Alishang
{{Short description|Village, river, and valley in Afghanistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name =Alishang
|other_name =
|native_name =
|settlement_type =Village
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|pushpin_map = Afghanistan
|pushpin_label_position =right
|pushpin_map_caption =Location in Afghanistan
|pushpin_relief =1
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name ={{flag|Afghanistan}}
|subdivision_type1 =Province
|subdivision_name1 = Laghman
|subdivision_type2 =District
|subdivision_name2 = Mihtarlam
|subdivision_type3 =
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|timezone = + 4.30
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|coordinates = {{coord|34|42|12|N|70|9|11|E|region:AF|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes =
|elevation_m = 862
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Alishang is the name of a village, a river and a fertile valley of Laghman Province, and also of the district headquarters of Mihtarlam District, in eastern Afghanistan.[http://geographic.org/geographic_names Geographic Names], National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, accessed 28 April 2011{{cite book |last1=Burnes |first1=Sir Alexander |last2=Leech |first2=Robert |last3=Lord |first3=Perceval Barton |author4=Wood, John |title=Reports and papers, political, geographical, & commercial submitted to government by Alexander Burnes, Lieutenant Leech, Doctor Lord, and Lieutenant Wood, employed on missions in the years 1835-36-37 in Scinde, Affghanisthan, and adjacent countries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NUhxU7Amx5UC&pg=RA1-PA37 |accessdate=28 April 2011 |year=1839|publisher=G.H. Huttmann, Bengal Military Orphan Press|page=1}} It lies about 40 km northwest of Jalalabad.
The fertile Alishang valley drained by the Alishang River, which is described as "contracted", has an abundance of mounds and caves. It is surrounded by Badrow hills. Alladad Khan castle is located close to the village.{{cite book|last=Mason|first=Charles|title=Journeys in Balochistan,Afghanistan the Panjab, & Kalat|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlYpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA293|year=1844|page=293}}{{cite book|last1=Jalali|first1=Ali Ahmad|last2=Grau|first2=Lester W.|title=Afghan guerrilla warfare: in the words of the Mujahideen fighters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3VJJDijysx8C&pg=PA217|year=2002|publisher=Zenith Imprint|isbn=978-0-7603-1322-0|page=217}} The Alishang River valley has a number of villages on the way from Jalalabad, such as Kargai, Tajak, Tigadee and Safees along its river course, which in some reaches is very narrow and can be forded by dismounting from the horse's back.
Geography
Alishang village is on the banks of Alishang River, which is also called the Nadjil River. It rises in the mountains of Nadjil on the southern slopes of Hindukush mountains and after traversing 90 miles joins the Alinghar River in Alishang village. The valley and the river are both named as Alishang. Similarly, Alinghar River is also known as the Kow, which rises in the Hindukush mountains joins the Alishang River in Alishang.{{cite book|author=Edward Thornton|title=A gazetteer of the countries adjacent to India on the northwest: including Sinde, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, the Punjab, and the neighbouring states|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4rgBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51|year=1844|publisher=W.H. Allen|page=51}} The Rhododendron Afghanicum was found in the Laghman Valley, northeast of Kabul.{{cite book|author=Royal Horticultural Society (Great Britain)|title=The Rhododendron and camellia year book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pPFIAAAAYAAJ|year=1970|publisher=The Royal Horticultural Society}}
;Natural disasters
Alishang district (estimated population 139,000) as a whole under the Laghman Province is prone to natural disasters due to floods, snow and drought. During 2003–2004, the flood damage in the district was to agricultural land and crops, due to snow to animal life and also by drought.{{Cite web|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:xfO_wUoqaogJ:www.andma.gov.af/Contents/333/Documents/196/ddp_laghman_10_05.pdf+Alishang+in+Afghanistan&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShGq8du3CKjwiqaPcWpOYMjl2yaAhzbWlB-DOukV4S4exHqQK56FnisRI5fN8AxCiH1wlv5kJ1tMRLQnWpmIWGFw0PtsXsT2wLl0oeoEF7Z8AIDSuQXiukEbn5U76RcFymQ0feF&sig=AHIEtbTWfFYCnaHODU9mCr8FPJqQPcfmMQ|title=Disaster Management Plan for Laghman Province|accessdate=29 April 2011|publisher=Department for Disaster Preparedness}}
;Climate
Alishang has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with hot summers and cool winters.
{{Weather box
|location = Anjuman, Badakhshan Province
|metric first = yes
|single line = yes
|Jan mean C = 3.1
|Feb mean C = 4.6
|Mar mean C = 10.0
|Apr mean C = 15.5
|May mean C = 20.7
|Jun mean C = 24.9
|Jul mean C = 26.2
|Aug mean C = 25.2
|Sep mean C = 22.2
|Oct mean C = 17.0
|Nov mean C = 10.9
|Dec mean C = 5.6
|Jan precipitation mm = 27.9
|Feb precipitation mm = 58.4
|Mar precipitation mm = 65.3
|Apr precipitation mm = 62.8
|May precipitation mm = 50.7
|Jun precipitation mm = 24.6
|Jul precipitation mm = 61.8
|Aug precipitation mm = 76.1
|Sep precipitation mm = 32.5
|Oct precipitation mm = 15.4
|Nov precipitation mm = 17.3
|Dec precipitation mm = 9.5
|Jan humidity= 35
|Feb humidity= 40
|Mar humidity= 39
|Apr humidity= 35
|May humidity= 27
|Jun humidity= 22
|Jul humidity= 31
|Aug humidity= 38
|Sep humidity= 30
|Oct humidity= 26
|Nov humidity= 29
|Dec humidity= 27
{{cite web
|url=https://climatecharts.net/
|title = Climate: Alishang - ClimateCharts, Laura Zepner, Pierre Karrasch, Felix Wiemann & Lars Bernard (2020) ClimateCharts.net – an interactive climate analysis web platform, International Journal of Digital Earth, DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2020.1829112
|access-date = 22 September 2022}}
|source 2 = World Weather Online (precipitation & humidity){{cite web|url=https://www.worldweatheronline.com/alishang-oluswali-weather-averages/laghman/af.aspx
|title = Humidity: Alishang - World Weather Online
|access-date = 22 September 2022}}}}
History
The earliest history is traced to the Mughal Emperor Babur. In the 1520s, Babur, while camping in Alishang, had hunted wildlife in the mountains of the Alishang valley before he returned to India.{{cite book|author=Stephen Frederic Dale|title=The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6wPbXSyvjYC&pg=PA316|year=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-13707-3|page=316}} The place finds mention in Babur's writings and the people inhabiting the village are stated to be cantankerous and are given an epithet in the local language.
In the 1840s, the settlement was described as a "small walled-in town, of about four hundred houses, but has nothing remarkable in its appearance." This valley was in 1883 the westward limit of Kafiristan according to William Watts McNair.William Watts McNair [http://www.topbookz.com/browse/J/J.E.Howard/MemoirofWilliamWattsMcNair/ A Visit to Kafiristan]{{dead link|date=November 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, lecture to the Royal Geographical Society, december 1883.
In the war against the Soviets, Mujahideen forces who had taken shelter in the village were attacked. After initial set back and death of several soldiers and the local Mujahideen leader of Alishang, Mujahideen forces managed to defend the village. Soviets withdrew under fierce fighting in which the Mujahideen had superior firepower; both sides suffered many casualties. The local villagers provided help in many respects to the Mujahideen soldiers. In August 1981, the Mujahideen controlled the district centre of Alishang. In March 2011, the Mujahideen were reported to have attacked a US camp in the area.{{Cite web|url=http://www.shahamat.info/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6152:mujahideen-attack-us-base-in-alishang&catid=1:news&Itemid=2|title=Mujahideen attack US base in Alishang|accessdate=29 April 2011|publisher=Islamic emirate of Afghanistan}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
In 2006, a new micro-hydro electrical power plant opened in Alishang, built at a cost of US$32,000 by the Methar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team. The plant provides power to some 300 homes in the area.{{cite web|url=http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/reliefweb_pdf/node-217536.pdf|title=Government of Afghanistan and ISAF open electrical power plant in Alishang|publisher=Relief Web|accessdate=28 April 2011}}{{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}