Shahi-Zinda in Samarkand, Uzbekistan

Shahi-Zinda

The rise of Shahi-Zinda necropolis on a slope of Afrasiab hill is connected with Kusam ibn Abbas, the Prophet's cousin. We know that he took part in the first Arab campaigns to Maverannahr. According to a legend, Kusam was mortally wounded at Samarkand walls and hid underground where he goes on living. That gave the name for the necropolis - 'Shahi-Zinda' - 'king is alive'. By 10th - 11th centuries Kusam ibn Abbas had been considered as a martyr, Islamic saint and the patron of Samarkand. In 12th-15th centuries there was constructed a complex of mausoleums and mosques along the path leading to Kusam's mausoleum. The complex seems to deny death.