The three madrasahs of the Registan are: the Ulugh Beg Madrasah, the Tilya-Kori Madrasah and the Sher-Dor Madrasah. Madrasah is an Arabic term meaning school.
The Ulugh Beg Madrasah, built by Ulugh Beg during the Timurid Empire era of Timur—Tamerlane, has an imposing iwan with a lancet-arch pishtaq or portal facing the square. The corners are flanked by high minarets. The mosaic panel over the iwan's entrance arch is decorated by geometrical stylized ornaments. The square courtyard includes a mosque and lecture rooms, and is fringed by the dormitory cells in which students lived. There are deep galleries along the axes. Originally the Ulugh Beg Madrasah was a two-storied building with four domed darskhonas at the corners. The Ulugh Beg Madrasah was one of the best clergy universities of the Muslim Orient in the 15th Century CE. Abdul-Rahman Jami, the great Persian poet, scholar, mystic, scientist and philosopher studied at the madrasah. Ulugh Beg himself gave lectures there. During Ulugh Beg's government the madrasah was a centre of learning
Sher-Dor Madrasah (1619–1636)
In the 17th century the ruler of Samarkand, Yalangtush Bakhodur, ordered the construction of the Sher-Dor and Tillya-Kori madrasahs. The tiger mosaics with a rising sun on their back, on the face of each madrassa arch are interesting, in that they flout the ban in Islam of the depiction of living beings on religious buildings, especially as they represent the more ancient Persian Mithraic religious motifs. There is a bit of Zoroastrianism influence in the architecture.
Tilya-Kori Madrasah (1646–1660)
Ten years later the Tilya-Kori Madrasah was built. It was not only a residential college for students, but also played the role of grand masjid. It has a two-storied main facade and a vast courtyard fringed by dormitory cells, with four galleries along the axes. The mosque building is situated in the western section of the courtyard. The main hall of the mosque is abundantly gilded.
Other buildings
Mausoleum of Shaybanids
To the east of the Tilya-Kori Madrasah, the mausoleum of Shaybanids is located. The real founder of Shaybanid power was Muhammad Shaybani - grandson of Abu'l-Khayr Khan. In 1500, with the backing of the Chaghataite Khanate, then based in Tashkent, Muhammad Shaybani conquered Samarkand and Bukhara from their last Timurid rulers. The founder of the dynasty then turned on his benefactors and in 1503 took Tashkent. He captured Khiva in 1506 and in 1507 he swooped down on Merv, eastern Persia, and western Afghanistan. The Shaybanids stopped the advance of the Safavids, who in 1502 had defeated the Akkoyunlu. Muhammad Shaybani was a leader of nomadic Uzbeks. During the ensuing years they substantially settled down in oases of Central Asia. The Uzbek invasion of the 15th Century CE was the last component of today's Uzbek nation ethnogeny.
