July 19 on the road to Khujand, Tajikistan

7/19

After breakfast and saying farewell to the kind hosts, we took the bumpy ride out of the village and continued to the city of Istaravshan, one of the most cities in Tajikistan at over 2,500 years old. It has been on the crossroads of ancient civilizations and empires. 

There was even the reach of the Roman Empire here, as seen in a settlement uncovered by archaeologists in which a painting of what appears to be Romulus and Remus was found. In Khujand, the city we stayed the night in, there was this statue, commemorating this reach. 

We visited the Hazratt Shaw mosque, which was built by a wealthy merchant in the late 19th century and passed a sanatorium such as we saw in Kyrgyzstan. 

The above are all of the mosque. 

We stopped by Mug Teppe, the ruins of a fortress stormed by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE and the Arabs in 772 AD. It was razed by Ghengis Khan troops and revived by Tamerlane. was originally built in 6th century BCE. CYRUS the Great had first. 

This was one of the best fortified place when Alexander came. He besieged this area and fortress. This is where Alexander was first wounded. Around 8000 defenders died. 

The Sogdians (natives) encountered most fierce resistance of all places that here. It is said that he married Roxana/Roxalana because of this, to help with relations, but that is debated. 

You can see the frescoes with Alexander’s army and the Sogdians. 



View from inside the fortress. This has been completely rebuilt since Tajikistan’s independence. 

Now there is an amphitheater in there, and it seems not to be used. Our guide said it was made with corrupted money. 

This region later because Tamerlane’s empire. Then became part of Bukhara. Then later in 19th century was taken by terrorist groups. 

After lunch, we continued to Khŭjand, Tajikistan’s second-largest city. Khŭjand was the site of Cyropolis, which was established by the Persian King Cyrus the Great. Later, Alexander the Great would build the furthest settlement in Greek civilization nearby in 329 BCE. Khŭjand would later become an important stop along the Silk Road. 

When we arrived we  walked a city tour, including visits to the Historical Museum of Sughd, resembling a castle, and the Mausoleum of Sheik Muslekheddin

I’m the museum we learned about some history of the early Zoroastrian believers who were first living here. There are still descendants of them, and they have a dying language even. 

This looks like the guest room of a traditional Tajik home. 

The propaganda selections in the WWII part of the museum were interesting. 

This young man led us in a tour. A favorite part was seeing these prize winning stone mosaics of Alexander the Great’s life. 

View of Khujand from my hotel room.