The Learned and Literary Personalities of Khujand: Bozorgan-i Elm wa Adab-i Khujand (Persian Edition)

Khujand is the site of Cyropolis, or the City of Cyrus. In his last expedition against the Saka tribe of Massagetae and shortly before his death in that battle, King Cyrus the Great the founder of the Achaemenid Empire founded a city here which he named after himself. Greek authors maintain that later in time, Alexander of Macedon built a Greek settlement near Cyropolis (Khujand) in 329 BC and named it Alexandria Eschate . Some famous Persian poets and scientists come from this city. Khujand is an integral part of the Iranic world and culture. Khujand was captured by the Muslim armies in the 8th century and incorporated into the Abbasid Caliphate In late 9th century; however, it reverted to local rule and eventually incorporated into the native Samanid Empire. Historically, Tajiks and Persians come from very similar stock, speaking variants of the same language and are related as part of the larger group of Iranian peoples. The Tajik language is the mother tongue of around 80% of the citizens of Tajikistan. The main urban centers in today's Tajikistan include Dushanbe (the capital), Khujand, Kulob, Panjakent and Istaravshan. There are also Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Russian minorities. In contrast to the mostly Sunni Muslim residents of the rest of Tajikistan, the Pamiris overwhelmingly follow the Ismaeili sect of Islam, and speak a number of Eastern Iranian languages, including Shughni, Rushani, Khufi and Wakhi. Isolated in the highest parts of the Pamir Mountains, they have preserved many ancient cultural traditions and folk arts that have been largely lost elsewhere in the country. In 2010, a Tajik citizen Nilufar Sherzod became Miss United Nations, representing Tajik culture.