Aqcha or Akcha ( Persian spelling: آقچه), is a city in northern

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. It is located approximately east of

Sheberghan Sheberghān or Shaburghān ( Uzbek, Pashto, fa, شبرغان), also spelled ''Shebirghan'' and ''Shibarghan'', is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city of Sheberghan has a population of 175,599. It has four ...

and west of

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

. It serves as the center of the

Aqcha District Aqcha District is situated in the central part of Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan. It borders Mardyan and Mingajik districts to the north, Sheberghan District to the West, Sar-e Pol Province to the south and Fayzabad District to the ...

of Afghanistan's

Jowzjan Province Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jozjan (Dari: ), is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of v ...

. The town is situated a few kilometers north of the main Sheberghan-Mazar-i-Sharif road called ''Aqyol'' (meaning ''White Road'' in most

Turkic languages The Turkic languages are a language family of over 35 documented languages, spoken by the Turkic peoples of Eurasia from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe to Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia (Siberia), and Western Asia. The Turkic languag ...

). The population of the town is around 50,000 people, the majority of which consists mostly of

ethnic An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

Turkmens Turkmens ( tk, , , , ; historically "the Turkmen"), sometimes referred to as Turkmen Turks ( tk, , ), are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-weste ...

and

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

. Aqcha is known for the traditional carpets and rugs that are made in the area. The predominant designs being the Turkmen,

Bukhara Bukhara (Uzbek language, Uzbek: /, ; tg, Бухоро, ) is the List of cities in Uzbekistan, seventh-largest city in Uzbekistan, with a population of 280,187 , and the capital of Bukhara Region. People have inhabited the region around Bukhara ...

, and Fil Pah ( fa, فیل پا; literally: Elephant's Foot) designs. At the beginning of the 19th century, Aqcha belonged to

under

Shah Murad Shah Murad, also known as Beg-i Jan, alternatively titled Amir al-Mu'minin (lit. 'Commander of the Faithful'), Amir Ma'sum Ghazi or padishah ghazi in Bukharan historiography, was the first Emir, Amir of the Emirate of Bukhara from 1785 to his dea ...

, but in 1855 it was recovered by

Dost Mohammad Khan Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai (Pashto/Persian: ; 23 December 17929 June 1863), nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, Also titled Amir al-Mu'minin, was a member of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of the Emirate of Afghanistan. His 37-year ...

, when it became a

khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. Mong ...

within the province of Afghan Turkestan. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was protected by a mud wall and a citadel, with an estimated population of 8000 people, chiefly

. The Khanate was small, but well watered and populous. The rivers rising in the southern mountains, which no longer reach the

Amu Darya The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin language, Latin name or Greek ) is a major rive ...

, terminate in vast swamps near Akcha, and the debris of yearly vegetation that springs up on the slopes of the southern hills is washed down into the swamps during floods.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Jowzjan Province

See also

References