In the 13th century, Central Asia and the entire Middle East endured a series of brutal civil wars, followed by the devastating invasion of Genghis Khan’s hordes. It was during this difficult period that one of the oldest districts of Tashkent gained its own spiritual patron. Sheikh Zaynaddin (also known as Zayniddin or Zaynutdin), a descendant of the Sufi order Suhrawardiyya, arrived from Baghdad and settled in the western suburb of Kuhi Arifon, which means “Hill of the Wise.” He spent the rest of his life, until his death at the age of 95, in a deep underground cell, tirelessly praying for the well-being of those around him.
Only occasionally did Sheikh Zaynaddin emerge into the light to strengthen people with his wise guidance during those turbulent times. In the 16th century, a mausoleum, Zaynaddin-bobo, was erected over his cell and tomb. Today, it has become one of the largest religious centers in Uzbekistan. (For the history of the discovery and study of the mausoleum and its architectural features, see: Levina-Bulatova V.A. On the History of the Zaynaddin Mausoleum // Architectural Heritage of Uzbekistan / Edited by Doctor of Art History G.A. Pugachenkova. Tashkent: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the Uzbek SSR, 1960, pp. 75-84). During a restoration in the 1990s, archaeologists noticed the remarkable design of the saint’s underground refuge: it turned out to be an observatory for tracking the movement of celestial bodies without the use of astronomical instruments.
Sheikh Zaynaddin was born in 1214 in Baghdad to the family of the famous Sheikh Shihabaddin Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi, the founder of the Suhrawardiyya Sufi order. Sheikh Shihabaddin was renowned for his guide for Sufi teachers, Awarif al-Ma’arif, and served as an advisor at the court of the Abbasid Caliph al-Nasir. In the year of Zaynaddin’s birth, his father was 69 years old—a very advanced age, but the biographies of saints from that time are full of examples of children being born to elderly parents, likely due to the health and longevity practices of Sufism. Shihabaddin Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi himself lived to the age of 89, never stepping away from his daily responsibilities, as he was, in modern terms, an active public figure of his era.
By that time, the Abbasid Caliphate was already losing political influence in the Muslim world: the caliphs were forced to cede power to secular rulers. Caliph al-Nasir, in his struggle against the powerful Khwarazmian Empire, brought Sheikh Suhrawardi closer and tasked him with strengthening the traditions of “spiritual chivalry” among Arab nobles. Thanks to these traditions, Sufi warriors in North Africa repelled the Crusaders, while the Ismailis from Alamut, known in Europe as the Assassins, kept the entire Middle East in fear. However, Sheikh Suhrawardi himself clearly preferred philosophy and natural sciences over war, and among his followers, the most famous were not military leaders but the poet Saadi of Shiraz and the traveler Ibn Battuta.
In any case, the position of the Abbasid Caliphate was precarious. Yet, it was saved from destruction by strange occurrences that resembled miracles. Khwarazmshah Tekesh, who marched on Baghdad, suddenly fell ill and died on the way. His successor, Khwarazmshah Muhammad II Alaaddin, sent a massive army from Afghanistan against al-Nasir in the autumn of 1217. He brought Sheikh Suhrawardi with him, hoping to make him a witness and chronicler of his victories. However, at a mountain pass near Asadabad, a severe frost struck, and heavy snowfall killed all the horses and camels, leaving thousands of soldiers frostbitten and crippled. After this failure, Muhammad II Alaaddin formally repented to Caliph al-Nasir. However, within his own realm, he banned the mention of the Baghdad caliphs in Friday prayers and tasked court theologians with justifying the transfer of spiritual authority from the Abbasids to the descendants of Ali.
Meanwhile, the Mongol hordes were advancing on Central Asia from the north. In 1221, Genghis Khan’s son Jochi sacked and destroyed the Khwarazmian capital, Gurganj (Urgench), and then flooded what remained of the city by breaching the dam on the Amu Darya River. The Baghdad caliphate was only captured forty years later by the Mongol Ilkhan Hulagu.
After the death of Caliph al-Nasir, Sheikh Shihabaddin Suhrawardi sent his youngest son Zaynaddin to Tashkent to spread Sufi wisdom in the outskirts of once-prosperous but now devastated lands. Muslim theologians believe that the purpose of this mission was to strengthen the positions of the true faith among distant peoples who, in the face of heavy trials, might fall into despair or even revert to paganism. It was also essential to continue spreading Islam among the nomadic peoples of the steppe—those very peoples whom outstanding local ascetics such as Kaffal Shashi, Ahmad Yasavi, and Zangi-Ata had begun to convert to Islam.
According to legend, the camel on which Sheikh Zaynaddin arrived in Tashkent in 1236 after long and perilous travels stopped five hundred steps from the western city gate of Kukcha, in the aforementioned small village of Kuhi Arifon. Here, there already existed a secluded underground cell that the ascetic chose as his dwelling for the rest of his life.
In the Middle Ages, in Central Asia, the term “wise man” referred not only to Sufi mystics and Muslim theologians but also to scholars. The pursuit of truth could occur through both mystical revelations and rational thought; in Sufi doctrines, these methods were not opposed but considered complementary. In the 1990s, Uzbek archaeologists studied the underground cell adjacent to the northern wall of Sheikh Zaynaddin’s mausoleum. They concluded that its rooms had been constructed and well-inhabited as early as the late 11th to early 12th centuries. In the vicinity, the researchers discovered numerous material artifacts of even older origin, unequivocally indicating the high culture of the village of Kuhi Arifon. However, the most intriguing aspect was the design of the underground structure itself.
The construction resembles two clay yurts stacked one on top of the other from the inside. The perfectly round dome of the upper floor, accessible via a narrow spiral staircase, features a single opening at its very center. Through a narrow gap in the floor, one can descend to the lower floor, which is a smaller replica of the upper dome, with the difference that its geometric center is shifted by 166 centimeters. The lower dome is also equipped with a small conical opening directed toward the opening of the upper dome. If one were to draw an imaginary line between them, it would coincide with the projection of the Tashkent meridian. The axis of the cone in the lower opening is inclined to the horizontal plane at exactly 73 degrees and 23 minutes—this is precisely the height that the sun reaches above Tashkent on the day of the summer solstice. The sun and other celestial bodies crossing the meridian could only be observed from the lower cell during the days and hours dictated by the Earth’s movement. Moreover, thanks to the design of this “observatory,” tracking the movement of the heavens could be done without special astronomical instruments.
The Arab conquests brought the lunar calendar, which originated in ancient Babylon, to Central Asia, dividing time into seven-day weeks—corresponding to the number of visible planets to the naked eye, including the Moon and the Sun. By the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, astronomy in the Muslim East had developed to the point where it became possible to calculate the Earth’s circumference. In 827, at the behest of Caliph al-Mamun, two groups of astronomers and mathematicians, including al-Khwarizmi and al-Ferghani, undertook the necessary measurements of one degree of the meridian to solve this task.
However, during the wars and upheavals of the 13th century, people had little time for the abstract movements of celestial bodies. Instead, precise calculations of dates and seasonal changes were crucial for the everyday needs of agriculture and livestock. The Islamic lunar calendar, still used today to determine the dates of religious holidays, consists of 12 months and contains either 354 or 355 days (in a leap year). But since the length of the year in this calendar is 10 or 11 days shorter than the solar year, the months gradually shift in relation to the climatic seasons. This shift becomes so pronounced that within a couple of decades, the month that marks the beginning of winter may fall in summer—or vice versa.
Uzbek scholars believe that the design of the underground cells in the village of Kuhi Arifon, created by unknown engineers during the Karakhanid era, could have served the folk calendar of chilly, which, along with the Muslim calendar, was adopted by many ethnic groups in Central Asia during the Middle Ages. This calendar did not have divisions into months and weeks, but great importance was attached to climatic seasons. Two of these—peak summer heat and peak winter cold—were distinguished by special forty-day periods known as chilly. The practical considerations here are evident, as the maximum heat or cold is not established at the extremes of solar influence but somewhat later. It is particularly hot not right at noon but after it, and the night is colder just before dawn.
The chilly calendar combined astronomical events with the actual climatic conditions of the region. During summer chilly, crops in the fields and gardens of farmers require regular but cautious watering before sunrise, ensuring they have enough moisture without suffering from sunburn. Livestock is better moved to high-altitude pastures during this time, while domestic animals should be kept in the shade to protect them from heatstroke. During winter chilly, agricultural work is generally impractical, and herds are better kept in warm barns.
Other seasonal tasks for farmers and shepherds were also calculated relative to summer and winter chilly. It was entirely feasible to maintain a constant count of the seasons based on the height of the sun, as on the day of the summer solstice—June 22—the sun is almost never obscured by clouds at the latitude of Tashkent. Winter chilly, even in overcast weather, could be calculated arithmetically—given the correct reference date.
Of course, it would be naive to think that Sheikh Zaynaddin, the heir to the Suhrawardiyya Sufi order, was solely engaged in tracking the exact date of the onset of summer chilly in his underground cell. However, for Sufis in Central Asia, chilly is also a very important time. During this period, Muslim mystics, in addition to the obligatory forty-day fast of Ramadan, usually retreat for another forty days for prayers, Quran recitation, meditation, and other esoteric practices. According to popular legends, for Sheikh Zaynaddin, such a chilly became practically continuous, lasting until his death at the age of 95. The fact that the sage was at the center of the most pressing needs of the people undoubtedly enhanced his spiritual authority, earned through the righteous life of a hermit.
When, in the 14th century, a strong statehood emerged in Central Asia with the Timur Empire, the cult of the saint from Kuhi Arifon had already spread far beyond the oasis of Tashkent. By the order of Emperor Timur, a mausoleum was erected in Samarkand for Sheikh Nuriddin Basir, considered a disciple of Sheikh Zaynaddin, as well as the mausoleum of Sheikh Burhanuddin, known as Ruhabad—Abode of the Spirit. This mausoleum still stands next to the ancestral tomb of the Timurids, Gur-Emir. The placement of these tombs emphasized the spiritual connection of the ruling dynasty with the highly revered Sufi mentors in the Muslim world.
Tradition attributes to Emperor Timur the construction of the majestic portal of the Zaynaddin mausoleum in Tashkent. However, archaeologists believe that the building itself was completed only in the 16th century—under the local rulers of the nomadic Uzbek dynasty, the Shaybanids. The structure made of baked brick has survived well to this day—especially its intricately carved wooden door adorned with quotes from the Quran. Today, just as at the time of its inception, the mausoleum of Sheikh Zaynaddin is surrounded by an active Muslim cemetery. In the 1990s, a modern memorial mosque was added to the Zaynaddin-bobo memorial complex in the Kukcha area. Its tall minaret significantly enhances the city’s skyline and serves as one of the hallmarks of the capital of Uzbekistan. According to Tashkent historian and local lore expert Boris Golender, sponsors from among the Muslims of Iraq, who honor the spiritual legacy of Sheikh Zaynaddin’s father, Sheikh Shihabaddin Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi, actively participated in the construction of this mosque. In any case, the silhouette of the tall minaret, visible in any weather from a distance, steadily guides pilgrims toward the sacred site. During Muslim holidays and on Fridays, the Kukcha square in front of the mosque is filled with cars and crowds of worshippers. According to official reports from the authorities of Tashkent, sometimes as many as 200,000 Muslims—both residents of the metropolis and visitors from the most remote regions of Uzbekistan—perform prayers here simultaneously.
@ Andrey Kudryashov / “Fergana”
Driving through scenic mountain roads
Cable car ride to Kumbel Ridge
Panoramic views of Big Chimgan
Horseback riding in mountain gorge
Lunch at a local restaurant