The Province of Faryab Lavender Flowers Near Maimana March 1978, 35 mm Nikon, 85 mm Nikkor lens © Luke Powell by Daud Saba Oct.-Dec. 1998 Lemar-Aftaab The geographical position and the indifference of the governments of Afghanistan are the causes of the severe isolation and underdevelopment of the Faryab province and its numerous townships and bazaars. It is unfortunate that our understanding of this province is very scant, especially during the past twenty years. No research has been carried out on the socio-economic and geographical structure of the province, except a few general notes on the region. No doubt, this negligence is a shame. Faryab is one of the major but more remote provinces of North Western Afghanistan, with Maimana as the capital city. The major townships and bazaars of the province are Andkhoy, Dawlatabad, Almar, Qaisar, Chachaktoo, Pol-e Charagh, Sar-Chakan, Bazaar-e Koolian, Darz-Aab, and Ghoorzivan. Maimana: The city of Maimana is located on the old terrace of the Maimana River in North Western Afghanistan. This river branches off of the Band-e Turkistan River fifty km to the south of the city. The highlands of this region generally possess a very rich topsoil for the seasonal agricultural activities. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Maimana was one of the main residency of the Khans (lords) in Afghanistan's Turkistan. The remoteness of the region combined with the separate and conflicting power centres in Herat, Kabul, and Bukhara were the factors behind a more independent Maimana. Although the imbalance of these powers occasionally destabilized Maimana. In 1846 (1225 Hejri Khorshidi-HK), the governor of Herat conquered Maimana, but his power was not recognized by the Khans of Maimana until 1855 (1234 HK). In 1868 (1247 HK), the army of the central government of Afghanistan marched towards the city. It was during the second siege of the city, which lasted almost six months between 1875-76, that the city fell to the central government and was ruined as a revenge. Nevertheless, the Khans regained their power after the second Angelo-Afghan War, when the army retreated from the region in 1879. This independence continued until 1884 (1263 HK). During the nineteenth century, the population of Maimana was estimated at 15,000-18,000, the majority being of Uzbek descendants. A few Hindu families and shopkeepers were also reported to live in the city. The city itself was of clay fort with hard featured houses around. The horse selling bazaars used to be the major attraction of the town. The marketing of upholstery, raisin, and pistachio were among common businesses. The merchandise from Maimana was sought after even in Baghdad (present day Iraq). In 1880, two years after the war, the traveler Grodkov visited Maimana. He wrote that the city was a ruin, and only ten percent of the population was left. Although the city was extremely poor, the majestic strength of its forts was still in place. A covered bazaar branched off from the Bala Hesar (the city's fort) on four directions, comprising 150 shops (Pity's Notes on Afghan Turkistan, 1907). Decades passed, until 1934, when the rebuilding of the city started. In 1949, the western parts of the old city were renewed. Streets, government offices, and a few modern buildings were built and the panorama of the old ruined city changed. At the centre of the city, where once stood a fort, a cinema theatre was built. The old city citadel changed to a green park decorated with flower landscapes. The cinema was a fair symbol of modernity in this remote ancient city of Afghanistan. There were a few separate elementary schools and high schools for boys and girls. The population of the city at this time was 16,000-17,000. Maimana is an important livestock centre in Afghanistan. In the 1970's, the wool and cotton processing industry was booming in the city. Almost eighty individuals were dealing animal skins and twenty-four individuals were busy in raw leather processing. Ninety individuals were involved as blacksmiths, twenty individuals in dealing "Chapan" (a specially designed overcoat of Afghans and other central Asian countries made of cotton or silk with very lengthy sleeves). Maimana's carpets are very famous and many people were busy in the industry and trade. Altogether, three bank branches were active in the city in the 1970's. All of this indicates the booming local economy of this town in north west Afghanistan. Despite all of these developments, the population remained generally poor. They could not afford participating in the expansion and renovation of their town. Therefore, the city did not take its normal and planned path of renovation and modernization. The infrastructure of the city, compared to other equivalent towns and cities of Afghanistan was better. One third of the houses had access to electricity, but only at night. Drinking water was supplied by five major deeply sunk shafts and fifty city water pools. There was only one hospital in the city with thirty beds. Generally the poor development of the city was due to its poor transit links with Herat to the west and Mazar Sharif to the east of the province. The only local airport did not sufficiently serve the demand of the local economy. Dirt roads are the only access roots to the city from Sheberghan to the east and Badghis on the way to Herat to the west. However, this is now only in history. After the breakdown of the war in 1978, everything took a backward turn again. At least until 1991, the cinema and a moderately crowded bazaar existed in Maimana. What happened after 1991 is a guess. Recent news reveal major ethnic cleansing, harsh displacements of the local residents, looting and burning of the houses and government facilities, closing down of the schooling system and many other social disruption in the life of the poor residents of this city and the province. Andkhoy: Andkhoy is another important populated centre in the Faryab province with an approximate population of 15,000. This town is located in a plain at the vicinity of the Shirin Tagab River, which irrigates the town and surrounding areas. 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 underdeveloped and are considered the worst roads in all of Afghanistan. At the middle of the nineteenth century, Uzbek Khans ruled Andkhoy. At times, the Amir of Bukhara ruled the region. In 1846, the governor of Herat conquered the Andkhoy. Soon it became a major centre of dealing Qarakul (skin of lamb from a special Central Asian breed of sheep having beautiful curly patterns and assortments of colors- a major export item of Afghanistan) on the caravan route of the Iran-Herat-Bukhara (Vimbrey, 1868). Between 1885-86, approximately 350 families were living in the town and another 2,400 families in the surrounding villages. The bazaar had 83 shops (Pity's Notes on Afghan Turkistan, 1907). In 1973, the bazaar comprised of 1,100 shops and 30 caravansaries. The bazaar was a good reflection of the local economy of the town, e.g., 44 animal skin dealers, 25 wool dealers, and 24 carpet dealers. Thousands of people were involved in these dealerships. The market was more centralized at the hand of the few who owned the lands and animal herds. 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. The 1973 plan of a local clinic with five beds remained on the paper to be brought about some time in the next millennia. However, on the good side, there were two separate schools for boys and girls existing until 1990's. The town was comparably green, with lots of trees and bushes, but the bazaar itself was dusty and polluted. A few brick domes of mosques overlooked the bazaar. Among them stood the Tomb of Hazrat Baba Wali and its affiliated Madrasa or school that are considered very sacred by the Turkmens of the region and are a major attraction of local tourists. Dawlatabad: Dawlatabad is located on the way to Sheberghan Dasht Laili-Maimana. It has a bazaar with 180 shops and dozen of caravansaries. This township is a centre for carpet weaving in northern Afghanistan. In 1885, this township was the central campgrounds of nomads belonging to Alkoons and Ersari Turkmen tribes (Yeet, 1888). During this time, the ancient site of that campground was changed to comparably large township. Shirin-Tagab is the center of the division in the Faryab province. This Turkmen populated township is 30 km to the south of Dawlatabad. The valley of Shirin-Tagab hosts many villages with a central township comprising of two hundred shops. The Shirin-Tagab road in a point, which is 20 km from Maimana, branches off the river's stream valley. In 1969, it was named Deh-e Now; the people had developed a bazaar with 200 shops and eighth caravansaries. Livestock and grains are the main items of transactions in the bazaar. These three bazaars were complimentary to each other: on Sundays and Wednesdays the Dawlatabad bazaar, on Mondays and Thursdays the Shirin-Tagab bazaar, and on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Deh-e Now bazaars are the sites of transactions in Dawlatabad district. Sixteen km to the south of Pol-e Charagh with its only road following the Ghorzivan River banks, there is the crowded bazaar Ghorzivan. This bazaar which is at the vicinity of Sar-Chakan, is located on a plain desert. In 1973, this centre had 180 shops and 10 caravansaries. There was a plan in 1973 to build 300 residential houses, but only six of them were built. Sar-Chakan is a basic example of a remote township, which is not considered in any development plans of the local or central governments of Afghanistan. There is no attraction in the town. It seems that the rural people of Uzbek, Tadjik and Pashtun tribes living there do not have any intention to develop their township the way their provincial neighbors have done. Moreover, the governments, in general, were not interested in the welfare of Afghanistan's citizens. There is more chance of development in this district than any other place in Faryab, because of its vicinity to Maimana. In fact, there are two or more transportation links every day to Maimana via Pol-e Charagh. In the valley of Shirin-Tagab and in the upper parts of Pol-e Charagh area, there is a very attractive Juma Bazaar (a farmers' market held only on Fridays and is very common in rural areas of Afghanistan) named Koolian. To the north of this Juma Bazaar, there is another small bazaar named Darzab. There are many bazaars called Shanbe Bazaar which are held once a week: Fridays in Koolian, Mondays in Darzab, Wednesdays in Pol-e-Charagh and Thursdays in Ghorzivan (Ser-Chakan). Almar, Qaisar and Chachaktu: To the west of Maimana along the major Bala Morghab road, there are more townships; Almar, Qaisar, and Chachaktu are the major ones. The Almar bazaar, located in a dry desert of Almar, is only 35 km far from Maimana. This is one of the ancient bazaars of the area and is known to be active since 1878 (Grodkov, 1880). The bazaar of Almar is comprised of 180 shops and 7 caravansaries. This township is a major supply centre for the residences of all the villages on the banks of the Band Turkistan River. The Qaisar bazaar at the edge of the vast desert of Qaisar has almost the same peculiarities of the Almar bazaar. This bazaar received its name at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1970, the renovation of the township began. Unfortunately, one yeare later, the construction activities were brought to a halt, and the priority given to the construction of Maimana-Bala Morghab road. In 1973, the bazaar had 230 shops and 17 caravansaries. The renovation plan of this district also failed. Seventeen km to the west of Qaisar is the town of Chachaktu, which is located at the fringes of the same Qaisar desert. Today, village dwellers control the bazaar. However, in 1885, it was a ruin at the hand of Turkmens who had conquered it ten years before that time. The bazaar in Chachaktu had 200 shops and 6 caravansaries. These complimentary bazaars are managed as Almar- Monday; Qaisar- Sunday and Thursday; Chachaktu- Saturday and Wednesday. -------------------------- An Important Note from the Author: In Vol. 3, No. 39, October 1,1998 issue of the Zarnegaar, a bi-weekly newspaper of the Afghan community in Toronto, I came across some very shocking news; it stated that recently, new merchants from Pakistan emerged into Northern and North-Western provinces of Afghanistan, who are solely buying the roots of pistachio trees and grapevines. It is not as bad as the story of the selling of human bones published a couple of years ago in the New Yorker, however, it is still alarming. We know that pistachios from Afghanistan are the highest quality in the world, because of its mineral content and other nutritional values. They grow wild in the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountain range and is peculiar to that environment. In fact, it took millions of years for this unique plant to adapt to that ecosystem and hold its root to benefit the people of Afghanistan. No pesticide or any other chemical is used on it. Pistachios were a major export item of Afghanistan and a living for thousands of Afghans in Herat, Badghis, Ghor, Faryab, Balkh, Badakhshan, Samangan and other northern provinces of Afghanistan. Grapes and raisin had and have the same value in our lives. We know that there is no industrial or pharmaceutical use for the roots of these plants, as there were not any use for the selling of human bones. Afghanistan's museums and archives are gone, its treasures are looted, its Sulaiman Mountain slopes are bared of vegetation and natural forests, its people's bones are dug. What is next? Past Journeys: Zabul (July-Sept 98) Balkh (April-June 98) Helmand (Jan.-March 98) Laghman (Oct-Dec. 98) Herat (July-September 97) Copyright © 1998 Aftaabzad Publications. All Rights Reserved. May not be duplicated or distributed in any form without permission.