Pendjikent — modern Tajikistan, ancient Sogdia — was a prosperous merchant city on the Silk Road, and its local coinage reflects the fragmented political reality of the region before the Arab conquest consolidated authority across Transoxiana. The principality of Panch issued bronze cash in the Chinese-influenced round-with-square-hole format, a borrowing that speaks to the depth of Tang dynasty commercial reach into Central Asia. Amukyan is identified as the issuing ruler by Smirnova's classification of the Sogdian legend.
The city was abandoned around 722 AD following Arab pressure and has since yielded extraordinary archaeological material, including the painted murals now in the Hermitage.
Pendjikent — modern Tajikistan, ancient Sogdia — was a prosperous merchant city on the Silk Road, and its local coinage reflects the fragmented political reality of the region before the Arab conquest consolidated authority across Transoxiana. The principality of Panch issued bronze cash in the Chinese-influenced round-with-square-hole format, a borrowing that speaks to the depth of Tang dynasty commercial reach into Central Asia. Amukyan is identified as the issuing ruler by Smirnova's classification of the Sogdian legend.
The city was abandoned around 722 AD following Arab pressure and has since yielded extraordinary archaeological material, including the painted murals now in the Hermitage.