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Home Kashgar Kashgar Attractions Kashgar Abakh Hoja Mausoleum
Kashgar Abakh Hoja Mausoleum

The Abakh Hoja Tomb, five kilometers northeast of the city of Kashgar, is an important cultural unit protected by the Autonomous Region. As a tomb of the descendants of an Islamic sage, it was built around 1640. The legend has it that 72 persons in all of five generations of the same family were buried in the tomb. The first generation buried here was Yusuf Hoja, a celebrated Islam missionary. After he died, his eldest son Abakh Hoja carried famous Islamic faction of Baishan during the seventeenth century which seized the power of the Yarkant Court for a time. Abakh Hoja died in 1693 and was buried in the tomb. His reputation was greater than his father's, so the tomb was renamed "the Abakh Hoja Tomb".

The tomb is a group of beautiful and magnificent buildings including the Tomb Hall, the Doctrine-Teaching Hall, the Great Hall of Prayer, the gate tower, a pond and orchard. The Tomb Hall, with a dome shaped top of 17 meters in diameter and covered with green glazed tile south side, is 26 meters high and 39 meters long at the base. The hall is high and spacious. Inside the hall, there is a high terrace on which the tombs are arranged. All the tombs are built of glazed bricks with very beautiful patterns of blue flowers on a white background, glittering, simple and elegant. The Great Hall of Prayer in the west part of the tomb, Ayitijiayi by name, is the place where the Muslim believers conduct service on big days. The Lesser Hall of Prayer and the gate tower are outmost buildings decorated with colorful paintings and elegant brick carvings. Outside the tomb there is a crystal-clear pond lined by tall trees, making the place pleasantly quiet and beautiful.

The legend goes that among the Hoja descendants buried here, there was a lady, Yiparhan by name, who was one of the concubines of the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong. She was called Xiangfei (Fragrant Imperial Concubine) because of the rich delicate fragrance of flower sent forth by her body. After she died, her remains were escorted back to Kashgar by her sister-in-law Sudexiang and were buried in the Apak Hoja Tomb. So, some people call the tomb "the Tomb of Xiangfei." But according to textual research, Xiangfei was none other than Rongfei, a concubine of Emperor Qianlong, and she was actually buried in the East Tombs of the Qing Dynasty in Zunhua County, HebeiProvince after she died.

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 June 2013 15:45