The minaret, designed by Bako, was built on an earlier existing structure called Kalyan by the Qarakhanid ruler Mohammad Arslan Khan in 1127 to summon Muslims to prayer five times a day.

An earlier tower was collapsed before starting this structure which was called Kalyan, meaning welfare, indicating a Buddhist or zoroasterian past.

The tower base has narrow ornamental strings belted across it made of bricks which are placed in both straight or diagonal fashion.

Fitzroy Maclean, who made a surreptitious visit to the city in 1938, says in his memoir Eastern Approaches, "For centuries before 1870, and again in the troubled years between 1917 and 1920, men were cast down to their death from the delicately ornamented gallery which crowns it.

The initiator of the construction was the ruler from the Karakhanid dynasty - Arslan Khan Muhammad [ru], who was known for his urban development.

It was simultaneously an observation tower, also had a religious function, in particular, it was used for adhan (calling Muslims for prayer) to the Kalyan Mosque [ru], which is located next to the minaret.

[7] The Kalon Minaret is a powerful, tapering brick pillar that culminates in a cylindrical lantern rotunda with a stalactite crown.

The lower parts of the foundation are laid on a clayey (loess) mortar, with gypsum and vegetable ash gradually added as it rises, reducing the clay content.