Kafir-kala (Tajikistan)

Kafir-kala ("Fortress of the infidels") is an ancient fortress in the Vakhsh valley in Tajikistan.[1]

Kafir-kala
(Tajikistan)
Ruins of citadel of Kafir-kala.
Kafir-kala
Location of Kafir-kala
Kafir-kala
Kafir-kala (Tajikistan)

For the archaeological site in Uzbekistan, see Kafir-kala (Uzbekistan).

It consists in a rectangular town surrounded by a wall with towers (360x360 meters), surrounded by a large ditch, and has one citadel (360x360 meters) in one corner, also surrounded by a wall. The citadel (70x70 meters) contained the palace of the rulers.[1]

A Buddhist temple was found in the palace complex of the fortress as well as a Buddhist vihara with Buddhist paintings, belonging to the "Tokharistan school of art".[1][2] Inscriptions with apparently Buddhist content have also been found.[3]

Clay Panel - Kafir-kala, 7th century CE. Tajikistan National Museum

Sources
  • LITVINSKY, BORIS; SOLOV'EV, VIKTOR (1990). "The Architecture and Art of Kafyr Kala (Early Medieval Tokharistan)" (PDF). Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 4: 61–75. ISSN 0890-4464.

References
  1. Dani, Ahmad Hasan; Litvinsky, B. A. History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750. UNESCO. p. 150. ISBN 978-92-3-103211-0.
  2. UNESCO Collection of History of Civilizations of Central Asia : Online chapter.
  3. "A fragment of birchbark manuscript bearing a text of apparently Buddhist content has been found at Kafyr-kala in the Vakhsh valley." in Dani, Ahmad Hasan. History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 387. ISBN 978-81-208-1540-7.
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