Ghowr Province
Encyclopedia
Ghōr , also spelled Ghowr or Ghur, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan
. It is located in central Afghanistan
, towards the north-west. The capital of Ghor is Chaghcharan
. The historical name by which the mountain region of Ghor was called Mandesh
.}}The name "Ghor" is a cognate to Avestan gairi-, Sanskrit
giri- and Middle Persian
gar, in modern Persian koh-, Sogdian
gor-/gur-, in later developed Bactrian language as g´wrao- (also paravata), meaning "mountain", in modern Pashto
as ghar-, in Pamir languages as gar- and ghalcca- ("mountain").
n archaeologists in 2007 and 2008 in Ghor date back to 5000 BC. Ruins of a few castles and other defense fortifications were also discovered in the environs of Chaghcharan
. A Buddhist monastery hand-carved in the bluff of the river Harirud existed in the first centuries during the prevalence of Buddhism. The artificial caves revealed testimony of daily life of the Buddhist monks.
Traditional Muslim historians such as Istakhri and Ibn Haukal attest to the existence of the non-Islamic enclave of Ghor prior to the time of Ghazni, who is attributed with converting its population to Islam.
Minhaju-S-Siraj records the strife between the non-Muslim and Muslim populations.
According to Minhahu-S Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni
, made prisoner along with his son and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.
in the 12th and 13th century. The remains of their capital Firuzkuh
, including UNESCO
World Heritage site
the Minaret of Jam
, are located in the province.
On June 17, 2004, hundreds of troops of Abdul Salaam Khan, who had rejected the Afghan government's plan to disarm regional militias, attacked Chaghcharan and took over the city in an afternoon-long siege. Eighteen people were killed or wounded in the fighting and province governor Mohammed Ibrahim fled. Three days later the Afghan government announced that it would not retake Chaghcharan. Khan and Ibrahim began negotiations soon after, but reached no agreements. Khan's troops left Chaghcharan on June 23, a day ahead of the arrival of an Afghan National Army
battalion, led by Lieutenant-General Aminullah Paktiyanai, arrived with the support of about twenty U.S.
soldiers.
In his 2004 travel book, The Places in Between
, Rory Stewart
travels by foot from Herat to Kabul and on his way, he provides a riveting portrait of Ghor Province as well as much historical information about the region.
Ghor, which was part of Persia for many centuries, was one of the regions which participated in the Persian Cultural Revival after the Arab invasion of Persia
.
, Pashtun
and a variety of other ethnicities of lesser representation.
, basketball
, tennis
, taekwondo
and karate
are all official sports of the province. In July 2010, the Ghor Province cricket team was founded and will represent the province in future domestic tournaments
.
.
n contingent of the ISAF
force is stationed in the province.
AUCC Assessment Reports for each district
Provinces of Afghanistan
The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions of Afghanistan. As of 2004, there are thirty-four provinces in the country. Each province is further divided into smaller districts....
. It is located in central Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, towards the north-west. The capital of Ghor is Chaghcharan
Chaghcharan
Chaghcharān , in historical literature as Chakhcherān, formerly known as Ahangaran, is a town and district in central Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Ghor Province...
. The historical name by which the mountain region of Ghor was called Mandesh
Mandesh
-History:The region was governed under a Malik named Suri and the population was not yet converted to Islam....
.}}The name "Ghor" is a cognate to Avestan gairi-, Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
giri- and Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...
gar, in modern Persian koh-, Sogdian
Sogdian
Sogdian may refer to* anything pertaining to Sogdiana, an ancient civilization of Iranian peoplesand in particular to* the Sogdian language* or the Sogdian people...
gor-/gur-, in later developed Bactrian language as g´wrao- (also paravata), meaning "mountain", in modern Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
as ghar-, in Pamir languages as gar- and ghalcca- ("mountain").
History
Remains of the oldest settlements discovered by the LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n archaeologists in 2007 and 2008 in Ghor date back to 5000 BC. Ruins of a few castles and other defense fortifications were also discovered in the environs of Chaghcharan
Chaghcharan
Chaghcharān , in historical literature as Chakhcherān, formerly known as Ahangaran, is a town and district in central Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Ghor Province...
. A Buddhist monastery hand-carved in the bluff of the river Harirud existed in the first centuries during the prevalence of Buddhism. The artificial caves revealed testimony of daily life of the Buddhist monks.
Islam
Various scholars and historians such as John McLeod attribute the conversion of the Ghauris to Islam at the hands of Mahmud Ghazni who converted them to Islam after his conquest of Ghor.Traditional Muslim historians such as Istakhri and Ibn Haukal attest to the existence of the non-Islamic enclave of Ghor prior to the time of Ghazni, who is attributed with converting its population to Islam.
Minhaju-S-Siraj records the strife between the non-Muslim and Muslim populations.
According to Minhahu-S Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
, made prisoner along with his son and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died.
Attack by Mahmud of Ghazni
Ghor was also the centre of the Ghurid dynastyGhurids
The Ghurids or Ghorids were a medieval Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries in Khorasan. At its zenith, their empire, centred at Ghōr , stretched over an area that included the whole of modern Afghanistan, the eastern parts of Iran and the northern section...
in the 12th and 13th century. The remains of their capital Firuzkuh
Firuzkuh
Firuzkuh is a city in and the capital of Firuzkuh County, Tehran Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 15,807, in 4,334 families....
, including UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
the Minaret of Jam
Minaret of Jam
The Minaret of Jam is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western Afghanistan. It is located in the Shahrak District, Ghor Province, by the Hari River. The 65-metre high minaret, surrounded by mountains that reach up to 2400m, was built in the 1190s, entirely of baked-bricks...
, are located in the province.
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...
battalion, led by Lieutenant-General Aminullah Paktiyanai, arrived with the support of about twenty U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soldiers.
In his 2004 travel book, The Places in Between
The Places in Between
The Places in Between is a travel narrative by Scottish author Rory Stewart about his solo walk across north-central Afghanistan in 2002. Stewart started in Herat and ended in Kabul following the Hari River from west to east. Along the way he travels through some of the most rugged, isolated and...
, Rory Stewart
Rory Stewart
Roderick 'Rory' James Nugent Stewart OBE FRSL MP DUniv is a British academic, author, and Conservative politician. Since May 2010, he has been the Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border, in the county of Cumbria, North West England.- Overview :Stewart was a senior coalition official in a...
travels by foot from Herat to Kabul and on his way, he provides a riveting portrait of Ghor Province as well as much historical information about the region.
Ghor, which was part of Persia for many centuries, was one of the regions which participated in the Persian Cultural Revival after the Arab invasion of Persia
Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja, al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand. The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia...
.
Population
The population of Ghor today is under 600,000, consisted of Tajik, Hazara, Aimak, UzbekUzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
and a variety of other ethnicities of lesser representation.
Geography and weather
Ghor occupies the end of the Hindu Kush mountains. Ghor is 2,500m above sea level and heavy snowfalls often block many of its rugged passes from November to April. It is also a drought-prone area in the summer.Sport
Football, volleyballVolleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, taekwondo
Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
and karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
are all official sports of the province. In July 2010, the Ghor Province cricket team was founded and will represent the province in future domestic tournaments
Cricket in Afghanistan
Cricket in Afghanistan is a sport growing in popularity, which is represented internationally by the Afghanistan national cricket team. Afghanistan's proximity to the test playing nation of Pakistan has helped the game to take root....
.
Districts
| District | Capital | Population | Area | Notes |
| Chaghcharan Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District is one of the most populated districts in Ghor Province . It is a mountainous district. The winter is severe and the roads are inaccessible because of the snow. The district center Chaghcharan is also the capital of the province. It is situated at at 2268 m elevation. The... |
Sub-divided in 2005 | |||
| Charsada Charsada, Afghanistan Charsada District is a district of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. It was created from the northwestern part of Chaghcharan District. The district center is Qale-Zobayd. The population is 23,000.... |
Created in 2005 within Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District is one of the most populated districts in Ghor Province . It is a mountainous district. The winter is severe and the roads are inaccessible because of the snow. The district center Chaghcharan is also the capital of the province. It is situated at at 2268 m elevation. The... |
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| Dawlat Yar Dawlat Yar District Dawlat Yar is a district in Ghor Province, Afghanistan. It was created in 2005 from the southeastern part of Chaghcharan District. The administrative center of the district is Delak, but the largest town is Dawlat Yar at 2503 m altitude.... |
Created in 2005 within Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District is one of the most populated districts in Ghor Province . It is a mountainous district. The winter is severe and the roads are inaccessible because of the snow. The district center Chaghcharan is also the capital of the province. It is situated at at 2268 m elevation. The... |
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| Du Layna Du Layna District Du Layna is a district in Ghor Province, Afghanistan. It was created from part of the much larger Chaghcharan District. The district population is 30,700.... |
Created in 2005 within Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District Chaghcharan District is one of the most populated districts in Ghor Province . It is a mountainous district. The winter is severe and the roads are inaccessible because of the snow. The district center Chaghcharan is also the capital of the province. It is situated at at 2268 m elevation. The... and Shahrak District Shahrak District Shahrak District is located in the central part of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. The population is 50,900. The district center is Dahan-e Falezak .-Architecture:Near the village of Jam stands the Minaret of Jam, a historic building.... |
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| Lal Wa Sarjangal Lal Wa Sarjangal District Lal Wa Sarjangal is a district in the north of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. The district center is the town of Lal Wa Sarjangal. The population of 95,300 is exclusively Hazara.... |
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| Pasaband Pasaband District Pasaband District is located in the southern part of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. The population is 80,700 . The district center is Shinkot.Pasaband is a mountainous district and the winters are long and severe. Roads are not in good condition and some villages are accessible only using animals... |
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| Saghar Saghar District Saghar District is situated in the most southwestern part of Ghor Province, Afghanistan with district center Titan . The population is 29,500 people. The district, as the other mountainous districts in the province, suffers long and severe winters and continuing drought during the... |
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| Shahrak Shahrak District Shahrak District is located in the central part of Ghor Province, Afghanistan. The population is 50,900. The district center is Dahan-e Falezak .-Architecture:Near the village of Jam stands the Minaret of Jam, a historic building.... |
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| Taywara Taywara District Taywara district is located in the southern part of Ghor Province in Afghanistan. The population is 77,800 people. The district center is the town of Taywara.The district is mountainous and in the winter the roads are often inaccessible.-References:... |
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| Tulak Tulak District Tulak District is located in the southwestern part of the Ghor Province, Afghanistan. It is a mountainous district like the whole province. The population is 43,800 and the district center is Kwajaha.-References:... |
Governors
The current governor of Ghor is Sayyed Mohammad Eqbal MunibSayyed Mohammad Eqbal Munib
Sayyed Mohammad Eqbal Munib is the former governor of Ghor. Before this he has ben governor of Samangan and Sar-e Pol.As governor of Sar-e Pol Sayyed Mohammad Eqbal Muni survived two attempts on his life. One was on 24 April 2007, a "mine planted near a brook" which was remotely detonated by...
.
International Forces
A LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n contingent of the ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
force is stationed in the province.
See also
- GhuridsGhuridsThe Ghurids or Ghorids were a medieval Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries in Khorasan. At its zenith, their empire, centred at Ghōr , stretched over an area that included the whole of modern Afghanistan, the eastern parts of Iran and the northern section...
- Buddhism in AfghanistanBuddhism in AfghanistanBuddhism in Afghanistan was one of the major religions during pre-Islamic era. The religion was wide spread south of the Hindu Kush mountains. Buddhism first arrived to Afghanistan in 305 BCE when the Seleucid Empire made an alliance with the Indian Maurya Empire...
- MandeshMandesh-History:The region was governed under a Malik named Suri and the population was not yet converted to Islam....
- Amir SuriAmir SuriAmir Suri was the King of the region of Ghor from an ancient dynasty who was defeated by Mahmud of Ghazni and the region conquered by him . According to Minhaju-S Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, made prisoner along with his son and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died...
AUCC Assessment Reports for each district
External links
- ḠUR, Encyclopædia Iranica
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Ghurid Sultanate
- Encyclopaedia Britannica (Online Edition) - Muizz-ud-Din-Muhammad a.k.a. Mohammad of Ghor
- Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition) - Muhammad of Ghor
- Historical Guide to Afghanistan - Chakhcharan to Herat (Ghaznavids, Ghorids, and Mongols)