Turgar

Tūrgār, also Thurgar (Sogdian: twrγ'r, Chinese: 咄曷 Duō-hé) was a medieval Sogdian ruler (an Ikhshid) in Transoxiana and successor to his father Ghurak during the period of the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana.[2] He was the last ruler of Samarkand and its surroundings from ca. 738 until no later than 755/57, until the Arabs took full control of the region.[2][3] He was an Ikhshid, a princely title of the Iranian rulers of Soghdia and the Ferghana Valley in Transoxiana during the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods.[4]

Turgar
King of Samarkand
Coin of Sogdian ruler Turgar, Ikhshid of Samarkand. Excavated in Penjikent, 8th century CE, National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan.[1][2]
Reign738–755/57
PredecessorGhurak
SuccessorNone
BornSamarkand, Sogdia
DynastyIkhshids
FatherGhurak[2]
ReligionZoroastrianism

Turgar issued coinage with his own name in the legend.[2] He was the last of the Ikhshid rulers to issue coinage.[2] Many of his coins were found in the excavations of Penjikent.[5]

Turgar was a successor of Gurak, who ruled in the period following the famous king Divashtich.[2] Turgar's rule seems to have enjoyed a relative period of prosperity, under the rather benevolent supervision of the Muslim Umayyad Governor Nasr ibn Sayyar. This continued until the revolt of Abu Muslim and the establishment of the Abbasid dynasty, after which Sogdians had to convert to Islam.[6]

References

  1. Tadjikistan : au pays des fleuves d'or. Paris: Musée Guimet. 2021. p. 152. ISBN 978-9461616272.
  2. Fedorov, Michael (2007). "ON THE PORTRAITS OF THE SOGDIAN KINGS (IKHSHĪDS) OF SAMARQAND". Iran. 45: 153–160. doi:10.1080/05786967.2007.11864723. ISSN 0578-6967. JSTOR 25651416. S2CID 194538468.
  3. Gariboldi, Andrea (2015). "Le monete di Turgar (738-750), ultimo re di Samarcanda" (PDF). 4th Simone Assemani Symposium on Islamic Coins: 279–288.
  4. Bosworth 1971, p. 1060.
  5. Azarpay, Guitty; Belenickij, Aleksandr M.; Maršak, Boris Il'ič; Dresden, Mark J. (1 January 1981). Sogdian Painting: The Pictorial Epic in Oriental Art. University of California Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-520-03765-6.
  6. Grube, Ernst J. (1991). A Mirror for Princes from India: Illustrated Versions of the Kalilah Wa Dimnah, Anvar-i Suhayli, Iyar-i Danish, and Humayun Nameh. Marg Publications. p. 19. ISBN 978-81-85026-16-9. Many houses appear to have been renovated and repainted during the reign of the Samarkand King Turgar, who came to the throne in AD 738. This phase of activity coincides with the conciliatory policy of the Muslim governor , Nasr ibn Saiyar . It was to come to an end with the revolt of Abu Muslim , when locals were converted to Islam .

Sources

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