Tajikstan Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Tajikstan cities.

Dushanbe means 'Monday' in the Persian language - correctly 'second day' - as this was when a large bazaar was held here.

Tursunzoda was originally known as Regar or 'a town on sand' but renamed in 1978 to honour the national poet Mirzo Tursunzoda.

Somoniyon was renamed in 1998 to mark the 1100th anniversary of the Samanid Empire, earlier known as Sardorova after Karakhon Sardorov.

Balkh is related to the Sanskrit for 'Bactrian'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Doctor Richard Beeching

My latest book, released this week, is a little different for me. March sees the 50th anniversary of the infamous report of the reshaping of the railways of Britain, most often referred to as the Beeching Axe. In truth there are a couple of others released on the same subject but they ostensibly deal with the report, the man, and the impact on railway transport in this country ever since. My book is somewhat different as it looks at what happened to the parts which closed. Hence my book looks at what happened in that half century following closure and asks the question – is he justifiably one of the most loathed individuals in recent British history?

Beeching 50 Years On is published by The History Press.

I would be delighted to hear from anyone who has purchased or would like to purchase a copy. As always I also welcome any suggestions for themes or subjects, or even specific words to examine the origins, meanings and etymologies.