Hisar (Tajikistan)

Description

See also Gissar Valley, Gissar Range

Hisor (Tajik: Ҳисор, Persian: حصار‎) is a city in western Tajikistan, about 15 km west of Dushanbe. It is the capital of Hisor District, one of the Districts of Republican Subordination. It lies at an altitude of 799–824 m, surrounded by high mountains (Gissar Range to the north, Babatag and Aktau ranges to the south). The Khanaka River, a tributary to the Kofarnihon River, flows through the town. As of 2002, it had a population of 22,961, composed 81.6% of Tajiks, 12.3% Uzbeks, 3.6% Russians, and 2.5% others.

It was once an independent Khanate, and then the winter residence of the governor of East Bukhara. The large fort is said to date back to Cyrus the Great and to have been captured twenty one times.

Hisor was made a city on June 26, 1993.