Beshpeshagor, the Valley of Five Caves, must be one of the least known yet mysterious and picturesque places of wild nature in Uzbekistan. So well hidden by the Molguzar mountain range south of Jizzak, that rarely a foreign visitor stumbles upon the path that leads to a world of uninhabited canyons overgrown by forests of thorny pistachios, where once influential Sufi leaders and their followers congregated.
From the sacred spring nearby the mausoleum of the sufi sheikh Mavlana Muhammad, a narrow footpath winds its way for tens of kms around seemingly impassable vertical stony shields over which sharp peaks rise like watchtowers. Majestic blocks of granite, like flat and solid walls from a distance, are in fact covered with hundreds of deep fractures, secret entries to underground galleries.
The largest of these caves can be easily identified for its semi-dome entrance. The first of its halls strikes by its size approximately 250m long and 10m wide. Though speleologists have attempted to reach its further most boundaries, penetrating over 1000 steps into pitch black and unknown territory, no one has as yet been able to put claim to having fully explored the cave. According to legend, an underground labyrinth stretches throughout the entire mountain range, i.e. from the Sufa Plateau to the famous Tamerlane Gates close to the highway that links Jizzak with Samarkand.
When Alexander the Great and his army made their first attempts to conquer Sogdiana, they were defeated by the phalanx of thousands of warriors of the rebellious princedoms of the Ustrushana mountain, as the area was referred to at that time. Their thorough knowledge of these underground walkways and its many escape holes put them at a considerable advantage, since they were able to attack from completely unexpected angles without advance warning. Alexander the Great ultimately had to turn back. In the Peshagor Cave one can still stumble across remains of ancient cultures such as shards of pottery, household utensils, bones, rock carvings and paintings, discovered not too long ago by Uzbek scientists. The walls and cupola of the gigantic hall are covered by a thick layer of soot, in the opinion of Sattor Karabayev, a distinguished archaeologist, an indication that the cave could have been used as an underground temple of fire-worshipers, who burnt meat and fat of sacrificial animals on bonfires. Perhaps this was the very cave mentioned in the Chinese chronicles of Tan-shu from the VI century who stated that in the cave located not far from the town of Yecha in the country of Sutulusen, Zoroastrians performed sacrificial ceremonies. The entire region south of Jizzak has not yet been thoroughly researched by archaeologists, yet unique and important finds from the pre-islamic era have been made, such as idols of domestic deities found in the burial sites of archaeological excavations like Segizsari, Oktepa and Jartepa in the Zaamin region. Scientists are carefully weighing the question whether or not the Peshagor Cave ever served as a Zoroastrian temple. The Valley of Five Caves is sure to hold many spectacular finds still in store, it is already certain that an important and highly sophisticated civilization existed here thousands of years ago.
Recent excavations of underground temples in the tract of Jomonjar on the southern side of the mountain range and nearby the sacred place of Chukmazar Ota have revealed findings that indicate former Buddhist stupas and possibly a Nestorian Church. Secrets of ancient history and miracles of primeval nature are safeguarded until today, thanks to the difficult access. Local residents familiar with the mysteries of Sufism, and who protect the sacred peace of the Mavlana Mukhammad mausoleum, know much about the habits and behavior of wild animals and the properties of plants able to cure countless diseases. For example, they tell how to boil a healing brew from the meat of porcupine inhabiting the pistachio bushes or they claim that coming across wolves, which are not rare in this area, you needn't fear or run away, as these grey predators find enough food in the lands untouched by economical activity and therefore are barely interested in livestock or man in particular. So at the onset ot the XXI century, in the Molguzar mountains, you are still able to travel back in time to Asia as it was thousands of years ago.