The "Panjob" mosque and madrasah complex

Historical district Panjob ("Five Waters")

The name of the district "Panjob" (in Farsi and Tajik — "Five Rivers" or "Five Waters") is linked to the branched network of ancient irrigation canals. In the 18th–19th centuries, a distinctive quarter of compact settlement of Central Asian Iranians (Shia Persians) took shape here; they had moved to Maverannahr after the campaigns of Nadir Shah and the Bukhara emirs. The community preserved its language, faith, and rich craft traditions.

Construction of the complex (1889)

The initiator, architect, and patron of the complex was the Samarkand merchant Khoja Abduraim:

After making a pilgrimage to the sacred centers of Persia (Mashhad, Nishapur, Isfahan, Shiraz, Qom), he brought back drawings and architectural ideas from there.

In 1889, on the site of an old prayer house, the master erected a large-scale ensemble: a cathedral mosque with a tall minaret, a madrasah, a chaikhana, a hauz, and the oriental bathhouse "Hammam Dovuti Panjob" modeled on the baths of Mashhad.

Architecture and the monument to Ferdowsi

Madrasah: A one-story brick building with an enclosed rectangular courtyard, around the perimeter of which are lecture halls (darskhana) and residential hujras for students. In the shady courtyard, a garden is laid out around an ancient hauz.

Monument to the poet Ferdowsi: In the courtyard of the madrasah stands an expressive bronze monument to the great Persian-Tajik poet, author of the epic "Shahnameh," Abulqasim Ferdowsi (the sculpture is a copy of the famous Roman monument by Bahman Mohasses).

Mosque: A spacious prayer building with a columned ayvan decorated with stalactite carved capitals and ornamental painting.

Revival and modern life

After its closure in 1924, the complex was used for decades as warehouses and institutions. In the early 1990s, with state support and on the initiative of the Iranian diaspora, the complex was thoroughly restored (craftsmen from Iran took part in the work). The Panjob Mosque is active — every year thousands of believers gather here for the memorial rites of the month of Muharram (Ashura). The madrasah is protected by the state as an architectural monument under the auspices of UNESCO.