Afghan Turkestan

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Afghan Turkestan,

Faryab. In 1890, Qataghan-Badakhshan Province was separated from Turkestan Province. It was later abolished by Abdur Rahman.[1]

The whole territory of Afghan Turkestan, from the junction of the

Herat on the south-west, was some 800 kilometres (500 mi) in length, with an average width from the Russian frontier to the Hindu Kush of 183 km (114 mi). It thus comprised about 150,000 km2 (57,000 sq mi) or roughly two-ninths of the former Kingdom of Afghanistan
.

Geography

Afghan Turkestan Province in 1929

The area is agriculturally poor except in the river valleys, being rough and mountainous towards the south, but subsiding into undulating wastes and pasture-lands towards the Karakum Desert.

The province included the khanates of

Shibarghan, Andkhoy (city), and Maymana in the west.[2]

Demographics

A CIA map showing the various Afghan tribal territories

The bulk of the people are Uzbeks and Turkmens with large concentrations of Hazaras, Qizilbashs, Tajiks, and Pashtuns.[3]

History

Ancient Balkh or

Saripul, and Maymana was in dispute between Bukhara and Kabul until settled by the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873 in favour of the Afghan claim. Under the strong rule of Abdur Rahman these outlying territories were closely welded to Kabul; but after the accession of Habibullah the bonds once more relaxed. In the late 19th and 20th centuries, many ethnic Pashtuns either voluntarily or involuntarily settled in Afghan Turkestan
.

In 1890, the district of Qataghan and Badakhshan was divided from Afghan Turkestan and made into the Qataghan-Badakhshan Province. Administration of the province was assigned to the Northern Bureau in Kabul.[4]

See also

Notes

  1. Dari
    : ترکستان افغان, romanized: Turkistāni Afghān
  2. Dari: ترکستان جنوبی, romanized: Turkistāni Janubi; Turkmen: گوناورتا ترکستان, romanized: Günorta Türkistan; Uzbek
    : جنوبی ترکستان, romanized: Janubiy Turkiston

References

  1. ^ Hamilton, Angus (1906). Afghanistan. W. Heinemann. pp. https://books.google.com/books?id=nexWAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA247&dq=Mazar-i-Sharif+Province&hl=en&ei=3cXiTPemB4a8lQe26NyCBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Mazar-i-Sharif%20Province&f=false 247.
  2. ^ Holdich, Thomas Hungerford (1911). "Afghan Turkestan" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 319.
  3. ^ "Pashtuns say they're being brutalized". USA Today. 12 May 2002.
  4. ^ Fayz Muḥammad Katib. Siraj al-tawarıkh. V. III. Afghanistan Digital Library. <http://afghanistandl.nyu.edu/books/adl0009/index.html>

Further reading

Main article: Bibliography of the history of Central Asia § Afghan Turkestan
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