The date and circumstances of the city's foundation are uncertain. The first written reference to the city dates to the 7th century (in the Cosmographer of Ravenna), but later local tradition places its foundation in 212 CE, and archaeological evidence supports its foundation in Roman times. The city was in all likelihood founded by the Alans, as its name in Greek sources, "Sougdaia" is a cognate of the adjective "sugda" ("pure, holy") or derives from the word "sugded"/"sogdad" in the Ossetian language.