Mausoleum of Sheikh Umar Vali Bogistoni

The sheikh and the village

Bogiston lies on the Pskem side of Lake Charvak, on the north-west slope of the Koksu Range at 960 m. Tradition and the sources say that in the 13th century Sheikh Umar came here to preach Islam — a Sufi follower of the dervish Hasan Bulgari, held to be a descendant of the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab. He spent the rest of his life in Bogiston and was buried on the bank of the Pskem.

His son, Sheikh Khovendi at-Tahur (Sheikhantaur), was born in the village, and his mausoleum is one of Tashkent’s best-known monuments. Sheikh Umar Vali’s tomb was added to the national heritage register in 2019, which dates the site to the 7th–15th centuries.