Vardanzi, also Vardanze, is an ancient and medieval town located north-east of Bukhara,

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...

. Today there is a reserve in Shafirkan Bukhara region. Historian

Narshakhi Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Jafar Narshakhi (or Narshaki) (ca. 899–959), a Sogdian scholar from the village of Narshak in the Bukhara oasis is the first known historian in Central Asia. His unique ''History of Bukhara'' (''Tarikh-i Bukhara'') was writ ...

recorded that Vardana was a big settlement containing the Kuhandiz Ark, a fortified inner city. From "time immemorial" the rulers of Vardana—the Vardan-khudats—resided here. Vardana was founded much earlier than Bukhara. It was built by an otherwise unknown

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

prince named Shapur, son of a Sasanian ruler Khusraw (possibly either Khosrow I (531-578) or Khosrow II (590-628)) and situated on the fringe of

Turkestan Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan ( fa, ترکستان, Torkestân, lit=Land of the Turks), is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and Xinjiang. Overview Known as Turan to the Persians, western Turk ...

. Remnants of the old Vardana settlement, now known as Vardanze, have survived as a large hill. Vardana, Narshakhi believed, was older than Bukhara, having been built in the 6th century A.D. At the time, Vardanzi was large and well-known city, but due to the translational motion of sand, in the 19th century it was bombarded by them and became uninhabitable. Vardanzi was ruled by a dynasty of kings who bore the title of ''Vardan-khudat''. The city in those days was of great strategic, industrial and commercial importance. It was a border crossing point for the nomads. The Arabs, led by

Qutayba ibn Muslim Abū Ḥafṣ Qutayba ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ Muslim ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī ( ar, أبو حفص قتيبة بن أبي صالح مسلم بن عمرو الباهلي; 669–715/6) was an Arab commander of the Umayyad Caliphate who became governor of ...

in the years 708–709, conquered the

Romitan Romitan ( uz, Romitan/Ромитан, russian: Ромитан) is a city and seat of Romitan District in Bukhara Region in Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of ...

possession of Vartan-haudatov. According to legend, this town was built by a Sassanian prince who had moved to Bukhara and received land from his ruler more than two thousand years ago. Construction of a canal in the area made the Persian prince Shapur popular. The channel—Shapurkam—was named after the legendary prince.

References

Former populated places in Uzbekistan {{Uzbekistan-geo-stub