Under the Samanid Empire, whose founder Ismail Samani was a descendant of Persian Zoroastrian convert to Islam, the city came to be known as '''Binkath'''. However, the Arabs retained the old name of ''Chach'' for the surrounding region, pronouncing it ''ash-Shash'' () instead. Kand, qand, kent, kad, kath, kud—all meaning a city—are derived from the Persian/Sogdian کنده (kanda), meaning a town or a city. They are found in city names such as Samarkand, Yarkand, Panjakent, Khujand etc.). 