The madrasah was the first of three madrasah, constructed byorder of Ulugbeg (died in 1449), one of Temur's grand-sons. Other two were buitt in Samarkand and Gijduvan. The construction was finished in 1420. The building consists of two floors of hudjras (students' rooms), classrooms and a mosque. The facade is decorated with a portal, two-storey loggias and corner turrets. Originally the madrasah had four domes and four minarets in the corners. In 1585 the facades were restored and decorated with majolica. The madrasah is remarkable for an inscription on the entrance: "Aspiration to knowledge is a duty of each Muslim man and woman".
The Ulugh Beg Observatory is an observatory in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Built in the 1420s by the Timurid astronomer Ulugh Beg, it is considered by scholars to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world.Some of the famous Islamic astronomers who worked at the observatory include Al-Kashi, Ali Qushji, and Ulugh Beg himself. The observatory was destroyed in 1449 and rediscovered in 1908.