Tajikistan
تاجیکستانThe Persian-speaking republic of Central Asia, home of the Tajik language and the memory of the Samanids.
Tajik is a form of Persian, written in Cyrillic since the Soviet era. Tajiks look back to the Samanids, the ninth- and tenth-century dynasty of Bukhara whose court revived Persian as a language of literature.
Rudaki, called the father of Persian poetry, was born at Panjrud in today's Tajikistan, and at Panjakent archaeologists have uncovered a Sogdian city of painted houses.
Cities and towns
Dushanbeدوشنبه
The capital
Khujandخجند
An old city on the Syr Darya
Panjakentپنجکنت
The Sogdian city of painted houses
Landmarksبناها و نشانهها
Ancient Panjakent
پنجکنت باستانA Sogdian city of the fifth to eighth centuries
Tajikistan through time
Iranian historyThe Arab conquest and the Persian revivalفتح اعراب و احیای زبان فارسی
Islam reached Iran with the Arab armies of the 7th century. Persian survived, took on a new script and, under dynasties such as the Samanids, returned as one of the great literary languages of the world.
- Devashtich, last ruler of Panjakent, executed
- Systematic excavations begin at Panjakent
Poets of Tajikistanشاعران
Loiq Sher-Ali
لایق شیرعلیTajikistan's best-loved modern poet, who made the Persian language and its classical heritage his great theme.