Andkhoy
| Andkhoy اندخوی | |
|---|---|
|
Mosque in Andkhoy, Afghanistan | |
| Coordinates: 36°57′N 65°07′E / 36.950°N 65.117°ECoordinates: 36°57′N 65°07′E / 36.950°N 65.117°E | |
| Country |
 Afghanistan |
| Province | Faryab Province |
| District | Andkhoy |
| Elevation | 1,037 ft (316 m) |
| Time zone | + 4.30 |
Andkhoy (Persian: اندخوی) is a town and district in northern Afghanistan, Faryab Province, is located at 36°57′N 65°07′E / 36.950°N 65.117°E, 316 m altitude.The population of the town is 37,100 (2004). The district is located in the northern part of the province. The northern border is the national border with Turkmenistan.
History
The town (founded by Alexander the Great) stands between the northern spurs of the Paropamise and the Oxus; it is 100 m. due west of Balkh on the edge of the Turkmen desert. The khanate is of importance as being one of the most northern in Afghanistan, on the Turkmenistan border. Until 1820 it was subject to Bokhara, but in that year Maxmud of Astrakhan besieged it for four months, took it by storm and left it a heap of ruins. To preserve himself from utter destruction the khan threw himself into the arms of the Afghans. The tract in which Andkhui stands is fertile, but proverbially unhealthy; the Persians account it "a hell upon earth" by reason of its scorching sands, brackish water, flies and scorpions. The district was allotted to Afghanistan by the Russo-Afghan boundary commission of 1885.Renovation of Andkhoy started in 1959, mainly at the eastern parts of the old town. The original plan of the infrastructure was reconditioned and reduced to half its volume of the developments to take place. The property owners refused to sell their land for further developments and the plan consequently failed. The infrastructure remained poor; for example, in 1973 only 13% of the houses had access to electricity and only at night. Lack of sanitary drinking water remained a major problem. The 15 meter deep wells had salty and awfully bad tasting water and the trenches had only twenty days running water in a month. To counteract this, there were water pools to preserve water for bad days to come every month.
Education
There are about 1000 teachers and 40000 students in this small town and the surrounding villages. The first school for boys (Abu Muslim) was founded during the time of King Amanullah while Yuldoz Girls school was start about 50 years ago. Now there are now many schools for girls and boys not only in the town of Andkhoi but also in all the villages in the four districts surrounding Andkhoi. Great changes have been made possible by a German NGO called VUSAF (in Afghanistan) or Afghanistan-Schulen (in Germany. The lady who founded the committee is called Ulla Nölle. The hero who made it possible that the education system in the area improved so much was, unfortunately, shot at sunset in front of his house in February 2007. The people of the area still miss the hero in education Rahmanqul Shaheed. In 2009 Khancharbagh Lycee was given his name in honour of his achievements for the girls and boys of the Andkhoi area.
Among them stood the Tomb of Hazrat Baba Wali and its affiliated Madrasa or school that are considered very sacred by the Turkmen and Uzbek people of the region and are a major attraction of local tourists.
Currently, there are three Uzbek ministers and one Turkmen minister from Andkhoy: Minister of Public Health Dr. Suraya Dalil, Minister of Women's Affairs Dr. Husn Banu Ghazanfar and Minister of Commerce and Industries Mohammad Shakir Kargar and Minister of Refugees and Repatriation Jamahir Anwari.
Economy and transport
The fact that the town is located on one of the biggest trade routes between the Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan does not help Andkhoy economically. The town recently obtained access to the outside world through the mobile phone thanks to ROSHAN GSM company.
This town is located in a plain at the vicinity of the Shirin Tagab River, which irrigates the town and surrounding areas although there is a constant water problem as the waters are used upstream during the summer. The town itself and its few other villages are always in a severe semi-drought. Although the distance between Sheberghan and Andkhoy is not more than seventy km, the town is extremely remote and isolated from the mainstream developments of the region, as is Maimana. The roads to either Sheberghan (70 km) or Maimana (130 km) are now in a very good conditions.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Andkhoy". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.- The Province of Faryab - Afghan Magazine
- VUSAF - Afghanistan-Schulen Union of Assistance For Schools in Afghanistan
- www.Afghanistan-Schulen.de
- Andḵūy entry in Encyclopaedia Iranica
