Banakat
Banākat, Banākath, Fanākat, or Fanākath was a town on the upper Syr Darya in Transoxiana.
The second part of these names, kat or kath, is an Eastern Iranian compound meaning town. Its other forms are kāt, kāth, kant, kand as in Samarkand and Chāchkand. It is similar to the Persian suffix '-kada'.
Banokat, Fanokat, Sharqiya, Shahrukhiya is an ancient city ruin located on the right bank of the Syrdarya, on the edge of the caravan road at the confluence of the Ohangaron River with the Syrdarya.
Archeology
Banokat was discovered by the amateur archaeologist D. K. Zatsepin, Ye. studied by T. Smirnov. Since 1973 Shosh - Ilaq expedition investigates. According to researches, at first 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 ; it consisted of an ark, 3 cities and a rabad. As a result of the excavations, various ceramic objects, 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. 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.
At the beginning of the 18th century, it was destroyed as a result of internecine wars. A part of the Banokat ruins was washed away by the Syr Darya river.
Famous people from Banakat
There are several Persians called Banākati, some of them born in Banākat and some born elsewhere:- Amir Ahmad Banākati:, the finance minister and vizier of Qubilai Khan
- Mohammad Banākati : a Persian religious scholar and father of Davoud and Ali Banākati.
- Abu Sulayman Banakati : Persian poet and historian who wrote Rawzat al-Ulu al-Albāb fi Ma'rifat Tawārikh al-Akābir wa al-Ansāb . This book is also known as Tārikh-i Banākati. Davoud Banākati wrote this book in 1317 CE / 717 AH for Abu Said Bahatur. He was poet laureate of Ghazan Khan court.
- Ali Banākati : a great mystic and Sufi from Tabriz, brother of Davoud Banākati.
- Nāsekh Banākati a well-known and high-quality copyist and calligrapher who was contemporary with Khwaja Nasireddin Tusi and copied several of his works and met him in Maragha observatory.