Current Time in Istaravshan, Tajikistan

Istaravshan stands in the Sughd Region of northern Tajikistan, on the northern slopes of the Turkestan Range where the mountains descend towards the Fergana Valley. The town lies at around a thousand metres above sea level among orchards and vineyards fed by streams from the snowfields above, and the road south from here climbs to the Shahriston pass and the tunnel that carries traffic towards Dushanbe. Summers are hot and dry, winters cold and clear, and apricot and cherry blossom covers the valley each spring.

Around eighty thousand people live in the town, with a much larger population in the surrounding district. Istaravshan is above all a city of craftsmen and traders. Its knives, forged and decorated by hand, are famous throughout Central Asia, and workshops also produce embroidery, painted woodwork, carved doors, skullcaps, ceramics and copperware. Farming of fruit, vegetables, grain and tobacco supports the rural population, and the large bazaar draws buyers from across the region.

The city claims a history of some two and a half thousand years, which would make it one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Central Asia. It is generally identified with Cyropolis, the fortress said to have been founded by Cyrus the Great as the northern limit of the Persian Empire, and it was here in 329 before the common era that Alexander the Great fought a hard campaign and stormed the citadel, receiving a wound in the process. Later known as Ustrushana, the town was the seat of a local princely dynasty, and after the Arab conquest it became a centre of Islamic learning. It was known for centuries as Ura-Tyube, passing through Samanid, Timurid, Bukharan and Kokand rule before the Russian conquest of 1866, and took its present name in 2000.

The best known monument is the Kok Gumbaz mosque, its great blue dome raised in the fifteenth century by a Timurid prince, standing beside a religious school in a shaded courtyard. The Sari Mazar complex contains the tomb of a revered saint amid ancient trees, and the Chor Gumbaz and Hazrati Shoh shrines are also worth seeing. Above the town rises Mugtepa, the hill where the ancient citadel stood, now marked by a reconstructed gateway and offering views over the roofs, gardens and mountains beyond. The old quarters, with their narrow lanes, mud-brick walls and carved wooden doors, retain a genuinely medieval atmosphere, and the craft workshops welcome visitors.

Tajik culture is strongly felt, with Persian poetry, music played on the rubab, dutar and doira, elaborate hospitality and the great spring festival of Navruz, when tables are laid with sprouted wheat pudding, dried fruit and sweets. Local dishes include qurutob, plov, samsa baked in clay ovens, and mountain honey.

The main highway between Khujand and Dushanbe passes through the town, and buses and shared taxis run frequently, with the nearest airport at Khujand about seventy kilometres away. Colleges and technical schools operate locally.

Istaravshan is treasured for its antiquity, its craftsmanship and its beautifully preserved old town.