Most of the historical Badakhshan is located within the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan, located in the south-eastern part of the country. The music of Badakhshan is an important part of the cultural heritage of the region. The dialing code for this region is 35220.
Etymology
The name comes from the Sasanian official name bēdaxš or badaxš, which may come from the earlier * pati-axša; the suffix -ān indicates that the country belonged or was designated as land allotment to a person who has a reputation and status as a notorious intruder. This act alludes to the grim history of the region.
Population
There is a diverse ethnolinguistic and religious community in Gorno-Badakhshan. Tajiks and Pamiris make up the majority, and a tiny minority of Kyrgyz and Uzbeks are also found in their own villages. There are also communities of speakers of several Pamir languages of the East Iranian language group.
During the 20th century, in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan, native speakers of the Pamir languages formed their own ethnic identity. The people of the Pamirs were not officially recognized as a separate ethnic group in Tajikistan, but there were created movements and associations of representatives of this ethnic language group. The main religions of Badakhshan are Ismaili and Sunni Islam. The people of this province have a rich cultural heritage, and they have preserved unique ancient forms of music, poetry and dance. Nasir Khusra spread Islamism. As you can understand, the population of Gorno-Badakhshan is very diverse. This is due to the fact that in this region there has never been a dominant ethnic community.
History
Badakhshan Mountain was an important trading center in antiquity. Lapis lazuli was imported exclusively from there already in the second half of the fourth millennium BC. Badakhshan was an important region through which the famous Silk Road passed. Of great importance was its geo-economic role in the trade of silk and ancient commodity transactions between East and West.
According to Marco Polo, Badashan / Badakshan was a province where the Balas stream could be found under Mount Sighinan (Shignan).
The region was ruled by the emirs of Badakhshan. The capital of the region for some time was considered the city of Khorog. Sultan Muhammad was the last of the kind of kings who traced their genealogy from Alexander the Great. He was subsequently hit by a batyr of the Mirza clan, the glorified ruler of the Timurid Imperium, who, as a result, took possession of the solar Badakhshan.
After the death of Lord Timurid, the region safely passed to one of the aristocratic clans - Mirza. The subordinate status of the region was assigned to it for a long time. When Babur took dominion over the emirate of Kandahar in 1506 A.D. from Shah Agun, he sent Khan Mirza as governor to Gorny Badakhshan (Pamir). The son of Khan Mirza was safely born under the name Mirza Suleiman in 1514.
The region has long existed under the rule of this illustrious dynasty, which before accession to the Badakhshan throne was not particularly known. Throughout their great history, Mirza secured the glory of great kings, commanders, leaders and warriors. Their dominion lasted quite a long time.
Continuation of the legend
After the sudden death of Khan-Mirza, Badakhshan was under the leadership of the great Baburom, Prince Khumayun, Sultan Weiss Khan (father-in-law of Mirza Suleiman), and also the warrior-prince Hindal, and, finally, the legendary Mirza Suleiman, who firmly held Badakhshan’s throne until October 8 of the year. His son was killed in battle. Actually, the whole history of this region is continuous wars, palace coups and bloodshed, and the history of the region was forged in fire and blood, in war and violence. The character of the population of this mountainous picturesque region has also become relevant.
Mirza Suleiman's wife was the famous intriguer Hurram Begum. According to her pedigree, she came from a warlike and aggressive Kipchak tribe. She was smart and had such a strong influence on her husband that he could not do anything without her advice. As soon as the heir to the throne grew, his mother and some nobles provoked him to rebellion. Then Khurram Begum died, the Badakhshan throne was left without its main behind-the-scenes puppeteer, and everything returned to square one.
Almost 100 years after this, the region passed from hand to hand, becoming the property of one local king or another. And there was no end in sight to the endless and boundless war that swept the brave Pamiri and Badakhshans, turning them into a people of ruthless warriors.
In fact, this country, like many other Asian countries, was doomed to become a colony of noble Europeans. But it will be another 100 years before the Badakhshans submit to the valiant Russian colonialists who dishonored the Pamiri men and took the Pamiri women as concubines.
18th century
In 1750, the ruler of Badakhshan, the Sultan Shah, rebelled against Khizri-Beg, the governor of Balkh. After consulting with Ahmad Shah Durrani, Khizri Beg opposed Sultan Shah, and Wazir Shah Wali helped the invasion army. People from Badakhshan turned away from their ruler because of his addiction to Kalmak and Kashgar foreign recruits, who were waiting for him and greeted as a liberator.
The Sultan Shah, who found hopeless resistance, fled to Ail-Basit in the hills between Ciab and Pasako. Wazir Shah Wali returned with force to Kabul, leaving his country led by an Afghan governor. Sultan Shah returned, killed the governor and rebuilt his country. He was attacked by another rival of Turra Baz Khan, who supported Khizri Beck, advanced to Fayzabad and besieged him. Sultan Shah was captured. The head of Kunduz did not want to lose the opportunity to capture Turr Baz Khan, sent both captives to Kunduz and annexed Badakhshan.
In 1751, the Sultan Shah was released and returned to his country. He punished the marauders of the Saki tribe, which devastated Kiava, Takhta, Halpan and Dushanbe-Khorog. He killed most of the looters and took 700 horses. The place was marked by 200 heads of raiders on Kotal Khoja Dzhargatu, and Saki no longer worried about the life of Sultan Shah. This boss built a fortress in Mashad, in which he settled 600 families of his people. He created a home for travelers in Daryun. In 1756, he forced the Chinese to recognize Akskal from Badakhshan to Alti in Xinjiang and levied taxes on Badakhshan families in the city.
New invasion
In 1759, another enemy appeared - the Katagans led by Kabad Khan, who attacked Fayzabad, captured and killed Sultan Shah and Turra Baz Khan. Mir Muhammad Shah, the son of Sultan Shah, fled and resigned in Tan Nau, from where he later attacked Fayzabad, killed his younger brother Nasarullah Khan, the head of this place under the government of Kabul, and took the Kingdom. The old enemy of his father, Kabad Khan, who was patronized by Timur Shah Durrani (successor to Ahmad Shah Durrani), seized power in Kunduz and sent an army against Muhammad Shah near Kubadcha. After a successful battle, she turned against Kabad Khan.
Discarding his loyalty to Kabul when Timur Shah Durrani went against Sindh and Kashmir, the grandson of Mizrab Bi Muhammad Bi (the old head of Kunduz), united with the head of Kubab, attacked Kabad Khan, seized him and gave him into the hands of Muhammad Shah, who beat him to death to avenge his father.
Mir Muhammad Shah returned to Badakhshan to regain the throne occupied by the son of Bahadur Shah, the former leader who took Faizabad during the capture of Mir Muhammad Shah in Kunduz. Bahadur Shah was overthrown, and the rightful owner reinstated the throne of Fortune, again frowned at the World of Muhammad Shah. Bahadur Shah received the help of Mir Shignan and took Faizabad, Badakhshan. Mir Muhammad Shah fled to Chiab.
After 2 years, Bahadur Shah was put to death by an agent of the Shignan chief named Bahadur, who captured the throne. Muhammad Shah repeatedly tried to expel him. But help was rejected by his superior Shignan and Barrow Tappa. He regained the throne through the assassination of Bahadur by his servant. The ministers of the last usurper were killed.
Immediately Mir Muhammad Shah participated in the hostilities with Jalal-ud-din the chief Shignan, who rebelled and held out in the fortress until Mir Muhammad Shah deposed him, and the rebel fell. By pardon of the winner, he was reinstated by the head of Fayzabad, Badakhshan. In the same year, Shah Abul Fayz, the son of Shah Shuhi from Raga, rebelled against Mir Muhammad Shah and was defeated.
The territory of Mir Muhammad Shah was divided as follows: Iskashim was given to Mir Khan; Rushan in Shah Vali and Varduy Mahmoud Khan, brother of Mir Ahmad Beg Kataghan. Mir Muhammad Shah also built a new fort - Saray Bahadur.
Go Nazar Beg Kataghan, brother of Daraba Bi, expelled his 5 nephews from Kunduz and Alivardi Bek, the head of Kurgan-Tippa, under the pretext of avenging his grievances, attacked Khodai Nazar Bega and drove him out of Kunduz. His greed forced him to occupy the country. The sons of Daraba Bi came to Badakhshan, and Balkh Alivardi Beg did not enjoy the fruits of betrayal for a long time. In 1795, Emir Khaidar from the emirate of Bukhara invaded Balkh, and Kunduz annexed him and took Alivardi Bek to Bukhara as a prisoner.
New time
In 1902, the Bukhara (western) Pamir was part of the Russian military administration. In November 1918, the last tsarist Russian troops recognized Bolshevik rule, but in December 1919 the region was captured by the anti-Bolshevik Russian "peasant army" from Ferghana. From April 1920, the power vacuum was filled by an attempt to establish the power of Bukharan until June 1920, when the Bukhara people were expelled by local forces, Bolshevik rule was restored: the Soviet Union captured the Bukhara part of the Gorno-Badakhshan part.
Soviet time and administrative issues
The Bukhara part was merged with the Russian (since 1895) part in 1924, which will be organized as the GBAO of Tajikistan in 1929. In April 1992-in 1993, the autonomous republic of Pamir-Badakshoni was declared an independent post-Soviet Tajikistan 6 November 1994, becoming the Kokhistan-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
In 1963, Badakhshan included the districts of Baghlan, Pul-i-Khumri, Souls, Dahan-i-Gori, Kanabad, Andarab, Kunduz, Hazrat-i-Imam and Talokan. In 1963, the Katahan-Badakhshan province was abolished, and since then the territory has been divided into four separate provinces: Badakhshan, Baghlan, Kunduz and Tahar.
Territorial conflicts
Until 1895, the area of modern Gorno-Badakhshan consisted of several semi-official government bodies, including Darvaz, Shunnun-Rushan and Wahan, which ruled the territories that are now part of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in Tajikistan and Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. The territory was demanded by the Chinese and Russian empires and the Emirate of Afghanistan. The Qing rulers of China claimed to control all the Pamir Mountains, but the military units of Qing controlled the passages only east of the city of Tashkent.
In the 1890s, the governments of China, Russia and Afghanistan signed a series of agreements that divided Badakhshan, but the Chinese continued to challenge these borders until they signed a 2002 agreement with the government of Tajikistan.
Autonomous region and its leadership
Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Okrug was established in January 1925. He was attached to the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic after the creation of the republic in 1929. In the 1950s, the indigenous inhabitants of Gorno-Badakhshan, including many ethnic Pamiris, were forcibly resettled in southwestern Tajikistan. Gorno-Badakhshan received part of the territory of the Primorsky region when this territory was dissolved in 1955.
When a civil war broke out in Tajikistan in 1992, local self-government in Gorno-Badakhshan declared independence from the Tajik state. During the civil war, many Pamiri were targeted at killing rival groups, and Badakhshan became a stronghold of the opposition. Later, the Gorno-Badakhshan government abandoned its calls for independence. Gorno-Badakhshan region remains an autonomous region of Tajikistan. In 2011, Tajikistan ratified the 1999 deal to cede 1,000 km2 (390 sq. Miles) of land in the Pamir Mountains to the People’s Republic of China, ending a 130-year dispute and abandoning China’s claims for more than 28,000 km2 (11,000 sq. Miles) territory of Tajikistan.
In 2012, a series of clashes took place in the region between the Tajik military and militants loyal to former military commander Tolib Ayombekov, after the latter was accused of killing a Tajik general. Today, this region is ruled by Shodikhon Jamshedov.
The region is isolated. This is a real tabernacle world in the very center of planet Earth. GBAO-Khorog covers the entire eastern part of the country and borders on the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China in the east, Badakhshan province of Afghanistan in the south and Osh region of Kyrgyzstan in the north.
Within Tajikistan, the western border of the region is adjacent to the republican subordination areas (DRP), and the tip of its southwestern region (Darvoz district) borders on the Khatlon region. The highest mountains are in the Eastern Pamirs (ancient Mount Imonon), which is known as the roof of the world, and here are three of the five seven-meter peaks in the former Soviet Central Asia, including Ismoil Somoni Peak (previously the peak of communism and before that - Stalin Peak, 7,495 m), Ibn Sina peak (previously Lenin peak and still known by this name on its Kyrgyz flank, 7.134 m), on the border with Kyrgyzstan and Korzhenevsky Peak (7105 m).
Only two easy-running roads connect this region with the outside world, Khorog-Osh and Khorog-Dushanbe, both of which are segments of the Pamir Highway. The third way from Khorog to Tashkurgan in China through the Kulma pass is very rough. Badakhshan is separated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan by the narrow, but almost impassable, corridor of Wahan. Another road leads from the city of Khorog to Wahan and across the Afghan border. Khorog Airport is operated by Tajik Air. And in 2014, regular flights were established in Dushanbe.
Khorog is a place of maximum height. They often play field hockey. His phone code is 35220.
Conclusion
Badakhshan is a picturesque region with an interesting and complex history. With its isolation, antiquity and authenticity, it attracts many travelers from all over the world. Beautiful mountains, picturesque landscapes, crystal clear lakes are just a few of what this mysterious region can offer to any tourist.