Kafir-kala
(Tajikistan)

Ruins of citadel of Kafir-kala.

Kafir-kala

Location of Kafir-kala

Show map of West and Central Asia

Kafir-kala

Kafir-kala (Bactria)

Show map of Bactria

Kafir-kala

Kafir-kala (Tajikistan)

Show map of Tajikistan

37°35′20″N 68°38′47″E / 37.588861°N 68.646444°E / 37.588861; 68.646444

Kafir-kala ("Fortress of the infidels") is an ancient fortress in the Vakhsh valley in Tajikistan.^[1]

Fortress and Buddhist temple

It consists in a rectangular town surrounded by a wall with towers (360x360 meters), surrounded by a large ditch, and has one citadel (360x360 meters) in one corner, also surrounded by a wall. The citadel (70x70 meters) contained the palace of the rulers.^[1]

A Buddhist temple was found in the palace complex of the fortress as well as a Buddhist Vihara with Buddhist paintings, belonging to the "Tokharistan school of art".^[1][2] Inscriptions with apparently Buddhist content have also been found.^[3]

Artefacts

• 
  Adults in caftan and child, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE. National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan
• 
  Buddha head, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE. National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan
• 
  Hunting scene, Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE. National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan
• 
  Hunting scene,Kafyr Kala, Tajikistan, 7th century CE. National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan

Sources

• LITVINSKY, BORIS; SOLOV'EV, VIKTOR (1990). "The Architecture and Art of Kafyr Kala (Early Medieval Tokharistan)" (PDF). Bulletin of the Asia Institute. 4: 61–75. ISSN 0890-4464. JSTOR 24048351.