Gardez

Gardez Pashto: ګردېز‎
City
The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City
Gardez Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 33°36′00″N 69°13′01″E / 33.60000°N 69.21694°E / 33.60000; 69.21694Coordinates: 33°36′00″N 69°13′01″E / 33.60000°N 69.21694°E / 33.60000; 69.21694
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Paktia Province
District	Gardez District
Elevation	2,300 m (7,500 ft)
Population (2008)[1]
• Total	70,000
Time zone	Afghanistan Standard Time (UTC+4:30)

Gardēz (Pashto: ګردېز‎, Persian: گردیز) is the capital of the Paktia Province of Afghanistan. The population of the city was put at ca. 10,000 in the 1979 census, but is estimated to be 70,000 in 2008,^[1] which is overwhelmingly Pashtun.^[1] The city of Gardez is located at the junction between two important roads that cut through a huge alpine valley. Surrounded by the mountains and deserts of the Hindu Kush, which boil up from the valley floor to the north, east and west, it is the axis of commerce for a huge area of eastern Afghanistan, and has been a strategic location for armies throughout this country’s long history of conflict. Observation posts built by Alexander the Great are still crumbling on the hilltops just outside the city limits.^[2]

Location and infrastructure

Gardez is located at 2,300 m above sea level, being the third highest capital of an Afghan province, and is not far from the Tora Bora region of caves and tunnels. The city is watered by the upper course of the Gardez River, which ends in the Ab-e Istada lake. Gardez is located at a junction between two important roads, one linking Ghazni with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the other connecting Kabul and Khost. The city is west of Khost and 60 miles south of Kabul.

The "old town", located at the foot of the Bālā Hesār fortress, is divided into four districts:

• Bāzār-e Kohna (old Bazaar)
• Qaraye Āhangarān (district of the blacksmiths)
• Qaraye Arjākhēl (Arjākhēl district)
• Nawābād (new town; extending into a new residential area, a new bazaar, and administrative center)

Climate

Gardez has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dsa/Dsb) with warm, dry summers and cold, snowy winters. Precipitation is low, and mostly falls in winter and spring.

History

History of Afghanistan
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Ancient Proto-Elamite civilization 2300–1800 BC Indus valley civilization 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Aryans 1700–700 BC Medes 728–550 BC Achaemenids 550–330 BC Seleucids 330–150 BC Mauryans 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrians 256–125 BC Indo-Greeks 180–130 BC Indo-Scythians (Sakas) 155–80? BC Indo-Parthians 20 BC – 50? AD Kushans 135 BC – 248 AD Sasanians 230–484 Kidarites 320–465 Hephthalites 410–557
Medieval Sasanians 512–651 Kabul Shahi 565–879 Rashidun Caliphate 642–641 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghorids 1149–1215 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Ilkhanate 1258–1353 Khiljis 1290–1320 Kurts 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1506 Arghuns 1479–1522 Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709
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Gardez is an ancient settlement, located in the Highlands of the Hindu Kush. Unfortunately, its history is only very poorly documented. Archaeological discoveries, including Greek, Sassanid, Hephthalite, and Turki-Shāhī coins give a small insight into the rich history of Gardez.

According to the medieval Tārīkh-i Sīstān, the city was founded by the Kharijite warlord Hamza bin Abdullāh Shārī, although scholars agree that this is probably only a reference to the Islamic conquest of the city.^[4] In any case, Gardez became a center of Kharijite belief for more than a century under the local dynasty of the Aflahids in the distant eastern parts of the Abbasid caliphate.. In 870, the city was conquered by the Saffarid ruler Yaqub ibn Layth. In 975, the Ghaznavids took over the city, while the converted Aflahids entered the Ghaznavid nobility.^[5] In 1162, the city fell to the Sultāns of Ghōr.

Renowned for its multi-storied houses—as mentioned by the Central Asian conqueror Babur^[6][7]—the city was part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. However, nothing is known of the town during the subsequent centuries and no building remains.

Today, Gardez is the administrative center of a district of the Paktiā province, which covers 650 km² and had a total population of 44,000 inhabitants in 1979, but was almost totally depopulated during the Soviet war in Afghanistan.

In 1960 the German government had their biggest rural development project with a budget of 2.5 million Deutsch Marks for the development of Paktiā ("Paktiā Development Authority", see above). The project was unsuccessful as the communist regime came to power in the 1979. The communists lost control of most of Paktiā during the 80s as the country plunged into war with only Gardez remaining in government control.

Today Paktiā remains one of the most stable provinces in the southeast compared to Khost and Paktikā.

Demographics

As of 2008, the population of Gardez was estimated to be around 73,131. Pashtun make up ca. 70% of the population while the autochthonous Tajik community accounts for ca. 30%.^[8] As explained in the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Gardez is a city "belonging to a network of old isolated Tājīk settlements in southern Afghanistan that are remnants of a time when Pashto had not yet reached the area."^[4]

Gardez has also a huge Sayed population. However, this population is not counted by statistics. A lot of Gardezi Sayeds have immigrated to Pakistan and India (Gardēzī Sadaat).

Economy and administration

Gardez has the first Provincial reconstruction team (PRT)

The city of Gardez is also a major fuel wood market for Kabul. Many of its natural forests are being cut down to provide fuel wood especially during winter. Gardez is also the regional center for the southeastern Afghanistan that includes Paktikā, Khost and Ghaznī provinces.

During the 1970s, Gardez experienced an economic boom as a result of the German-funded "Paktiā Development Authority", established in 1965, and of the asphalting of the road to Kabul. Social services included three schools for boys, one school for girls, a hospital, one teacher training institute, the Madrasaye Roshānī, two hotels, and forty mosques. Most of these buildings were destroyed during the civil war in the 1980s.

After the fall of the Taliban, the first Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan was established in Paktiā near Gardez in early March 2003, headed by the US Army along with a U.S. Agency for International Development representative. There are now over 30 PRTs in Afghanistan. The continuing challenge to bring electricity, medical clinics, schools and water to the more remote villages in Paktia are a result of ongoing security issues.^{[citation needed]}

Security and politics

Gardez was the former home of the 3rd Corps of the Afghan Army. By the Afghan Militia Forces period (c.2002), the corps 'theoretically incorporated 14th Division, 30th Division, 822nd Brigade, Border Brigades, and approximately 800.. in the Governor's Force in Paktya, Ghazni, Paktika, and Khost Provinces.^[9] The corps was disbanded around 2003-2005 and replaced in the new Afghan National Army by the 203rd Corps.

According to local Police Chief Brigadier General Aziz Ahmad Wardak, on 19 August 2009 six people were arrested for distributing night letters threatening people with attacks if they participated in the election.^[10]

Famous people from Gardez

• Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī, an 11th-century geographer and historian. He is the author of the general history book, Zayn al-Akhbār or "Tarikh-i Gardezi". Gardezi's work is of great importance to the history of medieval Afghanistan, Persia, and Central Asia.
• Shah Gardez, an 11th-century Syed saint from Gardez, established himself in Multan, Pakistan.
• Mohammad Najibullah, the last president of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. After his overthrow, he was murdered by the Taliban on September 27, 1996. He is buried in Gardez.
• Abdullah Mujahid, a militia leader who is held in extrajudicial detention in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in Cuba by the U.S government.^[11]

References and notes

Literature

• S. Radojicic, Report on Hydrogeological Survey of Paktya Province, Kabul, UNICEF, 1977
• C.E. Bosworth, "Notes on the Pre-Ghaznavid History of Eastern Afghanistan", in The Islamic Quarterly IX, 1965