SAMARKAND: QUEEN OF ALL CITIES - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 153

aemenids annexed the Mawarannahr region after the collapse Assyrians in
606 B.C. (559-330 B.C.). Achaemenid king Darius (552-485 B.C.) built a
palace for himself at the top of the city center Afrasiab Hill (Fig. 4), (Pope,
1939). In Mawarannahr there existed a system of governance where Sa-
markand was the center for the surrounding city principalities. During
their rule Achaemenids only controlled Samarkand and allowed the city
principalities to continue their trade with China and the West freely and
the so-called Turk Yagbus, K'ang-chus continued to be dominant of their
region (Togan, 1981).

FIGURE 3 Ceramic Plate (Uzbekistan, 1997).

FIGURE 4 Darius Palace Plan (Pope, 1939).