FESTIVALS AND RITUALS IN EARLY MEDIEVAL SOGD: TRADITION AND TRANSFORMATION

Abstract: This article analyzes festivals and rituals in early medieval Sogd as important forms of social, religious and cultural life. It examines Nowruz, ancestor worship, court ceremonies, temple practices, music, dance, feasting and funerary rites as elements of Sogdian urban culture. The study also explores how these ritual traditions were transformed under the influence of the Turkic Khaganate, Tang Chinese contacts, Buddhism, Manichaeism, Christianity and early Islamic processes.