Tamerlane's Gate

Here the Sangzor river cuts through the end of the Nuratau and Malguzar ranges, leaving a gap only wide enough for the river, a road and a railway. Armies and caravans heading between the Syr Darya lands and the Zarafshan valley had to pass this way.

Inscriptions carved into the rock record campaigns of the Timurid and later periods, including one connected with Ulugh Beg. The name links the pass with Timur, though it is a later popular tradition rather than a recorded event.

The highway and railway still use the gorge, so most travellers see it from a car or train window.