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Panjshir Valley: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 35°16′N 69°28′E / 35.267°N 69.467°E / 35.267; 69.467
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*[[Bismillah Khan Mohammadi]] - Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army
*[[Bismillah Khan Mohammadi]] - Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army
*[[Mohammad Yonus Qanooni]]- The Head of Afghanistan Parliament
*[[Mohammad Yonus Qanooni]]- The Head of Afghanistan Parliament

==Islam in Panjshir==
People of Panjshir are extremely devoted to their religion. The most notable individual from the valley is Haji Hassan Baba, who was from Mullah Khail of Panjshir. He had made pilgrimage to Hajj, seven times by foot. His grave is in Mullah Khail, and people from all corners of Panjshir come to pay their respect to his grave.


== Military significance ==
== Military significance ==

Revision as of 01:43, 31 July 2009

A view of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley.

The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Persian: دره پنجشير - Dara-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range.[1] Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 300,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks.[2] As of April 2004, it became the heart of Panjshir Province.[3]

Name

The name Panjshir, literally meaning "Five Lions", refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centered in the valley. Local legend has it that the five brothers built a dam for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni سلطان محمود غرنویin the early 11th century AD. The foundations serve today for a modern reservoir.

History

According to the history books of Panjsher, the five brothers had come to the valley from Modern day Turkey. Therefore, majority of the inhabitants of Panjshir are of Turkish origin.

Notable and famous individuals

Military significance

Ahmad Shah Massoud's tomb in the Panjshir Valley.
File:Massoud-Tomb01.JPEG
A new tomb for Massoud currently under construction.

The Panjshir Valley has long been a center of resistance to Afghan central governments and outside powers seeking to rule the region. The region was propelled into the news by the eponymous Panjshir Valley Incident, a 1975 anti-Communist uprising led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. The uprising ultimately failed when local people, hearing news that the central government of Daoud Khan was sending in outside troops to put down the uprising, turned against Massoud.[4] Massoud would be more successful using the valley as the base for his Northern Alliance during the 1979–1989 Soviet war in Afghanistan. The Panjsher Valley was one of the main centers of rebellion by Afghan Mujahideen against the government of Mohammad Najibullah and the Soviet forces. It was during this time that Massoud earned his nickname of the Lion of Panjsher.[5] The Panjshir was the only section of Afghanistan which successfully resisted Soviet control.[6] The Soviets launched nine offensives in the valley, all of which failed. Some sources estimate that close to 60% of all Soviet casualties of the Soviet-Afghan war occurred in the Panjshir Valley.[citation needed]

The valley would become an important point of resistance against the Taliban when they rose to power in 1996 after the Mujahideen civil wars.[7]

Economy and natural resources

The Panjsher Valley has the potential to become a major center of emerald mining. As early as the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder commented on gemstones from the region.[8] In the Middle Ages, Panjshir was famed for its silver mining and the Saffarids and Samanids minted their coins there.[9] As of 1985, crystals upwards of 190 carats (38 g) had been found there, reported to rival in quality the finest crystals of the Muzo mine in Colombia.[8] American reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan has sparked a development boom in the valley with the construction of new modern roads and a new radio tower that allows valley residents to pick up radio signals from the Afghan capital, Kabul.[6]

Wind farm

Tony Woods, a New Zealand renewable energy specialist, built a 10 turbine wind farm in Panjshir Valley in April 2008.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir". Xinhua. 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  2. ^ "Afghanistan". Library of Congress Country Studies. Library of Congress. 1997. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
  3. ^ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060705_5589.html
  4. ^ Rubin, Barnett R. (2002). The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System, Second Edition. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09519-8.
  5. ^ "Profile: Afghanistan's 'Lion of Panjshir'". Radio Free Europe. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  6. ^ a b Anderson, John Ward (2007-09-28). "A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan: U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir". Washington Post. p. A11. Retrieved 2007-10-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Tighe, Paul (2005-01-09). "Afghanistan's Disarmament Program Begins in Panjshir Valley". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
  8. ^ a b Bowersox, Gary (1991). "Emeralds of the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan". Gems and Gemology. Spring. Gemological Society of America: pp26–39. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Pandjhir". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 1999.
  10. ^ http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoArticle/1776/0/Power-to-the-People--Getting-off-the-grid.aspx

Template:Www.panjshirtv.net Template:Panjshir.info Template:Tajikan.info

35°16′N 69°28′E / 35.267°N 69.467°E / 35.267; 69.467

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