About crypt burials of Kazakhkstan

Abstract

The article describes the Kazakh mausoleum of Torgayuly Zhuparbai, built of modern materials at the end of the 20th century for the first time. The object is located in the cemetery of the village of Sunak-Ata (Zhanakorgan region, Kyzylorda oblast of Kazakhstan). The peculiarity of the burial is the presence of a crypt. Survey data, ethnographic and archaeological materials about the crypt burials of Central Asia and Kazakhstan make it possible to attribute this mausoleum to the type of grave structures which were common during the middle Ages. The form of burial fixed here is undoubtedly a Muslim burial rite, which is known in the Central Asian region from the 11th century. In the burial rite of the

Kazakhs and other peoples of Central Asia, from the middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century the device of underground structures for the group burial was mainly intended for the persons of noble origin. In the 20th century, most likely, with the establishment of Soviet power and the elimination of the local elite, the crypt burials become relict. Today, the Torgayuly Zhuparbay funerary structure is perhaps the only and the last mazar with a crypt — the sagana, which was built at the end of the 20th century.