Tuman Aqa
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Tuman Aqa

By: Maria Maurer, Associate Professor of Art History


Intricate star-patterned mosaic tilework in blue and green
Exterior tilework from the Mausoleum of Tuman Aqa, c. 1404. Shah-i-Zinda Funerary Complex, Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan)

We tend to think of architecture as a particularly public form of art patronage. And, after teaching undergraduates for years, I can say that our educational system tends to elide histories of gender and space before the modern era. What I mean is that my students tend to think that early modern women, especially Muslim women, had no access to public life. This is patently false. While many Muslim homes of this period had a harem, it was hardly full of scantily clad concubines. Rather, the harem was (and remains) the place reserved for the family; visitors and even strangers could often access other areas of the house.

Access to architectural patronage was more a matter of class than gender. Early modern architectural patrons were elite individuals with access to social, political and financial capital. Muslim women were active as builders of tombs, religious shrines and lodges, mosques and public works projects such as markets and baths. While they derived their social and political power from their male family members, Muslim women could own property and amass wealth. Unlike in much of Europe where Salic Law prohibited most forms of female inheritance, the Qur’an guarantees women a share of family property

Tuman Aqa, one of the many wives of Timur, is a case in point. During her time as Timur’s wife, Tuman Aqa (also spelled Tuman Agha) paid for the construction of a mosque, a Sufi lodge, and the bazaar of hat sellers in the city of Samarkand (modern Uzbekistan). After Timur’s death, Tuman Aqa ruled the town of Kuhsan as a fiefdom in the name of her son, where she built another Sufi lodge, a madrasa, and an inn for the traveling traders responsible for most of the commerce in the region.

Blue dome of a mausoleum set against a blue and white sky
Dome of the Mausoleum of Tuman Aqa, c. 1404. Shah-i-Zinda Funerary Complex, Samarkand (modern-day Uzbekistan)

Many of these buildings are in ruins, but her mausoleum in Samarkand still stands. Constructed around 1404, the building consists of a commanding turquoise dome sitting on top of a drum decorated with geometric patterns and inscriptions created with glazed tiles. Inside, the dome is supported by luminous muqarnas that glisten in the pale light. Inscriptions laud Tuman Aqa’s dynastic connections and praise her merits. The building is located within a larger funerary precinct known as Shah-i-Zinda, which houses a shrine to Kusam ibn Abbas, a cousin of the Prophet Muhammad who lived in the 7th century CE. Thus, Tuman Aqa was able to place her own mausoleum near that of a revered Muslim leader, ensuring that later generations would see her tomb and remember her while visiting the site.

Head and shoulders profile photo of woman with shoulder-length dark hair smiling
Maria Maurer

Yet, Tuman Aqa is also a case of women’s continued invisibility. She lacks a Wikipedia page. Tuman Aqa’s buildings and her memory have been almost completely erased by time, warfare and neglect. As of 2019, the State Party of Uzbekistan submitted contentious conservation plans for Shah-i-Zinda to UNESCO, but it’s unclear whether Tuman Aqa’s mausoleum will be part of the larger restoration or allowed to deteriorate further.


Does the shaping of lives and society by race, gender, sexuality, class and other factors fascinate you? If so, you’ll definitely want to check out TU’s welcoming and vibrant Women’s and Gender Studies program today.