or Samaracand, an ancient and famous town of Asia, capital of the kingdom of the same name in the country of the Uzbek Tartars, with a castle and a famous university. The houses are built with stones, and it carries on a trade in excellent fruits. It is pleasantly seated near the river Sogde, a branch of the Amu, E. Long. 69°. N. Lat. 39° 50'. This town was the capital of the kingdom of Sogdiana in the time of Alexander the Great, when it was called Maracanda. It was afterwards the capital of the empire of Tamerlane the Great. In the time of Jengiz Khan it was forced to yield to the arms of that cruel conqueror; by whom the garrison, amounting to 30,000 men, were butchered; 30,000 of the inhabitants, with their wives and children, were presented to his generals; the rest were permitted to live in the city, on paying a tribute of 300,000 dinars or crowns of gold.