Panjshir Province
Panjshir(Persian: پنجشیر, literally "Five Lions", also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Containing the Panjshir Valley, it was established from the Parwan Province in April 13, 2004. Its population is 928,620, near one million combine with panjshiries living abrod and its area is 3,610 square kilometers. Its capital is the town of Bazarak.
The Panjshir Valley has long been a center of resistance to Afghan central governments and outside powers seeking to rule the region. The region was propelled into the news by the eponymous Panjshir Valley Incident, a 1975 anti-Communist uprising led by Ahmad Shah Massoud. The uprising ultimately failed when local people, hearing news that the central government of Daoud Khan] 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 centers 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.
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 center of emerald mining. As early as the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder commented on gemstones from the region.[8] In the Middle Ages, Panjshir was famed for its silver mining and the Saffarids and Samanids minted their coins there.[9] 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]
Panjshir River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Panjshir River flows through the Panjshir Valley in northeastern Afghanistan, 150km north of Kabul. It flows southward through the Hindu Kush and adjoins the Kabul River near Sarobi. At this junction, a dam was built in the 1950s to supply water from the Panjshir River to the Kabul River.[1]
