Meaning "The Living King" in Persian, the Shah-i Zinda is a necropolis in the northeastern part of Samarkand. Some of the ritual buildings date back to the 9th century, while much of the mausoleum complex was formed over the11th-19th centuries. Legend has it that the cousin of the Prophet Mohammad, Kusam ibn Abbas, who came to the region in the 7th century to spread Islam, was beheaded and buried here. There are more than 20 buildings that make of the whole of the mausoleum complex.
