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A view of the Panjshir Valley
A view of the Panjshir Valley

The Panjshir Valley, also spelled Panjsher Valley (Persian: دره پنجشير - Dara-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in northern Afghanistan, 150km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush. In Geology, a valley (also called a vale, dale, glen or strath and near or in Appalachia, a draw) is Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with The Hindu Kush is a Mountain range located between Afghanistan and Pakistan. [1] Located in Panjshir Province and divided by the Panjshir River, it is home to more than 300,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks. Panjshir ( literally "Five Lions" also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four Provinces of Afghanistan. The Panjshir River flows through the Panjshir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan, 150km north of Kabul. Tajik ( - Tādjīk; UniPers: Tâjik; Cyrillic: Тоҷик is a term generally applied to Persian-speaking people of [2] As of April 2004, it became the heart of Panjshir Province. Panjshir ( literally "Five Lions" also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four Provinces of Afghanistan. [3]

Contents

Name

The name Panjshir, literally meaning 'Five Lions', refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centered in the valley. Wali (Arabic ولي, plural Awliya ' أولياء) is an Arabic word meaning trusted one or friend generally denoting Local legend has it that the five brothers built a dam for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the early 11th century AD, whose foundations still serve today for a modern reservoir. Mahmud of Ghazni (محمود غزنوی Maḥmūd-e Ghaznawī ( November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030) also known as Yāmīn

Military significance

Ahmad Shah Massoud's tomb in the Panjshir Valley.
Ahmad Shah Massoud's tomb in the Panjshir Valley.
A new tomb for Massoud currently under construction.
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. Ahmad Shah Massoud ( (2 September 1953 &ndash 9 September 2001 was a Tajik Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading 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] however, Massoud would later more successfully use the valley as the base for his Northern Alliance, and 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. Mohammed Daoud Khan ( July 18, 1909 – April 28, 1978) was a politician in Afghanistan who overthrew the monarchy of Zahir Shah The United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( UIF, Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islami-yi Milli bara-yi Nijat-i Afghanistan) also known as the Northern The Soviet war in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet-Afghan War or just the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, was a nine-year conflict involving A Mujahid (Arabic ar مجاهد, literally "struggler" is a Muslim involved in a Jihad, id est fighting in a war or Najibullah ( Pashto: نجيب الله; born August 1947 killed September 27, 1996) was the fourth and last President of the The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya It was during this time that Massoud earned his nickname of the Lion of Panjsher. [5] The Panjshir was the only part of Afghanistan which successfully resisted Soviet control. [6] The Soviets attempted nine offensives in the Valley, all of which failed; close to 60% of Soviet casualties occurred in the Panjshir.

Starting in 1996, the valley would also become an important point of resistance against the Taliban. The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately [7]

Economy and natural resources

The Panjsher Valley has the potential to become a major center of emerald mining. Emeralds are a variety of the Mineral Beryl (Be3Al2(SiO36 colored Green by trace amounts As early as the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder commented on gemstones from the region. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author [8] In the Middle Ages, Panjshir was famed for its silver mining and the Saffarids and Samanids minted their coins there. Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen The Saffarid dynasty ( Persian: سلسله صفاریان ruled a empire in Sistan, which is a historical region now in southeastern Iran and southwestern The Samanids (819–999 ( Sāmāniyān) were a Persian dynasty in Central Asia and Greater Khorasan, named after its founder Saman [9] As of 1985, crystals upwards of 190 carats had been found there, reported to rival in quality the finest crystals of the Muzo mine in Colombia. The carat is a unit of Mass used for measuring gems and Pearls Currently a carat is defined as exactly 200  mg (0 Muzo is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. [8] American reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan have sparked something of a development boom in the valley; new roads have been build both through governmental efforts and private companies, and a new radio tower allows valley residents to pick up radio signals from Kabul, 96km away. After more than two decades of conflict the Reconstruction of Afghanistan has begun though it continues to be hampered by continuing conflict [6]

References

  1. ^ "Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir", Xinhua, 2005-03-06. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Retrieved on 2006-11-22. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran  
  2. ^ Afghanistan. Library of Congress Country Studies. Library of Congress (1997). Retrieved on 2006-11-19. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1095 - The Council of Clermont, called by Pope Urban II to discuss sending the First Crusade to the Holy Land
  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. This article is about the radio broadcast service For the REM Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1590 - Alexander Farnese 's army forces Henry IV of France to raise the siege of Paris. Retrieved on 2006-11-22. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran  
  6. ^ a b Anderson, John Ward. "A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan: U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir", The Washington Post, 2007-09-28, p. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 48 BC - Pompey the Great is assassinated on orders of King Ptolemy of Egypt after landing in Egypt.  A11. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 768 - Carloman I and Charlemagne are crowned Kings of The Franks.  
  7. ^ Tighe, Paul. "Afghanistan's Disarmament Program Begins in Panjshir Valley", Bloomberg, 2005-01-09. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Retrieved on 2006-11-22. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran  
  8. ^ a b Bowersox, Gary; Lawrence W. Snee, Eugene E. Foord, and Robert R. Seal II (1991). "Emeralds of the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan". Gems and Gemology Spring: pp26–39. Gemological Society of America.  
  9. ^ "Pandjhir". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. The Encyclopaedia of Islam ( EI) is the standard Encyclopaedia of the Academic discipline of Islamic studies. 1. 0). (1999). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV.  

See also

External links

Panjshir ( literally "Five Lions" also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four Provinces of Afghanistan. The Panjshir River flows through the Panjshir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan, 150km north of Kabul.
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