Badakhshan

Badakhshan
/bah dahkh shahn"/, n.
a former province in NE Afghanistan.

* * *

▪ historical region, Afghanistan
      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 Badakhshān 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 Badakhshān, and it remained under local Uzbek mīrs (“leaders”) until 1822, when Morād Beg of Kondūz overran it. In 1859 Badakhshān became tributary to Kābul, and its autonomy ended in 1881. A British-Russian accord (1895) delineated the Panj River as part of the Russo-Afghan border separating Afghan Badakhshān from Russian Badakhshān in the Pamirs. After the Russian Revolution (1917), this Pamir region became the Gorno-Badakhshān autonomous oblast, part of the Tadzhik S.S.R. (Tajikistan after 1991). In the 1979 Soviet military intervention, the Afghan towns of Feyẕābād and Eshkāshem were captured from Afghan guerrillas, and in 1980 the Soviets established a military command at Feyẕābād.

      Agriculture is the chief occupation in Badakhshān. 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 Shākh.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Badakhshan — (PerB| بدخشان, Tajik: Бадахшон) is a region comprising parts of northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. Badakhshan Province is one of the thirty four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the east of Afghanistan, containing the Wakhan… …   Wikipedia

  • Badakhshan —   [badax ʃaːn], Gebiet im Nordosten Afghanistans, zwischen Hindukusch und oberem Amudarja, 47 403 km2, 521 000 Einwohner, von Tadschiken und Usbeken bewohnt, Hauptstadt ist Faizabad. Das stark zerschnittene Gebirgsland dient überwiegend… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Badakhshan — Provinz Badakhshan Hauptstadt Faizabad Fläche 44.059 km² Einwohner 1.112.227 (2007) Bevölkerungsdichte ISO 3166 2 AF BDS …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Badakhshan — Badakhchan (Afghanistan) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Badakhchan. بد خشان (Badakhchan) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Badakhshan — Admin ASC 1 Code Orig. name Badakhshan Country and Admin Code AF.01 AF …   World countries Adminstrative division ASC I-II

  • Badakhshan — /bədækˈʃan/ (say buhdak shahn) noun an autonomous republic within Tajikistan; a mountainous region; formerly the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region in the Tajik SSR within the Soviet Union. Capital: Khorog …  

  • Badakhshan Province — Infobox Political Division name =Badakhshān alt name1 = بدخشان alt name2 = alt name3 = subdivision type =Province subdivision type link =Provinces of Afghanistan subdivision of =Afghanistan subdivision of link =Afghanistan flag flag caption =… …   Wikipedia

  • BADAKHSHAN` —    (100), a Mohammedan territory NE. of Afghanistan, a picturesque hill country, rich in minerals; it is 200 m. from E. to W. and 150 from N. to S.; it has been often visited by travellers, from Marco Polo onwards; the inhabitants, called… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Badakhshan — /bah dahkh shahn /, n. a former province in NE Afghanistan …   Useful english dictionary

  • Music of Badakhshan — Badakhshan is a region of Tajikistan and Afghanistan with a unique musical heritage, especially that of the remote Pamiri Ismailis. Badakhshan s unique folk scene is said to be characteristed by the use of many chromatized tones (especially in… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”