Khodzha Akhmet Yassaui Hazrat Sultan (1093-1166) – the thinker, the mystic poet and a religious preacher and the founder of the Turkic branch of Sufism. Yassawi was born in the city of Yassy, in 1093 and died in 1166 in the city of Sairam (Isfidzhab).
Biography
Ahmet Yassaui was born in Ispidzhab (now Sairam in the South Kazakhstan region) brought up and raised in an enlightened family. Akhmet’s father, Ibrahim was an educated man. According to legendary traditions, Arystanbab was the first teacher and educator of the child. After his death, at the age of 17, Akhmet arrived in the city of Yassy (one of the former names of Turkestan from the VI to XV centuries). A. Yassaui spoke several languages and early began to study oriental poetry and literature and write poems in Arabic, Chagatai, Persian, Turkic. Then he studied at the Imam Yusuf Hamadani Madrasah in the city of Bukhara. As a result of a comprehensive spiritual education and a deep knowledge of the basics of Sufism, Khoja Ahmet Yassaui receives the rank of connoisseur of Sufism and returns to Yassy. Here he establishes the Sufi order Yassawi. Sufism was a new mystic-ascetic movement in Islam. According to legend, at 63, Khoja Ahmet Yassaui was forced to leave the worldly bustle to serve the Almighty. Yassaui spent the last years of his life in the underground cell of the city of Yassy near the mosque. He explains his deed by the fact that he has reached the age of the prophet, sixty-three years, which is enough and there is no need to live beyond the term allotted by the prophet. In 1166/67, Khoja Ahmet Yassaui died and, as a great saint, was buried in the city of Yassy.
The periods of life and the formation of the thinker marks a certain era in the history of the peoples of Middle and Central Asia. The heyday of urban culture, the openness of the information space, largely due to the development of trade along the Great Silk Road, which provides an opportunity for the exchange of thoughts characteristic of the described period, did not pass by, and the region in which the poet and thinker Akhmet Yassaui grew and formed. At the same time, the level of development of the socio-economic and political life of the peoples inhabiting the spaces of Central and Western Asia required a correspondence of spiritual and intellectual development.
According to legendary legends, after a long stay with his teacher Arystan Bab and staying with him, learning the basics of Islam, Khoja Ahmet Yassaui subsequently moved to Bukhara, the cultural center of his time and became the murid (student) of the famous Sufi sheikh Yusuf Hamadani (1040/50 -1140 years). With his activities in the field of training sheikhs and the spread of Sufism in the Muslim world, Yusuf Hamadani laid the foundation for the formation of the main and famous Sufi orders – Kubraviya, Yassaviya, Naqshbandiya, Bektashiah, Chishtiya. At 24, Ahmed Yassaui is still a student, a novice of the Yusuf Hamadani school, with whom he travels a lot in various cities – traditional centers of Muslim culture and science, makes a hajj with him to Mecca (“hajj” means a ritual visit to Mecca in order to worship the holy relics Muhammad Paygambara, moral purification and expression of his sincere commitment to the religion of Islam; “Hajj” is one of the five main duties of a Muslim). At 34, he is already known as a scholar-theologian (alim), an expert on kalam (speculative religious philosophy) and fiqh (Muslim law), a Sufi of the highest category. In addition to theological knowledge, he also gains wide knowledge in the field of natural sciences, masters to perfection, in addition to the Turkic, Arabic and Persian languages, and leads after the death of the Great Teacher, after some time, the Sufi brotherhood in Bukhara. Later, at the age of 35, remembering the order of Yusuf Hamadani, he returned to his native land – to Turkestan, Yassy. Here he establishes his school as a sheikh mentor and patronizes the spread of Islam among his fellow tribesmen until the end of his life, initiates and develops the Turkic branch of Sufism as a religion of selfless love for Allah, for God [1, http://kazneb.kz/book …, p. 53].
Merits
The formation of the activity of the thinker as the spiritual mentor of the population, mainly of Turkic origin, takes place in the surrounding Oguz-Kypchak ethnic environment. Ispidjab (now Sairam), located on the territory of Southern Kazakhstan, where Ahmed Yassaui was from, was at the junction of urban and nomadic cultures. The immediate border proximity with the centers of settled culture Bukhara, Merv, Samarkand, representing intellectual, enlightening and educational settlements, the main activity of which was the spread of Islam, played a huge role in the development of spiritual and intellectual knowledge and was called Sufism. Sufism, as one of the forms of human cognitive activity in Islam, was a religious and philosophical teaching through which, through personal psychological experience, spiritual communication with the deity or its contemplation was possible [2, p. 143]. The main condition of the human soul should be such a substance as selfless love of God, which is presented mainly in the poetic and ideological work of Khoja Ahmed Yassaui “Divan-i Hikmet” (“Book of Wisdom”):
“If you are in love, love so,
let the power of your love reach the people with aroma.
As soon as he hears the name of Allah, he is ready for everything.
Such a lover does not need earthly things” [2, p. 147].
The luminosity of the scientist’s ideas and thoughts and connection of the activities of people with science, enlightenment form the basis of the creed and moral teachings of A. Yassaui. Being a follower of Islam, spread in the Karakhanid state and using Arabic and Persian scripts, the popularity of the thinker among the Turkic-speaking population was explained by the fact that he wrote in an understandable Oguz-Qypchak dialect and his hikmets were spread by word of mouth and were very popular among representatives of ordinary people. At the same time, the “Diwan-i Hikmet” by Khoja Ahmet Yassaui (12th century) was a Sufi writing and was entirely devoted to clarifying the canons of Islam, in fact it can be called transcribing the Koran into the Turkic language. This was due to the fact that the Turkic tribes, among whom Ahmet Yassaui lived, did not know the Arabic language well and did not fully understand the true essence of Islam and its institutions.
Khoja Ahmet Yassaui was the first talented Turkic poet to write his works in the Oguz-Qypchak dialect. Among his most famous works are Divan-i Hikmet (Book of Wisdom), Mirat-ul Kulub (Mirror of the Soul), Pakir-nama (The Legend of the Poor). But the most famous is “Divan-i hikmet” (“Book of Wisdom”) which is written in the Old Turkic language with the Kypchak dialect and refers to the common heritage of the Turkic-speaking peoples. “Divan-i Hikmet” corresponded many times, edited, supplemented. Manuscripts of the work are stored mainly in the libraries of Tashkent, St. Petersburg, Istanbul and Almaty [1, http: //kazneb.kz/book …, p. 59]. In recent decades, Divan-i Hikmet has been reprinted several times both abroad and in Kazakhstan. Muslim culture, represented by a whole galaxy of thinkers of the era, widely encompassing many regions of the Near East and Central Asia and stepping deep into the state of the Karakhanids, objectively needing to create a completely new ideology, which would be based on the values of the Turkic-speaking peoples, was understandable and close to them, found expression and embodiment in the thoughts of Khoja Ahmet Yassaui.
In an authorial work of a religious and philosophical nature, the author, being the founder and propagandist of Sufism, managed to show his poetic self and set forth the rules of Islam and the principles of the Sufi understanding of life and the role of man in it in a rather high artistic style. The main goal of man, according to the Sufis, is to devote his life entirely to worshiping Allah and cleansing from sins, in order to finally come closer to the Creator and merge with Him together. It is this idea that Ahmet Yassaui sings. He outlines four ways or stages to achieve such a goal. These are sharia, taarihat, maarifat and hakikat. Sharia is a set of canons and institutions of Islam, taarihat is the recognition of Sufism as a teaching with philosophical content, the maarifat – knowledge of the meaning of one God and hakikat – comprehension of the essence of Allah and the desire to draw near to Him. All this is presented by Ahmet Yassaui as a moral problem, as a principle of life. The author strictly adheres to the method of presentation in the first person and the path of purification and self-improvement, connects with the age stages of his growing up and becoming as a person who believes in Allah and is fully dedicated to worshiping the Creator and serving Islam. It is no coincidence that he often speaks of a blissful love for the Almighty and how he saw the Creator and the Prophet Muhammad, how much he enjoyed wine, i.e. by the grace of God. In Sufi literature, love and wine are perceived in a symbolic sense: love is love in Allah, and wine is the mercy of Allah [3, p. 117-155]. According to the leading expert in the field of religious studies Muminov A. K. “Philosophy of Kozha Ahmad Yasavi determined the direction of spiritual development of the Turkic peoples in the new Islamic civilization. Kozha Ahmad Yasawi convinces every one of the truth of the words (hadith) of the Prophet: “the Basis of faith is conscience” and calls everyone to piety, patience, obedience” [4, p. 160].
The teachings of Khoja Akhmet Yassaui, expressed in “Hikmets …” were very successful and, among his followers, there were many subsequently famous names, Sufi poets, religious and poetic schools. According to the content of one of them:
“A divine sermon needs a teacher
This teacher must have a reliable student.
Working hard, they should earn the highest gratitude.
So loving and loyal
They will be marked by the Almighty”. [1, http: //kazneb.kz/book …, p. 59]
Calls for goodness and mercy, satisfaction of the small, denunciation of lies and greed, the preaching of asceticism and spiritual and moral cleansing of the soul were the main of the postulates of the teachings of A. Yassaui and they found responses from his murids (students) and followers [3, http: // kazneb .kz / book …, p. 182]. The spiritual purity to which the teacher called for and his own compliance with these provisions elevates A. Yassaui to the rank of spiritual mentor and to the name of the thinker as “a sage from the wise men”, “a mirror of two worlds” as one of his followers Suleiman Bakyrgani calls him in his works (1186 ). The ideas of Yassaui Junus Amre (1250), Sufi Allayar and Ahmet Khazani, who lived in the XVIII century, are consistently developing. Alisher Navoi talks about the holiness of Khoja Ahmet Yassaui and that there is no flaw in his teachings [1, http: //kazneb.kz/book …, p. 188-192].
Memory
The follower of the religious doctrine of Sufism, Ahmed Yassaui, is the Central Asian ruler Emir Timur, who, after 233 years, decides to erect a mausoleum at the burial place of a thinker who has already received the title of saint. Tamerlan himself leads the creation of the plan and the construction of the mausoleum in the period from 1396 to 1399. Masters were invited from Persia. Sharif ad-Din Abd al-Aziz, invited from Tabriz, was directly involved in the construction of the mausoleum. According to his testimony, 200 masons were brought from Azerbaijan, Persia, India and from other countries, and 500 people were engaged in the preparation of stones in the mountains. For the delivery of stones, 95 elephants were brought from India. The quality of the handmade bricks was very high. The building of the mausoleum with side dimensions 46, 5 m wide, 65 m long is oriented from the southeast to northwest. In the process of creating the building of the mausoleum, many different architectural models and methods were used for the construction of a large portal, several cupboards, 35 rooms, etc. The core of the mausoleum is the kulpytas (tombstone) Khoja Akhmet Yassaui, installed at the place of its burial [5, p. 655]. Epigraphic inscriptions on the walls and friezes contain extracts from the Qur’anic suras. The mosaic ornaments of the mihrab, located in the western part of the mausoleum and the use of blue-and-white majolica in colors as decorative elements give the mausoleum a special touch and are perceived as a special architectural masterpiece of medieval masters of building and applied art, who created an unrivaled model of perpetuating the merits of the great sage Hodge on the territory of the Turkic steppe Ahmet Yassaui.
The magnificent architecture of the mausoleum is complemented by attributes made by masters of the XIV-XV centuries, among which there were lamps, carved doors, banners, a unique veil covering kulpytas H.A. Yassaui, taikazan, etc. Each type of inventory, starting with door handles, in the shape of the heads of lions, along with inscriptions that adorned these objects were made with special semantic meaning. (In February 1906, the mausoleum was robbed and, as a result of theft, part of the items was stolen and ended up in various places) [6, p. 65]. Two lamps were donated to the State Hermitage collection in 1956, and part of the third lamp was among the collections of the French museum complex in the Louvre [6, p. 66].
In connection with the historical significance of the work of the great thinker Akhmet Yassaui and his magnificent creation, embodied in the contents of the entire architectural complex and the idea, reflected in all elements of the decor, in handles in the shape of the heads of a cat animal, the central hall of the Kazandyk and the installation of a cauldron and a holy well in its center , dug inside the mausoleum itself, it seems important to pay attention to some aspects of the content of the essence of Sufism in the Turkic ethno-cultural environment. Of course, that hikmets H.A. Yassaui crying out for love for the Almighty were set forth in a language understandable to Turkic peoples. The demand for a new ideology in the conditions of political instability in the region inhabited by Turkic peoples also requires an objective explanation from the point of view that the representatives of the Turks answered the missionaries that they have their own god and the questions about whether they see him, received an answer that this is Tengri (equivalent to Cosmos). From the history of relations between Arabs, Persians and representatives of the steppe world, it is obvious that for several centuries it was not possible to enter the world of Islam and oblige to respect the canons of Muslim culture.
Having made a general emphasis on the fact that the Turkic-speaking peoples of the Oguz-Qypchak circle were introduced into the world of Islam, we must not forget about the completely independent Turkic states of the Oguz Yabgu in the territory of the Syr Darya oasis and Dasht-i Qypchak in the steppe zone of Sary Arka and further to the west, including steppes in the interfluve areas of the Volga, Don and Northern Black Sea coast.
The study of the described problem leads to the idea that it is necessary to consider some aspects, possibly giving an answer to questions about the value orientations of the spiritual life of the Turkic peoples, which were embodied in the main elements of the mausoleum. In connection with the question posed, it should be noted that in the elements of the cult art of any people there are no random symbols. Let us pay attention to the door that introduces visitors to the world of traditional Islam. In addition to the beautifully executed carving that adorns her entire canvas, the followers of Khoja Ahmet Yassaui open it with the door handle, which is decorated with the heads of feline animals.
Could the characters transmitted in the form of images of the heads of feline animals at the central entrance to the mausoleum provide the incoming visitor with information about specific ethnic groups that have already converted to Islam and have become its propagandists? Let us turn to earlier sources. According to the opinion of orientalist Yu. A. Zuev, among the tribes that made up the ethnic core of the Western Turkic Qaganate, the Esgil tribe was the strongest, and in area Talas River their neighbors were the Turkic Barskhan tribe. Describing the features of the hieroglyphic transmission of the ethnonym Barskhan, the author writes that the first character means “a beast that looks like a black dog.” The second character is the performance of the ritual of sacrifice to the soul of the deceased ancestor [6, p. 50]. After a number of centuries, already in the heyday of the culture of the Karakhanids, the life of the author of the “Dictionary of Turkic dialects” Mahmud Kashgari was close connected with Barskhan sity, that located near Issyk kul lake [7, p. 504-505].
In the Chach oasis, in the VII-VIII centuries, minted coins with images of feline animals on the reverse, accompanying them with “fork-shaped” tamgas/signs and the inscriptions “Chach ruler” (Chach – Shash – modern Tashkent). Some similar coins contain the inscription “Huns (Turkic) Chach ruler” [8, p. 71]. The author of the publication provides information that such coins could be minted by representatives of Turkic families who settled on the Syr Darya [8, p. 67-70]. Images of predators, in particular, a lion, a leopard and other animals could indicate that “he was an object of religious veneration” [8, p. 72]. From excavations of ancient Taraz city of the X-XII centuries founded ceramics with different images of animals. One of them is of the “symbol of the faith of Islam – the lion, testifies to the significant role that Islam played in the period under review in the ideology of the urban population [9, p. 178]. The image of the heads of feline animals (possibly a lion) on the door handles of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmet Yassaui may correspond to their content. It testifies that the most powerful tribe of Barskhans have been tamed, they themselves open the way to the world of true faith, symbolizing and confirming the fact of their conversion to Islam.
One of the main attributes of the mausoleum is taikazan, installed in the central hall called kazandyk. Thanks to the results of the research of D. Mustapaeva, a scientist from the International University H.A. Yassaui installed a number of features associated with the creation of a huge cauldron, especially for installing it in the mausoleum. The cauldron is an ornamented masterpiece of foundry art; in its upper part around the perimeter of the outer wall it is decorated with 32 convex, rounded napel-shaped nipples in the shape of a woman’s breast. Below, also along the perimeter of the outer wall there is an inscription made in Arabic script. The inscription reads: “A vessel for water.” There is a well inside the mausoleum. [10, p. 65]. D. Mustapaeva wrote that some residents of Turkestan city remembered that more early time peoples going to mausoleums kazandyk and kissed “nipple of breast” that on taykazan wall decorated.
Given the semantic purpose of all the constituent elements of the mausoleum, aimed at the psychological impact on believers, the installation of taykazan and its presence among the main attributes of the mosque testifies to its extraordinary and significant place in the process of the sacraments of Islamic ideology of the Sufi sense. The spread of the new religion in the Turkic-speaking environment, despite the fact of its initial visualization among the sedentary, urban population, should have been fostered by an ideological foundation, serving as a requirement for legitimizing a new worldview idea in the vast expanse of the steppe world. Studies show that the taykazan installed in the Kazandyk mausoleum embodied the main symbols of the traditional foundations of the concept of nomadic environment, based on universal ideas about the unity of Heaven/Tengri and Earth-Water, the environment of the Türks [11, p. 63].
In traditional, applied art, the image of a female character is interconnected, with the image of the vessel and the presence of this symbol in the ritual, could mean that it is synonymous in content with the “mythological vessel”, which is “identical to the body of a woman – bearer of life, fertility and multiplicity” [12 , from. 140]. The symbolism of the vessel and the image of a woman associated with it and was widespread within Eurasia and was widely used in the cult practice of many peoples. The golden cup, which was part of the treasure from Petrossa, found in Romania in 1837, inside which, in the center, is a figure of a seated woman, is shown in the hands folded at the abdomen level [13, p. 12].
The vessel served as one of the attributes symbolizing the sacred ritual of an oath of allegiance to core values. The shape of the ritual vessel could be anthropomorphic (Figure 1, 1).
Analysis of the symbolism of the vessels depicted on various objects of a cult character, stone statues of Turkic sanctuaries Merke and Zhaisan, shows the wide dissemination of worldviews associated with it (Figure 1. 2, 4-7). The described symbol is present in both hands of the central, anthropomorphic character depicted on the hryvnia from the burial place of the Sarmatian queen (Figure 1, 3) [14, p. 59-71]. The “meditating” pose of the character described and the stone figures sculptured in the same manner is repeated on portraits of the kagans depicted on coins that functioned during the 7th-8th centuries from Shash area (modern Tashkent) (Figure 1, 9 a).
A similar plot, in content, is depicted on one of the walls of the sarcophagus from a unique burial site, which dates to 579. The ceremony to conclude a contract between a Sogdian and a Turk, is fixed on the one of picture of burial wall [15, p. 38-41, Fig. 2.30, 2.31]. The figure of a man with a vessel, depicted in the center of the picture, between the main persons (Figure 1, 8), confirms the authenticity of the tradition, the conclude of an oath agreement, using a vessel with water in its process. In connection with the studied problem of the appointment of vessels, another scene is of interest, on one of the plates of the same tomb, built in honor of one of the noble representatives of the Sogdian diaspora. In the lower part of the scene, depicting the reception of the head of the Sogdian colony, near the Turkic Kagan, four large, round-bottom vessels are depicted, the forms of which emphasize their belonging to nomads [15, Fig. 2.26 – 2.28].
The presence of a symbolic vessel, in the process of concluding contracts, of various levels, is nothing more than a demonstration of the reality and effectiveness of the mystery, as part of the ritual depicted on the priestess hryvnia described above. The described action is reinforced by the master and transmitted, in the pose of the central character, sitting, in the cult in content, pose, crossing his legs in an oriental way. The hryvnia image of the main symbol – the ritual vessel in both hands of the priest folded at the abdomen, emphasizes the sacred nature of the sacred act.
The tradition of using the vessel in the funeral practice of the peoples of Eurasia, over several millennia, is documented by archaeological and ethnographic data. Vessels everywhere were an attribute accompanying the burial of nomads. The appearance of this symbol in the applied art of the nomadic population, in the art of Scythian and Saka tribes, is one of the earliest, in chronological terms. Experts believe that even 2.5 thousand years ago, in the applied art of Saks and Scythian tribes, the vessel was a “priestly symbol … belonging to the ritual of sacrifice” [16, p. 71].
Returning to the topic of cult art, it should be noted that the plot of the picture of the world, presented on the hryvnia of the queen-shaman, from the mound 10 of the Kobyakovsky burial ground, is the most magnificent illustration of the myth about the origin of the Turks. One of the most important moments, the plot of the picture is the scene of the oath of allegiance to the contract. The repeating plot of the picture, reflected in the action of the persons of the hryvnia – masked people opposing mythical creatures, in the form of wolf – dragons, is reinforced by the presence of the central character, depicted sitting, in a priestly position, with his legs orientally crossed with a vessel in both hands.
Figure 1. 1, 2 – an anthropomorphic vessel and figurine from the territory of the Chu River Valley (Kyrgyzstan); 3 – image of a priest on the hryvnia from barrow 10 of the Kobyakovo burial ground (Rostov-on-Don); 4, 5, 7 – statues from the Zhaysan sanctuary; 8 – drawing on the wall of the sarcophagus from East Turkestan; 9 – ancient Turkic coin from the Tashkent oasis
The understanding of the content of the symbol is also facilitated by the ancient Chinese written tradition, in which, in a laconic hieroglyphic form, the term ritual, designated in the form of a vessel, is fixed. The etymological meaning of the graphic image of the term “Li”, transmitted in the form of a vessel meant – a cult action with a vessel. In the study of A.I. Kobzev, reveals the original meaning of the described category of “Li”, which is one of the central terms of Chinese philosophy, which incorporates the concepts of “ethics – ritual.” According to the author’s research, “this concept began to be thought of as an expression of the most important factor not only in cultural creation, but also in cosmic ordering” [17, p.25-26].
In connection with the numerous data of written sources on social and political instability in Turkic society, the worldview between the symbol, in the form of a vessel, on stone statues and a cult action, carried out during the rituals of worshiping the higher powers and spirits of ancestors held on the territory sanctuaries, is another interesting conclusion of the researcher. According to the scientist, “the category of “Li, according to their textual analysis … denoted ceremonies that make it possible to overcome political conflicts and reflect the unity of the world, as well as temple and palace rituals and forms of behavior of dignitaries in relation to the people ”[17, p. 26].
Consequently, multiple stone statues of the Merke sanctuary, with a characteristic attribute, a vessel in both hands, could be used during the ceremony of the ritual, one of the features of which was the procedure for worshiping the supreme deities of the Turkic pantheon and the spirits of their ancestors in order to achieve stability in Turkic society.
An early Arabic source describes the Turkic ritual of taking an oath in the form of drinking water, which was an integral part of the ceremony of concluding an agreement and oath: “… when the Turks want to take an oath from any man, they bring a copper idol, hold it, then prepare a wooden a bowl in which water is poured and placed between the hands of an idol. Then, after an oath, they drinks water” [18, p. 46].
The consolidation of the ritual, the oath promise, by the tradition of “drinking the oath”, in ancient Russian sources was indicated by the term “drink of oath”, which was used only among the Turkic peoples, in the form “Tatarove drank of oath” according to their faith” [19, p. 108]. The origin of the term “rotu piti”, similar to the construction of the Turkic “And ish” / “Ant ur”, meaning to take an oath / swear an oath. The researcher believes that the use of the term to take an oath among nomads is of a traditional nature, first described by Herodotus regarding the Scythians, it was subsequently practiced by the Huns and Turkic peoples for a long period [19, p. 108]. The term “shert ich”, in the meaning, take an oath, until the ethnographic modernity, the Altaians used “who ate something or drank something before the oath”. The designation of the term “ayak” in the Turkic language, as a vessel used in the procedure of the ceremony of consecration of an oath, is significant to the content of the act of bringing an oath [20, p. 27].
In the traditional practice of Turkmens, taking an oath also meant “taking an oath” of “ant”, and since taking an oath from them means having to endure a difficult ordeal entailing serious consequences, a very rare Turkmen will dare to face this ordeal – “to take an oath”, which is equal to significance to the concept – drink the cup to the bottom. It is noted that “indeed, they do not take the oath, but rather they drink with the consciousness of the great importance of this act and with a certain mental suffering and pain, as indicated by the usual procedure when taking the oath [21, p. 219-220]. In the same context, the term “antyndy ish”/drink your oath is present in the traditional dictionary of indigenous Kazakhs. The second half of the 19-th century according to legal documents to- the beginning of the 20th century, the analysis of which was made by J.M. Dzhampeisova, “the oath, as a judicial instrument, occupied a very important place in the Kazakh legal proceedings. She (oath) was a heavy responsibility … and was accepted using pagan rituals at lakes, rivers, graves of ancestors ” [22, p. 77-79].
The wide spread of ideological ideas related to the sacred vessel in the Turkic environment was also reflected in the tamga symbol, in the form of a vessel, on the Turgesh coins of the Semirechensky halach horde [12, p. 119]. In the meaning of the tribal and tribal symbol, the vessel depicted on the monetary denominations of the state of the Turgeshes, clearly, could not serve as a container for drinks of a different kind. The depiction of the Holy Vessel on coins is a symbol, by value equal to the state sign of property of nomads, tamge and could mean that it contains sacred water / living water / water of life, and it is a symbol of one of the main characters, the Turkic pantheon of deities – Jer -Su / Sacred Land – Water [23, p. 57].
In the context of the content of the sacred symbol, the phrase is written in Arabic script on the wall of the boiler installed in the central hall of the shrine of the Turkic peoples in the mausoleum of Turkestan (Figure 2). The inscription on the wall of taykazan says – a vessel for water. Outside, along the perimeter, the walls of the boiler are decorated with plaques in the form of 32 nipples (hollows), to which the parishioners visiting the mausoleum of Khoja Akhmet Yassaui were applied to the present. The context of such a rite with a vessel designed for water, symbolized the act of feeding. Taykazan (cauldron), installed in the center of the mausoleum of Khoja Akhmet Yassaui in Turkestan, was a symbol of the sacred Earth, the mother-nurse and in the understanding of the Turks, personified the deity Zher-Su and the idea of unity of the Turkic peoples around him.
An analysis of materials, monuments of religious art, attributes of a cult, from ritual and funerary structures that make it possible to make observations on sources that form the basis of the nomads’ world view, indicate that the process of mental development and formation, intellectual and spiritual development of space and oneself, in the environment, has a history over several millennia. The results of the study show that the experience of creation contributed to the formation and development of a special ritual, the content of which included the practice of the oath of allegiance to Heaven, Earth, Water, People.
Probably among the Turkic tribes of the Western Turkic Qaganate, the term Myn Bulak/ Thousand sources (Merke), which is a designation of the sacred, cult center, was a key ideological concept that adequately corresponded to the nomadic worldview system and contained information about the main symbols of the Turkic pantheon of deities, the main among which was the high sky of Tengri and the life bearer of Jer-Su, she is Umai Ana [23, p. 57].
The illustration attached to this work allows us to verify the chronological antiquity, the tradition of using the Holy Vessel in the ritual, and present the geographical range of the cultural phenomenon, which was one of the main symbols of the Turkic pantheon of deities. The results of the above analysis of the content of images of vessel in the cult art of the peoples of Central Asia provide an opportunity for interpretation of the content of the main attribute of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmet Yassaui – taykazan. Formal signs of a huge taykazan in size, with an eloquent inscription that it was designed for water, nipples located on the outer walls of the boiler, to which the parishioners were applied, indicate that the vessel being described symbolized the Turkic Earth, which together with the water from the well was the ideological symbol of the deity of the Turkic pantheon – Jer-Su. On the other hand, an oath in the form of drinking water from a sacred vessel, the Turks led to the traditional oath of allegiance to a new ideological concept – the canons of Islam, in which 32 Turkic families took part.
The historical information given above, about the internal content of the main symbols of the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yassawi, allows us to emphasize the features of the religious doctrine of the Sufi persuasion in the steppe environment of the Turkic peoples of the Syrdarya oasis. The evidence of the merits of the thinker, which found expression in his activities, deeds and propaganda of the ideas of Islam in the Turkic environment has its continuation and is still relevant, since it is imbued with the traditional values of the said ethnic environment. The ability to implement the basic worldview postulates based on peace and respect for humanity allows you to study and promote the ideas of H. A. Yassawi in the modern learning environment at universities, through the organization and holding of seminars and conferences. The results of the activities of modern culturologists, scientists, the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan served as the basis for the Declaration by the world organization UNESCO of 2017 as the year of Khoja Ahmad Yassawi [4, p. 160-161]. Through the efforts of the international community, General ideas on the preservation and further documentary study of the cultural heritage of the thinker and his followers, as well as the issues of “the role of spiritual centers in the history of culture of Kazakhstan” are implemented [4, p. 5-7].
Figure 2. Photograph. Taykazan
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