Broghol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Broghol, also spelled Boroghil and several other ways, is a high mountain pass that crosses the Pamir Mountains and connects the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan with Chitral in Pakistan. Broghol is a relatively low pass, only 3,798 metres or 12,460 feet high. It was closed for about three months each winter because of snow, but for much of the rest of the year it was passable even for cart traffic. It is located at . It is one of the four major mountain passes entering Chitral; the others are the Dorah Pass from Badakshan in Afghanistan, Shandur Top from Gilgit, and Lowari Top from Dir in Pakistan.
The area of Broghol is inhabited by Wakhi and Kyrgyz people.
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[edit] European migration
According to the National Geographic Genographic Project, Broghol Pass appears to be the route used by the ancestors of all modern Western Europeans to reach Europe. Modern Europeans carrying the M45 genetic marker crossed Broghol and then turned west; M45 further mutated to become M173 and then M343, which is carried by 70% of the population of England. [1]
[edit] Historical significance
As a low pass, Broghol has been often proposed but seldom used as an invasion route. During the 19th Century, the British greatly feared that the Russians would use Broghol to invade the heartland of British India. However, the Russians never did that, probably because after crossing Broghol they would have had to walk more than 200 miles down to Jalalabad or else would have had to cross another equally high pass to reach Ishkoman.[citation needed]
It is possible that Marco Polo crossed the Broghol Pass to reach China.
[edit] In popular culture
- The 1985 comedy movie Spies Like Us depicts Dan Aykroyd crossing the Broghol Pass on a mountain yak.
[edit] Books
- "The Gilgit Game" by John Keay (1985) ISBN 0-19-577466-3
- The Kafirs of the Hindukush (1896) Sir George Scott Robertson.
- Khowar English Dictionary (by Mohammad Ismail Sloan, 1981) (published in Pakistan)
