Fariyab

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Faryab (Persian: فاریاب‎) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The province encompasses 15 districts and over 1,000 villages. The capital of Faryab province is Maymana. Faryab is a Persian word meaning "irrigated land".

Location

It is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan.

History

The history of settlement in Faryab is ancient and comprises layer upon layer of occupation. At times, it was a melting pot within which a host of cultures have merged into a non-conflictual whole or at least peaceable coexistence. Maymana (the small capital city of the district) and Andkhui actually entered written history 2,500 years ago when Jews arrived and settled in 586 BC, fleeing the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The area was under Persian control at the time, which later gave way to Greek rule following the conquest by Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Persian dominance was restored from the 3rd to 7th century AD.[1]

The pre-Islamic period ended with the conquest of northern Afghanistan by Arab Muslims (651-661 AD). The area “turned into a vast battlefield as the two great Arab and Persian cultures battled for not only political and geographical supremacy but ideological supremacy.”[2] As a result, centuries of Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity and indigenous pagan cults were swept away. Various Islamic dynasties dominated Faryab and surrounds since then [3]

The history of Faryab was greatly altered yet again in the 11th century, this time with the invasion of Genghis Khan and his “Mongol Horde” from 1220 AD. As he moved into the area from the north, cities and towns including Maymana were razed, populations massacred, grain, fields and livestock stolen or burnt and ancient irrigation systems obliterated.[4] This Turco- Mongol rule lasted 500 years; this covered the modern provinces of Faryab, Jauzjan, Balkh, Samangan, Kunduz and Baghlan. Control by the descendants of Genghis Khan (Chingizids) stemmed from the alternating capitals of Bukhara or Samarkand north of the Amu Darya (the Oxus) River. They ruled in a decentralised manner, however, allowing local amirs in Maymana and elsewhere considerable autonomy, a legacy which was to last until the end of the 19th century.[5]

External links

References

  1. Dr. Liz Alden Wily, LAND RELATIONS IN FARYAB PROVINCE: Findings from a field study in 11 villages, Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, June 2004
  2. Lee 1996, op cit., 10
  3. Lee 1996, Saffavids 870-890 AD, Samanids 874-999 AD, Ghaznanawids 999-1186 AD, Seljuks 1038-1157 AD and Ghurids 1150- 1217
  4. Lee 1996, op cit., 10
  5. Lee 1996, op cit., xii ff