The minaret (and adjacent Madrasah) were built by orders of Muhammad Amin-Khan in 1845-1855. They were meant to be one of the grandest architectural ensembles in the Islamic world, to demonstrate the power and might of the Khiva Khanate, which for centuries had managed to stay independent, despite the numerous attempts to conquer it by various Central Asian powers.

In 1855 Muhammad Amin-Khan was killed, and construction of the minaret was stopped when the tower reached a mere 29 metres, although it was supposed to have been built to a height of 70 metres.
The foundation of the minaret measures 15 metres, the diametre at the foundation is 14,5 meters. The wide foundation was to increase durability and the supposed top was to be narrower to decrease the load. But the fate decreed otherwise – and the tower remained unfinished.