Shighnan
Shighnan | |
|---|---|
 The Panj river at the border | |
  Shighnan Location in Afghanistan  Shighnan Location near Tajikistan | |
| Coordinates:37°37′0″N71°27′0″E/ 37.61667°N 71.45000°E | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
| Province | Badakhshan |
| Districts | Shighnan |
| Elevation | 7,503 ft (2,287 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 24,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 |
Shighnan,alsoShignan,Shugnan,Shughnan,andKhughnan(Tajik:Шуғнон,Persian:شغنان,Pashto:شېرخان بندر,Shughni:خُږنۈن, Хуг̌ну̊н, Xuɣ̌nůn), is an historic region whose name today may also refer to a town and a district inBadakhshan Provincein the mountainous northeast ofAfghanistanand also a district inGorno-Badakhshan Autonomous ProvinceinTajikistan.The administrative center of theShighnan Districtof Afghanistan is called Qaleh Barpanjeh (قلعه برپنجه). The administrative center of theShughnon Districtof Tajikistan is calledKhorogh.
The Afghan Rushan (Rushan is also a separate district in Tajikistan) falls under the administrative rule of Shughnan district, and is referred to as Rushan sub-district (i.e. Rushan Alaqadari). There are about ten sizable and many more smaller villages in the Shughnan district of Afghanistan. These villages include, south to north, Darmarakht, Wiyod, Wiroodhj, Bashor, Vuzh-Pidrudh, Dhishahr, Shidwood, and Tsaghnod. Note; the village names are given as they appear in the local language. Population of the Afghan district totals approximately 24,000 residents. Some of the bigger villages in the Tajik side of Shughnan include, south to north, Darmarakht, Porshnev, Buni, Sokhcharv, and Rosht Qala.
History
[edit]In ancient times the area was known for itsrubymines, which are mentioned in the writings ofMarco Polo:
- It is in this province that those fine and valuable gems the Balas Rubies are found. They are got in certain rocks among the mountains, and in the search for them the people dig great caves underground, just as is done by miners for silver. There is but one special mountain that produces them, and it is called Syghinan.[1]
In modern times Shughnan and its vassal Roshan were states whose native rulers, themirs of Shighnan,claimed descent fromAlexander the Great.[2]The archaeologistMarc Aurel Steinwrote: "North of Shughnan lies Roshan, ruled usually by relatives of the old chiefs of Shughnan... there is no proof, however, to their genealogical claims."[2]In 1829 the Mirs of Shughnan were forced to pay tribute to Murad Beg of Kunduz.[3]In 1874 Shughnan was subjugated into Afghanistan, but the mirs still continues to rule the area until September 1883, when Shughnan was annexed byAbdur Rahman Khan.[3]The area was assigned toRussiaby theDurandagreement of 1893.[2]In an 1895 agreement between the British and Russia, Moscow agreed to hand over all districts previously occupied by her on the left bank of thePanj,or upper Oxus,[2]to Afghanistan in exchange for lands on the right hand bank inDarvaz.The Russian-controlled half of Shughnan was incorporated into the Gorno-Badakhshan oblast in 1925, which was merged into the newly formed Tajikistan in 1929.
The people residing in the Shughnan district, both the Tajik side and Afghan side of the border, speak their own language called Shughni (Khughnani).
Climate
[edit]Shighnan has ahumid continental climate(Köppen climate classificationDsb) with dry, mild summers and cold, snowy winters. In winter there is more rainfall than in summer. The average annual temperature in Shighnan is 3.6 °C (38.5 °F). About 782 mm (30.79 in) of precipitation falls annually.
| Climate data for Shighnan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −10.1 (13.8) |
−8.4 (16.9) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
3.8 (38.8) |
7.8 (46.0) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.9 (60.6) |
15.9 (60.6) |
11.7 (53.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
−1.3 (29.7) |
−6.9 (19.6) |
3.6 (38.6) |
| Averageprecipitationmm (inches) | 80.2 (3.16) |
112.7 (4.44) |
120.6 (4.75) |
105.2 (4.14) |
97.1 (3.82) |
61.2 (2.41) |
14.3 (0.56) |
5.6 (0.22) |
8.6 (0.34) |
43.4 (1.71) |
72.2 (2.84) |
61.8 (2.43) |
782.9 (30.82) |
| Averagerelative humidity(%) | 73 | 77 | 79 | 75 | 62 | 52 | 41 | 37 | 35 | 45 | 64 | 70 | 59 |
| Source 1: ClimateCharts[4] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: World Weather Online (precipitation & humidity)[5] | |||||||||||||
Demography
[edit]Pamirissuch as theShughnisare the main ethnic group of the region.Pamiri languagesprimarilyShughniare mainly spoken there.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Elevation: Shighnan - Climate-Data.org".Retrieved12 September2022.
- ^abcChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 857.
- ^ab"Shighnan and Roshan in the Nineteenth Century – Kakar History Foundation".Retrieved2021-10-28.
- ^
"Climate: Shighnan - ClimateCharts, Laura Zepner, Pierre Karrasch, Felix Wiemann & Lars Bernard (2020) ClimateCharts.net – an interactive climate analysis web platform, International Journal of Digital Earth, DOI: 10.1080/17538947.2020.1829112".doi:10.1080/17538947.2020.1829112.S2CID225154815.Retrieved24 September2022.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^"Humidity: Sheghnan - World Weather Online".Retrieved25 September2022.
External links
[edit]- Map of Shighnan(PDF)
- [3]A brief account of the region, its people and their language.