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In Khiva you cannot see the mausoleums decorated with blue majolica domes, except for one - the mausoleum of Pakhlavan Mahmud. The building of the mausoleum of Pakhlavan Mahmud is one of the best works of Khiva architecture of the middle of the XIX century.
The interior decoration of the mausoleum strikes with its harmony and lightness. On the walls of the viscose, in Farsi, the poems belonging to Pakhlavan Mahmud are deduced. The tiles cover the whole space of the mausoleum. Pakhlavan Mahmud's tombstone is made with jeweler's precision and graceful mosaic made of carved glazed ceramics.
In the XVIII century on the south side of the building an entrance portal to the mausoleum was built. In 1719, Shergazi Khan, building a new madrassah, focused it on the mausoleum of Pakhlavan Mahmud.
Initially, the building of the mausoleum was modest, but since this place turned into a popular place for worship, mosques and khanaks were soon built here, where pilgrims also performed prayers. The members of the khan's family began to be buried here, and the territory of the mausoleum expanded east and south. In 1913, by order of Asfendiyar Khan, a two-story building was built on the western side of the courtyard, and on the eastern side - a summer ayvannaya mosque.
The name Mahmud Pahlavan is sacred to the Khwarizmians. When Mahmud died in 1326, the place where he was buried for several centuries remained a place of worship for his compatriots. At the beginning of the XIX century, this place was erected a burial vault. In the Muslim world, Pakhlavan Mahmud was revered as a saint - patron of the city.
There is a legend that once in India Mahmud defeated all his rivals and as a gift he asked the local ruler to release the Khorezmians who are in captivity there. According to another legend, Mahmud repeatedly headed a people's militia at a difficult time for his native Khiva. Thus, Mahmud was not only strong and courageous, but also a respected and noble person.
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