The length of the wall surrounding the 555-hectare area of Bukhara was 12 kilometers. After the city wall was last expanded in 1540–1549 during the reign of Abdulaziz Khan of the Shaybanid dynasty, the number of gates reached 11.
The number of gates did not change until the beginning of the 20th century. Through 11 gates located along the wall, entry and exit into the city were controlled and securely guarded.
The semi-circular cylindrical double-towered gates were closed after the evening prayer and opened after the morning prayer. The height of the gates, built of fired brick, was 11.6 meters, the width was 23 meters, and the base was 1.5 meters. In the upper part of the gate, there was a "crown of flowers" consisting of 31 arches and 2 small towers designed for three-story guards-sarbazes. Twelve horse-drawn chariots from Bukhara stood at the main gate of the fortress. They connected the city with the railway station, but did not enter because the city streets were too narrow for their movement. The gate was demolished around the 1950s. Its exact location is determined by comparing an aerial photograph taken in 1930 with a topographic photograph taken at the same scale in 1985.
Among the people, one of Imam Bukhari's teachers, Abu Hafs Kabir, was known as "imami hojatbaror" ("the imam who eliminates needs"). The Imam's mausoleum is located on a hill opposite the "Darvozai Nov" (now Hazrat Imam) gate of Bukhara. Even today, this hill is called the "Hazrati Imam Havz Hill". At the beginning of the 20th century, the mosques and temples on this hill were always populated by the local population, many of whom considered the grave and soil of Abu Hafs Kabir sacred and called it "Harrah" (The Right Path). People went there to get a fatwa. In the early Middle Ages, the Nov Gate was later named the Hazrati Imam Gate in honor of the great scholar Abu Hafs Kabir Bukhari. The people also call it "Darvozai Imom", "Abu Hafs darvozasi" .
Thanks to the great services and merits of the scholar, Bukhara in the 10th century received the title "Qubbat ul-Islam" – "the dome of the Islamic religion" thanks to Abu Hafs Kabir.
Shavkat BOBOJONOV,
doctor of philosophy in historical sciences, associate professor