Panjshir Valley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Pashto: دره پنجشير - Dara-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range.[1] Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley 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]
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[edit] Name
The name Panjshir, literally meaning "Five Lions", refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centered in the valley. Local legend has it that the five brothers built a dam for Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni (سلطان محمود غزنوی) in the early 11th century AD. The foundations serve today for a modern reservoir.
[edit] Notable and famous individuals
- Ahmad Shah Massoud - Afghanistan National Hero
- Siddiq Barmak Director
- Nazir Mardomi - Director
- Assad Saifi - TV Director
- Noorullah Saifi - TV Engineer
- Sediq Shubab - Singer
- Tahir Shubab - Singer
- Qahar Asi - Poet
- Abdol Mohamad - Cage Fighter/Champion in UK
- Farid Rastagar - Singer & Husband of Wajiha
- Razaq Mamoon - Writer and Politician
- Amrullah Saleh - Head of National Security Directorate of Afghanistan
- Marshal Fahim - Former Defense Minister of Afghanistan
- Bismillah Khan Mohammadi - Chief of Staff of the Afghan National Army
- Mohammad Yonus Qanooni- The Head of Afghanistan Parliament
- Baba Jalandar Panjshiri
Wahab Ahmadi Tabar, a writer Abdul Hafiz Mansoor, a political expert, a writer and thinker many more both home and abroad
[edit] 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.[4] In the Middle Ages, Panjshir was famed for its silver mining and the Saffarids and Samanids minted their coins there.[5] As of 1985, crystals upwards of 190 carats (38 g) had been found there, reported to rival in quality the finest crystals of the Muzo mine in Colombia.[4] American reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan has 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.[6]
[edit] Wind farm
Tony Woods, a New Zealand renewable energy specialist, built a 10 turbine wind farm in Panjshir Valley in April 2008.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ "Afghanistan gets rid of heavy arms in Panjshir". Xinhua. 2005-03-06. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-03/06/content_2657769.htm. Retrieved 2006-11-22.
- ^ "Afghanistan". Library of Congress Country Studies. Library of Congress. 1997. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0038). Retrieved 2006-11-19.
- ^ http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060705_5589.html
- ^ a b Bowersox, Gary; Lawrence W. Snee, Eugene E. Foord, and Robert R. Seal II (1991). "Emeralds of the Panjshir Valley, Afghanistan". Gems and Gemology (Gemological Society of America) Spring: pp26–39.
- ^ "Pandjhir". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 1999.
- ^ Anderson, John Ward (2007-09-28). "A Haven of Prosperity in Afghanistan: U.S. Building Effort Blooms in Panjshir". Washington Post: p. A11. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/28/AR2007092801903.html. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- ^ http://www.ecobob.co.nz/EcoArticle/1776/0/Power-to-the-People--Getting-off-the-grid.aspx
[edit] External links
Template:Www.panjshirtv.net Template:Panjshir.info Template:Tajikan.info
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