The fortress was protected on three sides by natural slopes and rivers and was accessible only from the south. The building is rectangular, consists of five rooms and a vestibule, and probably had two floors. The fortress is known as the last refuge of Davishtich, the ruler of Panjkent and the king of Sogd.
In 1932, manuscripts in the Sogdian script were discovered at this site, which later turned out to be one of the most important historical documents of Central Asia in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. In addition, hundreds of ancient objects were also found. The Mugh Mountain Documents provide valuable information about the political, economic, and social conditions of Sogd on the eve of the Arab conquest and have played a fundamental role in reconstructing the history of that period. History of discovery
In the spring of 1932, a resident of the village of Khairabad found a manuscript written in an unknown language in the ruins of the Mugh Mountain fortress.
The manuscript was passed around for several months until it finally reached the then head of the district. On his initiative, a copy was sent to Stalinabad (the former name of the city of Dushanbe) and then to Leningrad (St. Petersburg). After it was determined that the text was in Sogdian script, a group of researchers was sent to examine the site in 1933, and additional archaeological investigations were carried out in 1946. As a result of the excavations in 1933, 75 Sogdian documents, one Arabic document, and one ancient Turkic document were obtained.
These documents are now kept in the branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. The collection was fully published in 2008 by the prominent orientalist Vladimir Lifshits. In addition to written documents, more than 400 cultural objects and several coins were discovered, which are now kept in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The content of the documents includes legal and economic texts, administrative correspondence, requests and diplomatic documents.
Historical significance
The importance of this fortress lies in the fact that it is the starting point for the discovery and study of many works from the early Islamic centuries in the Zarafshan Valley. The Mugh documents provide valuable information about the events of the late 7th and early 8th centuries AD, the Arab invasion of Sogdia, the administrative and economic structure, family rituals, internal trade, and the political and social situation of that period. By studying these documents, researchers were able to reconstruct an important part of the political history of Central Asia.