The mausoleum was initially built ca. 1640 as the tomb of Muhammad Yūsuf, a Central Asian Naqshbandi Sufi master who had come to the Altishahr region (today's southern Xinjiang) in the early 17th century, and possibly was also active in spreading Sufism in China proper. Later, Muhammad Yūsuf's more famous son and successor, Afāq Khoja, was buried there as well. All told, the beautiful tiled mausoleum contains the tombs of five generations of the Afāqi family, providing resting places for its 72 members, both men and women.