The last Sogdian king of Panjikent claimed the throne of Samarkand, was captured on Mount Mugh in 722 and executed; his archive survived in the castle ruins

Devashtich ruled Panjikent from about 706. He called himself king of Sogdiana and ruler of Samarkand. His claim grew after the sons of Tarkhun, the deposed ruler of Samarkand, fled to his court in 709 or 710. He accepted Umayyad authority after 712 and in 719 handed Tarkhun's sons to the Arab governor. He then joined the revolt of 720. In 722 the Arab governor Said al-Harashi defeated the rebels, and Panjikent was sacked. Devashtich fled up the Zeravshan to a castle on Mount Mugh. He was captured there in August 722 and executed, as the Arabic historian al-Tabari records. Wikipedia, citing Encyclopaedia Iranica, says he was crucified on a Zoroastrian burial building and his head sent to Iraq, although the governor of Iraq had wanted him freed^†. In 1932 and 1933 about 80 documents were found by chance in the castle ruins: his personal archive, mostly in Sogdian, with letters in Chinese, Arabic and Old Turkic. They are the largest group of Sogdian texts found in Sogdiana. They were published in Moscow in 1962 and 1963. In 2025 UNESCO added the collection to its Memory of the World register.