Career
He was born in the village of Isfisar near Khujand in Tajikistan. He received his Doctor of Philosophy from the Institute of History of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics Academy of Sciences in Moscow in 1941 with a dissertation on "History of the Isma’ili Section(s)". From 1944 to 1946, he was the Second Secretary and, from August 1946 to 24 May 1956, he was the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan." From 1956 to the end of his life, Ghafurov served as the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, and the Editor of the Asia and Africa journal." The town of Ghafurov and Ghafurov district (formally known as Bobojon Ghafurov district), in the Sughd Province of Tajikistan, are named after him.