Information about Afghan Turkestan

Map showing approximate boundaries of Afghan Turkestan with respect to modern-day provinces of Afghanistan

Afghan Turkestan is a northwestern part of Afghanistan, on the border with the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Afghan Turkestan is also the name of a former province in this area, which was centred on Mazari Sharif and included territory in the modern provinces of Kunduz, Balkh, Jowzjan and Sar-e Pol. The whole territory, from the junction of the Kokcha river with the Amu Darya on the north-east to the province of Herat on the south-west, was some 500 miles in length, with an average width from the Russian frontier to the Hindu Kush of 114 miles (183 km). It thus comprised about 57,000 square miles (148,000 kmÂ²) or roughly two-ninths of the former kingdom of Afghanistan.

Geography

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 Turkman Desert.

Population

Ethnically and historically Afghan Turkestan is more connected with Bukhara than with Kabul, of which government it has been a dependency only since the time of Dost Mahommed. The bulk of the people of the cities are of Persian (Tajiks) and Turkic (Uzbek) stock, but interspersed with them are Mongol Hazaras, and Pashtuns with Turkmen tribes in the Amu Darya plains.

History

Ancient Balkh or Bactriana was a province of the Achaemenian empire, and probably was occupied in great measure by a race of Iranian blood. About 250 BC Diodotus (Theodotus), governor of Bactria under the Seleucidae, declared his independence, and commenced the history of the Greco-Bactrian dynasties, which succumbed to Parthian and nomadic movements about 126 BC. After this came a Buddhist era which has left its traces in the gigantic sculptures at Bamian and the rock-cut topes of Haibak. The district was devastated by Genghis Khan, and has never since fully recovered its prosperity. For about a century it belonged to the Delhi empire, and then fell into Uzbeg hands. In the 18th century it formed part of the dominion of Ahmad Khan Durani, and so remained under his son Timur. But under the fratricidal wars of Timur's sons the separate khanates fell back under the independent rule of various Uzbek chiefs. At the beginning of the 19th century they belonged to Bukhara; but under the emir Dost Mahommed the Afghans recovered Balkh and Tashkurgan in 1850, Akcha and the four western khanates in 1855, and Kunduz in 1859. The sovereignty over Andkhui, Shibarghan, Saripul and Maimana 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.

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Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. Within the USSR they were also called union republics (Russian:
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Anthem
Independent, Neutral, Turkmenistan State Anthem

Capital Ashgabat

Largest city Ashgabat
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Anthem
National Anthem of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Capital Tashkent

Largest city Tashkent
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Kunduz (Persian: كندوز) is one of the provinces of Afghanistan, centered on the city of Kunduz in Afghanistan, with an area of 8,040 km square, and a population of about 820,000 [1] .
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Balkh (Persian: بلخ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is Mazari Sharif. Tajiks make up the majority of the province, followed by Pashtuns, Uzbak and Hazara.
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Jowzjān or Jōzjān (Persian: جوزجان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is Sheberghan.
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Sar-e Pol (Persian: سر پل) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country. Its capital is the city of Sar-e Pol.
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Origin Pamir Mountains
Mouth Aral Sea
Basin countries Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
Length 2,400 km (1,500 mi)
Source elevation ~6,000 m (15,000 ft)

Avg.
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Herat (Persian: هرات) is one the 34 Provinces of Afghanistan; together with Badghis, Farah, and Ghor provinces, it makes up the north-western region of the country. Its primary city and administrative capital is also named Herat.
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State Party Uzbekistan
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv, vi
Reference 602
Region Asia-Pacific

Inscription History
Inscription 1993 (17th Session)
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Kabul

Coordinates:
Province Kabul
Coordinates
Population (2005)^[1]
2994000 (1st)
UN estimate of city proper
City Districts
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Dost Mohammad Khan (دوست محمد خان) (December 23, 1793 - June 9, 1863), son of Payinda Khan Muhammadzai and grandson of Jamal Khan, founded the Barakzai ruling dynasty in Afghanistan.
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50-60 million
(including all sub-groups)
Regions with significant populations
Iran [1]
[https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html#People]
Tajikistan [2]
[https://www.cia.
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Tājīk (Persian: تاجيک; UniPers: TÃ¢jik; Tajik: Тоҷик
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Turkic peoples are a group of peoples residing in northern, central and western Eurasia who speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. These peoples share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds.
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Uzbeks (Self designation sg. O‘zbek, pl. O‘zbeklar) are a Turkic people of Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
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Hazara are an ethnic group who reside mainly in the central region of Afghanistan, called Hazarajat or Hazaristan. They are predominantly Shia Muslims and speak the Hazaragi dialect of the Persian language.
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This article is about the Turkmen people of Turkmenistan. For the distinct group of Turk peoples of Iraq see Iraqi Turkmen. For the group of people in Turkey, see Turkish people. See also disambiguation page Turkmen for other uses of the term.

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Achaemenid Empire (Persian: هخامنشیان IPA: [haχɒmaneʃijɒn]) (559 BC–330 BC), or
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The Iranian peoples (See^[1] for local names) are a collection of ethnic groups defined by their usage of Iranian languages and their descent from ancient Iranian peoples.
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3rd century BC - 2nd century BC
280s BC 270s BC 260s BC - 250s BC - 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC
253 BC 252 BC 251 BC - 250 BC - 249 BC 248 BC 247 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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Diodotus, Seleucid satrap of Bactria, rebelled against Antiochus II (about 255 BC) and became the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom (Trogus, Prol. 41; Justin xli. 4, 5, where he is called Theodotus; Strabo xi. 515).
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The Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion. At its greatest extent, the Empire comprised central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, Turkmenistan, Pamir and the Indus valley (Pakistan).
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Parthia^[1] was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeast of modern Iran, but at its height covering all of Iran proper, as well as regions of the modern countries of Armenia, Iraq, Georgia, eastern Turkey, eastern Syria, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan,
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2nd century BC - 1st century BC
150s BC 140s BC 130s BC - 120s BC - 110s BC 100s BC 90s BC
129 BC 128 BC 127 BC - 126 BC - 125 BC 124 BC 123 BC

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states

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Buddhism is often described as a religion^[1] and a collection of various philosophies, based initially on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, known as Gautama Buddha.
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