Bahauddin Muhammad ibn Burhanuddin Muhammad al-Bukhari, or simply Bahauddin Naqshband, is the most revered Muslim ascetic of the 14th century in Uzbekistan and the founder of the globally renowned Naqshbandi Sufi order. In his homeland of Bukhara, he is honored with the title Balogardon—”the one who wards off misfortunes”—and in folk Islam, he is venerated as the spiritual patron of the settled population in the ancient Bukhara oasis. Over the five centuries of its existence, the memorial and shrine complex of Bahauddin Naqshband in the village of Kasri Arifon has also become the necropolis of the last three dynasties of Bukhara’s rulers. Today, it stands as perhaps the largest site of mass pilgrimage in Central Asia, actively functioning to this day.
Bahauddin Muhammad was born in March 1318 in the village of Kasri Hinduvan, located ten kilometers northeast of Bukhara. He was born into a family of sayyids—descendants of the Prophet Muhammad—who were engaged in gold embroidery and jewelry craftsmanship. His nickname, Naqshband, derives from the Persian word naqshbanon, meaning “engraving” or “pattern-making.” However, this word can also be interpreted metaphorically, imbuing it with a spiritual significance beyond its literal reference to a craft.
The great teacher of Sufi wisdom spent almost his entire life in his native land, where he was buried in March 1389. After his death, the village came to be known as Kasr-i Arifon—”The Castle of the Wise.” Details of Bahauddin Naqshband’s biography are fragmented, as he left no written legacy himself, and the accounts of his life written by his followers in the Naqshbandi order primarily consist of sayings related to spiritual practices and instructive parables. It is known that Bahauddin performed the Hajj to Mecca twice, and his first mentor was Sheikh Muhammad Baba Samasi, who died in 1340. Samasi directed Bahauddin to study under Sheikh Amir Kulal, the successor of Sheikh Abdulkhaliq Gijduvani in the Khwajagan Sufi brotherhood.
Like the great spiritual guide of the Turkic nomads, Ahmad Yasawi (1103–1166), Sheikh Abdulkhaliq Gijduvani (presumably 1125–1199) was a follower of the famous Sufi mystic from northern Iran, Yusuf ibn Ayyub al-Hamadani (1048–1140), who traveled extensively throughout Central Asia and was buried in the Merv oasis—near the city of Mary in modern-day Turkmenistan.
The ascetic tendencies of the Khwajagan brotherhood were particularly developed in the Yasawiyya order. However, in Gijduvani’s teachings, these tendencies took a different direction, more suited to the mentality of the settled agricultural and craft population of the ancient Bukhara oasis. Becoming the fifth pir—leader of the Khwajagan order—Bahauddin Naqshband further aligned the philosophical views and spiritual practices of the Sufis with the lifestyle of his contemporaries. To this day, his saying, “The heart to God, the hands to work,” remains highly popular in Uzbekistan and neighboring Central Asian countries. This phrase essentially conveys the core principle of the Sufi brotherhood, which after Bahauddin became known as Khwajagan-Naqshbandiyya or simply Naqshbandiyya.
It is known that Bahauddin Naqshband worked his own land throughout his life. In his interpretation, the principle of voluntary poverty, upheld by the Yasawiyya and Khwajagan brotherhoods, was no longer understood as extreme forms of asceticism, hermitage, and living on alms, but rather as a modest existence sustained by one’s own labor. It is worth noting that Naqshband disapproved of any form of ostentatious piety—whether it was forty-day fasts (chilla), the wanderings of dervishes, or public gatherings with music, songs, and ecstatic rituals. Moreover, he was wary of karamat—pious miracles. Instead, he placed particular emphasis on the state of rabita—the spiritual closeness between a disciple and a mentor, manifested not only in mystical practices but also in everyday affairs.
Like his predecessor Abdulkhaliq Gijduvani, Bahauddin Naqshband replaced the collective vocal dhikr (dhikr jahri) practiced in the Yasawiyya order with the silent remembrance of Allah’s names—dhikr khafi—
combined with deep physical and mental self-control. From Gijduvani, the Khwajagan order inherited eight meditative and behavioral techniques:
To these, Bahauddin Naqshband added three of his own techniques:
In essence, the heart inscribed with the word “Allah” became the emblem of the Naqshbandi order.
However, for the devout inhabitants of Bukhara, Bahauddin Naqshband, who was known for his kind and responsive nature even during his lifetime, soon became not just an intermediary between God and people, but the spiritual protector of the entire ancient city and its surrounding oasis. It was from the residents of Bukhara that Bahauddin Naqshband received the title Balogardon—”the one who wards off misfortunes.” Although the saint was a real historical figure, over time, his cult took on some resemblance to the cults of agricultural deities that were prevalent in Bukhara before the advent of Islam. For instance, the ziyarat (pilgrimage to the saint’s tomb) began to be performed in March, coinciding with the celebration of saili guli surkh—the festival of red flowers, associated with ancient fertility cults and the rebirth of nature.
A century after Bahauddin Naqshband’s death, the Naqshbandi order gained exceptional authority and spiritual influence in Central Asia, thanks to the efforts of a new outstanding pir—Nasir al-Din Ubaydullah Khodja Akhrar Shashi (1404–1489). Khodja Akhrar further aligned the Sufi brotherhood with the everyday needs of the region’s population. A significant landowner, he engaged in charity and actively intervened in the politics of the Timurid rulers.
The motto of Khodja Akhrar—”To fulfill one’s spiritual mission in the world, it is necessary to wield political power”—largely defined the future strategy of the Naqshbandi order. Subsequently, the order spread its influence throughout the Muslim world—from the Volga region and Southern Siberia to North Africa and Southeast Asia. The Naqshbandi order included the great Turkic poet and philosopher Alisher Navoi (1441–1501), the Persian poet, philosopher, and music theorist Nuriddin Abdurakhman Jami (1414–1492), as well as Imam Shamil (1797–1871)—the formidable leader of the Caucasian insurgents who opposed the Russian Empire in the 19th century. At various times, the order played a crucial role in the religious, cultural, and political life of regions such as the North Caucasus, India, and Kashmir, and especially within the Ottoman Empire: many of its rulers were themselves members of this Sufi brotherhood. In Turkey, the Naqshbandi order was officially banned and dissolved in 1925 under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who embarked on the path of establishing a secular state.
Despite its global successes throughout the Muslim world, the fate of the Naqshbandi tariqat in Central Asia was fraught with challenges. The Timurids were succeeded by the rulers of the nomadic Uzbeks from the Shaybanid dynasty. In the 16th century, they conquered Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bukhara, confiscating almost all the property of Khodja Akhrar’s heirs and even executing the Naqshbandi pir Muhammad Yahya for sympathizing with the Timurids. However, despite the repression against specific individuals, they did not suppress the cult of the holy ascetics that had developed in “folk Islam.” Moreover, in Tashkent and Samarkand, the Shaybanids invested heavily in the construction and restoration of the mausoleums of local saints. In Bukhara, the khans of this dynasty even chose Kasri Arifon as their family burial site. In 1554, at the behest of Abd al-Aziz Khan, Bahauddin Naqshband’s burial was arranged in the form of an above-ground crypt—a sagan, as is customary among nomads—and a large khanaka was constructed nearby—a residence for the Sufi community and pilgrims. In the following centuries, Kasri Arifon grew into a vast necropolis—Dakhmai Shakhon (Tomb of the Kings), where many khans of Bukhara from the Shaybanid, Ashtarkhanid, and Manghit dynasties were buried. Naturally, such proximity did not diminish the popularity of Bahauddin Naqshband’s mausoleum; perhaps it even added to its significance in the eyes of millions of pilgrims.
Visit Caliph Uthman’s Quran
See Mausoleum of Imam al-Bukhari
Wander through Bukhara’s Old City
Tour Samarkand’s Registan Square
Experience Folklore Show in Bukhara