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100-609: The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids , Samanids , Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Ilkhanids , Timurids , and Khanate of Bukhara until 1751 when it became part of the Durrani Empire (although under autonomous emirs). Eventually the city passed to a few local rulers before becoming part of Afghanistan in 1849. Mazar-i-Sharif

200-710: A double bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is also known for the Afghan song Bia ke berem ba Mazar ( Come let's go to Mazar ) by Sarban . Mazar-i-Sharif has a cold steppe climate ( Köppen climate classification BSk ) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low and mostly falls between December and April. The climate in Mazar-i-Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over 40 °C (104 °F) from June to August. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing; it may snow from November through March. The city of Mazar-i-Sharif has

300-609: A fierce hatred for each other. During Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik 's reign, the Umayyad government appointed Mudaris as governors in Khorasan, except for Asad ibn Abdallah al-Qasri's tenure in 735–738. Nasr's appointment came four months after Asad's death. In the interim, the sources report variously that the province was run either by the Syrian general Ja'far ibn Hanzala al-Bahrani or by Asad's lieutenant Juday' al-Kirmani. At any rate,

400-549: A frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . By the late Middle Ages, the term lost its administrative significance, in the west only being loosely applied among the Turko-Persian dynasties of modern Iran to all its territories that lay east and north-east of the Dasht-e Kavir desert. It was therefore subjected to constant change, as the size of their empires changed. In the east, Khwarasan likewise became

500-410: A hypothetical Proto-Iranian form *miθrāsāna ; see Mithra , Bactrian μιυρο [mihr], for the relevant solar deity ). The province was often subdivided into four quarters, such that Nishapur (present-day Iran), Marv (present-day Turkmenistan ), Herat and Balkh (present-day Afghanistan) were the centers, respectively, of the westernmost, northernmost, central, and easternmost quarters. Khorasan

600-529: A result, several people were killed and wounded from explosions over the years. These rockets, left behind by the Soviet Army in 1989 at the end of the Soviet–Afghan War , were used as cheap building materials by the poor residents of the village. It was estimated that over 400 rockets were incorporated into the village as wall and ceiling beams, door-stoppers, and even footbridges used by children. When

700-671: A rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. After the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif in November 2001, the city was officially captured by forces of the Northern Alliance. They were joined by the United States Special Operations Forces and supported by U.S. Air Force aircraft. As many as 3,000 Taliban fighters who surrendered were reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance after

800-566: A single major city: Nishapur, Merv, Herat and Balkh. By the 10th century, Ibn Khordadbeh and the Hudud al-'Alam mentions what roughly encompasses the previous regions of Abarshahr , Tokharistan and Sogdia as Khwarasan proper. They further report the southern part of the Hindu Kush, i.e. the regions of Sistan , Rukhkhudh , Zabulistan and Kabul etc. to make up the Khorasan marches ,

900-433: A station near Mazar-i-Sharif Airport , where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan. As of June 2016 Mazar-i-Sharif Airport has direct air connections to Kabul , Mashad , Tehran , and Istanbul . Highway AH76 links Mazar-i-Sharif to Sheberghan in the west, and Pul-e Khomri and Kabul to the south-east. Roads to the east link it to Kunduz . Roads to

1000-706: A term associated with the great urban centers of Central Asia. It is mentioned in the Memoirs of Babur (from the 1580s) that: The people of Hindustān call every country beyond their own Khorasān, in the same manner as the Arabs term all except Arabia, Ajem . On the road between Hindustān and Khorasān, there are two great marts: the one Kābul, the other Kandahār . Caravans, from Ferghāna, Tūrkestān, Samarkand, Balkh, Bokhāra, Hissār, and Badakhshān , all resort to Kābul; while those from Khorasān repair to Kandahār . This country lies between Hindustān and Khorasān. In modern times,

1100-412: A total population of 500,207, and is the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan by population. It has a total land area of 8,304 Hectares with 77,615 total number of dwellings. The November 2003 issue of National Geographic magazine indicated the ethnic composition as Pashtuns 15%, Hazaras 12%, Tajiks 53%, Turkmens 10%, and Uzbeks 20%. Occasional ethnic violence has been reported in the region in

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1200-723: A vast and loosely defined region of Khorasan, which might even extend to the Indus Valley and the Pamir Mountains. The boundary between these two was the region surrounding the cities of Gurgan and Qumis . In particular, the Ghaznavids , Seljuqs and Timurids divided their empires into Iraqi and Khorasani regions. Khorasan is believed to have been bounded in the southwest by desert and the town of Tabas , known as "the Gate of Khorasan", from which it extended eastward to

1300-517: Is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and northern Afghanistan , northeastern Iran , the eastern halves of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan , western Tajikistan , and portions of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan . The extent of the region referred to as Khorasan varied over time. In its stricter historical sense, it comprised

1400-507: Is another ancient Buddhist centre in north central Afghanistan where several caves have been found and in one of these caves a Buddhist stupa has been carved. A hoary legend links Samangan to the famous epic story of Rostam and Sohrab . Rostam (meaning hero of the World), a valiant hero of Iran, was on a hunting visit to the Samangan area. He took rest at a place near the Samangan area, in

1500-606: Is in the form of a mound. It represents the earliest link to the evolution of Buddhist architecture in Afghanistan. Another heritage site is the Hazar Sumuch District which is about 10 km away from the town. Takht-i Rustam (Haibak), literal meaning "the throne of Rustam", named after Rustam , a mythological warrior in Persian mythology , is a hilltop settlement. It is dated to the 4th and 5th centuries of

1600-559: Is possibly the forerunner of the Sasanian administrative division of Khurasan, occurring after their takeover of Hephthalite territories south of the Oxus. The transformation of the term and its identification with a larger region is thus a development of the late Sasanian and early Islamic periods. Early Islamic usage often regarded everywhere east of Jibal or what was subsequently termed Iraq Ajami (Persian Iraq) , as being included in

1700-827: Is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban insurgency . On 10 November 2016, a suicide attacker rammed a truck bomb into the wall of the German consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif. Eight people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured. On 21 April 2017, a coordinated Taliban attack killed more than 100 people at Camp Shaheen , the Afghan Army base in Mazar-i-Sharif. In November 2018, VOA reported that 40 houses in Qazil Abad, an immediate suburb of Mazar-i-Sharif, used unexploded Soviet Grad surface-to-surface rockets as construction materials. As

1800-512: Is stationed at Camp Northern Lights which is located ten kilometres (six miles) west of Camp Marmal. Camp Nidaros , located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from Latvia and Norway and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced. On April 1, 2011, ten foreign employees working for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan ( UNAMA ) were killed by angry demonstrators in

1900-412: Is the regional hub of northern Afghanistan, located in close proximity to both Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . It is also home to an international airport . It has the highest percentage of built-up land (91%) of all the Afghan provincial capitals, and it has additional built-up area extending beyond the municipal boundary but forming a part of the larger urban area . It is also the lowest-lying major city in

2000-535: The de facto capital of a relatively stable and secular proto-state in northern Afghanistan under the rule of Dostum. The city remained peaceful and prosperous, whilst rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by fundamentalist Taliban forces. The city was called at the time a "glittering jewel in Afghanistan's battered crown". Money rolled in from foreign donors Russia , Turkey , newly independent Uzbekistan and others, with whom Dostum had established close relations. He printed his own currency for

2100-702: The Battle of the Oxus River . The next year, Ibn Amir concluded a peace treaty with Kanadbak , an Iranian nobleman and the kanarang of Tus . The Sasanian rebel Burzin Shah , of the Karen family , revolted against Ibn Amir, though the latter crushed the rebels in the Battle of Nishapur . After the invasion of Persia under Rashidun was completed in five years and almost all of the Persian territories came under Arab control, it also inevitable created new problems for

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2200-526: The Ghilji Pashtuns from Kandahar and became part of the Hotaki dynasty from 1722 to 1729. Nader Shah recaptured Khorasan in 1729 and chose Mashhad as the capital of Persia. Following his assassination in 1747, the eastern parts of Khorasan, including Herat were annexed with the Durrani Empire . Mashhad area was under control of Nader Shah's grandson Shahrukh Afshar until it was captured by

2300-812: The Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President Hamid Karzai . The 209th Corps (Shaheen) of the Afghan National Army is based at Mazar-i-Sharif, which provides military assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police headquarters for the Northern Zone is also located in the city. Despite the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and assassinations of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-i-Sharif reported that between 20 and 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in Balkh Province in

2400-596: The Kushan Empire . The Sasanians subsequently controlled the area after the fall of the Kushans. The Islamic conquests reached Mazar-i-Sharif in 651 CE. The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids , Samanids , Ghaznavids , Ghurids , Ilkhanids , Timurids , and Khanate of Bukhara . The poet Jalal al-Din Rumi

2500-525: The Mongol subjugation of Khorasan, carrying out the task "with a thoroughness from which that region has never recovered." Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century, the majority of Islamic archaeological efforts were focused on the medieval era, predominantly in areas near what is today Central Asia . Under Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ), the Rashidun Caliphate seized nearly

2600-547: The Pamir Mountains . Greater Khorasan is today sometimes used to distinguish the larger historical region from the former Khorasan Province of Iran (1906–2004), which roughly encompassed the western portion of the historical Greater Khorasan. The name Khorāsān is Persian (from Middle Persian Xwarāsān , sp. xwlʾsʾn' , meaning "where the sun arrives from" or "the Eastern Province"). The name

2700-863: The Qajar dynasty in 1796. In 1856, the Iranians, under the Qajar dynasty, briefly recaptured Herat; by the Treaty of Paris of 1857 , signed between Iran and the British Empire to end the Anglo-Persian War , the Iranian troops withdrew from Herat . Later, in 1881, Iran relinquished its claims to a part of the northern areas of Khorasan to the Russian Empire , principally comprising Merv , by

2800-617: The Treaty of Akhal (also known as the Treaty of Akhal-Khorasan ). Khorasan has had a great cultural importance among other regions in Greater Iran . The literary New Persian language developed in Khorasan and Transoxiana and gradually supplanted the Parthian language . The New Persian literature arose and flourished in Khorasan and Transoxiana where the early Iranian dynasties such as Tahirids , Samanids , Saffirids and Ghaznavids (a Turco-Persian dynasty) were based. Until

2900-619: The mountains of central Afghanistan . Sources from the 10th century onwards refer to areas in the south of the Hindu Kush as the Khorasan Marches, forming a frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan . First established in the 6th century as one of four administrative (military) divisions by the Sasanian Empire , the scope of the region has varied considerably during its nearly 1,500-year history. Initially,

3000-782: The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were reports about northern Pashtun civilians being ethnically cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks. NATO-led peacekeeping forces in and around the city provided assistance to the Afghan government. ISAF Regional Command North , led by Germany , is stationed at Camp Marmal which lies next to Mazar-i-Sharif Airport . Since 2006, Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif had unit commanders from Sweden on loan to ISAF. The unit

3100-580: The Bukharan-Durrani war of 1788–1790, Qilich Ali Beg of Khulm formed a mini-empire stretching from Balkh to Aybak , Saighan , Kahmard , Darra-i Suf , and Qunduz . When he died in 1817, the Balkh and Mazar-i Sharif region became an independent city state with Aqcha as its dependency. In November 1837 the Bukharans conquered the city but Balkh was still able to retain autonomy. In 1849 the city

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3200-500: The Central Asian Steppe. The valley has very fertile agricultural land and is characterised by rolling green fields and hills at the sides. The A76 highway from Kabul -Mazar-e-Sharif to Badakhshan passes through Samangan town and goes through the bazaar and the main town square. The nearest major cities are Mazar-e-Sharif and Baghlan . The town is known for its large Uzbek population and the well-known Uzbek leader of

3300-558: The Khorasan division of the Sasanian Empire covered the northeastern military gains of the empire, at its height including cities such as Nishapur , Herat , Merv , Faryab , Taloqan , Balkh , Bukhara , Badghis , Abiward , Gharjistan , Tus and Sarakhs . With the rise of the Umayyad Caliphate , the designation was inherited and likewise stretched as far as their military gains in the east, starting off with

3400-515: The Kushano-Sassanian period, which is corroborated by archaeological, architectural and numismatic evidence. It is located 3 km to the southwest of Samangan town. It is the location of a stupa-monastery complex which is fully carved into the mountain rock. The monastery of the major Buddhist tradition of Theravada Buddhism , has five chambers, two are sanctuaries and one is a domed ceiling with an intricate lotus leaf beautification. In

3500-465: The Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , also condemned both

3600-625: The Taliban as part of the wider 2021 Taliban offensive . The name Mazar-i-Sharif means "tomb of the saint", a reference to the tomb of Ali , cousin, son-in-law and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . The tomb is housed in the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Ali or the Blue Mosque. The Achaemenids controlled the region from

3700-417: The Taliban captured Mazar-i-Sharif along with Sharana and Asadabad , the provincial capitals of Paktika and Kunar provinces respectively. Local government forces and regional leaders Abdul Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad Noor fled to neighboring Uzbekistan . On 21 April 2022, Islamic State – Khorasan Province killed 31 people by bombing a Shia mosque . A week later, 11 people were killed in

3800-411: The Taliban were getting ready to take the city through Pahlawan. Afterwards Pahlawan himself mutinied the Taliban on the deal and it was reported that between May and July 1997 that Pahlawan executed thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by slaughtering the prisoners as a revenge for the 1995 death of Abdul Ali Mazari . "He is widely believed to have been responsible for

3900-534: The Zirbhagali (a drum made of pottery), exhibit their products for sale. A special marketplace here is known as the Bazar-e-Danbora Faroshi (Lute-Sellers' Bazar or market). The town is also famous for its Uzbek bread loaves, which are a popular street side sale. The town's hospital serves the entire province. A refugee camp, Hazrati-Sultan, is located 70 km (43 mi) to

4000-467: The adjacent hill is the stupa, which has a harmika , with several caves at its base. Above one of the caves, there is square building with two conference halls, one is 22 metres square and the other is circular. In one of these caves, Archaeological excavations have revealed a cache of Ghaznavid coins. The Buddhist temples near the Takht are 10 numbers known locally as Kie Tehe . Hazar Sumuch District

4100-411: The battle, and reports also place U.S. ground troops at the scene of the massacre. The Irish documentary Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death investigated these allegations. Filmmaker Doran claims that mass graves of thousands of victims were found by United Nations investigators. The Bush administration reportedly blocked investigations into the incident. The city slowly came under the control of

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4200-415: The battlefield. In the fierce battle that took place between father and son Sohrab was mortally wounded. When Sohrab was wounded he announced his identity to Rostam and on hearing this Rostam was overtaken by intense grief and threw away his sword. Sohrab also was grief-stricken upon knowing that it was his father whom he had faced in the war and who had wounded him mortally. He then showed his onyx symbol that

4300-399: 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. Meanwhile, Dostum came back and took the city again from Pahlawan. However the Taliban retaliated in 1998 attacking the city and killing an estimated 8,000 non-combatants . At 10 am on 8 August 1998, the Taliban entered

4400-400: The burning and the violence in reaction to it. By July 2011 violence grew to a record high in the insurgency . In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there

4500-574: The caliphate. Pockets of tribal resistance continued for centuries in the Afghan territories. During the 7th century, Arab armies made their way into the region of Afghanistan from Khorasan. A second problem was as a corollary to the Muslim conquest of Persia, the Muslims became neighbors of the city states of Transoxiana . Although Transoxiana was included in the loosely defined "Turkestan" region, only

4600-481: The city and for the next two days drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved—shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys." 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

4700-580: The city on the Dargydus River , south east of Zariaspa / Balkh . The ruins found here establish the city's founding by Eucratides I , the King of Bactria . It was then known as Eukratidia, the size of the present Khulm city. Historicity of the town is dated to the Kushan Dynasty reign during the 4th and 5th centuries when it was a famous Buddhist centre. Witness to this period is seen now in

4800-478: The city was under the command of General Abdul Rashid Dostum . Mujahideen militias Hezbe Wahdat and Jamiat-e Islami both attempted to contest the city but were repelled by the Army. Dostum mutinied against Mohammad Najibullah 's government on March 19, 1992, shortly before its collapse, and formed his new party and militia, Junbish-e Milli . The party took over the city the next day. Afterwards Mazar-i-Sharif became

4900-511: The city's prospects. It is also the location of consulates of India and Pakistan for trading and political links. The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is centred around the Shrine of Ali. Much restored, it is one of Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient city of Balkh . The city is a centre for the traditional buzkashi sport, and the Blue Mosque is

5000-564: The city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to pastors Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning in Florida , United States. Among the dead were five Nepalis , a Norwegian , Romanian and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be decapitated . Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn Islam 's Holy Book , denied his responsibility for incitement. President Barack Obama strongly condemned both

5100-588: The corpses for the first six days (contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial) while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs. The Taliban also reportedly sought out and massacred members of the Hazara , while in control of Mazar. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Mazar-i-Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance (United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into

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5200-406: The country, about 357 metres (1,171 ft) above sea level. The city was spared the devastation that occurred in the country's other large cities during the Soviet–Afghan War and subsequent civil war , and was long regarded as one of the safest cities in the country. On 14 August 2021, Mazar-i-Sharif was seized by Taliban fighters, becoming the twenty-fifth provincial capital to be captured by

5300-662: The devastating Mongol invasion of the 13th century, Khorasan remained the cultural capital of Persia. It has produced scientists such as Avicenna , Al-Farabi , Al-Biruni , Omar Khayyam , Al-Khwarizmi , Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi (known as Albumasar or Albuxar in the west), Alfraganus , Abu Wafa , Nasir al-Din al-Tusi , Sharaf al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī , and many others who are widely well known for their significant contributions in various domains such as mathematics, astronomy , medicine, physics , geography , and geology. There have been many archaeological sites throughout Khorasan, however many of these expeditions were illegal or committed in

5400-408: The district of the same name in the northern part of Afghanistan . As an ancient town and major Buddhist centre during the 4th and 5th centuries under the then Kushan rulers, it has the ruins of that period at a place known now as Takht-i-rustam , which is located on a hill above the town. Due to its location, Haibak has been influenced by Buddhist, Islamic and Turkic and Persian peoples. In

5500-424: The early days of the Muslim conquests , Arab armies were divided into regiments drawn from individual tribes or tribal confederations ( butun or ‘asha‘ir ). Despite the fact that many of these groupings were recent creations, created for reasons of military efficiency rather than any common ancestry, they soon developed a strong and distinct identity. By the beginning of the Umayyad period, this system progressed to

5600-407: The entire Persia from the Sasanian Empire . However, the areas of Khorasan weren't conquered until c.  651 during the caliphate of Uthman ( r.  644–656 ). The Rashidun commanders Ahnaf ibn Qays and Abd Allah ibn Amir were assigned to lead the invasion of Khorasan. In late 651, the Rashidun army defeated the combined forces of the Sasanian and the First Turkic Khaganate in

5700-446: The eventual conquest. In July 738, at the age of 74, Nasr was appointed as governor of Khorasan. Despite his age, he was widely respected both for his military record, his knowledge of the affairs of Khorasan and his abilities as a statesman. Julius Wellhausen wrote of him that "His age did not affect the freshness of his mind, as is testified not only by his deeds, but also by the verses in which he gave expression to his feelings till

5800-416: The evolution of Buddhist architecture . Aibak was the name given to this place when during the medieval period, caravans used to stop here. On October 23, 2003, during the war , rebels fired rockets at a pickup truck ferrying passengers to Haibak, which killed ten people. In 2021, the Taliban launched a nationwide military offensive coinciding with the withdrawal of United States troops . Aybak

5900-414: The excess water of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. The ruler of North Central Afghanistan decided to move the capital to Mazar-i-Sharif. The city along with the region south of the Amu Darya became part of the Durrani Empire in around 1751. For the most part the region was controlled by autonomous Uzbek rulers). After

6000-432: The focus of northern Afghanistan's Nowruz celebration. Although most Muslims believe that the real grave of Ali is found within Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf , Iraq , others still come to Mazar-i-Sharif to pay respect. It became the first city in Afghanistan to connect itself by rail with a neighboring country. Rail service from Mazar-i-Sharif to Uzbekistan began in December 2011 and cargo on freight trains arrive at

6100-417: The form of ruins at a place called the Takht-e-Rostam , which is located 3 km from the town on a hilltop. Arabs and Mongols came to this place when it was already famous as a Buddhist religious centre. Takht-i-rustam is a historical place where ruins of Buddhist religious culture could be seen. The Buddhist stupa here in the form of a mound, located on the hilltop, represents the earliest link to

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6200-449: The formation of ever-larger super-groupings, culminating in the two super-groups : the northern Arab Mudaris or Qaysis , and the south Arabs or "Yemenis" ( Yaman ), dominated by the Azd and Rabi'ah tribes. By the 8th century, this division had become firmly established across the Caliphate and was a source of constant internal instability, as the two groups formed in essence two rival political parties, jockeying for power and separated by

6300-488: The last decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. In 2011 news reports mentioned assassinations taking place in the area but with no evidence as to who is behind them. The dominant language in Mazar-i-Sharif is Persian , followed by Pashto , and Uzbek . Mazar-i-Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan. The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and Karakul sheep farming . Small-scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted

6400-404: The last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezb-i Islami political party. Small-scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of

6500-419: The major portion of Khorasān, as two of the four main capitals of Khorasān (Herat and Balkh) are now located in Afghanistan. Ghobar uses the terms "Proper Khorasan" and " Improper Khorasan" in his book to distinguish between the usage of Khorasān in its strict sense and its usage in a loose sense. According to him, Proper Khorasan contained regions lying between Balkh in the east, Merv in the north, Sistan in

6600-452: The military installations at Nishapur and Merv , slowly expanding eastwards into Tokharistan and Sogdia . Under the Caliphs , Khorasan was the name of one of the three political zones under their dominion (the other two being Eraq-e Arab "Arabic Iraq" and Eraq-e Ajam "Non-Arabic Iraq or Persian Iraq"). Under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, Khorasan was divided into four major sections or quarters ( rub′ ), each section based on

6700-400: The most prominent men of the Marwanid period". Asad's arrival in Khorasan found the province in peril: his predecessor, Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi , had just attempted a campaign against Ferghana and suffered a major defeat, the so-called " Day of Thirst ", at the hands of the Turgesh Turks and the Soghdian principalities of Transoxiana that had risen up against Muslim rule. From

6800-402: The north link it to the Uzbek border town Termez , where it becomes highway M39 going north to Samarkand and Tashkent . Roads to the south link it to Bamiyan Province and the mountainous range of central Afghanistan. Greater Khorasan Greater Khorasan ( Middle Persian : 𐬒𐬊𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬀𐬥 , romanized:  Xwarāsān ; Persian : خراسان , [xoɾɒːˈsɒːn] )

6900-417: The north. The Northumbrian modernist poet Basil Bunting wrote a poem about the town. "Let them remember Samangan..." stands 32nd in the first book of Odes in his Collected Poems. The poem is dated 1937, hence Bunting cannot have actually visited the town; although he did later travel in the Middle East , whether he ever went to Afghanistan is unknown but unlikely. However, in the same year his first son

7000-431: The palace, the King's daughter Tamina met him and falls in love with Rustam. Rustam also fell in love with her. With the approval of the king and the people of Samangan, the local ruler's beautiful daughter Tamina married Rustam. The king was pleased with this development and he then arranged to find the horse of Rostam. Rostam then returned to Iran, his home country. Before taking leave of his wife he gave her an onyx t that

7100-424: The past, it was significant because of its position on the main line of communication between Kabul and Afghan Turkestan . In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the city during the 2021 Taliban offensive . The earliest known history is linked to the identification of the place by Ptolemy as the place of the Varni or Uarni and the fortified city of Samangan on the banks of the Khulm River , identical to

7200-567: The present territories of northeastern Iran , parts of Afghanistan and southern parts of Central Asia , extending as far as the Amu Darya (Oxus) river. However, the name has often been used in a loose sense to include a wider region that included most of Transoxiana (encompassing Bukhara and Samarqand in present-day Uzbekistan ), extended westward to the Caspian coast and to the Dasht-e Kavir southward to Sistan , and eastward to

7300-403: The province, General Dostum's pictures, are on display in the town. Aybak features a four-season mediterranean climate ( Köppen : Csa/Dsa). The annual mean temperature is 13.4 °C (56.1 °F). The weekly market, an ancient traditional activity of the town is popular and held every Thursday when craftsmen specializing in musical instruments , such as the dutar (two-stringed lute) and

7400-493: The region and established his own airline. The city remained relatively liberal as Kabul previously was, where activities such as coeducational schools and betting was legal as opposed to the Taliban dominated regions in the south of the country. This peace was shattered in May 1997 when he was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord Abdul Malik Pahlawan who allied himself with the Taliban, forcing him to flee from Mazar-i-Sharif as

7500-550: The rest of the world discovered this fact, the Danish demining group of the Danish Refugee Council visited the village and, after asking the residents, began demining and rebuilding the village, safely removing and disposing of the rockets through controlled detonation at the border with Uzbekistan . President Ghani visited the city on 11 August 2021 to rally local warlords to fight the Taliban. On 14 August,

7600-733: The ruling elite of Transoxiana was partially of Turkic origins whereas the local population was mostly a diverse mix of local Iranian populations. As the Arabs reached Transoxiana following the conquest of the Sassanid Persian Empire, local Iranian-Turkic and Arab armies clashed over the control of Transoxiana's Silk Road cities. In particular, the Turgesh under the leadership of Suluk, and Khazars under Barjik clashed with their Arab neighbours in order to control this economically important region. Two notable Umayyad generals, Qutayba ibn Muslim and Nasr ibn Sayyar , were instrumental in

7700-503: The separation from each other. Their son was later born to Tamina in Samangan, who was named as Sohrab. Tahmineh brought up her son with great dedication and taught him all the skills of warfare and he became very strong. She also told him about his father Rostam and his forefathers and their valiant achievements as warriors in Iran. She also gave him the gifts that his father had sent him. She advised him to be wary of Afrasiyab of Turan who

7800-755: The sixth century BCE. Alexander the Great conquered the area but it was then incorporated into the Seleucid Empire after his death. The decline of the Seleucids consequently led to the emergence of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom . Around 130 BCE, the Sakas occupied the region and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom fell. The Yuezhi took Mazar-i-Sharif and the surrounding area which led to the creation of

7900-473: The sole pursuit of profit, leaving many sites without documentation or record. 36°N 62°E  /  36°N 62°E  / 36; 62 Aybak, Samangan Aybak ( Aibak or Haibak ; previously Eukratidia ( Ancient Greek : Εὐκρατιδία ); historically known as Samangan ) is a provincial town, medieval caravan stop, and the headquarters of the Samangan Province in

8000-693: The sources agree that al-Kirmani stood at the time as the most prominent man in Khorasan and should have been the clear choice for governor. His Yemeni roots (he was the leader of the Azd in Khorasan), however, made him unpalatable to the Caliph. Khorasan became the headquarters of the Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyads . It was led by Abu Muslim , who himself belonged to Khorasan. This province

8100-489: The south, Nishapur in the west and Herat, known as the Pearl of Khorasan , in the center. Improper Khorasan's boundaries extended to as far as Hazarajat and Kabul in the east, Baluchistan in the south, Transoxiana and Khwarezm in the north, and Damghan and Gorgan in the west. During the Sasanian era, likely in the reign of Khusrow I , Persia was divided into four regions (known as kust Middle Persian), Khwārvarān in

8200-558: The term has been source of great nostalgia and nationalism, especially amongst the Tajiks of Central Asia. Many Tajiks regard Khorasan as an integral part of their national identity, which has preserved an interest in the term, including its meaning and cultural significance, both in common discussion and academia, despite its falling out of political use in the region. According to Afghan historian Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar (1897–1978), Afghanistan's current Persian-speaking territories formed

8300-462: The throne to Khorasan following the Arab invasion in the western parts of the empire. After the assassination of the king, Khorasan was conquered by Arab Muslims in 647 AD. Like other provinces of Persia it became a province of the Umayyad Caliphate . The first movement against the Arab conquest was led by Abu Muslim Khorasani between 747 and 750. Originally from Isfahan , scholars believe Abu Muslim

8400-554: The town, the King of Samangan and his entourage came to greet him. Rostam then threatened the Samangan King with dire consequences if his horse was not found, as the horse's hoofprints had been tracked up to the village. The local king, however, assuaged Rostam and invited him to his palace as his honoured guest and entertains him lavishly. He also promised Rostam that he would arrange to send search parties to find his horse. While in

8500-537: The very end of his life". However, in the climate of the times, his nomination owed more to his appropriate tribal affiliation than his personal qualities. In 724, immediately after the rise of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. 724–743) to the throne, Asad's brother Khalid al-Qasri was appointed to the important post of governor of Iraq , with responsibility over the entire Islamic East, which he held until 738. Khalid in turn named Asad as governor of Khorasan. The two brothers thus became, according to Patricia Crone , "among

8600-400: The village of Shaihabad. During this time, his horse was stolen under a plan engineered by the local King, who was impressed by the valour of Rustam. The local king wanted to have Rostam as his ally. When Rostam finds out that his horse, named Rakhsh , had been stolen, he became furious and went in search of the horse and the search led him to the Samangan town. When he reached the outskirts of

8700-485: The war, with gifts with messages praising Sohrab for his intent to invade Iran and told him how that "if Iran be subdued the world would henceforth know peace, for upon his own head would he place the crown of the Kaianides; and Turan, Iran, and Samengan should be as one land." There was deceit and false information given about Rostam. Both were unaware of each other's identity and relationship when they faced each other on

8800-441: The west, apāxtar in the north, nīmrūz in the south and Khorasan in the east. Since the Sasanian territories were more or less remained stable up to Islamic conquests, it can be concluded that Sasanian Khorasan was bordered to the south by Sistan and Kerman, to the west by the central deserts of modern Iran, and to the east by China and India. In the Sasanian era, Khorasan was further divided into four smaller regions, and each region

8900-404: Was born somewhere in this area. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first caliph Abu Bakr . The Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on the location, which was later destroyed by Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century, and then rebuilt. During the nineteenth century, due to the absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region,

9000-581: Was captured on 9 August 2021, becoming the sixth provincial capital to fall to the Taliban after a weekend offensive. The bombing of a school in December 2022 killed 17 people. Samangan has one of the well-known archaeological sites in Afghanistan, in the Takth i Rostam and the adjacent Buddhist caves and stupas on top of a hill, north of Hindu Kush passes. At this location, caves were hewn out of rocks and inhabited by Buddhists . The Buddhist stupa here

9100-583: Was conquered and annexed into Afghanistan. During the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War , Mazar-i-Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army as they used its airport to launch air strikes on mujahideen rebels. Mazar-i-Sharif was also the main city that linked to Soviet territory in the north, especially the roads leading to the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic . As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan Army ,

9200-574: Was father's foe. After knowing his ancestry and about his brave father, Sohrab decided to invade Iran. He also promised his mother that she would be the queen of Iran. As he rode on a horse which was the foal of Rakshak, his father's horse, he thought the tidings were good. However, as he moved to wage war against Iran he encountered his father on the battlefield. His father had been kept totally unaware of his son's identity by Afrasiyab who wanted father and son to fight each other. Before Sohrab led his army against Iran, Afrasiyab had beguiled him to join him in

9300-465: Was first established as an administrative division in the 6th century (approximately after 520) by the Sasanians , during the reign of Kavad I ( r.  488–496, 498/9–531 ) or Khosrow I ( r.  531–579 ), and comprised the eastern and northeastern parts of the empire. The use of Bactrian Miirosan 'the east' as an administrative designation under Alkhan rulers in the same region

9400-483: Was first given to the eastern province of Persia (Ancient Iran) during the Sasanian Empire and was used from the late Middle Ages in distinction to neighbouring Transoxiana. The Sassanian name Xwarāsān has in turn been argued to be a calque of the Bactrian name of the region, Miirosan (Bactrian spelling: μιιροσανο, μιροσανο, earlier μιυροασανο), which had the same meaning 'sunrise, east' (corresponding to

9500-576: Was more a matter of political and territorial gain. Tahir had helped the Caliph subdue other nationalistic movements in other parts of Persia such as Maziar 's movement in Tabaristan . Other major independent dynasties who ruled over Khorasan were the Saffarids from Zaranj (861–1003), Samanids from Bukhara (875–999), Ghaznavids from Ghazni (963–1167), Seljuqs (1037–1194), Khwarezmids (1077–1231), Ghurids (1149–1212), and Timurids (1370–1506). In 1221, Genghis Khan 's son Tolui oversaw

9600-630: Was part of the Iranian world that had been heavily colonised by Arab tribes following the Muslim conquest with the intent of replacing Umayyad dynasty which is proved to be successful under the sign of the Black Standard . Between the early 16th and early 18th centuries, parts of Khorasan were contested between the Safavids and the Uzbeks . A part of the Khorasan region was conquered in 1722 by

9700-520: Was probably Persian. It's possible he may have been born a slave. According to the ancient Persian historian Al-Shahrastani , he was a Kaysanite . This revolutionary Shi'a movement rejected the three Caliphs that had preceded Ali . Abu Muslim helped the Abbasids come to power but was later killed by Al-Mansur, an Abbasid Caliph. The first kingdom independent from Arab rule was established in Khorasan by Tahir Phoshanji in 821, but it seems that it

9800-524: Was ruled by a marzban . These four regions were Nishapur, Marv, Herat and Balkh. Khorasan in the east saw some conflict with the Hephthalites who became the new rulers in the area but the borders remained stable. Being the eastern parts of the Sassanids and further away from Arabia , Khorasan region was conquered after the remaining Persia. The last Sassanid king of Persia, Yazdgerd III , moved

9900-458: Was tied to his arm. He gave it to her, and said: Cherish this jewel, and if Heaven cause thee to give birth unto a daughter, fasten it within her locks, and it will shield her from evil; but if it be granted unto thee to bring forth a son, fasten it upon his arm, that he may wear it like his father. And he shall be strong as Keriman, of stature like unto Sam the son of Neriman, and of grace of speech like unto Zal, my father. Both were sorrowful at

10000-484: Was tied to his armour. Rostam realized that it was the onyx which he had given to his wife and that he had really slain his own son. Kaykavous, the king of Iran, delayed giving Rostam the healing potion (Noush Daru) to save Sohrab as he feared losing his power to the alliance of the father and the son. The town is located on the banks of the Khulm River valley formed below the junction of Hindu Kush Mountains and

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