Waqf Rights of the Madrasah "Alymbek-chek"
According to archival documents, the madrasah was built from fired bricks and was distinguished by remarkable durability.
It consisted of the following elements typical of similar architectural structures - a darshana, khanaka, 28 cells where three mudarris and from 80 to 100 student mullahs lived.
Unfortunately, the original documents regarding the construction of the madrasah by Alymbek and the establishment of the waqf have not been found. As far as can be determined from archival sources, these papers were once submitted for consideration to the land and tax department of the Fergana regional administration. There, they were registered under number 449 from 1901. In our possession is another case - from the office of the Turkestan Governor-General, titled "Case on the most humble petition of Mullah Hasan-Bek Alymbekov regarding the restoration of the waqf rights of the madrasah 'Alymbek-chek' in the city of Osh, Fergana region." It examines the legality of the establishment of the waqf.
The first documents, which served as legal confirmation of the madrasah's rights to the waqf, are indeed presented, albeit in summary.
This case outlines the following. In 1859, Alymbek donated a plot of land of 5,000 kosh (approximately 1660 desyatinas) in the village of Chin-Abad to the waqf of his madrasah. The exception from the donation included courtyard plots with two tanaps each. They, as stated in the waqf-nama, immediately represented "the inalienable property of their inhabitants and should be considered free from any obligations in favor of the waqf establishment - the madrasah." This waqf document also mentioned a written statement from the residents of five neighboring villages acknowledging Alymbek's rights to the donated land. The source of Alymbek's acquisition of the lands is unclear from the waqf-nama, so the land and tax commission conducted additional inquiries. Mutawalli Hasan-bek, son of Alymbek, reported that his father had taken over the vacant lands with the permission of the khan, irrigated them, and settled farmers there with the condition of paying income to the madrasah. Thus, the village of Alymbek-chek was formed. The cultivated lands were formalized as waqf and came under the ownership of the madrasah and the use of the population.
Alymbek Datka and His Madrasah
