Pictorial History: Kashgar’s Apak Hoja Mausolem

Home » Kashgar, Life April 16, 2010 4 Comments

A view of Kashgars Abak Khoja MazarThanks to the Fragrant Concubine, who more than likely isn’t even buried in Kashgar, the Apak Hoja Mausoleum (aka “Abak Khoja”) has become one of the city’s top tourist sites.  In addition to the famous mausoleum it also offers a glimpse into old Uyghur wood carving as well as a cemetery plot that is still in use today.

The mausoleum is located a few kilometers to the east of town and is easily accessible by bus or taxi.  Aside from the Id Kah Mosque it is probably one of the most visited destinations in Kashgar.

1906

Kashgar's Apak Hoja Mausoleum in 1906

The description on this photo claims that it is the Mausoleum in 1906, but personally I find this difficult to believe considering the absence of minarets.  I don’t know what other location it could be, though.

1910

One spire on Kashgar's Apak Hoja Mausoleum

All of the sudden the distinctive minaret appears in the picture showing what the surrounding area looked like before it got “tourist-ified”.

1910

Apak Hoja Mausoleum historical picture in 1910

I love this picture.  Apparently the graveyard surrounding the mausoleum used to extend in front of the building where tourist now snap pictures.

Today

The Apak Hoja Mausoleum as seen today

Currently the historical monument stands proudly despite all its missing tiles (see the dome on the top…it was full of green tiles as recently as a decade ago).  The problem of falling tiles is so bad that they even have a sign warning visitors to watch out.

4 Comments

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  • Hao Hao Report said:
    April 16th, 2010 at 9:26 am

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  • Akihiro said:
    April 16th, 2010 at 11:20 am

    It’s really a lovely historical monument… with nice surrounding.

    [Reply]

  • tez said:
    April 18th, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    The 1906 photograph, definitley not AH’s shrine. It looks similar to one in Tashkent included in one of Sven Hedin’s books: Possibly “Through Asia”. Thats just off hand; it could also be a southern Xinjiang shrine. Thanks for these.

    [Reply]

    Josh says: April 20th, 2010 at 8:43 am

    Yea, I was suspicious about that one. Still, it was a Chinese academic book that captioned that photo as being the mausoleum. Odd that they would mislabel that.

    [Reply]

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