An unassuming carved wooden door opens from the harem into a secret passage, once exclusively used by the Khan as a private entrance to and from his bevy of beauties. The cool, dark 'dolum' leads to the main corridor of the palace, from which the opening on the first left goes into the Ishrat Hauli.
The 'Ishrat Hauli' or 'Entertainment Court' was the site of many a swinging party where the Khan would wine and dine visiting dignitaries and relatives. Lavish banquets would be laid out under the aywan whilst acrobats, musicians and dancing boys dressed as girls provided the entertainment. The court was designed to cater for guests of both settled and nomadic tastes, complete with rooms and a dais for those wishing to pitch yurts. In the summer visitors usually slept on the balconies or aywan under huge mosquito nets.
It was here that both Vambery, Burnaby and other foreign visitors were granted an audience with the Khan, who would hold court either under the aywan or in the room above. This throne room has recently been renovated and boasts rather incongruous double glazing. The alabaster niches for storing teapots and 'piolas' (handle-less cups), ganch ceiling and copious amounts of gold leaf and pomegranate tree murals result in a decor as bright as it is kitch. It's worth a visit despite the disconcerting bouncing effect of stone on wooden beams and entry is by the steep steps to the right of the aywan.
A little further down the main corridor lies the 'Auz Hauli' ('Voice Court') where the Khan would dispense justice. Similar in style to the courtroom of the Kunya Ark, the Khan would sit in his yurt listening to his subjects pleading their cases.
At the end of each dispute it's said that the Khan determined the fate of each supplicant by pointing to the appropriate door. The door furthest from the aywan led to pardon but the door through which the court is entered was the door to death. While many of the wrangles were undoubtedly serious, some were less so.
As the Khan judged his clerks took notes of the proceedings. Some say that the room next to the door to death was their office where they would kneel within the sunken platform using its raised edges as a table. However others insist that this space was actually filled with water to act as an air coolant. The same poem admonishing justice that is etched on the Kunya Ark courtroom pillar can be found inscribed in the majolica tiling along the aywan.
The steep staircase on the right of the aywan provides entry up to the next level with a dazzling vista of turrets, minarets and cupolas. The roof top access continues around the whole court and it is here that one really feels swept into the pages of the Arabian Nights.