Kunduz

Kunduz
کندز
—  City  —
Kunduz is located in Afghanistan
Kunduz
Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates:
Country  Afghanistan
Province Kunduz Province
District Kunduz District
Elevation 397 m (1,302 ft)
Population (2002)
 - Total 95,000
Time zone Afghanistan Standard Time (UTC+4:30)
History of Afghanistan
Flag of Afghanistan
See also
Ariana · Khorasan
Timeline

Wikipedia book Book · Category Category · Portal Portal

Kunduz (Pashto: کندز; Persian: قندوز) also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north. In the 1979 census, Kunduz had a population of 53,251 people, which is now estimated to have risen to 95,000 (2002 official estimate). Kunduz is located at 36.73°N, 68.86°E, at an elevation of 397 meters above sea level.

Contents

Etymology

The name of the city is derived from Persian compound, kuhan/quhan diz, "old/ancient fort." Interestingly, until 1960s, the city served as the capital to the now-defunct province of Qataqan, itself meaning "Old/Ancient city" (from Turkic kata ("old/ancient') and Persian kand/qand/qan ("city").

History

Kunduz is the site of the ancient Bactrian city of Drapsaka. Alexander the Great stopped here with his army after crossing the Khawak Pass north into the Kunduz River valley before his offensive against Bactria in 329 BC.

In the early 20th century, under the governance of Sher Khan Nasher, Kunduz became one of the wealthiest Afghan provinces. This was mainly due to Nasher's founding of the Spinzar Cotton Company, which continues to exist in post-war Afghanistan.

Kunduz was the last major city held by the Taliban before its fall to US-backed Afghan Northern Alliance forces on November 26, 2001. The siege of Kunduz lasted two weeks[1] which allowed over a thousand people, including Al Qaeda, Taliban, and Pakistani army officers, to be safely airlifted into Pakistan in the so-called Airlift of Evil.

Kunduz is the most important agricultural province which produces wheat, rice, millet, and other products and obtained the nickname of "the hive of the country." Kunduz is the centre for the north east provinces, and was the stronghold of the Taliban during its regime. The city is strategically important because it is the only way connecting Takhar and Badakhshan provinces, which play a critical role in the existing government.

Ethnography

Several different ethnic groups live in the city, namely the Pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Arabs. The arrival of the Pashtun tribes into the region are of relatively recent date, stretching back only into the early 19th century. But this has been a trend in all of Afghanistan where the Pashtun tribe loyal to the rulers in Kabul had been sent to distant regions of Afghanistan to act as margraves of the Kingdom of Afghanistan. Emir Abdur Rahman Khan was most active in this regard when he sent tens of thousands of Pashtun tribesmen into northern Afghanistan and the Amu Darya basin in the 1880s and 1890s to colonize the region. The Kunduz "Arabs" are all Persian-speaking and have been so since time immemorial. However, they claim an Arab identity. There are other such Persian-speaking "Arabs" to the north and west, between Kholm, Mazar-i Sharif and Shibarghan. Their self-identification as Arabs is largely based on their tribal identity and may in fact point to the 7th and 8th centuries migration to this and other Central Asian locales of many Arab tribes from Arabia in the wake of the Islamic conquests of the region.

Thomas J. Barfield, The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan: Pastoral Nomadism in Transition. 1982.

Administration

Kunduz has nine representatives in the lower house and two in the upper house and has a provincial council. Mohammad Omer (not Mullah Omar) also known as Zeeb Noor is the governor of Kunduz.

A famous figure from the Kunduz area was Haji Nazukmir Khan, the leader and the Tribal Chief of the Zakhel tribe. Haji Nazukmir was the wealthiest person in the Kunduz province. He owned thousands of acres of farmland, apartment buildings, commercial markets, commercial buildings, a Russian car agency, and many hotels. He and his family were also known for having a close relationship with the royal family of Afghanistan espically Zahir Shah. His progeny now live around the world as well as back home in Kunduz. It is said by the people in Kunduz if you put all of his land together it would be as big as a country.

Haji Nazukmir's family is from the Mohmand Pashtun tribe. Muhammad Omer is not the Taliban supremo Mullah Omar, but a famous governor in Kunduz with a reputation for bravery and egalitarianism. Omer is also from the Mohmand tribe and is related to Haji Nazukmir Khan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Priest, Dana (2003) The mission: waging war and keeping peace with America's military W.W. Norton & Co., New York , page 167, ISBN 0-393-01024-4

External links

Twelve largest cities in Afghanistan by population
Kabul · Kandahar · Herat · Mazar-i-Sharif · Kunduz · Taloqan · Jalalabad · Ghazni · Charikar · Sar-e Pol · Puli Khumri · Sheberghan