Editing Samarkand (section)

==Etymology==
The name comes from the Iranian languages [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] {{lang|sog|samar}} "stone, rock" and {{lang|sog|kand}} "fort, town."<ref>{{cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |title=Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for 6,600 Countries, Cities, Territories, Natural Features and Historic Sites |edition=2nd |year=2006 |publisher=McFarland |location=London |isbn=978-0-7864-2248-7 |page=330 |quote=Samarkand City, southeastern Uzbekistan. The city here was already named ''Marakanda'', when captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE. Its own name derives from the Sogdian words ''samar'', "stone, rock", and ''kand'', "fort, town".}}</ref> In this respect, ''Samarkand'' shares the same meaning as the name of the Uzbek capital [[Tashkent]], with ''tash-'' being the Turkic term for "stone" and ''-kent'' the Turkic analogue of ''kand'' borrowed from Iranian languages.<ref>Sachau, Edward C. Alberuni’s India: an Account of the Religion. Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws and Astrology of India about AD 1030, vol. 1 London: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRtJBNBR & CO. 1910. p.298.</ref>

According to 11th-century scholar [[Mahmud al-Kashgari|Mahmud al-Kashghari]], the city was known in [[Karakhanid language|Karakhanid]] as ''{{Transliteration|Arab|Sämizkänd}}'' ({{Script/Arabic|سَمِزْکَنْدْ}}), meaning "fat city."<ref>{{Cite book |last=al-Kashghari |first=Mahmud |url=https://archive.org/details/CompendiumOfTheTurkicDialectsPart1-MahmudAl-Kashghari/page/n283/mode/2up |title=Compendium of The Turkic Dialects |date=1074 |publisher=Harvard University Printing Office |series=Part 1 |publication-date=1982 |page=270 |translator-last=Dankoff |translator-first=Robert |quote=sämiz känd meaning “Fat city (balda samina)” is called thus because of its great size; it is, in Persian, Samarqand. |author-link=Mahmud al-Kashgari |translator-last2=Kelly |translator-first2=James Michael |translator-link=Robert Dankoff |via=[[Archive.org]]}}</ref> 16th-century Mughal emperor [[Babur]] also mentioned the city under this name, and 15th-century Castillian traveler [[Ruy González de Clavijo]] stated that Samarkand was simply a distorted form of it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ragagnin |first=Elisabetta |date=2020 |title=About Marco Polo Samarkand |url=https://uzlc.navoiy-uni.uz/index.php/uzlangcult/article/view/41 |journal=Uzbekistan: Language and Culture |language=en |publisher={{Interlanguage link|Alisher Navo’i Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature|uz|Toshkent davlat oʻzbek tili va adabiyoti universiteti}} |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=79–87 |issn=2181-922X}}</ref>