Andkhoy (; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the northern part of

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 ...

, which has a population of about 47,857 people. They include all the major

ethnic groups An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, rel ...

of the country. The city serves as the capital of

Andkhoy District Andkhoy District () is a district in Faryab province, Afghanistan. The district center is the Andkhoy city, and there are a total of 81 villages in the district. Most people farm or raise livestock in the district. The district is considered to b ...

in the

Faryab Province Faryab (Dari,Pashto : فاریاب) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. It has a population of about 1,109,223, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a ...

. It is around of driving distance southwest from the

Aqina Aqina (; ), also known as Aqina Port, is a border checkpoint and border crossing in the northern Faryab Province of Afghanistan. It has a train station by the same name, which serves as the second rail service between Afghanistan and neighboring ...

– Imamnazar border crossing between Afghanistan and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. There is also a

rail station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

in the city, which was recently opened for import and export purposes with neighboring Turkmenistan. The Sheberghan Airfield in neighboring

Jowzjan Province Jowzjan, sometimes spelled Jawzjan or Jowzjan () is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. The province is divided into 11 districts and contains hundreds of villag ...

is the closest airport to Andkhoy.

History

The tract in which Andkhoy stands is fertile, but proverbially unhealthy; the

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ns accounted it as "a Hell upon Earth" due to its scorching sands, brackish water, flies, and scorpions. Nonetheless, Andkhoy was reported to grow good melons and pomegranates by a mid-17th century author. The city also had a small citadel, a market, a hospice, and a college at that time. The town was founded by "The Ruwe Arjans" and stands between the northern spurs of the Paropamise and the

Oxus The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

; it is 100 km. due west of

Balkh Balkh is a town in the Balkh Province of Afghanistan. It is located approximately to the northwest of the provincial capital city Mazar-i-Sharif and approximately to the south of the Amu Darya and the Afghanistan–Uzbekistan border. In 2021 ...

, on the edge of the Turkmen desert. The area was an independent Khanate, ruled by members of the

Afshar tribe Afshar ( ; , ; ; ) is a tribe of Oghuz Turkic origin that split into several groups in Iran, Turkey and Afghanistan. Afshar means "obedient". According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, Afshar, the eponymous founder of the tribe, was a son of Yildiz ...

from 1747 to 1880. In 1847, the city was sacked by Yar Mohammad Khan, the ruler of Herat, from which it never recovered. Renovation of Andkhoy started in 1959, mainly at the eastern parts of the old town. The original plan of the infrastructure was reconditioned and reduced to half its volume of the developments to take place. The property owners refused to sell their land for further developments and the plan consequently failed. The infrastructure remained poor; for example, in 1973 only 13% of the houses had access to electricity, in particular for nights. Lack of sanitary drinking water remained a major problem. The 15 meter deep wells had salty and awfully bad tasting water and the trenches had only twenty days running water in a month. To counteract this, there were water pools to preserve water for bad days to come every month.

References

External links

* *

VUSAF - Afghanistan-Schulen Union of Assistance For Schools in Afghanistan
Rahmanqul 1956 - 2007, Regional Director in Andkhoi
{{Authority control Populated places in Faryab Province

History

See also

References

External links