A furrier by trade, a celebrated wrestler and a poet of quatrains. Khiva honours him as its patron saint, and his mausoleum is among the most revered places in the city.
Furrier, wrestler, poet
Pahlavon Mahmud was born in Khiva in 1247 and earned his living as a furrier. He was also a pahlavon — a champion wrestler — and stories from Khorezm to India tell of bouts he won by strength and wit. Yet he is remembered above all for humility: in the best-known legend he let himself lose a match in India after seeing his opponent's mother pray for her son.
Quatrains of a strong man
He wrote in Persian, mostly in the ruba'i, the four-line form. His quatrains praise patience, honest work and victory over one's own ego — throwing an opponent, one of them suggests, is easy next to mastering yourself. Around three hundred survive, gathered under the title Kanz al-haqa'iq, "The Treasury of Truths".
Patron saint of Khiva
He died in 1326 and was buried beside his workshop. The grave became Khiva's most revered shrine, and the khans of Khiva chose to be buried near him; the present complex, with its turquoise dome and glazed tilework, was built in the early nineteenth century. Local tradition holds that wrestlers seek his blessing before a bout.
Key achievements
- Wrote some three hundred Persian quatrains on humility, honest work and self-mastery
- Remembered in tales from Khorezm to India as an unbeaten wrestler
- His mausoleum is the spiritual heart of Itchan Kala, Khiva's walled inner city