Panjshir Valley
The Panjshir Valley, also spelt Panjsher Valley (Sanskrit: The Valley of Five Lions, 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.[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.[2] As of April 2004, it became the heart of Panjshir Province.[3]
Name
The name Panjshir, literally meaning 'Five Lions', refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centred in the valley.
Military significance
The Panjshir Valley has long been a centre of resistance to Afghan central governments and outside powers seeking to rule Afghanistan. The region was propelled into the news by the eponymous Panjshir Valley Incident, a 1975 Islamist uprising led by Ahmed Shah Massoud, an ethnic Tajik. The uprising ultimately failed when local people, hearing news that Kabul 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 centres of rebellion by Afghan mujahideen against the government of Mohammad Najibullah and the Soviet forces. 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.[citation needed]
Starting in 1996, the valley would also become an important point of resistance against the Taliban.[7]
Economy and natural resources
The Panjsher Valley has the potential to become a major centre of emerald mining. As early as the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder had commented on gemstones from the region, and 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'.[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.[6]
References
- ^ "Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir". Xinhua. 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ "Afghanistan". Library of Congress Country Studies. Library of Congress. 1997. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
- ^ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060705_5589.html
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Profile: Afghanistan's 'Lion of Panjshir'". Radio Free Europe. 2006-09-05. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ a b Anderson, John Ward (2007-09-28). "A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan: U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir". The Washington Post. p. A11. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Tighe, Paul (2005-01-09). "Afghanistan's Disarmament Program Begins in Panjshir Valley". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ Bowersox, Gary (1991). "Emeralds of the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan". Gems and Gemology. Spring. Gemological Society of America: pp26-39.
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