Parwan (

Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...

: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34

provinces of Afghanistan Afghanistan is divided into 34 provinces (, '' wilåyat''). The provinces of Afghanistan are the primary administrative divisions. Each province encompasses a number of districts or usually over 1,000 villages. Provincial governors played a c ...

. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of

Imam Abu Hanifa Nuʿmān ibn Thābit ibn Zūṭā ibn Marzubān ( ar, نعمان بن ثابت بن زوطا بن مرزبان; –767), commonly known by his '' kunya'' Abū Ḥanīfa ( ar, أبو حنيفة), or reverently as Imam Abū Ḥanīfa by Sunni Musl ...

serves as the provincial capital. The province is located north of

Kabul Province Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...

and south of Baghlan Province, west of

Panjshir Province Panjshir ( Dari: , literally "Five Lions," also spelled as Panjsher) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northeastern part of the country containing the Panjshir Valley. The province is divided into seven distri ...

and

Kapisa Province Kapisa (Pashto/Dari: ) is the smallest of Afghanistan's thirty-four provinces and is located in the north-east of the country. It has an estimated population of 496,840 people and an area of , making it the most densely populated province apar ...

, and east of

Maidan Wardak Province Maidan Wardak ( Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Wardag or Wardak, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central region of Afghanistan. It is divided into eight districts and has a population of approximately 500,00 The capit ...

and

Bamyan Province Bamyan Province ( prs, ولایت بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central highlands of the Afghanistan. The terrain in Bamyan is mountainous or semi-m ...

. The province famous tourism attraction is the Golghondi Hill, also known as “the flower hill,” is located in Imam Azam city of the ancient Parwan province about an hour away from the capital city of Kabu

After Panjshir this province has been considered as one of the main raising points of Afghanistan War against Soviets. The name Parwan is also attributed to a town, the exact location of which is now unknown, that supposedly existed during prehistory, in the nearby

Hindu Kush 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. Frye, Richard Nelson (1999). "Farran (also Parwan)". '' Encyclopaedia of Islam'' CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. Retrieved on December 18, 2007. Despite a four-decade-long state of

war in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see al ...

, Parwan was relatively free of conflict by the mid-2010s. While occasional attacks on government or international forces were reported, they were usually minor. Such incidents in Parwan mostly involved grenade attacks on the residences of government officials or roadside bombs.

Bagram Air Base Bagram Airfield-BAF, also known as Bagram Air Base , is located southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It is under the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Sitting on the site of the ancient Bagram at an elevation of above sea le ...

, which was one of the largest US military bases in Afghanistan, is located in Parwan.

History

In 329 BC,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

founded the settlement of Parwan as his

Alexandria of the Caucasus Alexandria in the Caucasus ( grc, Ἀλεξάνδρεια) (medieval Kapisa, modern Bagram) was a colony of Alexander the Great (one of many colonies designated with the name ''Alexandria''). He founded the colony at an important junction of co ...

. It was conquered by Arab Muslims in 792 AD. In 1221, the province was the site of the battle between the invading

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

, led by Genghis Khan, and the

Khwarezmian Empire The Khwarazmian or Khwarezmian Empire) or the Khwarazmshahs ( fa, خوارزمشاهیان, Khwārazmshāhiyān) () was a Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire that ruled large parts of present-day Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran in the app ...

led by

Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu Jalal al-Din Mangburni ( fa, جلال الدین مِنکُبِرنی), also known as Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah (), Minkubirni or Mengu-Berdi (c.1199 – August 1231), was the last Khwarazmshah of the Anushteginid dynasty. The eldest son and succ ...

, where the Mongols were defeated. The famous Moroccan traveler and scholar, Ibn Battuta, visiting the area in 1333 write: The area was subsequently ruled by the

Timurids The Timurid Empire ( chg, , fa, ), self-designated as Gurkani ( Chagatai: کورگن, ''Küregen''; fa, , ''Gūrkāniyān''), was a PersianateB.F. Manz, ''"Tīmūr Lang"'', in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition, 2006 Turco-Mongol empire ...

and

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

until Ahmad Shah Durrani made it part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. In 1840, Parwan was the site of a major battle in the

First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession d ...

where the invading

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

were defeated. Parwan's modern history began with the construction of a new textile factory in the town of

Jabal Saraj Jabal Saraj (Persian/ ps, جبل سراج) is a town in the Jabal Saraj District of Parwan Province, Afghanistan. The Jabal Saraj Palace, which was originally built by Amir Habibullah Khan in 1907, is located in this town. It is the main attraction ...

in 1937. Parwan was involved in the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...

as some of the fiercest fightings took place in the area. In the 1990s it was the site of heavy resistance against the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...

Recent history

Since the removal of the Taliban in late 2001, the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

took control of

and began using it as one of their main bases in Afghanistan. A

Provincial Reconstruction Team A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) was a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRT ...

(PRT) led by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

helped the locals with development activities in the province until 2014. In mid-February 2011, five rocket-propelled grenades hit the newly built South Korean military base housing the provincial reconstruction team and civilian aid workers. No one was injured in the attack, but it came hours after a visit by South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, raising suspicions of

involvement. The opening ceremony of the base was postponed indefinitely. A plan to build a power plant in the province is under consideration. A large portion of Parwan's economy relies on remittances from the

Afghan diaspora Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the star ...

living abroad. In July 2012, the Taliban executed a married woman in front of a large crowd after she was found guilty of adultery. It was reported that the woman had a secret affair with a married military commander of the Afghan National Army. In August 2021, Parwan was captured by the

during their offensive.

Healthcare

The percentage of households with clean drinking water fell from 32% in 2005 to 11% in 2011. The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant increased from 4% in 2005 to 7% in 2011.

Education

The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) fell from 37% in 2005 to 28% in 2011. The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 42% in 2005 to 54% in 2011.

Demographics and geography

As of 2020, the total population of the province is about 751,000, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. 8 percent of the population lived below the national

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, the second lowest figure in Afghanistan behind only

Logar Province Logar (Pashto/Dari: ; meaning Greater Mountain ( لوې غر)) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Puli Alam is the capital of ...

. According to the Naval Postgraduate School, the ethnic groups of the province are as follows:

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Taj ...

Hazaras The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scatt ...

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 ...

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

Kuchis Kochis or Kuchis (Pashto: کوچۍ Kuchis) are pastoral nomads belonging primarily to the Ghilji Pashtuns. In the southern, western and northern regions of Afghanistan they are also referred to at times as maldar (Pashto: مالدار maldar ...

and other minority groups. According to Afghanistan's

Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development prs, وزارت بازسازی و انکشاف دهات) , native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = , seal = , seal_width = 155 , seal_caption = , logo ...

Districts

As per the figures below based on the ethnographics of each district as well as the density and therefore the inhabitability of each district, the province has a population of approximately 878,192 and is approximately 90% Tajik, 7%

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

(mostly Safi ( Kohi Safi,

, Sayed Khel and

Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir ...

Niazi Niazi (; , ps, نيازي; ur, نیازی) Niazai, Nyazi, Nyazai, Niyazi or Niyazai is one of the largest Pashtun tribes which resides in Afghanistan and northwestern part of Pakistan. The earliest work which provides the details about ...

(

and

Charikar Imam Abu Hanifa ( fa, امام ابو حنیفه), historically known as Charikar (Persian: چاریکار) but renamed by Talibans recently to Imam Abu Hanifa, is the main town of the Koh Daman Valley and the capital of Parwan Province in northe ...

Kharoti The Kharoti (Pashto: خروټی) are a Pashtun tribe of Ghilji origin, originating in the central part of Paktika Province, Afghanistan, but can be also found in other parts of the country. The Kharoti settled in Kharotabad in Quetta, British ...

(

) and Shinwari tribes ( Shinwari and Ghorband) and 3% Hazara ( Surkhi Parsa and Sheikh Ali).

Notable towns and villages

* Gulbahar, Afghanistan

Gallery

File:CH-NB - Afghanistan, Shibar Pass (Shebar Pass, Kowtal-e Shebar)- Landschaft - Annemarie Schwarzenbach - SLA-Schwarzenbach-A-5-20-220.jpg, Near the Shibar Pass that connects Parwan to Bamyan. File:Road in Parwan-11.jpg, A road in the Parwan Province, near the Sayed Bridge which is located short distance north from

. File:Near Sayed Bridge in Parwan-4.jpg, Fields near the Sayed Bridge File:Flickr - boellstiftung - Parwan.jpg, School girls in a rural area of Parwan File:Afghan boys and police in 2010.jpg, A member of the

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ps, د افغانستان ملي پولیس; prs, پلیس ملی افغانستان), is the national police force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across ...

trying to control local children awaiting the distribution of goods from the U.S. military for the winter months. File:Afghan women in Parwan province.jpg, Afghan women working inside a factory in Parwan

References

External links

* , April 16, 2019,

Ariana Television Network Ariana Television Network (ATN) (Dari/Pashto: ) is a private television network based in Kabul, Afghanistan. The channel was launched by Afghan-American Ehsan Bayat (owner of Afghan Wireless Communication Company) in 2005 and started broadcastin ...

.
Parwan Province
by the Naval Postgraduate School
Parwan Province
by the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a United States–based think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan, providing research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs. It has produced reports on the Syrian War, the Wa ...

{{authority control Hazarajat Provinces of Afghanistan Provinces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan