Yaghnobis | TriviaQuestions.online

⭐ In the context of Sogdiana, Yaghnobis are significant because they are the primary modern-day speakers of…

The Yaghnobis people of Tajikistan are the only remaining community who speak a language directly descended from Sogdian, specifically the Yaghnobi dialect, preserving a linguistic link to this ancient civilization.

⭐ Core Definition: Yaghnobis

The Yaghnobi (Yaghnobi: yaγnōbī́t or suγdī́t; Tajik: яғнобиҳо, yağnobiho/jaƣnoʙiho) are an Eastern Iranian people residing in Tajikistan's Sughd region, specifically in the valleys of the Yaghnob, Qul, and Varzob rivers.

Yaghnobi is spoken in the upper valley of the Yaghnob River in the Zarafshan area of Tajikistan by the Yaghnobi people, and is also taught in some schools. It is considered to be a direct descendant of Sogdian and has often been called Neo-Sogdian in academic literature. The Yaghnobi are considered to be descendants of the Sogdian-speaking peoples who once inhabited most of Central Asia beyond the Amu Darya River in what was ancient Sogdia.

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👉 Yaghnobis in the context of Sogdians

Sogdia (/ˈsɒɡdiə/) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya rivers, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemenid Empire, and listed on the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great. Sogdiana was first conquered by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, and then was annexed by the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in 328 BC. It would continue to change hands under the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, the Kushan Empire, the Sasanian Empire, the Hephthalite Empire, the Western Turkic Khaganate, and the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana.

The Sogdian city-states, although never politically united, were centered on the city of Samarkand. Sogdian, an Eastern Iranian language, is no longer spoken. However, a descendant of one of its dialects, Yaghnobi, is still spoken by the Yaghnobis of Tajikistan. It was widely spoken in Central Asia as a lingua franca and served as one of the First Turkic Khaganate's court languages for writing documents.

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