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Jarkurgan Minaret

Termez, Uzbekistan

Situated in the village of Minor (Kommunizm Kolkhoz), seven kilometres from the pleasant town of Jarkurgan and 38 kilometres (24 miles) from Termez, this unique minaret can be visited as a day trip from Termez or as a stopover on the way to Denau. Either way, it is well worth the visit.

The main trunk of the minaret is composed of 16 herringboned crimps or semicolumns, reminiscent of traditional castle architecture, which continue through a band of sixteen arches and foliated Kufic, Koranic inscriptions to suggest that the minaret was double or even triple linked and that the present 22-metre (72-foot) construction originally reached an estimated height over 50 metres (165 feet).

Considerable skill must have gone into applying the herringbone brickwork, set not only in curved ribs but also in ever-decreasing diameters in order to narrow the minaret. A vertical inscription is given pride of place on one of the ribs names the architect as one Ali ibn Mohammed of Serakhs (in modern-day Turkmenistan), while another dates the construction to 1108-1109 AD and the rule of Sultan Sanjar.

The pleasant village of Jarkurgan is refreshed by the waters of the Surkhan River and has a traditional Sunday market.

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