The Mir of Shighnan was the ruler of Shighnan, a region that occasionally was politically independent and at other times was subservient to Badakhshan

Badakhshan

Badakhshan is an historic region comprising parts of what is now northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan. The name is retained in Badakhshan Province which is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the far northeast of Afghanistan, and contains the Wakhan Corridor...

, the Khanate of Kokand

Khanate of Kokand

The Khanate of Kokand was a state in Central Asia that existed from 1709–1883 within the territory of modern eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan...

, and 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...

. The seat of power of the Mir of Shighnan was at Qaleh Barpanjeh (قلعه برپنجه). In 1883 the last Mir of Shighnan, Yusuf Ali Khan, was ousted from power by the Afghan government and Shighnan became the Shighnan District

Shighnan District

Shighnan is one of the 29 districts of Badakhshan Province in eastern Afghanistan. It is part of the history region of Shighnan that is today divided between Afghanistan and Tajikistan...

 in the Afghan Province of Badakhshan

Badakhshan Province

Badakhshan is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, consisting of 28 districts. It is located in the north-east of the country, between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya. It is part of the Badakhshan region.-Geography:...

. In the 1890s Afghanistan transferred control of half of Shighnan to Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. This area became the Shughnon District

Shughnon district

Shughnon District or Nohiya-i Shughnon is a district in east Tajikistan, in the central-western part of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province . It is bordered by the Panj River and Afghanistan on the east, the Rushan Range and Rushon district on the north, Murghab district on the east and the...

 and today is a district in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province

Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province is an autonomous, mountainous province in the east of Tajikistan. Located in the Pamir Mountains, it makes up 45% of the land area of the country but only 3% of the population....

 in Tajikistan

Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....

.

List of mirs of Shighnan

• Shah Mir - Lived in 18th century.
• Shah Wanji – Ruled in late 18th century. Son of Shah Mir. The name Wanji is derived from the fact that his mother was from Vanj
  Vanj district
  Vanj District or Nohiya-i Vanj is a district in east Tajikistan, in the north-west of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, with administrative capital Vanj....
  
  . Ney Elias
  Ney Elias
  Ney Elias, CIE, was a British explorer, geographer, and diplomat, most known for his extensive travels in Asia. Modern scholars speculate that he was a key intelligence agent for Britain during the Great Game. Elias traveled extensively in the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Pamirs, and Turkestan regions...
  
   reported seeing a marker stone dating from 1786 commemorating a canal built by Shah Wanji.
• Kuliad Khan – no dates – Son of Wanji.
• Abdur Rahim – grandson of Shah Wanji.
• Yusuf Ali Khan – Son of Abdur Rahim
  Abdur Rahim
  Abdur Rahim is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words Abd, al- and Rahim. The name means "servant of the most merciful", Ar-Rahim being one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names.The letter a of the al-...
  
  . He was dethroned by the Afghan military in 1883 and imprisoned in Kabul.