The reign of Sultan Muzaffar Uddin, (beginning from 1191 and ending in 1232) was a golden time in the history of Hawler (Erbil). During this time several schools, Khanaqahs, Mosques, and Minarets were built which had unique architecture.

One of these unique places that still remains to this day is Choli Minaret.

This Minaret is one of the most prominent features of Hawler city and along with its sister castle has become Hawler's title thus, the capital city of Hawler has been known as the "Castle and Minaret" city.

Choli Minaret or "Muzafaryyeh Minaret" is one of the old monuments in Hawler which is located in the southwest of Hawler. As it is said, "Castle and Minaret" are inseparable twins.

This Minaret which is 22 meters high is almost 800 years old and it was built during the reign of Sultan "Mozafar Uddin Kokabri", the temporary governor of Hawler who was Sultan Salahaddin Ayubi's son-in-law, and it is estimated that this Minaret was a part of the Great Mosque that was built at that time but was ruined during the time and due to various reasons, such as wars and invasions of other nations to this city.

  During the reign of Sultan Muzafar, since the city was developing and peace was spread among people, they began to settle out of the Castle around it for the first time. Thus, the Sultan built two schools, a mosque, and a Qaysari market out of the castle on the down skirt of the hill. After the Sultan died and the Mongolians, Jalayiris, Ilkhanis, Safavids, and Ottomans attacked Hawler, this part of the city outside of the castle was ruined. The Minaret was still a vacant lot until one hundred years ago and nobody had lived there so they called it "Choli Minaret". (Choli means vacant)

It was not until 1935 that the Minaret was amended. In that year, the Iraqi government recognized it as a historical monument, and later in 1960, the General Affairs Ministry of Iraq organized a council to amend the Minaret.

Choli Minaret was amended by plaster, bricks, and lime by "Masoud Mirada". They also painted colorful patterns on it.

Choli Minaret is made of two parts:

"Minaret Base" which included the bottom part that is not made in an architectural way because it was made in heptahedron form, or maybe it was octogen form at the beginning, but since it was built next to the mosque's wall, it was built in this way. The Minaret changes into octogen after seven meters which is as high as 15 meters. The minaret has two doors: one is on the west side and the second one is on the east side. Each of these doors has a set of 110 stairs that lead to the top of the Minaret made in a labyrinth form that do not cross one another and if two people enter the Minaret from each door at the same time, they will not see each other until they reach the top of it. The whole plane of this part consists of bricks, arc, and closed windows.

Another part is the "Minaret Cylinder" part which includes the top part of the Minaret with a 21 feet mast as high as 22.10 meters which is directly built over the second part in the form of a cylinder. Perhaps it was higher when it was built for the first time. Due to climate changes, the top part has been damaged and amended later.

The Minaret is beautiful and it is valuable religiously and historically. It is also built in a way that is unique and there is no other Minaret made in the same way.

The Minaret was amended by the "Check Republic" in 2007 to prevent it from collapsing. Until it was amended a part of the top of the Minaret was broken and now it is rebuilt in a way that prevents rainfall from penetrating it.