Badakhshan Province

Badakhshan Dari Persian: استان بدخشان
—  Province  —
Mountains in Badakhshan Province
Map of Afghanistan with Badakhshan highlighted
Coordinates: 38°0′N 71°0′E / 38.000°N 71.000°E / 38.000; 71.000Coordinates: 38°0′N 71°0′E / 38.000°N 71.000°E / 38.000; 71.000
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Fayzabad
Government
• Governor	Shah Waliullah Adeeb
Area[1]
• Total	44,059 km2 (17,011 sq mi)
Population (2012)[2]
• Total	904,700
• Density	Bad rounding here21/km2 (Bad rounding here53/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+4:30
Main languages	Dari, Uzbek, Pashto, Kyrgyz, Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, Wakhi

Badakhshan Province (Dari Persian: استان بدخشان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country between the Hindu Kush mountains and the Amu Darya River. It is part of a broader historical Badakhshan region. The province contains 22 to 28 districts, over 1,200 villages, and approximately 904,700 people.^[2] Feyzabad serves as the provincial capital.

Geography [edit]

Valley of Kuran wa Munjan in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. Looking from the center of the main valley towards the south.

Badakhshan is primarily bordered by Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province and Khatlon Province in Tajikistan to the north and east. In the east of the province a long spur called the Wakhan Corridor extends above northern Pakistan's Chitral and Northern Areas to a border with China. The province has a total area of 44,059 km², most of which is occupied by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges.

Badakhshan was a stopover on the ancient Silk Road trading path, and China has shown great interest in the province after the fall of the Taliban, helping to reconstruct roads and infrastructure.

According to the World Wildlife Fund,^{[citation needed]} Badakhshan contains temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands, as well as Gissaro-Alai open woodlands along the Pamir River. Common plants found in these areas include pistachio, almond, walnut, apple, juniper, and sagebrush.

Montane Grasslands and Shrublands are also existent in the province, with the Hindu Kush alpine meadow located in the high mountains in the northern and southwestern regions.

The Wakhan corridor contains two montane grassland and shrubland regions, the Karakoram-West Tibetan Plateau alpine steppe and in the Pamir Mountains.

South of Fayzabad the terrain becomes dominated by deserts and xeric shrublands. Common vegetation includes thorny bushes, zizyphus, acacia, and Amygdatus. Paropamisus xeric woodlands can be found in the province's northwestern and central areas. Common vegetation includes almond, pistachio, willows, and sea-buckthorn.

History [edit]

History of Afghanistan
Timeline
Ancient Proto-Elamite civilization 2300–1800 BC Indus valley civilization 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Aryans 1700–700 BC Medes 728–550 BC Achaemenids 550–330 BC Seleucids 330–150 BC Mauryans 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrians 256–125 BC Indo-Greeks 180–130 BC Indo-Scythians (Sakas) 155–80? BC Indo-Parthians 20 BC – 50? AD Kushans 135 BC – 248 AD Sassanids 230–565 Indo-Sassanids 248–410 Kidarites 320–465 Hephthalites 410–557
Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Rashidun Caliphate 642–641 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghorids 1149–1215 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Ilkhanate 1258–1353 Khiljis 1290–1320 Kurts 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1506 Arghuns 1479–1522
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Badakhshan etymologically derives from the Sassanid word badaxš, an official title. The suffix of the name, -ān, means the region belonged to someone with the title badaxš. This Sassanid naming convention is seen in other Central Asian locations, including Azerbaijan, Isfahan, and Tehran.^[3]

The territory was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century. It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty of friendship was reached in or about 1750, and became part of the Durrani Empire. It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty, and was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. It remained peaceful for about one hundred years until the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan at which point the Mujahideen began a rebellion against the central Afghan government, which was backed by the Soviet Union.

During the 1990s, much of the area was controlled by forces loyal to Burhanuddin Rabbani and Ahmad Shah Massoud. Badakhshan was the only province that the Taliban did not get to conquer during their rule from 1996 to 2001. However, during the course of the wars a non-Taliban Islamic emirate was established in Badakhshan by Mawlawi Shariqi, paralleling the Islamic Revolutionary State of Afghanistan in neighboring Nuristan. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a Badakhshan native, and Ahmad Shah Massoud were the last remnants of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance during the peak of Taliban control in 2001.

Politics and governance [edit]

Districts of Badakhshan

The current Governor of the province is Shah Waliullah Adeeb.^[4] His predecessors were Munshi Abdul Majid and Baz Mohammad Ahmadi. The borders with neighboring Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan are monitored by the Afghan Border Police (ABP). All law enforcement activities throughout the province are handled by the Afghan National Police (ANP). A provincial Police Chief is assigned to lead both the ANP and the ABP. The Police Chief represents the Ministry of the Interior in Kabull. The ANP is backed by the military, including the NATO-led forces.

Fayzabad, the capital of Badakhshan province, sits on the Kokcha River and has an approximate population of 50,000. The chief commercial and administrative center of northeast Afghanistan and the Pamir region, Fayzabad also has rice and flour mills. During the winter the city is sometimes isolated by deep snow.

Demography [edit]

Young Afghan girls gather at the medical facility in Khwahan, Badakhshan Province, on 3 June 2012.

The late Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic Tajik native of Badakhsan, was a former President of Afghanistan.

The population of the province is about 904,700, which is a multi-ethnic rural society.^[2] Persian-speaking Tajiks make up the majority followed by Uzbeks, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Baloch, Kyrgyz, Qizilbash, Russians and others.^[5] There are also speakers of the following Pamiri languages: Shughni, Munji, Ishkashimi, and Wakhi.

The inhabitants of the province are mostly Sunni Muslim, althoug there are also some Ismaili Shi'as.

Historical population estimates for Badakhshan Province are as follows:^[6]

• 2006: 823,000 (World Gazetteer)
• 2004: 725,700 (Central Statistics Office)
• 2000: 923,144 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• 1998: 924,747 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• 1997: 663,700 (Central Statistics Office)
• 1991: 615,156 (ProMIS UNIDATA)
• 1990: 554,374 (USAID)
• 1979: 497,798 (Central Statistics Office)

District information [edit]

Economy [edit]

Classic lazurite specimen from Sar-e-Sang district.

Despite massive mineral reserves, Badakhshan is one of the most destitute areas in the world. Opium poppy growing is the only real source of income in the province and Badakhshan has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, due to the complete lack of health infrastructure, inaccessible locations, and bitter winters of the province.

Lapis lazuli has been mined in the Sar-e-Sang mines, located in the Kuran wa Munjan District of Badakhshan, for over 6,000 years. The mines were the largest and most well-known source in ancient times.^[29][30] Most recent mining activity has focused on lapis lazuli, with the proceeds from the lapis mines being used to fund Northern Alliance troops, and before that, anti-Soviet Mujahideen fighters.^[31] Recent geological surveys have indicated the location of other gemstone deposits, in particular rubies and emeralds.^[32] Exploitation of this mineral wealth could be key to the region's prosperity.^[32]

Sport [edit]

The province is represented in Afghan domestic cricket competitions by the Badakhshan Province cricket team.

Notable people from Badakhshan [edit]

• Burhanuddin Rabbani – leader of the Jamiat-e Islami political party and former president of Afghanistan
• Tahir Badakhshi – political activist
• Latif Pedram – political activist and candidate for Afghanistan's presidency
• Nasratullah Nasrat – Afghan cricketer
• Fawzia Koofi - noted Afghan women's rights activist, member of Parliament and 2014 presidential candidate
• Ustad Ahmad Lahauri - Chief architect of the Taj Mahal

Further reading [edit]

• Burhanuddin Kushkaki. Rāhnamā-yi Qaṭaghan va Badakhshān. Kabul: Vizarat-i Ḥarbiyah, 1923.
• Jan-Heeren Grevemeyer: Herrschaft, Raub und Gegenseitigkeit: Die politische Geschichte Badakhshans 1500–1883, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1982
• Wolfgang Holzwarth: Segmentation und Staatsbildung in Afghanistan: Traditionale sozio-politische Organisation in Badakhshan, Wakhan und Sheghnan In: Berliner Institut für vergleichende Sozialforschung [Red.: Kurt Greussing u. Jan-Heeren Grevemeyer] (Hrsg.): Revolution in Iran und Afghanistan – mardom nameh – Jahrbuch zur Geschichte und Gesellschaft des Mittleren Orients Syndikat, Frankfurt am Main 1980, ISBN 3-8108-0147-X.

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Badakhshan Province

• Badkhshan Province - Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development

v t e Badakhshan Province Capital: Fayzabad Districts Arghanj Khwa Argo Baharak Darayim Darwaz Darwazi Bala Fayzabad Ishkashim Jurm Khash Khwahan Kishim Kohistan Kuf Ab Kuran wa Munjan Ragh Shahri Buzurg Shighnan Shekay Shuhada Tagab Tishkan Wakhan Wurduj Yaftali Sufla Yamgan Yawan Zebak Populated places Ab Bazan Ab Daw Ab Gaj Ak Tapa Alim Dara Altan Jalab Amrud Amurn Andowj Angat Anjir Anjuman Anjuman-i-Khurd Ao Barik Arakht Arghandakan Artin Jelow Arun Ashkasham Ashnam Ba Khersak Baharak Baharestan Bakharow Baryavan Basenj Bashanabad Bay Malasi Baza'i Gonbad Bazgir Bid-e Kalan Chakaran Chasnud-e Sofla Chasnud-e `Olya Darayem Darmadar Darmarakh Darreh Javay Darreh-ye Pishkan Deh Gholaman Dogor Gunt Dudgah Dugh Ghalat Duraj Durman Eshmorgh Eskan Eskatul Shirin Nazem Buildings and structures Fayzabad Airport Khwahan Airport Sheghnan Airport Tajik–Afghan bridge at Tem-Demogan Tajik–Afghan Friendship Bridge Karaste Canal Other Governors Mirs Kokcha River Wakhan River Panj River Anjuman Pass Wakhan Wakhan Corridor Concord Peak Zorkul Wakhjir Pass 2010 massacre 2012 avalanches Category Commons

		Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province,  Tajikistan
	Takhar Province		Xinjiang, China
		Badakhshan Province
	Panjshir Province	Nuristan Province	Gilgit-Baltistan,  Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,  Pakistan

v t e Provinces of Afghanistan Badakhshan Badghis Baghlan Balkh Bamyan Daykundi Farah Faryab Ghazni Ghor Helmand Herat Jowzjan Kabul Kandahar Kapisa Khost Kunar Kunduz Laghman Logar Maidan Wardak Nangarhar Nimruz Nuristan Urozgan Paktia Paktika Panjshir Parwan Samangan Sar-e Pol Takhar Zabul