Muhammadiyev Abduhamid Kamoliddinovich The third year student of the Faculty of History of National university.

OLD AND IMMORTAL AFROSIYOB

Annotation: What is amazing that there were no any sign of the city and local population called this site as the city of Afrasiab, believing in the legend of existence of the huge city, founded by the mythic king Turan. Actually it is the settlement of ancient of pre-Mongol period. It was the site of urban life from VI century BC till the destruction by Mongol troops in 1220. Key-words : Afrasiab, Samarkand, Smarakanze, Samanids, "The History of ", Alexander the Great, Solor, Kaykovus, Zolariq.

Looking back at the long ages of ancient history, in the past, Samarkand has been famous with its own complex and meaningful history. Afrasiab is one of the most important historical monuments in Samarkand that allows to restore the ancient history of Samarkand. There are many debates among schoolars about the origin of this name. Afrosiyob is one of old ruins of Samarkand. This name appeared only from the XVII century in historical sources. Ancient Samarkand was called as “Smarakanve” in its historical sources. In IV century B.C, After the invasion of Samarkand by Alexander the Great, the Greek authors noted Samarkand as Moroccan, which is the Greek translation of “Smarakanve”. When the Samanids came to power in Maverounnahr, Smarakan began to be called as Samarkand from the ninth century AD . In the XI-XV centuries, Samarkand appears as Semizkent in the Turkish literatures and refereences. Since the fifteenth century, in both Persian and Turkish sources this name began to be used the same as Samarkand. Different sources give different information about Afrosiyob. For example, in "The History of Bukhara" (Narshahi), Afrasiab was described as the magician who lived nearly 2000 years, the murderer of his bridegroom -Siyovush, the founder of the Romitan Fortress and etc. Afrosiab is the original name of the city of Samarkand. Now It is an archaeological reservation. Archaeological findings found on this hill served as the basis to determine the age of Samarkand. The findings discovered during archaeological excavations at Afrasiab, each of which belongs to a different period of the settlement history are one of the most valuable artifacts of the museum. These include ossuaries, fragments of ancient swords, knives, arrows, coins, pottery and frescoes of Samarkand palace belonging to the Ikhshidid dynasty (7-8th centuries). The name Afrasiab is also translated as “the hill of black water” from Latin. According to Y.A.Gulyamov, names of Solor, Kaykovus, Zolariq and Afrosiab appeared via the influence by the book "Shohnoma". Up to the Mongol invasion, the city center had been Afrosiab. The famous archaeologist V.Shishkin writes that in the seventeenth - eighteenth centuries this place was associated with the legendary Afrosiab. According to legend, the city of ancient times was one of its residences. Since then, the hill has been famous for its popular name, Afrosiab. The word "Afrosiab" figuratively has been translated into the literary literature through the book "Shohnoma" by the great representative of the Persian-classic classic Abulqosim Firdavs, which is interpreted as the legendary king of Turan. Historical manuscripts about Afrosiab are rare and unclear. Therefore, data obtained as a result of archaeological excavations in the history of the city is of great importance. In the course of excavations it was determined that the city of Afrasiab consisted of fortress, inner city and outskirts. In the inner city researchers found residential and handicraft quarters, the mosque, remains of the palace of Samarkand ruler (VII-VIII centuries), where they found wonderful fresco, devoted to the events of the city life.

The Museum of Afrasiab is located at the same site and displays the collectin of archeological findings, carried out on the site of this ancient city. There is no clear idea among the scholars about the linguistic meaning and origin of the name Afrosiab. They have different points of view. The idea that is closer to the truth is that: "Afrosiab" is a combination of "apparatus" and "shavar", meaning "city on black water" or "places around Siyab", which belongs to the famous orientalist V.A.Livsitz from Leningrad . Siyab means "ink" and "ob", which means "Qorasuv." In Tajik. As it is stated above, we prefer to chose the Afrosiyob toponym as a "city on black water."

References

1 National Encyclopedia of , 795-796 pages. 2 From Mirsodiq Is’hokov’s point of view 3 Sh.Shorakhimov. Afrosiyobga sayohat. Page -9.-1979