The terracotta portal
Patterns cut in raw clay, then fired.
Arina Pan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arina Pan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arina Pan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Komilkhuja — CC BY 4.0 · Arina Pan — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Khoja Amin Mausoleum, known locally as Khojamning Qabri, is a small domed brick tomb, about 9 by 12 metres, that local historians count as Namangan's oldest. Uzbekistan's heritage list dates it to the 18th century; travel guides date it anywhere from the 1720s to the century's second half. Its portal is faced with carved terracotta, the patterns cut into raw clay before firing. Local histories tie it to a Tashkent family of khojas descended from Sheikh Hovendi at-Tahur: Ibrahim Khoja's son-in-law had it built in front of Ibrahim's grave, though tradition says Amin Khoja lies here. Raised letters at the entrance name the builder, master Muhammad Ibrahim, son of Abdurahim. Carved terracotta, a pre-Mongol art, had given way to glazed tile by the early 14th century, so its revival here stands out. Bands of ornament frame the pointed arch: wide ones of carved terracotta, narrow ones of two-layer carved plaster. Green and orange glazed bricks alternate around the arch, five-petalled rosettes fill its spandrels, and green-tiled colonnettes carry it between corner turrets. The inscriptions, the Throne Verse among them, use Kufic, Rayhani and Nastaliq scripts. Inside, patterned ribs divide the dome above muqarnas, and an inscription band rings the walls. It stands on Kozagarlik Street in the Chorsu quarter, beside the working Khoja Amin Friday mosque, whose courtyard keeps restored madrasa cells and a brick minaret added during restoration. Namangan's Chorsu bazaar and the Mulla Kyrgyz madrasa (1910–1912) both lie within 500 metres to the north-west as the crow flies. Allow 20 to 40 minutes.
Patterns cut in raw clay, then fired.
Master Muhammad Ibrahim, in raised letters.
Patterned ribs above muqarnas.
Kozagarlik Street, Chorsu quarter, old Namangan
The name means my khoja's grave: Uzbeks once thought it disrespectful to keep saying the name of a pious man or a descendant of the Prophet, using words such as khojam, eshon or toram instead. The nickname stuck, and the shrine was even recorded under it when the state registered such sites.
No official opening hours are published, so come in daytime and outside prayer times. A July 2026 visitor was shown every corner by the caretaker, who spoke little Russian, so a few words of Uzbek or a translation app help.