Helmand River
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The Helmand River (pronounced: hĕl`mənd) (also Helmend, Helmund, Hirmand or Tarnak, Persian: Darya-ye Helmand, Latin: Erymandrus) is the longest river in Afghanistan. The Helmand river stretched 715 miles (1,150 km) from the Hindu Kush mountains about 50 miles (80 km) west of Kabul, crosses south-west through the desert, to the Seistan marshes and the Hamun-i-Helmand lake region around Zabol at the Afghan-Iranian border.
The river remains relatively salt-free for much of its length, unlike most rivers with no outlet to the sea. This river is used extensively for irrigation, although a buildup of mineral salts has decreased its usefulness in watering crops. Its waters are essential for farmers in Afghanistan, but it feeds into Lake Hamun and is also important to farmers in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province.
A number of hydroelectric dams have created artificial reservoirs on some of the Afghanistan’s rivers including the Kajakai reservoir on the Helmand River. The chief tributary of the Helmand river is the Arghandab river which also has a major dam near the city of Kandahar.
[edit] History
The ancient overland route from the lower Indus River followed this river passing by Kandahar to southern Persia and the Persian Gulf. The hot, steamy conditions in the Helmand Valley were well suited for the breeding of elephants, the ancient equivalent of tanks.
The Helmand's ancient irrigation and river-control system was destroyed by Genghis Khan (13th cent.) and Timur (14th cent.); the modern irrigation works are vital to both Iranians and Afghans, and in times of drought there are disputes over water rights. The Helmand Valley Authority extensively developed the region, improving irrigation and flood control.
The Helmand river was known in ancient times as the Harahvaiti. It has therefore been suggested as a possible identity of the Vedic Saraswati River.
[edit] References
- Frye, Richard N. (1963). The Heritage of Persia. World Publishing company, Cleveland, Ohio. Mentor Book edition, 1966.
- Toynbee, Arnold J. (1961). Between Oxus and Jumna. London. Oxford University Press.
- Vogelsang, W. (1985). "Early historical Arachosia in South-east Afghanistan; Meeting-place between East and West." Iranica antiqua, 20 (1985), pp. 55-99.
