|
Badakhshan,
historic region of northeastern Afghanistan, roughly encompassing
the northern spurs of the Hindu Kush and chiefly drained by the Kowkcheh
River. Mountain glaciers and glacial lakes are found in the higher
elevations of the region.
The name Badakhshan first appears in Chinese writings of the 7th
and 8th centuries AD, before which the area was ruled successively
by Hephthalites, Turks, and Arabs. From the 13th century, after
several changes of possession, a local dynasty claiming descent
from Alexander the Great ruled until the Timurids took over in the
15th century. In 1584 the Uzbeks conquered Badakhshan, and it remained
under local Uzbek mirs ("leaders") until 1822,
when Morad Beg of Konduz overran it. In 1859 Badakhshan became tributary
to Kabul, and its autonomy ended in 1881. A British-Russian accord
(1895) delineated the Panj River as part of the Russo-Afghan
border separating Afghan Badakhshan from Russian Badakhshan in the Pamirs.
After the Russian Revolution (1917), this Pamir region became the Gorno-Badakhshan
autonomous oblast, part of the Tadzhik S.S.R. (Tajikistan
after 1991). In the 1979 Soviet military intervention, the Afghan
towns of Feyzabad and Eshkashem were captured from Afghan guerrillas,
and in 1980 the Soviets established a military command at Feyzabad
Agriculture is the chief occupation in Badakhshan. Irrigation in
the valleys permits the growing of rice, wheat, corn (maize), and
cotton, while barley and legumes are produced in the hills. Grapes,
fruit trees, and nuts are also grown, and livestock are raised for
wool and skins. There is some mineral wealth in the region, including
unexploited sulfur deposits, and precious stones, including lapis
lazuli, which has been mined for more than 4,000 years at Shar Shakh. |
Afghanpedia Table of Content
|