The Nurullay palace is in the north-west part of Dishan-Kala. It was constructed in 1906-1912 by the order of the Mohammad Rakhim-khan II for his son - the future Jsfandiyar-khan.
More than 100 rooms, galleries, guards room, stables, rooms for servants and harem were also included. The entire complex is fenced by a high wall of more than 650 m with turrets - “guldasta”, as in Khivan national mansions.
The palace walls were erected by the Khivan master-mason Usto Kuryaz Babadzhanov. Usto Khudoibergen Khadzhi, become famous as the builder of the Islam-khodzha minaret, and decorated them with ornamental laying of the glazed brick. German colonists from vicinities of Khiva participated in ceilings, frames, and parquet decoration. The ornamented tiles were manufactured in Petersburg at the Imperial porcelain factory.
The Khan’s reception room design is especially interesting; it is covered with a carved gunch with gilding and colour painting. The Nurullabay palace colour essentially differs from the traditional with its usual restrained combination of dark blue, white and blue tones. The Isfandiyar-khan reception room consists of seven premises: a waiting room, reception room, throne hall, banquet hall and three living rooms. The Russian tsar Nikolay II presented two chandeliers and small power station after the construction was finished. So, the fireplaces, faced with the ornamented tiles, the Venetian mirrors and gilt bronze chandeliers with crystal pendants finally appeared in the main halls. The parquet boards, covering the floor in the reception room, were delivered from S.-Petersburg.
