Dargan Ata
From 14 May 2003 to 27 November 2017, the city was called Birata.
Etymology
The name Darganata is of obscure origin. Atanyyazow speculates that dargan might be from an Arabic-origin root referring to "boat" or "hull" (the city is on the Amu Darya) but finds the suffix ata ("father") inexplicable. Paul Brummell notes that the name could be interpreted as "Divided Ata Tribe"; this had prompted the renaming to Birata, meaning "United Ata Tribe"!
History
The place developed out of the Khorezm settlement of Dargan; however, the modern city lies about 3 km north. Nothing exists of the ancient settlement except the wall-perimeter.
On 27 July 2016, the erstwhile town was upgraded to a city; over a year later, on 5 November 2017, its Soviet-era name of Darganata was restored.
Tourism
The Darganata Mausoleum (c. 14th c.) stands between the modern town and the walled perimeter of the ancient settlement; according to local tradition, it is the tomb of Abu Muslim. However, this appears to be untrue since contemporary sources record that Muslim's mutilated body was thrown in the River Tigris.
References
- ^ "Внесены изменения в административно-территориальное деление Лебапского велаята" [Changes to the administrative-territorial divisions in Lebap velayat] (in Russian). 2017-11-27. Retrieved 2018-01-05.
- ^ Межгосударственный совет по геодезии, картографии, кадастру, и дистанционному зондированию земли государств - участников СНГ. (2017), Изменения географических названий Туркменистана. (Электронный бюллетень) (in Russian), vol. 10, p. 16, archived from the original on 2018-04-16
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Frank, Allen J.; Touch-Werner, Jeren (October 20, 1999). Turkmen-English Dictionary (in English and Turkmen). Kensington, Maryland: Dunwoody Press. ISBN 978-1881265290.
- ^ Atanyýazow, Soltanşa (1980). Түркменистаның Географик Атларының Дүшүндиришли Сөзлүги [Explanatory Dictionary of Geographic Names in Turkmenistan]. Ashgabat: Ылым. p. 136.
- ^ Brummell, Paul (2005). Turkmenistan. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-84162-144-9.
- ^ Moscati, S. (2012-04-24), "Abū Muslim", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill