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107-472: The Helmand River flows through the mainly desert region of the province, providing water used for irrigation. The Kajaki Dam , which is one of Afghanistan's major reservoirs , is located in the Kajaki district . Helmand is believed to be one of the world's largest opium producing regions, responsible for around 42% of the world's total production. This is believed to be more than the whole of Myanmar , which

214-626: A Barakzai tax collector was killed at Sarwan Qala that year, the British sent in troops to enforce collection, a political blunder leading to open rebellion by the Alizai. It is not known if the British were aware of the political ramifications of Shah Shujah's decision to retain the Barakzai tax collectors, but they were completely bewildered by the ensuing rebellion, reflecting a clear lack of understanding of local dynamics on their part. The leader of

321-515: A counter-narcotics initiative called the Alternative Livelihoods Program (ALP) in the province. It paid communities to work to improve their environment and economic infrastructure as an alternative to opium poppy farming. The project undertook drainage and canal rehabilitation projects. In 2005 and 2006, there were problems in getting promised finance to communities and this was a source of considerable tension between

428-724: A grandson of Timur . By the early 16th century, it fell to Babur . However, the area was often contested by the Shia Safavids and Sunni Mughals until the rise of Mir Wais Hotak in 1709. He defeated the Safavids and established the Hotaki dynasty . The Hotakis ruled it until 1738 when the Afsharids defeated Shah Hussain Hotaki at what is now Old Kandahar . When Ahmad Shah Durrani came to power in 1747, after Nader Shah

535-598: A monsoon-fed seasonal river that was not subject to devastating floods. Khonde et al. (2017) confirm that the Great Rann of Kutch received sediments from a different source than the Indus, but this source stopped supplying sediments after ca. 10,000 years ago. Likewise, Dave et al. (2019) state that "[o]ur results disprove the proposed link between ancient settlements and large rivers from the Himalayas and indicate that

642-769: A mythical river, an allegory not a "thing". The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century, suggesting an earlier dating of the Rigveda, and renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated. The Rigveda contains several hymns which give an indication of

749-737: A number of lakes ( saras ). In the Skanda Purana , the Sarasvati originates from the water pot of Brahma and flows from Plaksa on the Himalayas. It then turns west at Kedara and also flows underground. Five distributaries of the Sarasvati are mentioned. The text regards Sarasvati as a form of Brahma's consort Brahmi . According to the Vamana Purana 32.1-4, the Sarasvati rose from the Plaksa tree ( Pipal tree ). The Padma Purana proclaims: One who bathes and drinks there where

856-480: A rare Barakzai-Alizai alliance, joining against a common enemy. The British withdrew and Ayub Khan's army pursued, leading to a major Afghan victory at the Battle of Maiwand on 27 July. Having achieved their main goal of defeating the British, the Alizai then left and returned to Zamindawar. The British later defeated Ayub Khan, but they ended up withdrawing from Afghanistan altogether, installing Abdur Rahman Khan as

963-460: A river that connected many lakes due to its abundant volumes of water-flow. Sarasvatī is considered to be a cognate of Avestan Harax atī . In the younger Avesta , Harax atī is Arachosia , a region described to be rich in rivers, and its Old Persian cognate Harauvati . The Saraswati river was revered and considered important for Hindus because it is said that it was on this river's banks, along with its tributary Drishadwati , in

1070-683: A supplementary chapter of the Vajasaneyi-Samhita of the Yajurveda (34.11), Sarasvati is mentioned in a context apparently meaning the Sindhu: "Five rivers flowing on their way speed onward to Sarasvati, but then become Sarasvati a fivefold river in the land." According to the medieval commentator Uvata, the five tributaries of the Sarasvati were the Punjab rivers Drishadvati , Satudri ( Sutlej ), Chandrabhaga ( Chenab ), Vipasa ( Beas ) and

1177-533: A terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago." The middle books 3 and 7 and the late books 10 "depict the present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." The Sarasvati acquired an extalted status in the mythology of the Kuru Kingdom , where the Rigveda was compiled. Sarasvati is mentioned some fifty times in the hymns of the Rigveda. It is mentioned in thirteen hymns of

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1284-512: Is a mythologized and deified ancient river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion , appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda . As a physical river in the oldest texts of the Rigveda, it is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India ," but in the middle and late Rigvedic books, it

1391-471: Is believed to also converge with the unseen Sarasvati river, which is believed to flow underground. This is despite Allahabad being at a considerable distance from the possible historic routes of an actual Sarasvati river. At the Kumbh Mela , a mass bathing festival is held at Triveni Sangam, literally "confluence of the three rivers", every 12 years. The belief of Sarasvati joining at the confluence of

1498-439: Is described as a small river ending in "a terminal lake ( samudra )." As the goddess Sarasvati , the other referent for the term "Sarasvati" which developed into an independent identity in post-Vedic times. The river is also described as a powerful river and mighty flood. The Sarasvati is also considered by Hindus to exist in a metaphysical form, in which it formed a confluence with the sacred rivers Ganges and Yamuna , at

1605-714: Is likely that foreign drug traffickers were also involved. Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban insurgents. Several operations were launched including Operation Silicone at the start of spring. In May 2007, Mullah Dadullah , one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO-led Afghan forces in Helmand. In April 2008, about 1,500 2nd Battalion 7th Marines occupied over 300 square miles (800 km) of Helmand River valley and neighboring Farah Province . The operation

1712-588: Is listed with other gods and goddesses, not with rivers. In 10.65, she is invoked together with "holy thoughts" ( dhī ) and "munificence" ( puraṃdhi ), consistent with her role as a goddess of both knowledge and fertility. Though Sarasvati initially emerged as a river goddess in the Vedic scriptures, in later Hinduism of the Puranas , she was rarely associated with the river. Instead, she emerged as an independent goddess of knowledge, learning, wisdom, music and

1819-422: Is rampant with routine accusations against the police of shaking down and sexually abusing civilians causing loyalty to the government to be weaker. On 13 August 2021, the capital of the province Lashkar Gah fell to the Taliban after weeks of fighting in the Battle of Lashkargah . Around 1,500 Afghan soldiers were said to have surrendered, leaving the province in Taliban hands. According to The Washington Post ,

1926-443: Is the feminine nominative singular form of the adjective sárasvat (which occurs in the Rigveda as the name of the keeper of the celestial waters ), derived from 'sáras' + 'vat', meaning 'having sáras-'. Sanskrit sáras- means 'lake, pond' (cf. the derivative sārasa- 'lake bird = Sarus crane '). Mayrhofer considers unlikely a connection with the root * sar- 'run, flow' but does agree that it could have been

2033-764: Is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin . It originates in the Sanglakh Range of the Hindu Kush mountains in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province , where it is separated from the watershed of the Kabul River by the Unai Pass . The Helmand feeds into the Hamun Lake on the border of Afghanistan and Iran . The name comes from

2140-430: Is the second-largest producing nation after Afghanistan. The region also produces tobacco , sugar beets , cotton , sesame , wheat , mung beans , maize , nuts, sunflowers , onions , potato , tomato , cauliflower , peanut , apricot , grape , and melon . The province has a domestic airport ( Bost Airport ), in the city of Lashkargah that was heavily used by NATO -led forces. The former British Camp Bastion and

2247-671: Is what happened in various parts of the [Indian] subcontinent." Several present-day rivers are also named Sarasvati, after the Vedic Sarasvati: Already since the 19th century, attempts have been made to identify the mythical Sarasvati of the Vedas with physical rivers. Many think that the Vedic Sarasvati river once flowed east of the Indus (Sindhu) river. Scientists, geologists as well as scholars have identified

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2354-649: The Achaemenids . Later, the area was part of the ancient Arachosia polity, and a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Asia , which connects Southern , Central and Southwest Asia . The Helmand river valley is mentioned by name in the Avesta (Fargard 1:13) as Haetumant , one of the early centers or origins of the Zoroastrian faith, in pre-Islamic Afghan history . However, owing to

2461-720: The Avestan Haētumant , literally "dammed, having a dam", which referred to the Helmand River and the irrigated areas around it. The word Haetumant is cognate with Sanskrit Setumatī meaning "one which has a dam." The Helmand stretches for 1,150 km (710 mi). It rises in the northeastern part of Maidan Wardak Province in the Hindu Kush mountains, about 40 km west of Kabul ( 34°34′N 68°33′E  /  34.567°N 68.550°E  / 34.567; 68.550 ), flowing southwestward through Daykundi Province and Uruzgan Province . After passing through

2568-642: The Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority , is used extensively for irrigation, although a buildup of mineral salts has decreased its usefulness in watering crops. For much of its length, the Helmand is free of salt. Its waters are essential for farmers in Afghanistan, but it feeds into the Hamun Lake and is also important to farmers in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province . A number of hydroelectric dams have created artificial reservoirs on some of

2675-745: The Iravati ( Ravi ). The first reference to the disappearance of the lower course of the Sarasvati is from the Brahmanas , texts that are composed in Vedic Sanskrit , but dating to a later date than the Veda Samhitas. The Jaiminiya Brahmana (2.297) speaks of the 'diving under (upamajjana) of the Sarasvati', and the Tandya Brahmana (or Pancavimsa Br.) calls this the 'disappearance' (vinasana). The same text (25.10.11-16) records that

2782-707: The Latyayana Srautasutra (10.15-19) the Sarasvati seems to be a perennial river up to the Vinasana, which is west of its confluence with the Drshadvati (Chautang). The Drshadvati is described as a seasonal stream (10.17), meaning it was not from Himalayas. Bhargava has identified Drashadwati river as present-day Sahibi river originating from Jaipur hills in Rajasthan. The Asvalayana Srautasutra and Sankhayana Srautasutra contain verses that are similar to

2889-640: The Mahabharata (3rd c. BCE - 3rd c. CE) the Sarasvati River dried up to a desert (at a place named Vinasana or Adarsana) and joins the sea "impetuously". MB.3.81.115 locates the state of Kurupradesh or Kuru Kingdom to the south of the Sarasvati and north of the Drishadvati . The dried-up, seasonal Ghaggar River in Rajasthan and Haryana reflects the same geographical view described in

2996-581: The Mahabharata . According to Hindu scriptures, a journey was made during the Mahabharata by Balrama along the banks of the Saraswati from Dwarka to Mathura. There were ancient kingdoms too (the era of the Mahajanapads) that lay in parts of north Rajasthan and that were named on the Sarasvati River. Several Puranas describe the Sarasvati River, and also record that the river separated into

3103-467: The Mehrgarh III pottery, in technique — the quality of the paste and manufacture — as well as in the shapes and decoration, probably within a phase dated to the end of the 5th millennium [BC]." There were also links between Shahr-i Sokhta I, II, and III periods, and Mundigak III and IV periods, and between the sites of Balochistan and the Indus valley at the end of the 4th millennium, as well as in

3210-579: The MoD warning them not to remove Akhundzada and against the deployment of a large British force which would likely cause conflict where none existed. It was announced in January 2006 in the British Parliament that International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would replace the U.S. troops in the province as part of Operation Herrick . The British 16 Air Assault Brigade would be the core of

3317-501: The Rigveda is the late Harappan (1900-1300 BCE) population shift eastwards to Haryana . The present Ghaggar-Hakra River is a seasonal river in India and Pakistan that flows only during the monsoon season, but satellite images in possession of the ISRO and ONGC have confirmed that the major course of a river ran through the present-day Ghaggar River. The supposed paleochannel of

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3424-625: The Saffarids of Zaranj and saw the first Muslim rule. Mahmud of Ghazni made it part of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century, who were replaced by the Ghurids . After the destructions caused by Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century, the Timurids established rule and began rebuilding Afghan cities. From about 1383 until his death in 1407, it was governed by Pir Muhammad ,

3531-507: The Triveni confluence with rivers Hiranya and Kapila at Somnath . There are several other Triveni s in India where two physical rivers are joined by the "unseen" Sarasvati, which adds to the sanctity of the confluence. Romila Thapar notes that "once the river had been mythologized through invoking the memory of the earlier river, its name - Sarasvati - could be applied to many rivers, which

3638-520: The Triveni Sangam . According to Michael Witzel , superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the "heavenly river": the Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life." Rigvedic and later Vedic texts have been used to propose identification with present-day rivers, or ancient riverbeds. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda (10.75) mentions the Sarasvati between

3745-614: The Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, while RV 7 .95.1-2, describes the Sarasvati as flowing to the samudra , a word now usually translated as 'ocean', but which could also mean "lake." Later Vedic texts such as the Tandya Brahmana and the Jaiminiya Brahmana , as well as the Mahabharata , mention that the Sarasvati dried up in a desert. Since the late 19th century, numerous scholars have proposed to identify

3852-460: The 1960s to develop the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority (HAVA) – it became known locally as "little America". The program laid out tree-lined streets in Lashkargah, built a network of irrigation canals and constructed a large hydroelectric dam. The development program was abandoned when pro-Soviet Union forces seized power in 1978, although much of the province is still irrigated by

3959-501: The 21st century. The Noorzai would occupy marginal lands until the late 20th century, and the Ishaqzai population remains dispersed and scattered throughout Helmand today. The weakening of Helmand's non-Barakzai tribes, combined with a policy of non-interference with the tribes, led to stability in the region throughout Abdur Rahman's reign. This continued during the rule of his son Habibullah, who died in 1919. An important development

4066-595: The Afghanistan's rivers including the Kajaki Dam on the Helmand River. The chief tributary of the Helmand river, the Arghandab River (confluence at 31°27′N 64°23′E  /  31.450°N 64.383°E  / 31.450; 64.383 ), also has a major dam , north of Kandahar . The Helmand valley region is mentioned by name in the Avesta ( Fargard 1:13) as the Aryan land of Haetumant , one of

4173-545: The Alizai of Zamindawar. When the Alizai didn't pay taxes, a Barakzai punitive expedition was sent to Zamindawar, and in Alizai clan chiefs were executed. During this period, the Alizai began to view the Barakzai as enemies, creating the Alizai-Barakzai dynamic that still heavily influences Helmand politics. At this time, the area around Garmsir was effectively independent, and ignored by the monarchy in Kabul. In 1839,

4280-543: The British deposed Dost Mohammad Khan in favor of the Popolzai Shah Shujah Durrani . In doing so, they hoped to limit Russian influence in Afghanistan. Hoping to secure the loyalty of Helmandi tribal leaders, Shah Shujah reinstated the titles they had previously enjoyed under Popolzai rule, and he also held off on taxing them until his position was stronger. However, he kept the Barakzai tax collectors in office, and they resumed collection in 1840. When

4387-605: The British sent a proxy Barakzai force to occupy Gereshk. Ayub Khan found ample support from Helmandis in his subsequent campaign against the British: three or four thousand Alizai tribesmen, led by a man named Abu Bakr , had joined his army by October, as did a smaller contingent of Noorzai. Doubting the Barakzai's loyalty, the British sent some of their own troops to reinforce Gereshk in July 1880, led by George Burrows . The Barakzai promptly mutinied and went over to Ayub Khan's side —

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4494-574: The Ganges and Yamuna originates from the Puranic scriptures and denotes the "powerful legacy" the Vedic river left after her disappearance. The belief is interpreted as "symbolic". The three rivers Sarasvati, Yamuna, Ganga are considered consorts of the Hindu Trinity ( Trimurti ) Brahma , Vishnu (as Krishna ) and Shiva respectively. In lesser known configuration, Sarasvati is said to form

4601-410: The Gangā, Yamunā and Sarasvati join enjoys liberation . Of this there is no doubt." Diana Eck notes that the power and significance of the Sarasvati for present-day India is in the persistent symbolic presence at the confluence of rivers all over India. Although "materially missing", she is the third river, which emerges to join in the meeting of rivers, thereby making the waters thrice holy. After

4708-403: The Ghaggar-Hakra well before the beginnings of Indus civilisation. Ajit Singh et al. (2017) show that the paleochannel of the Ghaggar-Hakra is a former course of the Sutlej, which diverted to its present course between 15,000 and 8,000 years ago, well before the development of the Harappan Civilisation. Ajit Singh et al. conclude that the urban populations settled not along a perennial river, but

4815-412: The Great and became part of the Seleucid Empire . Later, it came under the rule of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka , who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic . The territory was referred to as part of Zabulistan and ruled by the sun-worshipping Zunbils before the Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century, who were led by Abdur Rahman bin Samara . It later fell to

4922-411: The HAVA. Thanks in part to the irrigation projects, the Pusht-e Rud area had become more important, and the government recognized this by splitting it off from Farah Province to create a new Gereshk Province in 1960. Gereshk was made the capital to reflect the historical importance of the Barakzai, which had been diluted by the influx of outside settlers in the province. The US, however, cared more that

5029-512: The HVA headquarters was in Lashkar Gah, and they successfully lobbied the Afghan government to relocate the provincial capital there. This happened in 1964, and the province was renamed "Helmand Province". For the first time since 1826, the Helmandi Barakzai were no longer dominant in the region. To compensate for this, the government completelty redrew the district boundaries in Helmand. The four traditional districts were abolished and replaced new districts. These new districts, greater in number than

5136-439: The Hakra is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, flowing into the Nara river bed, presently a delta channel c.q. paleochannel of the Indus River . At least 10,000 years ago, well before the rise of the Harappan civilization, the sutlej diverted its course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a monsoon-fed river. Early in the 2nd millennium BCE the monsoons diminished and the Ghaggar-Hakra fluvial system dried up, which affected

5243-547: The Harappan civilisation. While there is general agreement that the river courses in the Indus Basin have frequently changed course, the exact sequence of these changes and their dating have been problematic. Older publications have suggested that the Sutlej and the Yamuna drained into the Hakra well into Mature Harappan times, providing ample volume to the supply provided by the monsoon-fed Ghaggar. The Sutlej and Yamuna then changed course between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE, due to either tectonic events or "slightly altered gradients on

5350-535: The Helmand area during the 1920s, but ended up shelving that project due to unrest over Amanullah's social reforms. In 1936, after the Musahiban dynasty had come to power, the government began construction of another canal in Helmand, the Nahr-e Bughra. The Afghan government originally sought out US financial and technical assistance, but the US refused, so instead it was the Germans and Japanese who contributed. The Nahr-e Bughra project employed up to 7,000 workers, and there were also other small-scale development projects in

5457-432: The Helmand river being on the border between them, increasing the area's strategic importance. The subsidy ended in 1862 when Dost Mohammad died and a succession crisis broke out between his sons. Helmandis fought as mercenaries on the side of one of them, Sher Ali Khan , playing a role in his eventual victory. The deciding battle was fought at Gereshk in 1868. Indebted to the Helmandi tribes for their contributions during

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5564-407: The Helmand they had been granted by Nader Shah. Their relocation was a disaster and many ended up returning to the Helmand area. When they came back, however, they were only given scattered, less-productive lands. This dramatically changed the power dynamic of the Helmand area, marking the beginning of Ishaqzai and (to a lesser degree) Noorzai disenfranchisement from government that has continued into

5671-416: The Latyayana Srautasutra. Wilke and Moebus note that the "historical river" Sarasvati was a "topographically tangible mythogeme", which was already reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert", by the time of composition of the Hindu epics . These post-Vedic texts regularly talk about drying up of the river, and start associating the goddess Sarasvati with language, rather than the river. According to

5778-456: The Pusht-e Rud area without going through a relative in Kandahar. In November 1878, the British invaded Afghanistan again. They occupied Gereshk until February 1879; an Alizai force of 1500 attacked them as they withdrew. Sher Ali died soon after, however, and the British wanted to again occupy Gereshk as a forward outpost against Sher Ali's son Ayub Khan . Perhaps realizing that the presence of their troops garrisoning Helmandi forts upset locals,

5885-473: The Rigveda; renaming the Indus Valley Civilisation as the "Sarasvati culture", the "Sarasvati Civilization", the "Indus-Sarasvati Civilization" or the "Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization," suggesting that the Indus Valley and Vedic cultures can be equated; and rejecting the Indo-Aryan migrations theory , which postulates an extended period of migrations of Indo-European speaking people into the Indian subcontinent between ca. 1900 BCE and 1400 BCE. Sárasvatī

5992-451: The Sarasvati as the river of heavens, is interpreted to suggest its mythical nature. In 10.30.12, her origin as a river goddess may explain her invocation as a protective deity in a hymn to the celestial waters. In 10.135.5, as Indra drinks Soma he is described as refreshed by Sarasvati. The invocations in 10.17 address Sarasvati as a goddess of the forefathers as well as of the present generation. In 1.13, 1.89, 10.85, 10.66 and 10.141, she

6099-448: The Sarasvati is 'so to say meandering' (kubjimati) as it could not sustain heaven which it had propped up. The Plaksa Prasravana (place of appearance/source of the river) may refer to a spring in the Sivalik hills . The distance between the source and the Vinasana (place of disappearance of the river) is said to be 44  Ashwin (between several hundred and 1,600 miles) (Tandya Br. 25.10.16; cf. Av. 6.131.3; Pancavimsa Br.). In

6206-461: The Sarasvati with many present-day or now-defunct rivers. Two theories are popular in the attempts to identify the Sarasvati. Several scholars have identified the river with the present-day Ghaggar-Hakra River or dried up part of it, which is located in Northwestern India and Pakistan. A second popular theory associates the river with the Helmand river or an ancient river in the present Helmand Valley in Afghanistan. Others consider Sarasvati

6313-446: The Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra River system, which flows through modern-day northwestern- India and eastern- Pakistan , between the Yamuna and the Sutlej, and ends in the Thar desert . Recent geophysical research shows that the supposed downstream Ghaggar-Hakra paleochannel is actually a paleochannel of the Sutlej, which flowed into the Nara river , a delta channel of the Indus River . Around 10,000-8,000 years ago, this channel

6420-417: The Taliban saw Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO-led Afghan National Security Forces . Commanders on the ground described the situation as the most brutal conflict the British Army had been involved in since the Korean War . In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around

6527-416: The U.S. Camp Leatherneck is a short distance southwest of Lashkargah. Throughout the 2001-2021 war in Afghanistan , Helmand was a hotbed of insurgent activities and was often considered at the time to be Afghanistan's "most dangerous" province. The province also witnessed some of the heaviest fighting during the war, where at its peak hundreds of civilians were being killed monthly. Its suitable climate for

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6634-458: The US withdrawal and Taliban victory was mostly met with relief in Helmand; the province had suffered through some of the deadliest battles of the war from 2001 to 2021 and heavy US-led bombardments. Bost Airport serves the population of Helmand for domestic flights to other parts of the country. It is designed for civilian use. NATO-led forces heavily used the airport at Camp Shorabak , formerly Camp Bastion . Camp Leatherneck , which used to be

6741-413: The Vedic Sarasvati dried, new myths about the rivers arose. Sarasvati is described to flow in the underworld and rise to the surface at some places. For centuries, the Sarasvati river existed in a "subtle or mythic" form, since it corresponds with none of the major rivers of present-day South Asia. The confluence ( sangam ) or joining of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers at Triveni Sangam , Allahabad ,

6848-468: The Vedic state of Brahmavarta , that Vedic Sanskrit had its genesis, and important Vedic scriptures like initial part of Rigveda and several Upanishads were supposed to have been composed by Vedic seers. In the Manusmriti , Brahmavarta is portrayed as the "pure" centre of Vedic culture. Bridget and Raymond Allchin in The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan took the view that "The earliest Aryan homeland in India-Pakistan (Aryavarta or Brahmavarta)

6955-458: The aid of three "great rivers", Sindhu, Sarasvati and Sarayu ; and 10.75.5, the geographical list of the Nadistuti Sukta . In this hymn, the Sarasvati River is placed between the Yamuna and the Sutlej . In the oldest texts of the Rigveda she is described as a "great and holy river in north-western India," but Michael Witzel notes that the Rigveda indicates that the Sarswati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in

7062-409: The area at the same time. Roads, bridges, and telephone wires were built to connect the major settlements. This was the first externally supervised development project in Helmand. However, when World War II broke out, the British requested that the German and Japanese engineers be expelled from Afghanistan, and the government had to continue on its own. Helmand was the center of the USAID program in

7169-429: The arts. The evolution of the river goddess into the goddess of knowledge started with later Brahmanas , which identified her as Vāgdevī , the goddess of speech, perhaps due to the centrality of speech in the Vedic cult and the development of the cult on the banks of the river. It is also possible to postulate two originally independent goddesses that were fused into one in later Vedic times. Aurobindo has proposed, on

7276-427: The beginning of June and then led punitive expeditions into Zamindawar, and eventually the rebellion was defeated and Aktur Khan fled to Herat . British-backed Barakzai horsemen were sent to reinforce Gereshk in November 1841. The Alizai repeatedly tried to capture it, but the Barakzai were able to maintain control until August 1842 because the other Barakzai who lived there kept them well-supplied. Dost Mohammad Khan

7383-409: The city of Lashkargah in Helmand Province , it enters the desert of Dasht-e Margo , and then flows to the Sistan marshes and the Hamun-i-Helmand lake region around Zabol at the Afghan-Iranian border ( 31°9′N 61°33′E  /  31.150°N 61.550°E  / 31.150; 61.550 ). A few smaller rivers such as Tarnak and Arghandab flow into Helmand. This river, managed by

7490-427: The composition of the Rigveda. In the words of Wilke and Moebus, the Sarasvati had been reduced to a "small, sorry trickle in the desert" by the time that the Vedic people migrated into north-west India. Rigvedic references to a physical river also indicate that the Sarasvati "had already lost its main source of water supply and must have ended in a terminal lake (samudra) approximately 3000 years ago," "depicting

7597-451: The country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Grishk. Fighting was particularly heavy in the districts of Sangin, Naway, Nawzad and Garmsir . There were reports that

7704-487: The cultivation of limited range of crops also contributed greatly to the Taliban 's finances through illicit opium sales. Additionally, Helmand is considered to be one of Afghanistan's most socially conservative areas. Helmand culture of western Afghanistan was a Bronze Age culture of the 3rd millennium BC. It is exemplified by such major sites as Shahr-i Sokhta , Mundigak , and Bampur . The term "Helmand civilization"

7811-407: The district centers where they had been stationed earlier in the summer. Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces were to withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implied that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested by Afghan President Hamid Karzai , was essentially untenable with the levels of British troop deployment. The agreement

7918-540: The early centres of the Zoroastrian faith in areas that are now Afghanistan . However, by the late first millennium BC and early first millennium AD, the preponderance of communities of Hindus and Buddhists in the Helmand and Kabul valleys led to Parthians referring to it as India. From 1758 to 1842, the Helmand formed the northern borders of the Brahui Khanate of Kalat . Sarasvati River The Sarasvati River ( IAST : Sárasvatī-nadī́ )

8025-799: The extremely flat plains," resulting in the drying-up of the Hakra in the Thar Desert . More recent publications have shown that the Sutlej and the Yamuna shifted course well before Harappan times, leaving the monsoon-fed Ghaggar-Hakra which dried-up during late Harappan times. Clift et al. (2012), using dating of zircon sand grains, have shown that subsurface river channels near the Indus Valley civilisation sites in Cholistan immediately below

8132-530: The farmers and the Coalition forces. After it was decided to deploy British troops to the Province, PJHQ tasked 22 SAS to conduct a reconnaissance of the province. The review was led by Mark Carleton-Smith , who found the province largely at peace due to the brutal rule of Sher Mohammad Akhundzada , and a booming opium-fuelled economy that benefited the pro-government warlords. In June he reported back to

8239-460: The first half of the 3rd millennium BC. The Jiroft culture is closely related to the Helmand culture. The Jiroft culture flourished in eastern Iran, and the Helmand culture in western Afghanistan at the same time. They may represent the same cultural area. The Mehrgarh culture, on the other hand, is far earlier. Helmand was inhabited by ancient peoples and governed by the Medes before falling to

8346-553: The flow of the geography of the river, and an identification of the Sarasvati as described in the later books of the Rigveda with the Ghaggra-Hakra: Yet, the Rigveda also contains clues for an identification with the Helmand river in Afghanistan: The Rigveda was composed during the latter part of the late Harappan period, and according to Shaffer, the reason for the predominance of the Sarasvati in

8453-684: The force in Helmand Province. British bases were located in the districts of Sangin , Lashkargah and Grishk . British forces were replaced in Sangin by elements of the United States Marine Corps I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward. In summer 2006, Helmand was one of the provinces involved in Operation Mountain Thrust , a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of

8560-423: The late books (1 and 10) of the Rigveda. The most important hymns related to Sarasvati goddess are RV 6 .61, RV 7 .95 and RV 7.96. As a river goddess, she is described as a mighty flood, and is clearly not an earthly river. According to Michael Witzel, superimposed on the Vedic Sarasvati river is the heavenly river Milky Way, which is seen as "a road to immortality and heavenly after-life." The description of

8667-653: The main British base in Afghanistan during the occupation, is also adjacent. All sites were claimed by the Taliban on 13 August 2021. There is no rail service. Primary roads include the ring road passes through Helmand from Kandahar to Delaram. There is a major north–south route (Highway 611) that goes from Lashkargah to Sangin. About 33% of Helmands roads are not passable during certain seasons and in some areas, there are no roads at all. Helmand River The Helmand river ( Pashto / Dari : هیرمند / هلمند ; Ancient Greek : Ἐτύμανδρος, Etýmandros ; Latin : Erymandrus ), also spelled Helmend , or Helmund , Hirmand ,

8774-471: The monsoons that fed the rivers further diminished, the Hakra dried-up some 4,000 years ago, becoming an intermittent river, and the urban Harappan civilisation declined, becoming localized in smaller agricultural communities. Identification of a mighty physical Rigvedic Sarasvati with the Ghaggar-Hakra system is therefore problematic, since the Gagghar-Hakra had dried up well before the time of

8881-517: The more ancient Sanskrit name of the Ghaggar-Hakra river, after the Vedic tribes moved to the Punjab . The Sarasvati of the Rigveda may also refer to two distinct rivers, with the family books referring to the Helmand River, and the more recent 10th mandala referring to the Ghaggar-Hakra. The identification with the Ghaggar-Hakra system took on new significance in the early 21st century, with some Hindutva proponents suggesting an earlier dating of

8988-407: The new ruler and giving him a subsidy. Abdur Rahman Khan was a strong and intelligent state-builder who used the subsidy to finance a professional army. He defeated Abu Bakr of the Alizai and had him exiled, after which the Alizai cooperated with paying taxes. He used a combination of incentives and force to move the Ishaqzai and Noorzai to the northwestern part of Afghanistan, away from the lands along

9095-555: The other hand, that "the symbolism of the Veda betrays itself to the greatest clearness in the figure of the goddess Sarasvati ... She is, plainly and clearly, the goddess of the World, the goddess of a divine inspiration ...". In post-Rigvedic literature, the disappearance of the Sarasvati is mentioned. Also the origin of the Sarasvati is identified as Plaksa Prasravana (Peepal tree or Ashwattha tree as known in India and Nepal). In

9202-534: The powerful Barakzai tribe received a hereditary position as ministers to the crown, as well as some of the most valuable land in Helmand: the alluvial plains around present-day Malgir , Babaji , and Spin Masjid, as well as the strategically important Gereshk . That changed in 1826, when Dost Mohammad Khan , himself a Barakzai, seized power. Dost Mohammad increased taxes on non-Barakzai tribes in Helmand, especially

9309-660: The presence of non-Zoroastrians even though Zoroastrians being dominant before the Islamization of Afghanistan – particularly Buddhist. Some Vedic scholars (e.g. Kochhar 1999) also believe the Helmand river corresponds to the Sarasvati river mentioned in the Rig Veda as the homeland of the Aryan tribes before migrating into the Indian Subcontinent , ca. 1500 BCE. It was invaded in 330 BC by Alexander

9416-400: The present-day situation, with the Sarasvatī having lost most of its water." Also, Rigvedic descriptions of the Sarasvati do not fit the actual course of the Gagghar-Hakra. "Sarasvati" has also been identified with the Helmand in ancient Arachosia , or Harauvatiš ( Old Persian : 𐏃𐎼𐎢𐎺𐎫𐎡𐏁 ), in present day southern Afghanistan , the name of which may have been reused from

9523-532: The presumed Ghaggar-Hakra channel show sediment affinity not with the Ghagger-Hakra, but instead with the Beas River in the western sites and the Sutlej and the Yamuna in the eastern ones. This suggests that the Yamuna itself, or a channel of the Yamuna, along with a channel of the Sutlej may have flowed west some time between 47,000 BCE and 10,000 BCE. The drainage from the Yamuna may have been lost from

9630-469: The province), Nawa (4th order), and Lashkar Gah (which, as the capital, had its own resourcing protocol). Lashkar Gah district was gerrymandered to give the Barakzai a majority over the mixed tribes in the urban area: a slice of Barakzai-dominated Babaji was included, and the boundary with Nad-e Ali district was drawn on the border of Barakzai territory in Bolan . This way, the Barakzai central government

9737-466: The rebellion was Aktur Khan, who had risen to prominence during this dispute. His invocations of Alizai honor and appeals to group identity had resulted in him attaining chieftainship of the Alizai. After some skirmishes, the British offered to remove the Barakzai tax collectors in return for the dispersal of Aktur Khan's 1,300 followers. This soon broke down, and by May 1841, Aktur Khan led a force of 3,000 men to capture Gereshk. The British retook Gereshk at

9844-455: The stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence in an area described by Lt. Col. Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the 2009 Afghan presidential election. In July 2009, around 4,000 U.S. Marines pushed into the Helmand River valley in a major offensive to liberate the area from Taliban insurgents. The operation, dubbed Operation Khanjar ( Operation Dagger ),

9951-421: The traditional ones, were each assigned an "order", which determined how much resources would be allocated to each district. Additionally, since the 1964 constitution introduced voting, the new districts were drawn in a way allowing the government to maintain influence and control. The former Barakzai-dominated district of Pusht-e Rud proper, or Gereshk, was split into Nahr-e Seraj (the only 1st order district in

10058-414: The war, Sher Ali scaled back tax collection in the area and reduced the allowances to the Barakzai khans. Because of this, the Alizai did not rebel during his reign. Another key development for Helmand (Pusht-e Rud) during Sher Ali's reign was that he moved its four traditional districts into the newly created Farah Province , moving it out of Kandahar's sphere of influence and meaning that he could influence

10165-515: Was Ahmad Shah's capital. Pusht-e Rud traditionally consisted into four districts: Zamindawar , Now Zad , Pusht-e Rud proper, and Garmsir . Ahmad Shah's land redistribution legitimized existing Alizai influence in Zamindawar, while the powerful Barakzai received Pusht-e Rud proper, and the district of Garmsir in the south was granted to the Noorzai to protect against Baluch raids. Now Zad

10272-470: Was abandoned when the Sutlej diverted its course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a system of monsoon-fed rivers which did not reach the sea. The Indus Valley Civilisation prospered when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished around 5,000 years ago. and ISRO has observed that major Indus Valley civilization sites at Kalibangan ( Rajasthan ), Banawali and Rakhigarhi ( Haryana ), Dholavira and Lothal ( Gujarat ) lay along this course. When

10379-424: Was able to retain control of even the new capital of Helmand. Meanwhile, the Alizai district of Zamindawar was split into Musa Qala (2nd order), Baghran (4th order), and Kajaki (sub-district status). Now Zad, with its mixed Noorzai and Ishaqzai population, was split into Now Zad (2nd order) and Washir (sub-district status). Garmsir district was the only one of the traditional districts to remain intact; it

10486-401: Was also a setback for Taliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but were under heavy pressure from various NATO offensives. News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade. Given the amount of drugs produced in the area, it

10593-406: Was assassinated, he began redistributing land grants that had been given by his predecessor. At that time, the area of what is now Helmand province was part of Kandahar Province (which continued until it was split off into the new Farah Province during the reign of Sher Ali Khan ), and it was known as Pusht-e Rud , or "across the river", reflecting how the region was viewed from Kandahar , which

10700-545: Was divided between the Noorzai and the Ishaqzai. This arrangement has survived, with a few exceptions, until the present day. Then, as now, relatively few members of the Popolzai tribe (to which Ahmad Shah Durrani belonged) lived in Helmand. The Durrani monarchs were thus ambivalent towards the area's tribes and didn't favor any one tribe over the others. Rather, they treated the tribes according to their relative power. Thus,

10807-535: Was given 3rd-order status. The 37 different tribes and ethnicities who had immigrated to Nad-e Ali and Marjah were lumped into a single 3rd-order district. Finally, the sub-district of Sangin was created to separate the Alikozai tribe, closely related to the Barakzai, from the Alizai. During Operation Enduring Freedom , the United States Agency for International Development program contributed to

10914-452: Was in the Punjab and in the valleys of the Sarasvati and Drishadvati rivers in the time of the Rigveda." The Sarasvati River is mentioned in all but the fourth book of the Vedas . Macdonell and Keith provided a comprehensive survey of Vedic references to the Sarasvati River in their Vedic Index . In the late book 10, only two references are unambiguously to the river: 10.64.9, calling for

11021-400: Was proposed by M. Tosi. This civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1900 BC and may have coincided with the great flourishing of the Indus Valley civilisation . This was also the final phase of Periods III and IV of Shahr-i Sokhta, and the last part of Mundigak Period IV. According to Jarrige et al., ... the pottery of Mundigak I, the earliest occupation of the complex , corresponds to

11128-428: Was reinstalled for a second reign when the British withdrew from Afghanistan, but he ran into financial difficulties and sought a subsidy from the British in 1857. He distributed money from this subsidy unevenly among Helmandi tribes, favoring the Barakzai over the others, which upset the balance of power between the tribes. The subsidy also divided Afghanistan into British and Russian spheres of influence, with Gereshk and

11235-553: Was the first major push since U.S. President Obama 's request for 21,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban insurgents. In February 2013, BBC reported that corruption occurs in Afghan National Police bases, with some bases arming children, using them as servants and sometimes sexually abusing them; in early March 2013, the New York Times reported that government corruption

11342-505: Was the re-construction of the Nahr-e Saraj canal, beginning in 1910. Newly irrigated areas that had previously been desert were now populated with ethnic and tribal groups who were not originally from Helmand, including refugees from Central Asia fleeing Soviet rule. Many of the villages along the canal therefore are named after these groups, such as Uzbek, Turkmen, and Popolzai. The government had originally planned to continue developing

11449-622: Was to set up forward operation bases and train the Afghan National Police in an area with little or no outside support. Also in 2008, an Embedded Training Team from the Oregon Army National Guard led a Kandak of Afghan National Army troops in fighting against the Taliban in Lashkargah , as seen in the documentary Shepherds of Helmand . In June 2009, Operation Panther's Claw was launched with

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