Sultan Satuk Mausoleum

Sultan Satuk Mausoleum

The Sultan Satuk Mausoleum in Kizilsu, Xinjiang, is located in Maixi Village, Songtak Township, two kilometers southwest of Artux City. It is an ancient tomb complex of the "Tangut Karakhanid Dynasty," a local regime in China's Western Regions from the 10th to 13th centuries. The mosque in front of the mausoleum is the place where Sultan Satuk Bughra Khan received his Islamic baptism. This structure predates the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar by over 880 years and the Xiangfei Tomb in Kashgar by more than 680 years. The mosque before the Sultan Satuk Mausoleum was built by Oghulchak for Prince Nasr and is also the site where Satuk converted to Islam and mobilized followers to attack Oghulchak’s palace. The prayer hall has collapsed and been repaired multiple times but still retains its original character. The mosque features a flat-roofed design, supported by rows of neatly arranged carved wooden pillars holding up a white, intricately ribbed wooden ceiling. Though lacking painted beams, upturned eaves, winding corridors, or winding paths, the white octagonal wooden pillars adorned with exquisitely carved Uyghur ethnic patterns, the pale yellow brick surfaces of the flat eaves engraved with symmetrical floral designs, and the snow-white brick piers all evoke a sense of solemnity, reverence, grandeur, and simplicity. The spacious rectangular hall is clean, bright, and well-lit, surrounded by low brick and wooden railings that are modest and elegant. The patterns on the piers are clear, beautiful, and harmonious, making them captivating. As the oldest mosque in Xinjiang, it has endured for a thousand years. During Islamic religious festivals, Muslims come in an endless stream to pray here.