Chaghcharān ( Dari/Pashto: ), also called Firozkoh ( Dari/Pashto: ), is a town and district in central

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, which serves as the capital of Ghor Province. It is located on the southern side of the Hari River, at an altitude of 2,230 m above sea level. Chaghcharan is linked by a long highway with

Herat Herāt (; Dari/Pashto: هرات) is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Se ...

to the west (following the south side of Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safīd Kūh'')), and a long highway with

Kabul Kabul 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. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

to the east. The town is served by Chaghcharan Airport. Chaghcharan has a population of roughly 15,000 who are mostly

Dari Dari (; endonym: ), Dari Persian (, , or , ), or Eastern Persian is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the Afghan government's official term for the Persian language;Lazard, G.Darī – The New Persian ...

and

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

speakers. However, data from 2015 showed a population of 31,266. It has 1 district and a total land area of 2,614 hectares. The total number of dwellings in the city is 3,474.

History

Medieval

Prior to the arrival of Islam the region's inhabitants practiced various different religions including

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan by Sultan

Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...

took place in the 10th century. After the defeat of the Ghaznavids in the 12th century the area came under the control of the local Ghurid dynasty of Ghor. The Ghurid Dynasty had its summer capital, Firozkoh nearby and they constructed the Minaret of Jam there. Today the Minaret of Jam is a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. In the 13th century, the Ghor region was invaded by the Mongol army who destroyed Firozkoh but left the Minaret of Jam intact. It was then ruled by the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

until

Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...

conquered it in the 14th century. Chakhcherān is mentioned by name in the 16th century

Baburnama The ''Bāburnāma'' (; ) is the memoirs of Babur, Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great-great-grandson of Timur. It is written in the Chagatai language, known to Babur as ''Türki'' "Turkic ...

, describing Babur's visit in early 1507 while on his journey to

. It was a town located in the Gharjistan region, between

, Ghor, and

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

Modern era

In 2004, an independent FM radio station ( Persian: راديو صداي صلح or ''Voice of Peace Radio'') came on air in the town, the first independent media in this part of Afghanistan. In June 2005, the

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) established a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

n led

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 ...

in which

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n, Danish, American, Ukrainian,

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic, and Georgian troops also served. On 14 May 2020, the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

attacked a checkpoint in Chaghcharan, killing three Afghan soldiers and taking 11 others captive. In August 2021, Chaghcharan was seized by

fighters, became the sixteenth provincial capital to be seized by Taliban as part of wider

2021 Taliban offensive The 2021 Taliban offensive was a Offensive (military), military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and allied militants that led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the nearly 20-year War in Afghanistan (200 ...

Demography

The population of Chaghcharan was reported in 2020 as 150,982 total. Of this, 7,918 reside in the urban area and the remaining in the surrounding countryside. The main inhabitants of Chaghcharan are

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

with Pashtun and Hazara minority

Land use

Chaghcharan (Ferozkoh) is located at the central region of Afghanistan connected by a highway 380 km West to Herat and about the same East to Kabul. Ferozkoh is an ancient city that dates back to Genghis Khan and Mongols. Ferozkoh is famous for agriculture and animal husbandry.

Transportation

As of August 2015, Chaghcharan Airport, located northwest of the Hari River, one mile northeast of Chaghcharan, had regularly scheduled flights to

and

. However, as of January 2016 commercial operators no longer offer scheduled flights, leaving the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) as the only user of Chaghcharan Airport with flights to Kabul and Herat. The main road from Changhcharan runs toward

in the west and

in the east. Due to severe weather, the road is often closed during winter and even in summer it can take three full days to drive from Chagcharan to Kabul.

Economy

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, animal fiber, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising ...

are the primary economic activities in Ghor Province.Ghor Province by Naval Postgraduate School, http://www.nps.edu/Programs/CCS/Ghor/Ghor.html

Climate

Chaghcharan has a

warm-summer humid continental climate 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 cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dsb''), with snowy winters and warm, dry summers. Precipitation is low, and mostly falls in winter and spring.

References and footnotes

External links

* Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): ''An Historical Guide to Afghanistan''. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization. (Chapter 32 - Chakhcharan to Herat) {{Authority control Populated places in Ghor Province Provincial capitals in Afghanistan Populated places established in the 6th century