Khawak Pass
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Khawak Pass (elevation ) sits across the route heading to the northwest from near the head of the Panjshir Valley through 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 ...
range to northern Afghanistan via
Andarab Andarab is the name of a large stream in Afghanistan and of the valley it empties into. The stream originates in the Hindu Kush, near Khawak Pass, and flows to the west for about 75 miles before merging into the Surkhab. Andarab valley Toget ...
and Baghlan. This is the route traditionally thought to have been followed by
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 ...
in the spring of 329 BCE when he led his army from the Kabul Valley across the mountains to
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 ...
(later
Tokharistan Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix ''-stan'' meaning "place of" in Persian) is a historical name used by Islamic sources in the early Middle Ages to refer to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources. By the 6 ...
in the north). Vincent Smith states that Alexander took his troops across both the Khāwak and the Kaoshān or Kushan Pass. According to some scholars, there is no proof of this. The Khāwak is most probably the pass used by the famous Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk,
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
, on his return from India to China in the early 7th century. In 1333, the Moroccan explorer and traveler
Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...
crossed the pass on his journey to India. When dictating his account over twenty years later he remembered spreading felt cloth in front of his camels to prevent them sinking into the snow. The Khāwak was also crossed by
Timur Timur, also known as Tamerlane (1320s17/18 February 1405), was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty. An undefeat ...
(1336–1405), and by Captain John Wood on his return journey to the sources of 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 ...
in the mid-19th century. It was the easternmost pass leading from the Kabul Valley into northern Afghanistan, and the most popular pass of this region.Verma (1978), pp. 86 and nn. 155, 156; 264. This pass, so important for the early history of Afghanistan, is now for the most part bypassed by the paved road that runs through the
Salang tunnel The Salang Tunnel ( ''Tūnel-e Sālang'', ''Da Sālang Tūnel'') is a tunnel located at the Salang Pass in northern Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about north of the nation's capital, Kabul. At nearly above sea level, the tunnel work was ...
under the Salang Pass, completed by the Soviets in 1964, at an elevation of about . It links
Charikar Charikar (), also known as Imam Azam (, ) or Imam Abu Hanifa (), is the capital of Parwan Province in northern Afghanistan. It also serves as the district center of Charikar District, which has a population of around 171,200 residents. They inclu ...
and
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 ...
with
Kunduz Kunduz (; ; ) is a city in northern Afghanistan and the capital of Kunduz Province. The city has an estimated population of about 268,893 as of 2015, making it about the List of cities in Afghanistan, seventh largest city of Afghanistan, and the ...
, Khulm,
Mazari Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highways ...
and
Termez Termez ( ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center ...
.


Climate

Khawak pass is a high mountain pass at an altitude of above sea level and the climate is extremely harsh. According to the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
, the pass has a
tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...
(''ET'') with cold to bitterly cold weather year-round.


Footnotes


References

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Mountain passes of Afghanistan Landforms of Baghlan Province