up to Ayduq, so no one in the world has ever seen anything like this [structure] and has never heard of anything like that».
Sharaf al-Din ‘Ali Yazdi describes it in yet more pompous manner the Oqsaroy palace. He anticipated the description of the palace with general information about Kesh:
«Some historical books say that the town of Kesh used to be in the past the center of great Islamic scholars. Three of the great mukhaddises were born or lived in this region. These included Muhammad ‘Abdo ibn Hamid ibn Nasr al-Kishi; ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abd ar-Rahman ad-Darimi as-Samarqandi; Abu ‘Abdallah Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukhariy – May Allah be pleased with them!.. Since the gardens and lawns with fresh herbs and trees surround the city and [the space] within its walls from spring to autumn, the town became famous as «Shahrisabz» [Green City]. At the end of 781 [1380], in compliance with the words cited [above] in the fourth chapter (fasl), works of highly acclaimed architects on laying out urban lawns, gardens of lords and palaces with rosaries decorated with turquoise-patterned [structures] reached their apogee... [Sahibqiran] ordered that [sections of land for work] on the walls of Shahrisabz were allocated among his emirs and soldiers for overseeing the construction work, so that the erection of walls was brought to an end. At the same time, under the shrewd providence was laid down a palace… and its noble name became «Oqsaroy».
Oqsaroy was perceived with delight also by its other contemporaries. Thus, for example, Khafizi Abru, briefly referring to the town of Kesh (Shahrisabz) also mentioned Oqsaroy:
«During the reign of Temur, the town [Kesh] reached the peak of its prosperity. The Emir [Amir Temur] ordered to erect great buildings… Specifically for His presence was erected a tall building, known under the name of Oqsaroy; it is a magnificent building; its main portal [frontispiece] is visible at a distance of several farsakhs».
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Architectural epigraphy of Uzbekistan. Qashqadaryo, Shahrisabz" of the series "Architectural epigraphy of Uzbekistan".
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