History of the Building

by Rami Alafandi

Khusraw Pasha, the patron of the Madrasa and Jamiʿ al-Khusrawiyya, was governor of the province of Aleppo (wali, ca. 1532–1534) during the reign of the Ottoman sultan Suleiman I (r. 1520–1566). After having left Aleppo, he held one of the most prestigious administrative posts as vizier (minister) of the Imperial Council in the empire’s capital Istanbul.[1] Shortly before his death, he decided to build this first Ottoman style endowment (waqf) complex in Aleppo.[2]

As was indicated on the Friday mosque, it seemed to be completed in 953 AH / 1546–47 AD.[3] Known in Aleppo as a madrasa-cum-mosque, the Khusrawiyya complex was widely destroyed during the armed conflict in 2014.

The Arabic foundation inscription above the mosque’s entrance portal (see fig. 5) showed two parts. The upper panel includes a Quran verse and mentions the names of the sultan and the patron. The central inscription ends with a half-line of verse or hemistich, which provides a date in letters or chronogram that produces the numeral date 953 AH.

وأن المساجد لله فلا تدعوا مع الله أحدا. عمر في دولة السلطان الأعظم سليمان عز نصره وأنشأه الوزير خسرو باشا

“And places of worship are only for God, so pray not unto anyone along with God [Quran 72:18].
It was founded during the reign of the greatest Sultan, Suleiman – may his victory be glorified –, and built by the Vizier Khusraw Pasha”.

حرم التقوى الذي من أمه فهو في أمن به. قد حرس معبد في حلب تاريخه مسجد مشرف قد أسسا [4]. 

“A pious mosque and who comes is well-protected in a refuge.
A sanctuary in Aleppo whose date is: A noble mosque he founded [numerically: 953 AH]”.[5]

The architect

The 10th century AH / 16th century AD Ottoman artist and biographer Sai Mustafa Çelebi listed the madrasa and Friday mosque of the Khusrawiyya as the work of Sinan (1489/90–1588), Ottoman architect and civil engineer.[6] The Aleppine historian Ibn al-Hanbali (1502–1563/64) stated that “a Rumi Christian architect” either consulted or started the construction of the Khusrawiyya.[7] The adjective “Rumi”, literally “Roman”, here refers to someone from the Ottoman Empire’s centre.

The Khusrawiyya is widely regarded as one of the first major ‘public’ projects of Sinan after being appointed chief architect of the imperial atelier in Istanbul. Apparently, on-site in Aleppo, the design was executed by an unknown architect, possibly by local craftsmen.[8]

Commissioning of construction

Ibn al-Hanbali further stated that Khusraw Pasha gave an order to his mawla (manumitted slave) in Aleppo, Farukh bin ʿAbd al-Mannan al-Rumi, to build a complex that contained a jamiʿ (Friday mosque) and a takiyya (hospice, travellers lodge).[9] The madrasa (Islamic school) plus a matbakh (public kitchen), a mausoleum in the garden and a stable are indicated in the third endowment document (waqfiyya), dating from 974 AH / 1566 AD and including a functional description of the Khusrawiyya complex and a list of the endowed properties; three such documents were summarized by al-Ghazzi, Aleppine historian of the 20th century.[10]

Footnotes

[1] Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 472.
[2] Ibn al-Hanbali, Durr al-Habab, 1:585.
[3] For a discussion of the building history see Kafescioğlu, “In the Image of Rūm,” 83–86; Watenpaugh, The Image of an Ottoman City, 61–63; Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 472–75.
[4] Inscription reproduced in ʿUthman, Dirasat Naqaʾish, 16.
[5] English translation partially from Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 472.
[6] Necipoğlu, The Age of Sinan, 473; Watenpaugh, The Image of an Ottoman City, 62.
[7] Ibn al-Hanbali, Durr al-Habab, 2:10.
[8] Kafescioğlu, “In the Image of Rūm,” 83–84.
[9] Ibn al-Hanbali, Durr al-Habab, 1:585.
[10] Al-Ghazzi, Nahr al-Dhahab, 2:93–97.