Banākat, Banākath, Fanākat, or Fanākath was a town on the upper

Syr Darya The Syr Darya ( ),; ; ; ; ; /. historically known as the Jaxartes ( , ), is a river in Central Asia. The name, which is Persian language, Persian, literally means ''Syr Sea'' or ''Syr River''. It originates in the Tian Shan, Tian Shan Mountain ...

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

(present-day

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

, Central Asia). The second part of these names, ''kat'' or ''kath'', is an Eastern Iranian (

Soghdian The Sogdian language was an Eastern Iranian language spoken mainly in the Central Asian region of Sogdia (capital: Samarkand; other chief cities: Panjakent, Fergana, Khujand, and Bukhara), located in modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan ...

) compound meaning ''town''. Its other forms are ''kāt'', ''kāth'', ''kant'', ''kand'' as in

Samarkand Samarkand ( ; Uzbek language, Uzbek and Tajik language, Tajik: Самарқанд / Samarqand, ) is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in Central As ...

and Chāchkand (now

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

). It is similar to the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

suffix '-kada'. Banokat , Fanokat, Sharqiya, Shahrukhiya is an ancient city ruin ( 1st - 18th centuries ) located on the right bank of the Syrdarya , on the edge of the caravan road at the confluence of the Ohangaron (Ilaq) River with the Syrdarya.

Archeology

Banokat was discovered by the amateur

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

D. K. Zatsepin (1876), Ye. studied by T. Smirnov (1894, 1896). Since 1973 Shosh - Ilaq expedition ( Yu.F. Buryakov ) investigates. According to researches, at first (1st century) it did not have a defensive wall , the river around it, as well as

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. Ravines may also be called a cleuch, dell, ...

s, acted as a means of natural defense. The territory of Banokat is 22 ha, and the plot occupies about 1 ha. 12-13 a . expanded at the beginning (140 ha); it consisted of an ark, 3 cities and a

rabad Rabaḍ () refers to the suburbs of seventh- to eighth-century cities in Central Asia, including what is now the Turkistan Region in southern Kazakhstan, Iran, and Afghanistan. This term, in the Andalusī Arabic form of ''ar-rabāḍ'', was borrow ...

. As a result of the excavations, various ceramic objects (decorated jug, cup, glazed plate, etc.), coins and jewelry were found. In Banokat jewelry, textiles, pottery, glassmaking and other advanced products were manufactured, copper and silver coins were minted.

History

Banākat was located near

Khujand Khujand, sometimes spelled Khodjent and formerly known as Leninabad from 1936 to 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan and the capital of Tajikistan's northernmost Sughd province. Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, d ...

in present-day Uzbekistan. It was destroyed during the Mongol invasion ( 1220 BC). At the time of his invasion, Chingis Khan divided his army into four: * one part under

Jochi Jochi (; ), also spelled Jüchi, was a prince of the early Mongol Empire. His life was marked by controversy over the circumstances of his birth and culminated in his estrangement from his family. He was nevertheless a prominent Military of the ...

to capture cities around

including

and Banākat * one part under Chagatai and Ögedei to capture

Otrar Otrar or Otyrar ( ; ), also called Farab, is a Central Asian ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Otrar was an important town in the history of Central Asia, situated on the borders of settled and agricultural civ ...

* two other parts under

Tolui Tolui (born ; died 1232) was the youngest son of Genghis Khan and Börte. A prominent general during the early Mongol conquests, Tolui was a leading candidate to succeed his father after his death in 1227 and ultimately served as regent of th ...

and himself to capture

. In 1392 town was rebuilt by

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

(Tamerlane) and renamed Shahrukhiya after his son Shahrukh. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was destroyed as a result of internecine wars. A part of the Banokat ruins was washed away by the Syr Darya river.

Famous people from Banakat

There are several Persians called ''Banākati'' (i.e., of or related to Banākat), some of them born in Banākat and some born elsewhere: *

Amir Emir (; ' (), also transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or ceremonial authority. The title has ...

(meaning minister) Ahmad Banākati: (killed 1282 CE / 681 AH), the finance minister and

vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...

of Qubilai Khan * Mohammad Banākati (in full: Tājeddin Abulfazl Mohammad ibn Mohammad Banākati, died 1283 CE / 682 AH): a Persian religious scholar and father of Davoud and Ali Banākati (see below). * Abu Sulayman Banakati (died 1330): Persian poet and historian who wrote ''Rawzat al-Ulu al-Albāb fi Ma'rifat Tawārikh al-Akābir wa al-Ansāb ( Garden of the Learned to Know the History of Great Men and Genealogy)''. This book is also known as Tārikh-i Banākati. Davoud Banākati wrote this book in 1317 CE / 717 AH for Abu Said Bahatur. He was poet laureate (malek ol-shoara) of

Ghazan Khan Mahmud Ghazan (5 November 1271 – 11 May 1304) (, Ghazan Khan, sometimes westernized as Casanus was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun, grandson of Abaqa ...

court. * Ali Banākati (in full: Sayyid Nizāmeddin Ali ibn Mohammad Banākati, died 1299 CE / 699 AH): a great mystic and Sufi from Tabriz, brother of Davoud Banākati. * Nāsekh Banākati (in full: Abul-Mozaffar Qutbeddin Ahmad ibn Mahmoud ibn Abu-Bakr, died after 1272 CE / 671 AH) a well-known and high-quality copyist and calligrapher who was contemporary with Khwaja Nasireddin Tusi and copied several of his works and met him in Maragha observatory.

References

* Related entries in

Dehkhoda Dictionary The ''Dehkhoda Dictionary'' or ''Dehkhoda Lexicon'' ( or ) is the largest comprehensive Persian encyclopedic dictionary ever published, comprising 200 volumes. It is published by the Tehran University Press (UTP) under the supervision of the ...

of Persian language (in Persian
online site
* Hossein Hasan-Nejad, "Introduction and review of Banākati History " in ''Journal of Studies in History'' (Majalleh Tārikh-pezhuhi) (in Persian), 2002 CE/1381 AH. Former populated places in Uzbekistan Populated places in Central Asia {{Uzbekistan-stub