Akhngan Tower

Iran, Iran

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Akhngan (also spelled Akhangan) Tower is a historic brick mausoleum tower located about 22 kilometers east of Mashhad, roughly 10 kilometers east of Tabaran in the Tus area, near the village of Akhangan in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran. Built in the 14th century CE (over 550 years old), the tower stands on a circular platform with eight semi‑hexagonal elements and is characterized by a cylindrical core about 14 meters high and a total height of over 17 meters, with an exterior decorated by eight semi‑columns and intricate tilework in lapis blue and turquoise, shaped into rectangles and polygons with detailed patterns. The identity of the person buried inside is unknown: some scholars suggest it may be Guhar Taj, sister of Guharshad (wife of Timurid ruler Shah Rukh), based on feminine motifs on the tower; others propose it could be an Indian woman who died while on pilgrimage to Imam Reza, or that the tower may function as a collective tomb for distinguished individuals, though none of these theories have been confirmed. Inside the tower, the space is largely plain and unadorned, but it contains a tombstone measuring about 110 cm by 50 cm by 40 cm, inscribed with text in Thuluth and Naskh calligraphy, and three entrance doors lead to the interior chamber, while the exterior is richly decorated from the walls to the semi‑columns, making Akhngan Tower a distinctive and mysterious example of medieval Persian funerary architecture and a recognized sight among Mashhad’s historical attractions, listed on Iran’s National Heritage List as a Khorasan Razavi site.