Panjakent Панҷакент Пенджикент | |
|---|---|
   From the top to bottom-right, View over Panjakent, Entrance Sign to the City, Panjakent Bazaar, Monument in the City Centre | |
  Panjakent Location of Panjakent Show map of Tajikistan Panjakent Panjakent (Central Asia) Show map of Central Asia | |
| Coordinates:39°29′12″N67°37′11″E / 39.486769°N 67.619734°E /39.486769; 67.619734 | |
| Country |  Tajikistan |
| Region | Sughd Region |
| Elevation | 996 m (3,268 ft) |
| Population (2020)[2] | |
• City | 303,000 |
| • Urban | 52,500 |
| Time zone | UTC+5 |
| Official languages | |
 | |
Panjakent (Tajik:Панҷакент) orPenjikent (Russian:Пенджикент[a]) is a city in theSughd province ofTajikistan on the riverZeravshan, with a population of 52,500 (2020 estimate). It was once an ancient town inSogdiana. The ruins of the old town are on the outskirts of the modern city. TheSarazm Important Bird Area lies downstream of the city on thetugay-vegetatedfloodplain of the river.
Ancient Panjakent was a small but flourishing town of theSogdians in pre-Islamic Central Asia. It was known as Panchekanth.[4] It means five towns (villages) inPersian. The ethnic and territorial name "Soghd/Soghdian" or Sughd/Sughdian was mentioned in history as early as the IranianAchaemenid dynasty (6th century BC). The Achaemenids founded several city-states, as well as cities along the ancientSilk Road and in theZarafshan valley.
The town grew in the 5th century AD and many professionals such as established businessmen and landowners made their livelihoods in Panjakent. In AD 722,Arab Muslims forces besieged and took the town. The last ruler of the townDivashtich fled into upper Zarafshan but he was captured and sentenced to death. For around 50 years, ancient Panjakent was ruled by new administrators but towards the end of the 8th century the town on the upper terraces was depopulated and relocated. Many ancient ruins of the old city, particularly the city architecture and works of art remain today.
Numerous records of a Penjikent rulership, written in Sogdian, were located not far of Penjikent on Mount Mug. Through their reading of these texts, the public of Central Asia in the 8th century will judge on social, economic and political life.[5]
According to Arab geographers, Panjakent in the 10th century had a formal Fridaymosque that distinguished the place as a town from a village. It was the easternmost city of Soghd, and became well known for itswalnuts.[6]
Russian archaeologistBoris Marshak spent more than fifty yearsexcavating the ruins at Panjakent.[7] He remained there even after Tajik independence as director of the excavation of the Panjakent ruins, during the years ofCivil War in Tajikistan from 1992 to 1997. Through close cooperation with thegovernment of Tajikistan, Marshak ensured the protection and continued excavation of the Panjakent ruins.
Numerous murals were recovered from the site of Panjikent, and many of them are now on display in theHermitage Museum and in theNational Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan inDushanbe. A great variety influences are visible in the paintings, which show details of dress and daily life: Greek decorative styles encounter the Iranian narratives of theShahnameh and the epic cycle ofRostam, scenes of festivities alternate with depictions of combats, local cults mix with Iranian andHindu deities.Shaivism was popular in Sogdiana and Eastern Turkestan as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction,Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in a tigerskin while his attendants are wearing Sogdian dress. There is a depiction of him four-legged seated cross-legged on a cushioned seat supported by two bulls.
The production of paintings started in the 5th century AD and stopped in 722 AD with the invasion of theAbbasid Caliphate, and many works of art were damaged or destroyed at that time.[8][9]
![She-wolf suckling two infants ("Romulus and Remus"), Penjikent, 5th century CE, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan (KP 208–243).[10]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBracteate_she-wolf_NMAT_KP208-243_(cropped).jpg)
![Uma-Maheshvara: ithyphallic Shiva with spouse Uma riding the bull Nandi, Penjikent Temple II, 690-722 CE, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan (60).[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aUma-Maheshvara%2c_Shiva_with_spouse_Uma_riding_the_bull_Nandi%2c_Penjikent_Temple_II%2c_690-722_CE%2c_Tajikistan_National_Museum_of_Antiquities_(60).jpg)
.jpg)
_mural_%2c_6th-8th_Centuries_(2).jpg)
_mural_%2c_6th-8th_Centuries.jpg)
_mural%2c_6th-8th_Centuries_(3).jpg)
Panjakent has ahot summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classificationDsa). The average annual temperature is 10.7 °C (51.3 °F). The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 22.8 °C (73.0 °F) and the coolest month is January with an average temperature of −1.6 °C (29.1 °F). The average annual precipitation is 468.5 mm (18.44 in) and has an average of 87.9 days with precipitation. The wettest month is April with an average of 94 mm (3.7 in) of precipitation and the driest month is August with an average of 2.6 mm (0.10 in) of precipitation.[1]
| Climate data for Panjakent (Pendzikent-38705) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −1.6 (29.1) | −0.4 (31.3) | 4.9 (40.8) | 11.2 (52.2) | 15.6 (60.1) | 20.5 (68.9) | 22.8 (73.0) | 21.1 (70.0) | 16.4 (61.5) | 10.4 (50.7) | 5.5 (41.9) | 1.4 (34.5) | 10.7 (51.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 53.0 (2.09) | 53.2 (2.09) | 85.0 (3.35) | 94.0 (3.70) | 62.6 (2.46) | 11.1 (0.44) | 6.0 (0.24) | 2.6 (0.10) | 4.6 (0.18) | 31.8 (1.25) | 33.9 (1.33) | 48.7 (1.92) | 468.5 (18.44) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.7 | 11.3 | 13.5 | 12.1 | 9.3 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 1.7 | 5.6 | 7.5 | 9.6 | 87.9 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 66.1 | 66.9 | 64.4 | 60.9 | 53.8 | 42.3 | 41.3 | 42.1 | 45.3 | 55.1 | 59.1 | 64.4 | 55.1 |
| Source:"The Climate of Panjakent". Weatherbase. Retrieved7 August 2014. | |||||||||||||
Before ca. 2018, Panjakent was the seat ofPanjakent District, which covered the rural part of the present city of Panjakent.[12] The city of Panjakent covers Panjakent proper and fourteenjamoats.[2] These are as follows:[13]
| Jamoat | Population (Jan. 2015)[13] |
|---|---|
| Amondara | 13,380 |
| Chinor | 6,879 |
| Farob | 8,650 |
| Khalifa Hassan | 14,728 |
| Khurmi | 10,451 |
| Kosatarosh | 18,986 |
| Loiq Sherali | 18,675 |
| Moghiyon | 19,553 |
| Rudaki | 18,465 |
| Sarazm | 27,877 |
| Shing | 10,873 |
| Sujina | 12,285 |
| Voru | 12,347 |
| Yori | 19,045 |
{{cite book}}:Check|url= value (help){{cite book}}:Check|url= value (help)
Panjakent travel guide from Wikivoyage39°30′N67°37′E / 39.500°N 67.617°E /39.500; 67.617
Largest cities or towns in Tajikistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Capital:Khujand | |||||||||||||||||||||
|  | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
