Xojeli

Xojeli lies near the ancient settlement and necropolis of Mizdakhkan, on the western side of the lower Oxus. The fortified mound known as Gyaur Kala was occupied in antiquity, and the medieval city became a centre of trade and crafts in northern Khwarazm. Arab geographers mentioned Mizdakhkan in the tenth century, when a fortified citadel stood here. The burial ground and its mausoleums preserve the long religious history of the site, while the name Xojeli came into use in the seventeenth century.