Ismoil Somoni Peak  Ismoil Somoni Peak (Tajik: Қуллаи Исмоили Сомонӣ, "Qulla-i Ismō‘il-i Sōmōnî/Qullaji Ismojili Somonī"; ; ) is the highest mountain in Tajikistan. Because it was within the territory of the former Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union, it was the highest mountain in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union before the area became Tajikistan. The mountain is named after Ismail Samani, a ruler of the Samanid dynasty. It is located in the Pamir Range. When the existence of a peak in the Soviet Pamir Mountains higher than Lenin Peak was first established in 1928, the mountain was tentatively identified with Garmo Peak. However, as the result of the work of further Soviet expeditions, it became clear by 1932 that they were not the same, and in 1933 the new peak, in the Academy of Sciences Range, was named Stalin Peak (), after Joseph Stalin. In 1962, as part of Khrushchev's nationwide de-Stalinization process, the name was changed to Communism Peak ( ), a name by which it is still commonly known. The name Communism Peak was officially dropped in 1998 in favour of the current name, commemorating the 9th century Samanid emir, Ismail Samani. The first ascent (to the then Stalin Peak) was made 3 September 1933 by the Soviet mountaineer Yevgeniy Abalakov.