Kashgar’s Id Kah Mosque (circa 1936): History in Pictures

Home » Featured, History in Pictures, Kashgar March 4, 2010 20 Comments
Two Uyghurs leaving the Id Kah mosqueToday I would like to begin a new photo series entitled “History in Pictures” to accompany the Picture of the Week series.  I was able to get my hands on a some great pictures taken back when explorers were roaming the south of Xinjiang (read my review on a book about Xinjiang explorers) and I’m excited to share them on a bi-weekly basis.  First up…the Id Kah mosque.

Kashgar’s Id Kah Mosque

The Id Kah mosque is one of the oldest and largest in all of China, dating all the way back to 1442.  It was severely damaged during China’s Cultural Revolution but purportedly restored multiple times by the local government and declared a protected monument.  The pictures below were taken almost two decades before the CCP came to power and created the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.

Kashgar's Id Kah Mosque circa 1936

This shot was taken in 1936 by an Englishman named Skrine who was traveling with Aurel Stein during his explorations in Xinjiang.  Skrine doesn’t credit this as being the Id Kah mosque, however there is no other building in Kashgar even remotely similar in architecture like this.  A closer look reveals that when this shot was taken, the mosque wasn’t covered in beautiful yellow tile like it is now and I believe that the film slide is backwards (the minaret should be on the right).

Kashgar's Id Kah Moque in later 1936

This picture, credited to an E. Techman, is confusing because it also claims to be taken in 1936.  Here you can see that the yellow tiles are present and the minaret is on the correct side.  Like the picture above, it seems as if a trading market is taking place as usual around the mosque.

Kashgar's Id Kah Mosque today

Today the recognizable yellow tiles stand out against the trees which have grown in the courtyard over the past six decades.  The market next to the right-side minaret has been taken away to add more space for worshipers, which during the Muslim holidays can be quite a few (watch the amazing video of an Id Kah Mosque prayer here).  Since 1936 a lot has changed around the mosque and inside, but the face has amazingly stayed the same.

20 Comments

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  • Matthew said:
    March 5th, 2010 at 8:08 pm

    I think that's the mosque they replicated at Splendid China in Shenzhen. Of course, in Shenzhen it's a gift shop. I'll have to send you a photo of it.

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  • Swan said:
    April 15th, 2010 at 4:18 am

    Could you double check something for me, I was told General Zia ul Haq opened this mosque up in the 80s. Apparently it used to be under lock and key and he got the authorities to leave it permanently open. Thanks

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    Josh says: April 15th, 2010 at 4:32 am

    This is the first time I’ve heard such a story. I’ll look into it, though. At what point did you hear that it had been locked up? I know for sure that it was damaged during the Cultural Revolution but I never read that it was then locked up.

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    Swan says: April 15th, 2010 at 10:36 pm

    I think it was post CR but really I don’t know. What I was shocked at was that he apparently became a hero for them his picture on the wall of barber shops. All of this because worship in the mosque was allowed once more.

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  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

    I believe one of the minarets went down in an earthquake, possibly the great one of 1902, possibly before; I dont have any refs. on me to check; but this did happen at one stage and would account for the differing minar on each side in different frames. There are many frames of that scene from 1930s Kashgar with the crowded bazaar in various period accounts. It is possible the first shot is also reversed?

    CP Skrine was British Consul- General in Kashgar in 1926: see his “Chinese Central Asia” (Methuen 1926) and an avid photographer; his book has many large frame shots of Kashgar and surrounding Pamir mountains that are really quite a progressive feat for the time and in the conditions he had to travel with his camera and photographic equipment. Sir Aurel Stein made his last exploratory trips to the Tarim basin in the years before 1910.

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    Josh says: April 19th, 2010 at 11:01 am

    Interesting! I haven’t ever run across this book but I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out. Thanks.

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    tez says: April 19th, 2010 at 3:02 pm

    Its available in Indian Oxford reprints for a decent price.

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  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    I’ve found one of my books. These facts:

    The mosque was completely restored in 1872 during the rule of Yakob Beg and many new buildings were also added at that time, e.g. bath-house, tower (minar), dome, gate, madrassa and smaller side mosques. These all remain in the present mosque (it is not clear which minar he had built. I assume the mosque had two minar at this time but there is nothing stated to prove that Yakob Beg’s minar was one of two).

    One minar did go down in 1902 earthquake.

    The mosque was repaired in 1905 and then again in 1934 (which I figure is the date for the reparation of the fallen minar, seeing it doesn’t appear in the earlier photographs of the 20s ad 30s; and assuming there were originally two after the one Yakob Beg had constructed. If not, the sole minar may have been restored during 1905.) Further restorations were also carried out in 1936, 1937.

    Ibrahim, Niyaz, “Tarihtin Kiskiqa Bayanlar” (Kashgar Uyghur Naxriyati, 1988), 16-17.

    Not a total explanation, but hope this is helpful.

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    Josh says: April 19th, 2010 at 11:02 am

    Where’d you get that book? Is it still in print?

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    tez says: April 19th, 2010 at 2:58 pm

    Josh, try second hand bookshops in Urumqi, they usually stock older titles or can get them for you. I got mine form one of them some time ago for 42 yuan. Original price was around 5 yuan.

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  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 6:26 pm

    Sorry to be pedantic, but looking at Skrine’s original photograph before me now (your first black and white picture). It is definitly reversed.

    Sir Eric Teichman’s photograph from his 1937 ” Journey to Turkestan”, and Skrine’s photograph in fact have the same perspective.

    The short wall is to the right of the mosque leading to the minar in this 1926 frame as it is in Teichman’s later 1936 frame.

    The fact that the 1936 frame shows tiling (as you mention) means it was renovated between 1926 and 1936; actually in the 1936 frame there appears to be such work being done to the minar (scaffolding evident). This may have been an ongoing work since the 1934 restoration.

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  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    Silly me, Teichman’s 1936 frame proves that there was still only one minar then; if we are getting a full frame? If so, perhaps it was during the 1937 restorations when the second minar was restored/added.

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  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

    Ah Josh, this subject as you can see really interests me and I have to thank you for posting these photographs as the subject is quite in line with a present research interest.

    Just now by coincidence I came across an old photograph in the Uyghur literary journal “Bulak” (no 6. 2005). It shows the Heytgar mosque (undecorated by tile work as in Skrine’s 1926) with two minar from exactly the same perspective as the above photographs. Both seem incomplete and are not capped nor as high as the above. The second minar on the left is set back a little from the mosque wall it seems, and may be an addition.

    The source of the photograph is from the Otani expedition. The Japanese archaeolgist and explorer who carried out several expeditions to the Tarim basin between 16 August 1902 and 10 July 1914:

    http://idp.bl.uk/pages/collections_jp.a4d#1

    The 1902 earthquake was in 22 August 1902:

    http://repository.dl.itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2261/15993/1/KJ00004856722.pdf

    Otani reached Kashgar on his first expedition on 21 Sept. 1902 after the quake. He left Kashgar 6 days later and did not return on that trip. Members of the 1908-09 and 1910-14 expeditions did visit Kashgar. If the photo is from the latter two (as it should be) it may be safe to say the second minar was restored in 1905 as mentioned above.

    Still doesnt explain the single minar in the above frames. My guess is that they are not full frame shots of the mosque and the other minar may actually be there to left of the photographs.

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    Josh says: April 19th, 2010 at 11:06 am

    I knew Otani sent expeditions out to Xinjiang but I have never seen any Kashgar pictures from him. I’d be interested to find some of those.

    I believe you’re right about many of the above pictures not being full frame. If you notice in the last picture the southern minaret is much further from the main entrance than the northern. I find this odd considering much of Islamic architecture is very symmetrical.

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    tez says: April 19th, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    I think on that link I posted re Otani, you may b able to access some of those photographs. I haven’t had a good look yet. Like to see some.

    Yes, the left hand minar seems a little obtuse, and may be the reconstructed addition.

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    tez says: April 19th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    Josh, cant seem to find any links to Otani photographs from the above link

    I looked here as well:

    http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/sitemap/index.html.en#class2

    and no luck:

    the above link however to the Tokyo Toyobunko Rare book’s page will lead you to some pretty interesting titles, all scanned in and waiting perusal such as Stein’s Ancient Khotan. Im sure if you have the time to go through them all there will be some great old photographs among them.

  • Sumi said:
    April 19th, 2010 at 3:05 am

    Hi there!

    I am currently gathering information for my presentation on Islamic architecture in Northwest China and thought of focusing on mosque and specifically on Id Kah mosque in Kashgar.

    I was wondering if anyone of you (Josh, tez, etc.) has any information about the interior of the mosque.

    I’ll later be comparing Id Kah mosque with Great mosque of Xi’an.

    Appreciate your effort!
    cheers

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    Josh says: April 19th, 2010 at 11:08 am

    What kind of information are you looking for? I’ve been inside and taken a few pictures, but I’ll be honest with you…the front is the most interesting part by far.

    Feel free to contact me if you want to ask more specific questions.

    Thanks for the comment!

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  • tez said:
    April 19th, 2010 at 10:08 am

    Sumi, much of the interior as it now stands was the work of Yakob Beg. The great mosque of Xi’an is an extraordinary structure but one built in a very different style to the Heytgar. They represent two very different types of architecture although as mosques there are similarities. I always get the feeling of the ground plan of a Chinese temple in Xian. Inside the Heytgah,I could be in Bukhara or Samarkand. On the difference: see Jean- Paul Loubes, “The Rectification of Documents of Architecture : The Appaq Khoja Sufi Complex in Kashgar,” Journal of the History of Sufism III ( 2001): 113-132.

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    Sumi says: April 19th, 2010 at 10:42 pm

    Thanks tez. I’ll have to google Yakob Beg to know more about him. I was trying to figure out which elements appear in every mosque and how much liberty does one have to construct the mosque. (For instance, the whole discussion on minarets and how they are part of a mosque.) The Id Kah mosque looks so similar to certain mosques in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan etc. It has this Persian touch. I am basically just trying to gather info on technical part of the mosque (construction material, interior/exterior), social organisation (gender-based division etc.) and religious worldview. I’ve written an e-mail to Josh as well.
    Thank you guys. Appreciate your help!

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