Panjshir Valley#History
{{Short description|Valley in northeastern Afghanistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox valley
|name=Panjsher Valley
|photo=File:Panjshir River Valley in May 2011.jpg
|photo_caption=A view of Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley
|photo_size=300px
|map_image=Panjshir in Afghanistan.svg
|map_caption=Map of Afghanistan with Panjshir highlighted
|coordinates={{Coord|35|16|N|69|28|E|region:AF-PAN_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
}}
The Panjshir Valley (Dari: {{lang|ps|درهٔ پنجشير}}, Dara-i-Panjsher, literally "Valley of the Five Lions"), also spelled Panjsher, is a valley in northeastern Afghanistan, {{convert|150|km}} north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range.{{cite news |title=Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/06/content_2657769.htm |agency=Xinhua |date=6 March 2005 |access-date=22 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016052847/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/06/content_2657769.htm |archive-date=16 October 2006 }} It is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 100,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks as of 1997.{{cite web |title=Afghanistan |work=Library of Congress Country Studies |publisher=Library of Congress |year=1997 |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0038) |access-date= 19 November 2006}} In April 2004, it became the heart of the new Panjshir Province, having previously been part of Parwan Province.{{cite web|author1=American Forces Press Service|title=New Afghan Road Offers Gateway to Optimism|url=http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=69|website=archive.defense.gov|publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|access-date=16 August 2017|language=en|date=5 July 2006}} Politically, this province has been considered the start point of Afghanistan's Jihad period against the Soviets. This province is also the birthplace of Afghanistan's national hero, Ahmad Shah Massoud.{{cite web|year=2004|url=http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav101304.shtml|title=Playing the Massoud card|publisher=Eurasianet.org|access-date=August 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611041316/http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav101304.shtml|archive-date=June 11, 2011}}
History
{{Further|History of Afghanistan}}
Human activity in Panjshir can be dated to the Bronze Age.The relics from underground archaeological sites had been discovered during President Daoud Khan's presidency. The indigenous people of the valley are believed to be the most ancient living inhabitants in the country although local Tajiks believe their ancestors came to Panjshir around 700 years ago from Samarkand.{{Cite book |last=Mansoor |first=Hafiz |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Panjshir_During_the_Jihad/k5Y0EQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Panjshiri+Origins&pg=PA27&printsec=frontcover |title=Panjshir During the Jihad |date=2024-11-30 |publisher=Kabul Books |isbn=978-1-998560-20-2 |page=27 |language=en}}
File:Downed Helicopter (5453839178).jpg
In 1975, the valley was the site of an uprising by Panjshir's residents under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Massoud against the government of Daoud Khan.{{cite web |last1=Ansar |first1=Massoud |title=Furious Kabul Residents Slam Govt Over Massoud Day Mayhem |url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/furious-kabul-residents-slam-govt-over-massoud-day-mayhem |website=TOLOnews |language=en |date=9 September 2018}}
It was the site of the Panjshir offensives fought by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviets against the mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War from 1980 to 1985, when local commander Ahmad Shah Massoud successfully defended the valley.
The valley again witnessed renewed fighting during the Afghan Civil War of 1996–2001 between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance under the command of Massoud, where he again defended it from being overrun by the Taliban.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2002/02/junger200202|title=Massoud's Last Conquest|first=Sebastian|last=Junger|magazine=Vanity Fair}} The Panjshir Valley was considered one of Afghanistan's safest regions during the era of the ISAF-backed government{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/foreign-kayakers-surprise-afghans-in-the-panjshir-valley-1.136676|title=Foreign kayakers surprise Afghans in the Panjshir Valley|date=2 August 2016|website=The National}} and in late August 2021, warlords tried to make the valley a bastion of resistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan.{{Cite web|title=As Taliban takes over, one Afghan province is still standing strong – Here's the story of Ahmad Shah Massoud and his bastion Panjshir|url=https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/as-taliban-takes-over-one-afghan-province-is-still-standing-strong-heres-the-story-of-ahmad-shah-massoud-and-his-bastion-panjshir|access-date=17 August 2021|website=Free Press Journal|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=18 August 2021|title='Panjshir stands strong': Afghanistan's last holdout against the Taliban|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/18/panjshir-stands-strong-afghanistans-last-holdout-against-the-taliban|access-date=20 August 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} The Taliban announced that hundreds of fighters were headed towards the valley on 22 August 2021.
Former Vice President Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, son of former anti-Soviet Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, have vowed to resist the Taliban from Panjshir, which repelled both Soviet forces and the Taliban in the 1980s and 1990s. {{Cite web|date=21 August 2021|title=Anti-Taliban Forces Say They've Taken Three Districts in Afghanistan's North|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-08-21/anti-taliban-forces-say-theyve-taken-three-districts-in-afghanistans-north|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822025358/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2021-08-21/anti-taliban-forces-say-theyve-taken-three-districts-in-afghanistans-north|archive-date=22 August 2021|website=usnews.com}} The Alliance has claimed to "Retake Districts in Northeast Afghanistan" {{Cite web|last=Ditz|first=Jason|date=22 August 2021|title=Anti-Taliban Force Retakes Districts in Northeast Afghanistan|url=https://news.antiwar.com/2021/08/22/anti-taliban-force-retakes-districts-in-northeast-afghanistan/|access-date=4 September 2021|website=Antiwar.com|language=en-US}} on 22 August led by former military, special forces, police and more. The Biden administration has not publicly answered the plea made by Ahmad Massoud in a op-ed in The Washington Post for help restocking the anti-Taliban forces with supplies.{{Cite news|date=18 August 2021|title=Mujahideen resistance taliban ahmad massoud|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/18/mujahideen-resistance-taliban-ahmad-massoud/}} On 25 August 2021, it was revealed that a delegation of Panjshir resistance forces in the nearby Parwan city of Charikar were holding talks with a Taliban delegation and that the Taliban by this point ceased blocking routes to the Panjshir Valley "after one or a maximum of two days."{{cite news|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-central-asia_afghan-resistance-delegation-meets-taliban-charikar/6209990.html|title=Afghan Resistance Delegation Meets With Taliban in Charikar|first1=Ayesha|last1=Tanzeem|first2=Tahir|last2=Khan|publisher=Voice of America|date=25 August 2021|access-date=28 August 2021}} On 6 September 2021, Taliban claims to have overtaken the insurgents holding out in Panjshir Valley and killed Fahim Dashty, spokesperson of Ahmad Massoud's resistance front{{cite web |url=https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/afghanistan-journalist-leader-fahim-dashti-killed-in-taliban-attack-in-panjshir-valley.html |title=Afghanistan: Journalist leader Fahim Dashti killed in Taliban attack in Panjshir Valley |date=6 September 2021 |website=www.ifj.org}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/india/taliban-claim-control-panjshir-evacuation-flights-await-clearance-2021-09-06/|title=Taliban claim control of Panjshir, opposition says resistance will continue|newspaper=Reuters|date=7 September 2021|via=www.reuters.com}} However, Resistance fighters were still confirmed to be present in the Panjshir Valley.{{cite news |last1=Roggio |first1=Bill |title=Taliban completes conquest of Afghanistan after seizing Panjshir |url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2021/09/taliban-completes-conquest-of-afghanistan-after-seizing-panjshir.php |access-date=7 September 2021 |publisher=FDD's Long War Journal |date=6 September 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5b4b7b58-1edf-4510-ad15-813487f3c80e |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221211/https://www.ft.com/content/5b4b7b58-1edf-4510-ad15-813487f3c80e |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Taliban says it has captured last Afghan region of resistance|last1=Kazmin|first1=Amy|last2=Findlay|first2=Stephanie|last3=Bokhari|first3=Farhan|work=Financial Times|date=6 September 2021|access-date=7 September 2021}}
On 9 September 2021, Ali Maisam Nazary, the Resistance's foreign relations head, denied reports of full Taliban control of the Panjshir province, stating that 60% was still under National Resistance Front control.{{cite news|url=https://www.firstpost.com/world/nrf-says-60-percent-of-afghanistans-panjshir-still-under-control-ahmad-massoud-and-amrullah-saleh-alive-9950481.html|title=NRF says 60 percent of Afghanistan's Panjshir still under control, Ahmad Massoud and Amrullah Saleh alive|publisher=First Post|date=9 September 2021|accessdate=9 September 2021}} Claims of full Taliban control were further refuted when reporters from Iran's Tasnim News Agency were able to visit the Valley on 11 September and interview not only a Taliban fighter but also a local NRF fighter stationed in the area.{{cite web|url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2021/09/12/2570233/exclusive-taliban-claim-to-have-conquered-entire-panjshir|title=Exclusive: Taliban Claim to Have Conquered Entire Panjshir|date=12 September 2021|access-date=15 September 2021|work=Tasnim News Agency}} Despite Taliban claims of calm in the Valley, Tasnim News Agency also reported that some local residents were fleeing in anticipation of future military clashes. In an interview which was published on 21 September 2021, Ahmad Wali Massoud told TRT World journalist Samuel Ramani that the Resistance still controls much of the Valley and stated that the Taliban, which he described as "leaderless," had a weaker hold than it appeared.{{cite news|url=https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/former-afghan-ambassador-to-uk-says-the-taliban-is-weaker-than-it-looks-50117|title=Former Afghan ambassador to UK says the Taliban is weaker than it looks|first=Samuel|last=Ramani|publisher=TRT World|date=21 September 2021|accessdate=22 September 2021}}
Economy and natural resources
{{Further|Tourism in Afghanistan}}
File:Buildings in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan.JPG]]
The Panjshir Valley has the potential to become a major centre of emerald mining. As early as the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder commented on gemstones from the region.{{cite journal|last=Bowersox|first=Gary|author2=Lawrence W. Snee |author3=Eugene E. Foord |author4=Robert R. Seal II |title=Emeralds of the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan|journal=Gems and Gemology|publisher=Gemological Society of America|year=1991|volume=Spring|pages=26–39|doi=10.5741/GEMS.27.1.26|doi-access=free}} In the Middle Ages, Panjshir was famed for its silver mining and the Saffarids and Samanids minted their coins there.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Pandjhir| encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition = CD-ROM v. 1.0|publisher=Koninklijke Brill NV|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|year=1999}} As of 1985, emeralds upwards of {{convert|190|carat|g}} had been found in Panjshir, reported to rival in quality the finest crystals of the Muzo mine in Colombia. American reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan sparked a development boom in the valley with the construction of new modern roads and a new radio tower that allows valley residents to pick up radio signals from the Afghan capital, Kabul.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801903.html |date=28 September 2007 |access-date=9 October 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Anderson |first=John Ward |title=A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan: U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir |page=A11}} The valley has the potential of being an energy hub for Afghanistan, through construction of several hydroelectric dams. Rewat locality could be the site of the first dam. The valley could make the capital region power self-reliant.
The Panjshir has always been an important highway. Nearly {{convert|100|km}} long, it leads to two passes over the Hindu Kush – the Khawak Pass (3,848 m) leading to Afghanistan's northern plains, and the Anjuman Pass (4,430 m) that crosses into Badakhshan – used by the armies of Alexander the Great and Timur.
A 10-turbine wind farm was built in Panjshir Valley in April 2008.{{Cite web |last=Christie |first=Damian |title=Power to the People: Getting 'off the grid' |date=16 July 2008 |access-date=10 January 2010 |url=http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoArticle/1776/0/Power-to-the-People--Getting-off-the-grid.aspx |publisher=EcoBob |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223230238/http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoArticle/1776/0/Power-to-the-People--Getting-off-the-grid.aspx |archive-date=23 February 2009 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{YouTube|bz2s66oGOc0|له پنجشیر ولایته ځانګړي راپور}} (RTA Pashto, 12 July 2023)
- {{YouTube|5o2d_8DUDDs|Where the Sun Rises: Panjshir, Afghanistan}}
{{Panjshir Province}}
{{Authority control}}