Khwahan ( fa, خواهان; ) is a town (and a fort) and the capital of

Khwahan District Khwahan District (), () is one of the 28 districts of Badakhshan Province, located in northeastern Afghanistan. The district capital is Khwahan. The district borders Raghistan to the southwest, Kuf Ab in the northeast, the Panj River in the ...

, in

Badakhshan Province Badakhshan Province (Persian/ Uzbek: , ''Badaxšān'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan in the north and the Pakistani regions of Lower ...

in north-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 bordere ...

. It is located on the left bank of the

Panj River The Panj (russian: Пяндж; fa, رودخانه پنج) (; tg, Панҷ, پنج), traditionally known as the Ochus River and also known as ''Pyandzh'' (derived from its Russian name "Пяндж"), is a tributary of the Amu Darya. The river ...

, subregions of Darwaz. .

History

After

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

overthrew the Persians, the area came under the rule of Shane Wallac
Greek Culture in Afghanistan and India: Old Evidence and New Discoveries
p.206 the Greco-Bactrian king

Euthydemus I Euthydemus I (Greek: , ''Euthydemos'') c. 260 BC – 200/195 BC) was a Greco-Bactrian king and founder of the Euthydemid dynasty. He is thought to have originally been a governor (Satrap) of Sogdia, who seized the throne by force from Diodotus II ...

and his son Demetrius I

Osmund Bopearachchi Osmund Bopearachchi (born 1949) is a Sri Lankan historian and numismatist who has specialized notably standardized the coinage of the Indo-Greek and Greco-Bactrian kingdoms. He is currently Emeritus Director of the CNRS at the École Normale Supé ...

Some Observations on the Chronology of the Early Kushans
p.48 The village has a fort called Qala Khwahan. The fort is made of mud, in the shape of a square with three

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s on each face, with a capacity of 500 to 600 individuals. It is similar to most other forts in the area. For about two miles in each direction is cultivated land. The village contained roughly 160 houses around the turn of the 20th century. The inhabitants of this area speak Dari Persian and are Sunni Muslims; and engage in agriculture. They grow buckwheat, red and white barley, sesame, zucchini, corn, mung beans, peas, beans, potatoes.

Geography

The area is mountainous, with Kuh-e Kallat a prominent mountain in the district. This peak is 4090 meters high above sea level. The town sits on the

and is one of very few Afghan towns with

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

to its south. Road access is to

Kulob Kulob ( tg, Кӯлоб, کولاﺏ, translit=Kûlob/Kūlob), formerly also Kulyab (russian: Куляб, translit=Kuljab), is a city in Khatlon Region, southern Tajikistan. Located southeast of the capital Dushanbe on the river Yakhsu (a right tr ...

, Tajikistan.

Climate

Khwahan’s climate is

humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dsb''), with an annual mean temperature of . September is the driest month, with of rain. In May, the precipitation reaches its peak, with an average of .

References

External links

Satellite map at Maplandia.com
Populated places in Khwahan District {{Badakhshan-geo-stub