Gardez
Gardēz
ګردېز | |
|---|---|
City | |
 The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Province | Paktia Province |
| Elevation | 1,000 m (3,000 ft) |
| Population (2008)[1] | |
| • Total | 70,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 (Afghanistan Standard Time) |
| History of Afghanistan |
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| Timeline |
Gardēz (Pashto: ګردېز, Persian: گردیز) is the capital of the Paktiā province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was put at ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census, but is estimated to be 70,000 in 2008.[1]
Location and infrastructure
Gardēz is located at 2,300m above sea-level and is not far from the Tora Bora region of caves and tunnels. The city is watered by the upper course of the Rūd-e Gardēz (Gardēz-River), which ends in the Āb-e Istāda lake. Gardēz is located at a junction between two important roads, one linking Pakistan with Ghazni, the other connecting Kabul and Khost. The city is west of Khost and 60 miles south of Kabul.
The "old town", located at the foot of the Bālā Hesār fortress, is divided into four districts:
- Bāzār-e Kohna (old Bazaar)
- Qaraye Āhangarān (district of the blacksmiths)
- Qaraye Arjākhēl (Arjākhēl district)
- Nawābād (new town)
... with Nawābād extending into the new residential quarters, new bazaar, and administrative center.
Population
The population of Gardez was estimated to be around 70,000 in 2008. According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Gardēz is a city "belonging to a network of old isolated Tājīk settlements in southern Afghanistan that are remnants of a time when Pashto had not yet reached the area."[2]
History
Gardēz is an ancient settlement, located in the Highlands of the Hindu Kush. Unfortunately, its history is only very poorly documented. Archaeological discoveries, including Greek, Sassanid, Hephthalite, and Turki-Shāhī coins give a small insight into the rich history of Gardēz.
According to the medieval Tārīkh-i Sīstān, the city was founded by the Kharijite warlord Hamza bin Abdullāh Shārī, although scholars agree that this is probably only a reference to the Islamic conquest of the city.[2] In any case, Gardēz became a center of Kharijite belief for more than a century under the local dynasty of the Aflahids in the distant eastern parts of the Abbasid caliphate.. In 870, the city was conquered by the Saffarid ruler Yaqub ibn Layth. In 975, the Ghaznavids took over the city, while the converted Aflahids entered the Ghaznavid nobility.[3] In 1162, the city fell to the Sultāns of Ghōr.
Renowned for its multi-storied houses - as mentioned by the Central Asian conqueror Babur[4][5] - the city was part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. However, nothing is known of the town during the subsequent centuries and no building remains.
Today, Gardēz is the administrative center of a district of the Paktiā province, which covers 650 km² and had a total population of 44,000 inhabitants in 1979, but was almost totally depopulated during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.
In 1960 the German government had their biggest rural development project with a budget of 2.5 million Deutsch Marks for the development of Paktiā ("Paktiā Development Authority", see above). The project was unsuccessful as the communist regime came to power in the 1979. The communists lost control of most of Paktiā during the 80s as the country plunged in to war with only Gardēz remaining in government control.
Today Paktiā remains one of the most stable provinces in the southeast compared to Khost and Paktikā.
Economy and administration
The city of Gardēz is also a major fuel wood market for Kabul. Many of its natural forests are being cut down to provide fuel wood especially during winter. Gardēz is also the regional center for the southeastern Afghanistan that includes Paktikā, Khost and Ghaznī provinces.
During the 1970s, Gardēz experienced an economic boom as a result of the German-funded "Paktiā Development Authority", established in 1965, and of the asphalting of the road to Kabul. Social services included three schools for boys, one school for girls, a hospital, one teacher training institute, the Madrasaye Roshānī, two hotels, and forty mosques. Most of these buildings were destroyed during the civil war in the 1980s.
After the fall of the Taliban, the first PRT (provincial reconstruction team) in Afghanistan was established in Paktiā near Gardēz in early March 2003, headed by the US Army along with a US Agency for International Development (USAID) representative. The PRT's now number over 30 in Afghanistan. The continuing challenge to bring electricity, medical clinics, schools and water to the more remote villages in Paktia are a result of ongoing security issues.[citation needed]
Security and Politics
According to local Police Chief Brigadier General Aziz Ahmad Wardak, on 19 August 2009 6 people were arrested for distributing night letters threatening people with attacks if they participated in the election.[6]
Famous people from Gardēz
- Abdullah Mujahid, Tajik militia leader and terrorist who is held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba by the Military of the United States.[7]
- Abu Saīd Abdul Hay Dhahhak Gardēzī (Abu Said Gardezi) (died c. 1061) was a geographer and historian of the early 11th century from Gardēz (now in Afghanistan) the author of the general history book, Zayn al-Akhbār or "Tarikh-i Gardezi". Gardēzī's work is of great importance to the history of medieval Afghanistan, Persia, and Central Asia.
- Mohammad Najibullah, the last president of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. After his overthrow, he was murdered by the Taliban on September 27, 1996. He is buried in Gardēz.
- Shah Gardez, an 11th-century Syed saint from Gardez, established himself in Multan, Pakistan.
- Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī, an 11th-century geographer and historian.
References And Notes
- ^ a b Global Security: Gardez
- ^ a b Daniel Balland, "Gardēz", in Encyclopaedia Iranica (in regard of the population of Gardēz: with reference to Wiebe, "Strukturwandlungen afghanischer Mittelpunktsiedlungen unter dem Einfluss ausländischer Infrastrukturprojekte", Germany, 1982, p. 76), Online Edition, (LINK)
- ^ "Hodūd al-Ālam", ed. Sotūda, p. 71, tr. Minorsky, p. 91; Bivar & Bosworth, 1965, pp. 17 ff.
- ^ "Baburnama", section "qal'a", tr. Beveridge, p. 220
- ^ "Ā'in-e Akbari", tr. Blochmann, II, p. 411
- ^ Niazai, Lemar. "10 detained for distributing night letters." 19 August 2009. PAJHWOK ELECTIONS. Accessed at: http://www.aliveinafghanistan.org/aiablog/p=630?
- ^ Farah Stockman (August 12, 2007). "US behind Afghan warlord's rise, fall: At Guantanamo, unruly chieftains join combatants". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-09-18. mirror
Literature
- S. Radojicic, "Report on Hydrogeological Survey of Paktya Province", Kabul, UNICEF, 1977
- C.E. Bosworth, "Notes on the Pre-Ghaznavid History of Eastern Afghanistan", in The Islamic Quarterly IX, 1965