1.
Kokand
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Kokand is a city in Fergana Region in eastern Uzbekistan, at the southwestern edge of the Fergana Valley. The population of Kokand on April 24,2014 was approximately 187,477, the city lies 228 km southeast of Tashkent,115 km west of Andijan, and 88 km west of Fergana. It is nicknamed City of Winds, or sometimes Town of the Boar, kokands name derives from the well-known tribal family group of Kokan who belong to the Kongrat tribe of Uzbeks. Kokand is at the crossroads of the two ancient trade routes into the Fergana Valley, one leading northwest over the mountains to Tashkent. As a result, Kokand is the transportation junction in the Fergana Valley. Kokand has existed since at least the 10th century, under the name of Khavakend, the Han Dynasty of China conquered the entire city in the 1st Century B. C. Later, the Arabs reconquered the region from Tang Empire, the Mongols destroyed Kokand in the 13th century. The present city began as a fort in 1732 on the site of another older fortress called Eski-Kurgan, in 1740, it became the capital of an Uzbek kingdom, the Khanate of Kokand, which reached as far as Kyzylorda to the west and Bishkek to the northeast. Kokand was also the religious center of the Fergana Valley. Russian imperial forces under Mikhail Skobelev captured the city in 1883 which then became part of Russian Turkistan and it was the capital of the short-lived anti-Bolshevik Provisional Government of Autonomous Turkistan. They sought co-operation from Ataman Dutov and Alash Orda, however, their emissary to the Amir of Bukhara achieved little. The Palace of Khudayar Khan was built between 1863 and 1874 by Muhammad Khudayar Khan, upon completion, it was one of the largest and most opulent palaces in Central Asia. Nineteen of its one hundred and thirteen rooms survive and now host a museum. Jummi Mosque, a Friday mosque built in 1800-1812, and reopened in 1989, amin Beg Madrassah, built in 1813. Dakhma-I-Shokhon, a necropolis of the Kokand Khans from the 1830s, khamza Museum, dedicated to Kokand’s Soviet hero Hamza Hakimzade Niyazi. Islam a plays large role in the life of Kokand. A number of madrasah can be found with the city and it is also home to a number of notable hanafi scholars, such as Abdulhafiz Al-Quqoniy and Yorqinjon Qori Al-Quqoniy. There are 2 institutes,9 colleges and lyceums,40 secondary schools,5 musical schools, a theater, there are 7 historical and house museums located in Kokand
2.
Emir of Afghanistan
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The following is a list of heads of state of Afghanistan since the establishment of the first Afghan state, the Hotak Empire, in 1709. The Hotak Empire was formed after an uprising led by Mirwais Hotak and other Afghan tribal chiefs from Kandahar against Mughal. After a long series of wars, the Hotak Empire was eventually replaced by the Durrani Afghan Empire that was founded by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, daoud then established the Republic of Afghanistan, which lasted until the Saur Revolution in 1978. Since 1978, Afghanistan has been in a state of internal warfare. The former president Hamid Karzai became the first ever democratically elected head of state of Afghanistan on 7 December 2004, the current president is Ashraf Ghani, since 29 September 2014. President of Afghanistan Prime Minister of Afghanistan Chief Executive Officer Name of Afghanistan History of Afghanistan List of Pashtun empires and dynasties Presidency of Afghanistan
3.
Dost Mohammad Khan (Emir of Afghanistan)
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Dost Mohammad Khan was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani dynasty, he became Emir of Afghanistan from 1826 to 1839, an ethnic Pashtun, he was the 11th son of Sardar Payendah Khan who was killed in 1799 by Zaman Shah Durrani. Dost Mohammads grandfather was Hajji Jamal Khan, the Musahiban family started with his older brother, Sultan Muhammad Khan, nicknamed Telai, meaning golden, a nickname he was given because of his love of fine clothing. This brother was the ruler of Peshawar, Dost Mohammad Khan was born to an influential family on 23 December 1793 in Kandahar, Durrani Empire. His father, Payindah Khan, was chief of the Barakzai tribe and their family can be traced back to Abdal, through Hajji Jamal Khan, Yousef, Yaru, Mohammad, Omar Khan, Khisar Khan, Ismail, Nek, Daru, Saifal, and Barak. Abdal had Four sons, Popal, Barak, Achak, Dost Mohmmad Khans mother is believed to have been a Shia from the Persian Qizilbash group. His elder brother, the chief of the Barakzai, Fatteh Khan, took an important part in raising Mahmud Shah Durrani to the sovereignty of Afghanistan in 1800 and in restoring him to the throne in 1809. Dost Mohammad accompanied his brother and then Prime Minister of Kabul Wazir Fateh Khan to the Battle of Attock against the invading Sikhs. Mahmud Shah repaid Fatteh Khans services by having him assassinated in 1818, after a bloody conflict, Mahmud Shah was deprived of all his possessions but Herat, the rest of his dominions being divided among Fatteh Khans brothers. Of these, Dost Mohammad received Ghazni, to which in 1826 he added Kabul, in 1834 Shah Shujah made a last attempt to recover his kingdom. He was defeated by Dost Mohammad Khan under the walls of Kandahar, Dost Mohammad sent his son Akbar Khan to defeat the Sikhs at the Battle of Jamrud in 1837. The non- recovery of the Jamrud Fort became the Afghan Amirs worst concern, at the intersection of British, Russian and, to a lesser degree, French imperial interests, political maneuvering was necessary. Rejecting overtures from Russia, he endeavoured to form an alliance with Great Britain, Burnes, however, was unable to prevail on the governor-general, Lord Auckland, to respond to the emirs advances. Dost Mohammad was enjoined to abandon the attempt to recover Peshawar and he replied by renewing his relations with Russia, and in 1838 Lord Auckland set the British troops in motion against him. To enable such an action, the British manufactured the evidence needed to justify the overthrow of the Afghan ruler, Dost Muhammad erected a fort at Ali Masjid at the other end. In the beginning of 1837, as Prince Nau Nihal Singh returned to Lahore to get married, Dost Muhammad Khan sent a 25,000 strong force, including a large number of local irregulars and equipped with 18 heavy guns, to invest Jam rud. The Sikh garrison there had only 600 men and a few artillery pieces. The Afghans besieged the fort and cut off its water supply, mahan Singh Mirpuri, the garrison commander of Jamrud, kept the invaders at bay for four days and managed meanwhile to send a desperate appeal for help to Hari Singh Nalva at Peshawar
4.
Mohammad Afzal Khan
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Mohammad Afzal Khan was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1865 to 1867. The oldest son of Dost Mohammed Khan, Afzal Khan seized power from his brother Sher Ali Khan three years after their fathers death, following Afzal Khans death the following year, Mohammad Azam Khan was reinstated as Amir of Afghanistan. He was an ethnic Pashtun and belong to the Barakzai tribe, Khans third son Abdur Rahman Khan was Emir from 1880 to 1901. List of leaders of Afghanistan Template, Afghani-leader
5.
Kabul
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Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan as well as its largest city, located in the eastern section of the country. According to a 2015 estimate, the population of the city was around 3,678,033 which includes all the ethnic groups. Rapid urbanization had made Kabul the worlds 64th largest city and the fifth fastest-growing city in the world, Kabul is said to be over 3,500 years old, mentioned since at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The city is at a location along the trade routes of South and Central Asia. It has been part of the Achaemenids, Seleucids, Mauryans, Kushans, Kabul Shahis, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Later, it was controlled by the Mughal Empire until finally becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The city is located high up in a valley between the Hindu Kush mountains. Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani, in the early 19th century, the British occupied the city but were compelled to abandon it. Relations between Afghanistan and Great Britain were later established, the city was occupied by the Soviets in 1979 but they too abandoned it after the 1988 Geneva Accords were signed. A civil war in the 1990s between various rebel groups destroyed much of the city, resulting in many casualties, since the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001, the city gradually began rebuilding itself with assistance by the international community. Despite the many terrorist attacks by elements, the city is growing and developing. The city is divided into about 18 districts, the Kabul International Airport is located in the Wazir Akbar Khan district a few miles from the foreign embassies. The Parliament of Afghanistan, built by India, is located in the Kārte Seh district, Kabul, also spelled Cabool, Caubul, Kabol, or Cabul. The word Kubhā is mentioned in the Rigveda, one of the four sacred texts of Hinduism, and the Avesta. The Rigveda praises it as a city, a vision of paradise set in the mountains. The area in which the Kabul valley sits was ruled by the Medes before falling to the Achaemenids, there is a reference to a settlement called Kabura by the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire, It became a center of Zoroastrianism followed by Buddhism and Hinduism. The region became part of the Seleucid Empire but was given to the Indian Maurya Empire. The Greco-Bactrians captured Kabul from the Mauryans in the early 2nd century BC, indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the city to the Kushan Empire about 100 years later. Some historians ascribe Kabul the Sanskrit name of Kamboja and it is mentioned as Kophes or Kophene in some classical writings
6.
Emirate of Afghanistan
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The Emirate of Afghanistan was an emirate between Central Asia and South Asia, which is todays Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The emirate emerged from the Durrani Empire, when Dost Mohammed Khan, the history of the Emirate was dominated by the Great Game between the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom for supremacy in Central Asia. This period was characterized by the expansion of European colonial interests in South Asia, during the war, Britain occupied the country, in an effort to prevent Afghanistan from coming under Russian control and curb Russian expansion. The war ended with a victory for the United Kingdom. Upon the death of Dost Muhammad in 1863, he was succeeded by his son, however, three years later, his older brother Mohammad Afzal Khan overthrew him. In 1868, Mohammad Afzal Khan was himself overthrown and replaced as Emir by Sher Ali, Sher Ali had spent his few short years in exile in Russia. His return as Emir led to new conflicts with Britain, subsequently, the British marched on 21 November 1878 into Afghanistan and Emir Sher Ali was forced to flee again to Russia, but he died in 1879 in Mazar-i-Sharif. His successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, sought solutions for peace with Russia, however, when the British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari was killed in Kabul on the 3 September 1879, the British offered to accept Abdur Rahman Khan as Emir. The British concluded a treaty with the Afghans in 1880. After the war, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, who struck down the country reformed and repressed numerous uprisings, after his death in 1901 his son Habibullah Khan succeeded as emir and continued reforms. Habibullah Khan sought reconciliation with Great Britain, where he graduated in 1905 with a treaty with Russia. In the First World War, Afghanistan remained, despite German and Ottoman efforts, Habibullah Khans son Amanullah Khan was in 1919 against the rightful heir apparent Nasrullah Khan, the then Emir of Afghanistan. Shortly afterwards another war broke which lasted for three months and this war was ended with the Treaty of Rawalpindi after which, the Afghans were able to resume the right to conduct their own foreign affairs as a fully independent state. Amanullah Khan began the reformation of the country and was crowned 1926 Padshah of Afghanistan, European influence in Afghanistan List of monarchs of Afghanistan Clements, Frank. Conflict in Afghanistan, A Historical Encyclopedia
7.
Shrine of Ali
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The Blue Mosque is a mosque located in the center of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. The Seljuq dynasty sultan Ahmed Sanjar built the first known shrine at this location and it was destroyed or hidden under earthen embankment during the invasion of Genghis Khan in around 1220. In the 15th century, Sultan Husayn Mirza Bayqarah built the current Blue Mosque here and it is by far the most important landmark in Mazar-i-Sharif and it is believed that the name of city originates from this shrine. Tombs of varying dimensions were added for a number of Afghan political and religious leaders over the years and these include the square domed tomb of Amir Dost Muhammad, Wazir Akbar Khan and a similar structure for Amir Sher Ali and his family. According to a legend here has been buried Ali who reportedly was brought here by a white camel in order to save his remains from the desecration by his enemies. Most Muslims though consider that Ali is buried in Imam Ali Mosque, Najaf in Iraq
8.
Mazar-i-Sharif
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Mazar-i-Sharif or Mazar-e-Sharif is the third-largest city of Afghanistan, with a 2015 UN—Habitat population estimate between 577,500 to 693,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the west and Uzbekistan in the north. Mazar-e Sharif, along with Herat, Jalalabad in the east and Kandahar in the south, the city also serves as one of the many tourist attractions because of its famous shrines as well as the Muslim and Hellenistic archeological sites. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced, Mazar-i-Sharif is the Regional Hub located in the northern region in close proximity to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The Mazari Sharif Airport in the city has been used during the 1980s Soviet war. The name Mazar-e Sharif means Noble Shrine, a reference to the large, blue-tiled sanctuary, according to tradition, the city of Mazari Sharif owes its existence to a dream. The famous Jalal al-Din Rumi was born in area but like many historical figures his exact location of birth cannot be confirmed. His father Baha Walad was descended from the first caliph Abu Bakr and was influenced by the ideas of Ahmad Ghazali, Baha Walads sermons were published and still exist as Divine Sciences. Rumi completed six books of poetry and tales called Masnavi before he died in 1273. Although later rebuilt, Mazar stood in the shadow of its neighbor Balkh, thus the ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to shift the capital of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The Mazar-i-Sharif means the noble shrine and this name represents the Blue Mosque which is widely known to be the grave of Hazrat Ali. In the late 1870s, Emir Sher Ali Khan ruled the area from his Tashkurgan Palace in Mazar-i Sharif and this northern part of Afghanistan was un-visited by the British-led Indian forces during the Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th century. During the 1980s Soviet war, Mazar-i-Sharif was a base for the Soviet Army as they used its airport to launch air strikes on Afghan mujahideen. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan army, the city was under the command of Dostum, under Dostums 5 year rule from the early 1990s to early 1997, the city was relatively peaceful. The rest of the nation disintegrated and was taken over by the Taliban forces. He printed his own currency and established his own airline and he is widely believed to have been responsible for the brutal massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif. Several of the Taliban escaped the slaughtering and reported what had happened, the Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000. More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in Bamiyan, in addition, the Taliban were criticized for forbidding anyone from burying the corpses for the first six days while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs
