Banakat

Banākat, Banākath, Fanākat, or Fanākath was a town on the upper Syr Darya in Transoxiana (present-day Uzbekistan, Central Asia).

The second part of these names, kat or kath, is an Eastern Iranian (Soghdian) compound meaning town. Its other forms are kāt, kāth, kant, kand as in Samarkand and Chāchkand (now Tashkent). It is similar to the Persian 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 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 ravines, 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. 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 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 to capture cities around Syr Darya including Khujand and Banākat one part under Chagatai and Ögedei to capture Otrar two other parts under Tolui and himself to capture Samarkand.