Penjikent – Tajikistan
The city of Penjikent (“five villages”) is located in Khujand area of Tajikistan in a picturesque Zeravshan river valley. Quite possibly the five villages started the history of this remarkable city which originated in the 5th-8th centuries AD. Penjikent of that time was one of the most important cultural and crafts centers of Sogd. It was even named “Central Asian Pompeii”. It was a superbly fortified well-organized city with a ruler’s palace, two temples, markets, rich dwelling houses decorated with numerous paintings, wooden and clay statues of ancient gods.
Penjikent was the last city on the way from Samarkand in Kukhistan Mountains. It was a very favorable location since no caravan or person going from the mountains or returning to Samarkand could bypass Penjikent. The city was destroyed by Arabs in the eighth century (the key battle took place on Mount Mug). The ruins of this ancient city were found only in the last century. Today the tourists can see the remains of dwelling houses and office buildings, the citadel with the palace, the house of craftsmen, and fire worshipers church.
Penjikent Sights:
In the outskirts of Penjikent one can find a “piece” of the past: a site of ancient settlement with the medieval citadel surrounded by dwelling and public buildings, some of which still have wall paintings. Nearby there is a necropolis. The clay and wooden figures found during excavations are kept in Rudaki History and Local Lore Museum. The place of excavation ha been turned into the memorial reserve.
Not far from Penjikent on Mount Mug the archive of documents belonging to a Penjikent ruler, written in Sogdian language was found. The interpretation of these documents offers a possibility to judge about social, economic and political life of the population of Central Asia in the 8th century.
Penjikent – Ancient Settlement
In the suburb of modern Penjikent the tourists can see the true picture from the past: the medieval citadel surrounded by dwelling buildings with wall paintings; near the ancient settlement center stands the necropolis. The local residents call this place “Kainar” which is also the name of the nearby water spring.
In 1946 archeological excavations were started there. As a result a separately standing citadel with Divashtich (the last ruler of Penjikent) Palace, two temples with extensive yards, streets, shops, workshops, markets, fortifications, multiroom two- and even three-storey dwelling houses, the richest of which were decorated with wall paintings and wooden statues, were found.
But the most famous in the ancient settlement of Penjikent are the picturesque and colorful wall paintings which have survived in spite of their 1,300-year stay in ruins. The subjects of ancient Penjikent artists were different. There were cult ones showing heavenly bodies (the sun, the moon, other planets of solar system), reflection of ancestors’ cults, water element (river Zeravshan), Hinduist gods (Shiva).
The genre paintings display battle scenes, feasts, hunting, sports, playing musical instruments and backgammons, dances, distributions of harvest. Also found were the remains of carved wood and clay monumental sculpture in the ruins of temple buildings. The arts of ancient Penjikent, along with Byzantian, Indian and Persian borrowings, possessed their special original style.
Muhammad Bashoro Mausoleum
Muhammad Bashoro Mausoleum (11th – 14th centuries) is located in a pituresque Mazori Sharif village among juniper groves is the Mausoleum of Muhammad Bashoro who was an expert in khadises (the legends of deeds and pronouncements of Prophet Muhammad and his associates). Originally the building had no portal. It was added only in the 14th century. The portal was distinguished by a special beauty: it had graceful and noble proportions and was decorated with carved terracotta of unique beauty and complexity. The portal is bicolor – pink patterns of terracotta are placed within double frame of glazed turquoise bricks – and has the exact date preserved among the inscriptions (743 year of Hidzhra which corresponds to the years of 1342-1343).
The center of the building hosts a spacious domed hall with a number of vaulted rooms on its left and right. The main facade of the mausoleum faces a small mountain river where you can get using the only available road. A clay mikhrab with graceful ornamental and calligraphic inscriptions towers in the center of the hall.
The presence of mikhrab (a niche in a mosque wall indicating the direction to Kaaba – the main relic of Islam) testifies that originally the building might have not been a mausoleum but a mosque. This is not the only mystery of Muhammad Bashoro Mausoleum: another one is whether the remains of this notorious religious figure ARE buried there.
Penjikent – Sarazm Settlement
Sarazm is a settlement dated the 4th -2nd millennia BC located near Pendzhikent with survived temples of fire, public and residential buildings, cult and palace structures. A lot of objects made of copper, bronze, lead, silver and gold; armor, jewelry related to 4th – 2nd millennia B.C. were found there.
The settlement stands on a height extending from west to east on the left bank of the Zeravshan River. The total area of the settlement exceeds 100 hectares.
Sarazm was the ancient center of ores mining. Sarasm people exported the gold and silver found in the Zeravshan river valley to the countries of the Middle and Near East as well as West India.
Besides that Sarazm was one of the largest centers of metallurgy in the Central Asia. There the fragments of foundry forms, melting forges, massive pestles and hammers for ore crushing, metal objects in the form of axes, daggers, knifes, spears, pins, fishing hooks and ornaments were found.
During the excavations in Sarazm the palace complex (the area of more than 250 square meters) was discovered. The complex included a big corridor, a vestibule, two or three halls and several auxiliary structures. All structures are connected by wide passages. One of the complex walls has windows for illumination and ventilation. The presence of circular altars in the center of the two halls might mean that it was not just a palace but also a place for cult ceremonials.
Khazrati-Bobo Architectural Complex
Not far from Pendzhikent within the limits of Sogd area is located Khazrati-Bobo architectural complex (kishlak Chorku, Isfara). Hence there is another name of the complex – “Chorku Mausoleum”.
The complex consists of cult constructions and various structures. Although they were built in different times they have a single similarity: all of them are standing with their facadeк facing north. The main attraction of the complex is the mausoleum of a certain holy man whose name varies according to local residents: “Khast-i-Podsokh”, “Khast-i-Amir”, “Amir Hamza Sokhibkiron” (Sokhibkiron means “a Master of lucky combination of stars”). The local legend says that the mausoleum was erected in just one night to become the burial place of saint Khazrati-Bobo, the legendary hero, commander and king Amir Hamza Sohibkiron (Amir Hamza Hasti Podshokh).
The entire complex is considered a unique monument of medieval architecture and consists of two types of structures. The oldest building (the 10th -the12th centuries) is the wooden mausoleum (mazar) with aivan (canopy) resting on the carved columns decorated with Kufi inscriptions and ornamental carving. There are seven carved wooden columns supporting this structure. They are of a unique form standing 2.5 m tall. Each column is made of a whole tree trunk and decorated with an ornament. The ornaments of all wooden details vary in character -they are vegetative, geometrical, zoomorphic figures and patterns. Besides, these wooden pillars are decorated with absolutely unknown kinds of animals which look like birds, snakes and fishes at the same time. Quite possibly this is due to the ancient Tajiks’ religious beliefs in reincarnation.
Mazar has two entrance doors: one is on the northern side with calligraphically written sayings from the Koran as well as the date of the repair works – 1321 of Hidzhra (1903-1904) above it. The door is fitted with a decorative lattice behind which the believers were to observe their rituals. The other door leading from southwest was intended for the sheikh. In the center of the room is the tomb of the “holy man”.
The second type of Khazrati-Bobo structures are of later dates. The room with a four-columned aivan (to the left of mazar) is dated the 18th-19th centuries. The walls and the ceiling also are painted and decorated. This place, apparently, was intended for pilgrims who could spend a night ther. It was also used for some rituals such as – khudoi (sacrifice). In the yard of the complex there is a wooden minaret in the form of a three-tier tower. The complex of the buildings is surrounded by a pise-walled fence. According to the oldest local residents the mazar yard was used as a cemetery. But in the mid -20th century nearly all tombs were razed to the ground as some of the church-goers who visited the mosque frequently fell into the graveyard pits.
Penjikent – Rudaki Mausoleum
Rudaki Mausoleum, Penjikent The mausoleum of the world-renowned poet Abu-Abdullo Rudaki, the ancestor of classical Tajik poetry was constructed in 1958. This historical paradox is in the fact that this famous poet’s biography had not been studied in full, and consequently, the place of his burial was not determined.
What known is that Rudaki who lived in the late 9th – early 10th centuries (during Samanids rule) had spent his last days in poverty and died in 941 in his native Pandzhrud village Pendzhikent. Some data testify that the poet died blind.
It was due to the laborious efforts of the famous Tajik writer Sadriddin Ajni hat some important facts from Rudaki’s life have been exposed. Having thoroughly studied all available historical manuscripts he managed to identify the great poet’s burial place, and the well-known sculptor – anthropologist Michael Gerasimov restored his appearance on the basis of the found remains.
In 1956, the year of Rudaki’s 1,100th birthday, the tomb, where the poet had been supposedly buried, located in Pjandzhrud kishlak was dug out. The burial contained the skeleton bones, which belonged to a man who had died at the age of around 85-87 years. The objects found in the grave were related to the time in which the poet had lived. There were some other evidence proving the fact that it WAS Rudaki’s grave.