Helmand River

{{redirect|Hirmand|the administrative subdivision of Iran|Hirmand County}}

{{redirect|Helmund|the province in Afghanistan|Helmand Province}}

{{Infobox river

| name = Helmand

| image =

| image_size = 200

| image_alt = The Helmand and Boghra Canal

| image_caption = Helmand and Boghra Canal beyond it

| map = Helmandrivermap.png

| map_size = 200

| map_alt = Helmand drainage basin

| map_caption = Map of the Helmand drainage basin

| mapframe = yes

| mapframe-zoom = 5

| subdivision_type1 = Countries

| subdivision_name1 = Afghanistan and Iran

| source1_location = Hindu Kush mountains

| mouth_location = Hamun Lake

| progression =

| length = {{convert|1150|km|mi|abbr=on}}

| source1_elevation =

| mouth_elevation =

| discharge1_avg =

| basin_size = Sistan Basin

| river_system =

| tributaries_left = Arghandab River

| tributaries_right = Khash River
Chagay River

| extra =

}}

The Helmand river (Pashto/Dari: {{lang|fa|هیرمند / هلمند}}; Ancient Greek: Ἐτύμανδρος, Etýmandros; Latin: {{lang|la|Erymandrus}}), also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand, is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin.{{cite web

|url=http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/sistan.pdf

|title=History of Environmental Change in the Sistan Basin 1976 - 2005

|access-date=2007-07-20

|archive-date=2007-08-07

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807214557/http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/sistan.pdf

|url-status=dead

}} It originates in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province, where it is separated from the watershed of the Kabul River by the Unai Pass. The Helmand feeds into the Hamun Lake on the border of Afghanistan and Iran.

Etymology

The name comes from the Avestan Haētumant, literally "dammed, having a dam", which referred to the Helmand River and the irrigated areas around it.Jack Finegan. Myth & Mystery: An Introduction to the Pagan Religions of the Biblical World. Baker Books, 1997. {{ISBN|0-8010-2160-X}}, 9780801021602 The word Haetumant is cognate with Sanskrit Setumatī meaning "one which has a dam."[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%81#Etymology Etymology] wiktionary.org[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D Wiktionary]{{unreliable source inline|date=April 2025}}

Geography

File:Helmand River Basin Sub.png

The Helmand stretches for {{convert|1,150|km|mi|abbr=on}}. It rises in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province in the Hindu Kush mountains, about 40 km{{Cite web|title=HELMAND RIVER i. GEOGRAPHY – Encyclopaedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/helmand-river-i|access-date=2020-06-14|website=www.iranicaonline.org}} west of Kabul ({{coord|34|34|N|68|33|E}}), flowing southwestward through Daykundi Province and Uruzgan Province. After passing through the city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province, it enters the desert of Dasht-e Margo, and then flows to the Sistan marshes and the Hamun-i-Helmand lake region around Zabol at the Afghan-Iranian border ({{coord|31|9|N|61|33|E}}). A few smaller rivers such as Tarnak and Arghandab flow into Helmand.{{Cite web|title=Helmand River {{!}} river, Central Asia|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Helmand-River|access-date=2020-06-15|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}

This river, managed by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority, is used extensively for irrigation, although a buildup of mineral salts has decreased its usefulness in watering crops. For much of its length, the Helmand is free of salt.{{Cite web|title=Helmand River|url=http://www.cawater-info.net/afghanistan/data/helmand_e.htm|access-date=2020-06-16|website=www.cawater-info.net}} Its waters are essential for farmers in Afghanistan, but it feeds into the Hamun Lake and is also important to farmers in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province.

A number of hydroelectric dams have created artificial reservoirs on some of the Afghanistan's rivers including the Kajaki Dam on the Helmand River. The chief tributary of the Helmand river, the Arghandab River (confluence at {{coord|31|27|N|64|23|E|}}), also has a major dam, north of Kandahar.

History

The Helmand valley region is mentioned by name in the Avesta (Fargard 1:13) as the Aryan land of Haetumant, one of the early centres of the Zoroastrian faith in areas that are now Afghanistan. However, by the late first millennium BC and early first millennium AD, the preponderance of communities of Hindus and Buddhists in the Helmand and Kabul valleys led to Parthians referring to it as India.{{Cite web|url=http://parthia.com/doc/parthian_stations.htm|title = Parthian Stations}}[http://www.avesta.org/vendidad/vd1sbe.htm Vendidad 1, at Avesta.org]Beyond is Arachosia, 36 schoeni. And the Parthians call this White India; there are the city of Biyt and the city of Pharsana and the city of Chorochoad and the city of Demetrias; then Alexandropolis, the metropolis of Arachosia; it is Greek, and by it flows the river Arachotus. As far as this place the land is under the rule of the Parthians.Avesta, translated by James Darmesteter (From Sacred Books of the East, American Edition, 1898) From 1758 to 1842, the Helmand formed the northern borders of the Brahui Khanate of Kalat.{{Cite book |last=Dashti |first=Naseer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xIjyLNpusbAC&pg=PA190 |title=The Baloch and Balochistan: A Historical Account from the Beginning to the Fall of the Baloch State |date=2012 |publisher=Trafford|isbn=978-1-4669-5896-8 |language=en|page=190|quote=}}

Notes

References

{{cite encyclopedia |last=Various authors |encyclopedia= Encyclopædia Iranica|title= HELMAND RIVER|url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/helmand-river|edition= Online|publisher= Columbia University|location= United States}}
Frye, Richard N. (1963). The Heritage of Persia. World Publishing company, Cleveland, Ohio. Mentor Book edition, 1966.
Toynbee, Arnold J. (1961). Between Oxus and Jumna. London. Oxford University Press.
Vogelsang, W. (1985). "Early historical Arachosia in South-east Afghanistan; Meeting-place between East and West." Iranica antiqua, 20 (1985), pp. 55–99.