{{Short description|City in Sughd Region, Tajikistan}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Panjakent | native_name = {{lang|tg|Панҷакент}} | other_name = {{lang|ru|Пенджикент}} <!-- images and maps ----------->| image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | perrow = 1/2/2/2/2 | total_width = 250 | image1 = Panjakent 7-4-19.jpg | image2 = Panjakent1.JPG | image3 = Market Gateway in Panjakent.jpg | image4 = | image5 = | footer = From the top to bottom-right, View over Panjakent, Entrance Sign to the City, Panjakent Bazaar, Monument in the City Centre }} | imagesize = | image_caption = | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Tajikistan#Central Asia | pushpin_label_position = top | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Panjakent | subdivision_type = [[Countries of the world|Country]] | subdivision_name = {{flag|Tajikistan}} | subdivision_type1 = [[Regions of Tajikistan|Region]] | subdivision_name1 = [[Sughd Region]] | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | established_title = | established_date = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_magnitude = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_land_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_urban_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2020 | population_footnotes = <ref name=pop2020>{{cite web |url=http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf |title=Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January 2020 |publisher=Statistics office of Tajikistan |access-date=3 October 2020 |language=ru |archive-date=1 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210601101228/http://stat.ww.tj/posts/July2020/macmua_20201.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> | population_total = 303,000 | population_urban = 52,500 | population_metro = | population_density_sq_mi = | population_density_km2 = | timezone = [[UTC+5]] | utc_offset = | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = {{coord|39.486769|N|67.619734|E|region:TJ|display=inline}} | elevation_footnotes = <ref name=weatherbase>{{cite web|title=Climate of Panjakent|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=605194&cityname=Panjakent%2C+Viloyati+Sughd%2C+Tajikistan&units=metric|website=Weatherbase.com|access-date=7 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808143356/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=605194&cityname=Panjakent%2C+Viloyati+Sughd%2C+Tajikistan&units=metric|archive-date=8 August 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> | elevation_m = 996 | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | blank1_name_sec2 = {{nowrap|[[Official languages]]}} | blank1_info_sec2 = {{plainlist| *[[Russian language|Russian]] (Interethnic) *[[Tajik language|Tajik]] (State)<ref>{{cite web |title=Конституция Республики Таджикистан |url=http://prokuratura.tj/ru/legislation/the-constitution-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan.html |website=prokuratura.tj |publisher=Parliament of Tajikistan |access-date=9 January 2020}}</ref>}} | area_code = | website = | footnotes = {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site |child = yes |Part_of = [[Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor]] |ID = 1675-006 |Year = 2023 |Criteria = Cultural: ii, iii, v }} | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 10 | mapframe-wikidata = yes }}
'''Panjakent''' ({{langx|tg|Панҷакент}}) or '''Penjikent''' ({{langx|ru|Пенджикент}}{{efn|Also spelled or romanized as '''Pendzhikent''', '''Penjikent''', '''Panjekent''', '''Panjikent''', etc.}}) is a city in the [[Sughd]] province of [[Tajikistan]] on the river [[Zeravshan (river)|Zeravshan]], with a population of 52,500 (2020 estimate). It was once an ancient town in [[Sogdiana]]. The ruins of the old town are on the outskirts of the modern city. The [[Sarazm Important Bird Area]] lies downstream of the city on the [[tugay]]-vegetated [[floodplain]] of the river.
==History== Ancient Panjakent was a small but flourishing town of the [[Sogdians]] in pre-Islamic Central Asia. It was known as Panchekanth.<ref>{{cite web|author=Gorgâni, Tirdâd|title=Welcome to Penjakent|url=http://www.geocities.com/panjikent/|publisher=Geocities|access-date=July 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090728164550/http://geocities.com/panjikent/|archive-date=2009-07-28}}</ref> The ethnic and territorial name "Soghd/Soghdian" or Sughd/Sughdian was mentioned in history as early as the Iranian [[Achaemenid dynasty]] (6th century BC). The Achaemenids founded several city-states, as well as cities along the ancient [[Silk Road]] and in the [[Zeravshan River|Zarafshan]] valley.
[[File:Caryatid Panjakent MNAT Rest1418.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|[[Caryatid]], 7th–8th century. From Panjakent, Tajikistan.]] 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, [[Rashidun Caliphate|Arab Muslims]] forces besieged and took the town. The last ruler of the town [[Divashtich]] 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.
The Sogdians settled in a number of the city states Zeravashan alley and the surrounding oases clustered mostly around the Samarkand. Those city states had a strong rivalry between themselves, with their own traditions rules and ruling families, creating a very decentralised political system. Similarly the city of Panjakent was located around 90 km away from Samarkand and was a vassal state to Samarkand though it still had a vibrant and prosperous economy.<ref>Powell, Eric A. "A Silk Road Renaissance." ''Archaeology'' 73, no. 4 (2020): 36–41. <nowiki>https://www.jstor.org/stable/27056725</nowiki>.</ref>
Numerous records of a Penjikent rulership, written in [[Sogdian alphabet|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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Panjikent|url=https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/penjikent/|access-date=March 30, 2021|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506053839/https://samarkandtours.com/tajikistan/penjikent/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[File:Penjikent in Tajikistan.jpg|thumb|Ruins of ancient Penjikent in Tajikistan.{{coord|39.488|N|67.616|E|display=inline}}]] According to Arab geographers, Panjakent in the 10th century had a formal Friday [[mosque]] that distinguished the place as a town from a village. It was the easternmost city of Soghd, and became well known for its [[walnut]]s.<ref>{{cite web|last=Marshak|first=B.I.|title=Panjikant|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/panjikant|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|access-date=2011-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151116230147/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/panjikant|archive-date=2015-11-16|url-status=live}}</ref>
Russian archaeologist [[Boris Marshak]] spent more than fifty years [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavating]] the ruins at Panjakent.<ref>{{cite web | author=Shkoda, V. | publisher=Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. [[Transoxiana: Journal Libre de Estudios Orientales]] | date=October 2003 | url=http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/bibliography_marshak.html | title=Marshak's Bibliography and CV. | access-date=2006-10-14 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101081758/http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/bibliography_marshak.html | archive-date=2007-01-01 | url-status=live }}</ref> He remained there even after Tajik independence as director of the excavation of the Panjakent ruins, during the years of [[Civil War in Tajikistan]] from 1992 to 1997. Through close cooperation with the [[government of Tajikistan]], Marshak ensured the protection and continued excavation of the Panjakent ruins.
===Ancient murals and artifacts=== {{main|Penjikent murals}} Numerous murals were recovered from the site of Panjikent, and many of them are now on display in the [[Hermitage Museum]] and in the [[National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan]] in [[Dushanbe]]. 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 the [[Shahnameh]] and the epic cycle of [[Rostam]], scenes of festivities alternate with depictions of combats, local cults mix with Iranian and [[Hindu]] 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 the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], and many works of art were damaged or destroyed at that time.<ref>{{cite web |title=Panjikant – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/panjikant |website=iranicaonline.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Compareti |first1=Matteo |title=Classical elements in Sogdian art: Aesop's fables represented in the mural paintings at Penjikent |journal=Iranica Antiqua |date=2012 |volume=XLVII |pages=303–316 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283346297 |language=en}}</ref>
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4"> File:Chinese-style coinage of the rulers of Penjikent, Tajikistan, 7-8th century CE.jpg|Chinese-style coinage of the rulers of Penjikent, Tajikistan, 7-8th century CE File:Bracteate_she-wolf_NMAT_KP208-243_(cropped).jpg|She-wolf suckling two infants ("[[Romulus and Remus]]"), Penjikent, 5th century CE, [[National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan]] (KP 208–243).<ref>{{cite book |title=Tadjikistan: au pays des fleuves d'or |date=2021 |publisher=Musée Guimet, Snoek |location=Paris, Gand |isbn=978-94-6161-627-2 |page=133 |url= }}</ref> File:Uma-Maheshvara, Shiva with spouse Uma riding the bull Nandi, Penjikent Temple II, 690-722 CE, Tajikistan National Museum of Antiquities (60).jpg|''[[Uma–Maheshvara|Uma-Maheshvara]]'': [[ithyphallic]] [[Shiva]] with spouse [[Uma (goddess)|Uma]] riding the bull [[Nandi (mythology)|Nandi]], Penjikent Temple II, 690-722 CE, [[National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan]] (60).<ref>{{cite book |title=Tadjikistan: au pays des fleuves d'or |date=2021 |publisher=Musée Guimet, Snoek |location=Paris, Gand |isbn=978-94-6161-627-2 |page=164 |url= }}</ref> File:Penjikent, figures with halos.jpg|Penjikent, figures with halos, [[Hermitage Museum]] File:Hommes au banquet, pigment sur plâtre, Penjikent, Tadjikistan.jpg|Men banquet, pigment on plaster. Pendjikent, Tajikistan File:Panjikent mural (6th-7th century CE).jpg|Panjikent mural (6th-7th century AD). [[Hermitage Museum]] File:Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural , 6th-8th Centuries (2).jpg|Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural, 6th-8th centuries AD. [[Hermitage Museum]] File:Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural , 6th-8th Centuries.jpg|Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural, 6th-8th centuries AD. [[National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan]] File:Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural, 6th-8th Centuries (3).jpg|Panjakent (Panjīkant) mural, 6th-8th centuries AD File:Shiva with Trisula Panjikent 7th–8th century CE Hermitage Museum.jpg|[[Shiva]] with [[Trisula]]. Penjikent 7th–8th century AD. [[Hermitage Museum]] File:Dushanbe - National Museum of Antiquities - Lion and Goddess Anahita - Penjikent, 6th-8th c AD.jpg|Lion and Goddess [[Nana (Bactrian goddess)|Nana]], Penjikent, 6th-8th c AD File:Dushanbe - National Museum of Antiquities - Wall Painting.jpg|Multi-armed deity in armour </gallery>
==Geography== ===Climate===
[[File:Pajakent Bazaar1.jpg|thumb|Panjakent bazaar]] Panjakent has a [[Humid continental climate#Hot summer subtype|hot summer humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dsa''). The warmest month is July and the coldest month is January. The average annual precipitation is {{convert|364.9|mm|in|abbr=on}} and has an average of 108 days with precipitation. The wettest month is April with an average of {{convert|73.1|mm|in|abbr=on}} of precipitation and the driest month is August with an average of {{convert|2.7|mm|in|abbr=on}} of precipitation.
{{Weather box|location = Kulob (1961-1990 normals) |metric first = y |single line = y | Jan high C =5.6 | Feb high C =7.3 | Mar high C =12.5 | Apr high C =19.4 | May high C =24.5 | Jun high C =30.6 | Jul high C =32.8 | Aug high C =31.3 | Sep high C =26.7 | Oct high C =19.9 | Nov high C =14.0 | Dec high C =8.7 | year high C = | Jan low C =-4.8 | Feb low C =-3.3 | Mar low C =2.0 | Apr low C =7.5 | May low C =11.6 | Jun low C =15.6 | Jul low C =17.3 | Aug low C =15.3 | Sep low C =10.9 | Oct low C =6.1 | Nov low C =1.9 | Dec low C =-1.8 | year low C =
|precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 38.1 |Feb precipitation mm = 36.9 |Mar precipitation mm = 61.6 |Apr precipitation mm = 73.1 |May precipitation mm = 44.4 |Jun precipitation mm = 5.5 |Jul precipitation mm = 7.4 |Aug precipitation mm = 2.7 |Sep precipitation mm = 6.6 |Oct precipitation mm = 26.8 |Nov precipitation mm = 25.0 |Dec precipitation mm = 36.8 |year precipitation mm = |unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm |Jan precipitation days = 12 |Feb precipitation days = 13 |Mar precipitation days = 15 |Apr precipitation days = 15 |May precipitation days = 12 |Jun precipitation days = 5 |Jul precipitation days = 4 |Aug precipitation days = 3 |Sep precipitation days = 3 |Oct precipitation days = 8 |Nov precipitation days = 8 |Dec precipitation days = 10 |source 1 = [[WMO]]<ref>{{cite web |title=World Weather Information Service - Penjikent |url=https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=600059 |publisher=World Meteorological Organization |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> }}
==Subdivisions== Before ca. 2018, Panjakent was the seat of [[Panjakent District]], which covered the rural part of the present city of Panjakent.<ref name=pop2015>{{cite web|url=http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/65a709121baf8a64bf15d33f398aafde_1435736807.pdf |title=Population of the Republic of Tajikistan as of 1 January 2015 |publisher=Statistics office of Tajikistan |access-date=3 October 2020 |language=ru|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702021130/http://www.stat.tj/ru/img/65a709121baf8a64bf15d33f398aafde_1435736807.pdf|archive-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> The city of Panjakent covers Panjakent proper and fourteen [[Jamoats of Tajikistan|jamoats]].<ref name=pop2020/> These are as follows:<ref name=jambi>[http://untj.org/jambi-project/index.php/maps-statistics/demography Jamoat-level basic indicators], United Nations Development Programme in Tajikistan, accessed 3 October 2020</ref>
{| class="wikitable" sortable" |- ! Jamoat ! Population (Jan. 2015)<ref name=jambi/> |- | [[Amondara]] ||13,380 |- | [[Chinor]] || 6,879 |- | [[Farob]] || 8,650 |- | [[Khalifa Hassan]] || 14,728 |- | [[Khurmi]] || 10,451 |- | [[Kosatarosh]] || 18,986 |- | [[Loiq Sherali, Sughd|Loiq Sherali]] || 18,675 |- | [[Moghiyon]] || 19,553 |- | [[Rudaki, Tajikistan|Rudaki]] || 18,465 |- | [[Sarazm]] || 27,877 |- | [[Shing, Tajikistan|Shing]] ||10,873 |- | [[Sujina]] || 12,285 |- | [[Voru, Tajikistan|Voru]] || 12,347 |- | [[Yori, Tajikistan|Yori]] || 19,045 |}
==Notable people== [[File:Rudaki Tomb in Panjkent-after restored.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Rudaki]] Tomb of Panjakent]] *[[Nigina Amonkulova]], folk singer<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nigina Amonkulova (Amonqulova)|url=http://life.ansor.info/en/nigina-amonkulova-amonqulova/|access-date=2020-12-17|website=life.ansor.info|archive-date=2022-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331074538/http://life.ansor.info/en/nigina-amonkulova-amonqulova/|url-status=dead}}</ref> *[[Khayrinisso Yusufi]], vice-premier of Tajikistan, member of the [[Assembly of Representatives (Tajikistan)|Assembly of Representatives]].<ref name="AbdullaevAkbarzaheh2010">{{cite book|author1=Kamoludin Abdullaev|author2=Shahram Akbarzaheh|title=Historical Dictionary of Tajikistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PB5xgFRuYPUC|date=27 April 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7379-7|access-date=15 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531083610/http://books.google.com/books?id=PB5xgFRuYPUC|archive-date=31 May 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> * [[Otakhon Latifi]] <small>({{langx|tg|Отахон Латифи}})</small> (1936–1998), was a noted journalist and politician<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://apnews.com/07b7e2ea4f1d7c9616081cb8af655992 |title=Opposition-Chief-Dies |website=[[Associated Press]] |access-date=2018-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072559/http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1998/Opposition-Chief-Dies-in-Tajikistan/id-07b7e2ea4f1d7c9616081cb8af655992 |archive-date=2018-01-03 |url-status=live }}</ref> * [[Yakub Beg of Yettishar|Yaqub Beg]], leader of Uighur state of [[Yettishar]] during the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan Revolt]] against the [[Qing dynasty]] in years 1865–1877<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaqub_Beg|title=Yaqub Beg }}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=September 2022}} * [[Rustem Umierov]] (b. 1982), Ukrainian Crimean Tatar politician
==See also== * [[List of cities in Tajikistan]] * [[Rudaki Republican Museum of Regional History, Panjakent]]
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Panjakent}} * {{wikivoyage inline|Panjakent}}
{{coord|39|30|N|67|37|E|region:TJ_type:city|display=title}} {{Largest cities of Tajikistan}} {{Sughd|state=collapsed}} {{Authority control}} {{Central Asian history}}
[[Category:Populated places in Sughd Region]] [[Category:Achaemenid cities]] [[Category:Former populated places in Tajikistan]] [[Category:Samarkand Oblast]] [[Category:Sogdian cities]]