Ghorband (), also known as Syagird after its main town, is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Parwan province Parwan also spelled Parvan () is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is the largest province of the Greater Parwan region and has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divid ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It is located in the southern foothills of the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central Asia, Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the wester ...

and forms the western boundary of the ancient valley of Koh Daman. The capital of Ghorband is the town of Syagird, about a 2-hour drive from

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. Ghorband is the largest district of the province, covering an area of 899 square kilometres with a population of 74,123 as of 2003. The Ghorband River flows through the district. It contains 58

Community Development Council The Community Development Council (CDC; ; zh, 社區發展理事會; ) is a government-led organisation to organise grassroot organisations and community programmes into smaller, local units as a bridge between the government and the community i ...

s and 109 villages. Eventually, Ghorband valley was once much bigger than today reaching to the east Shibar, Doshi and Kahmard districts in Bamyan and Baghlan provinces.

History

Historically, the Ghorband River valley was connected with

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

as far back as

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

times. The ancient Koh Daman valley is an important archaeological site and evidence has revealed that the people inhabiting the valley developed sophisticated mining techniques early on. In November 2007, a team of facilitators from the National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDP) of the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) assessed the district and drew up development plans. The

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

have been active in the district. In November 2010 it was reported that two Iranian intelligence agents arrived in Syagird town in Ghorband District and were accused by the US of helping the insurgents attack coalition forces. After the end of the three-day Eid ceasefire announced by the Taliban, which lasted from 24 to 26 May 2020, the Taliban attacked a checkpoint in Ghorband District late in the night of 27 May. This was the first deadly attack by the Taliban after the ceasefire in the country. They set fire to the checkpoint, which killed five Afghan troops, and shot dead two others. One other soldier was injured in the attack and two others were held captive, while one Taliban attacker was also killed.

Economy

Main crops grown are

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

s, mulberries,

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es,

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s and other like these.

Iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

is mined in the district and transported to Charikar in the east to be smelted before arriving in Kabul. British surveyors in the 19th century reported that the district had significant reserves of iron, zinc, sulfur, and coal.Gazetteer of Afghanistan VI, p. 168 A west–east road and then the north–south A76 highway connects the district to Charikar and Kabul.

History

Economy

See also

Notable people

References

External links