The Grave of Bobo as Samosi

Bukhara is well known all over the world as a noble, holy city of the Islamic religion, one of the centers of the formation of Sufism in Uzbekistan, the cradle of science and enlightenment. One of the most famous mystical currents of Sufism – Khajagan, originated in the territory of present-day Bukhara, its founder was the teacher Abd al-Khaliku al-Gijduvani. Six of his followers became world-famous teachers of the Khajagan current and all of them are buried on the territory of Bukhara. And today Bukhara attracts tourists as a city where you can make a small Hajj to the origins of Islam and visit the mausoleums of the seven great pirs (teachers of Sufism) of Bukhara. 

One of such Sufi pirs is Khoja Muhammad Babai Samosi, who was born in 1259 in the village of Samos. Bobo as Samosi is a Sufi mystic, the fifth of the seven feasts of Bukhara, a follower of the Khajagan order. A disciple of Khoja Ali Romitani, who made a great contribution to the development of Sufism. Like the names of all Sufi mystics, the name Bobo as Samosi is shrouded in legends, one of which says that once passing by the village of Qasr-i-Hinduvan in Bukhara, he predicted the birth of Bahauddin Nakshband, who will play a huge role in the development and formation of the Sufi order Khajagan. He also said that the village of Qasr-i-Hinduvan will be called the “village of enlightenment” – Qasr-i-Arifon. 

A little later, passing by this village again, he already pointed out that the child whose birth he had predicted earlier was born. And when Bahauddin Nakshband's father brought his son to Bobo as Samosi and asked for blessings for his son, the fifth pir of Bukhara answered him that Bahauddin was already a son of the order and accepted into it. 

Bobo as Samosi was the teacher of Khoja Sayyid Mir Kulol and Bahauddin Nakshband, whom he took to study with him from early childhood, and called him “mushkil kishod", which translates as resolving difficulties. 

Bobo as Samosi died in 1354, was buried in the village of Samos, Romitan district of Bukhara region, on the territory of the shirkat farm "Uzbekistan".

The memorial complex of Bobo as Samosi includes a mausoleum, a mosque, a well, a water reservoir and a garden. The ensemble begins with an arch made of burnt brick, which is crowned with lines from the Koran. The arch is surrounded by flowers and trees, and behind it you can see a narrow street, passing through which the visitor goes to the mosque with an aivan and a house. The tombstone of the fifth feast of Bukhara is located in the open air and is bounded on two sides by a white wall, on the third side there is an open mosque (ziyarat-hona), and on the fourth side there is an entrance arched wall of burnt bricks and panjara inserts (window openings decorated with carved patterns). Outside the complex there is a cemetery with a well. 

During the years of independence, the memorial complex was restored, in particular, the mausoleum, mosque and well were updated. Also, the garden on the territory of the ensemble was landscaped and expanded. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims from all over the world go for a blessing and make a pilgrimage to one of the pearls of the history of Sufism.