Iskanderkul, Alexander's Lake
In the mountains of Tajikistan, people say that on moonlit nights, the ghost of Alexander the Great's horse comes up out of a turquoise lake.
What was reported
Iskanderkul is a mountain lake in Tajikistan's Fann Mountains, named after Alexander the Great, known in the region as Iskander, who marched through Central Asia in 329 BCE.
One legend says that Alexander's beloved horse, Bucephalus, drowned here, and on nights of the full moon a white horse rises from the water to graze on the shore. Another says the lake formed when Alexander flooded a village that resisted him by turning a river.
Explanations offered
The lake was formed by a landslide that dammed the valley. Bucephalus actually died in India in 326 BCE, after a battle on the Hydaspes river, and there's no evidence Alexander came to this valley. The story shows how far his legend spread.
- When
- Told for centuries
- Where
- Fann Mountains, Sughd, Tajikistan
- Witnesses
- Local tradition
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.