Ismoil Somoni Peak is the highest mountain in Tajikistan. Because it was within the territory of the former Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union, it was the highest mountain in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union before Tajikistan became independent. The mountain is named after Ismail Samani, a ruler of the Samanid dynasty. It is located in the Pamir Range.
Ismoil Somoni Peak (then known as Communism Peak) taken in 1989.
Junko Tabei on Communism Peak in 1985 together with two other Japanese and four Estonian mountaineers. Photo by Jaan Künnap.
Abū Ibrāhīm Ismā'īl ibn-i Aḥmad-i Sāmāni, better known simply as Ismail-i Samani, and also known as Isma'il ibn-i Ahmad, was the Samanid amir of Transoxiana (892–907) and Khorasan (900–907). His reign saw the emergence of the Samanids as a powerful force. He was the son of Ahmad ibn-i Asad and a descendant of Saman Khuda, the eponymous ancestor of the Samanid dynasty who renounced Zoroastrianism and embraced Islam.
Coinage of Isma'il ibn Ahmad, Usrushana mint. Dated AH 280 (893-4 CE).
Picture of the Samanid Mausoleum, the burial site of Ismail.