Alishang is a village, river and a fertile valley of

Laghman Province Laghman (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It has a population of about 502,148, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. Laghman hosts a large number of historical landmarks, m ...

, and also the district headquarters of Mihtarlam District, in eastern

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 borde ...

. It lies about 40 km northwest of

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

. The fertile Alishang valley drained by the Alishang River, which is described as "contracted", has an abundance of mounds and caves. Is surrounded by Badrow hills. Alladad Khan castle is located close to the village. The Alishang River valley has a number of villages on the way from Jalalabad, such as Kargai, Tajak, Tigadee and Safees along its river course, which in some reaches is very narrow and can be forded by dismounting from the horse's back.

Geography

Alishang village is on the banks of Alishang River, which is also called the Nadjil River. It rises in the mountains of Nadjil on the southern slopes of

Hindukush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Province ...

mountains and after traversing 90 miles joins the Alinghar River in Alishang village. The valley and the river are both named as Alishang. Similarly, Alinghar River is also known as the Kow, which rises in the Hindukush mountains joins the Alishang River in Alishang. The Rhododendron Afghanicum was found in the Laghman Valley, northeast of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

. ;Natural disasters Alishang district (estimated population 139,000) as a whole under the

is prone to natural disasters due to floods, snow and drought. During 2003–2004, the flood damage in the district was to agricultural land and crops, due to snow to animal life and also by drought. ;Climate Alishang has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen: ''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool winters.

History

The earliest history is traced to the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled ...

Babur Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through hi ...

. In the 1520s, Babur, while camping in Alishang, had hunted wildlife in the mountains of the Alishang valley before he returned to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The place finds mention in Babur's writings and the people inhabiting the village are stated to be cantankerous and are given an epithet in the local language. In the 1840s, the settlement was described as a "small walled-in town, of about four hundred houses, but has nothing remarkable in its appearance." This valley was in 1883 the westward limit of Kafiristan according to

William Watts McNair William Watts McNair (13 September 1849 – 13 August 1889) was a British surveyor, the first British explorer of Kafiristan (now Nuristan). Early life Details of McNair's life up to the time of his 1883 journey are sketchy. According to John Ke ...

. In the war against the Soviets,

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...

forces who had taken shelter in the village were attacked. After initial set back and death of several soldiers and the local Mujahideen leader of Alishang, Mujahideen forces managed to defend the village. Soviets withdrew under fierce fighting in which the Mujahideen had superior firepower; both sides suffered many casualties. The local villagers provided help in many respects to the Mujahideen soldiers. In August 1981, the Mujahideen controlled the district centre of Alishang. In March 2011, the Mujahideen were reported to have attacked a US camp in the area. In 2006, a new micro-hydro electrical power plant opened in Alishang, built at a cost of US$32,000 by the Methar Lam Provincial Reconstruction Team. The plant provides power to some 300 homes in the area.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Laghman Province Valleys of Afghanistan Rivers of Afghanistan Landforms of Laghman Province