The Baba Mountain range ( Bâbâ Ǧar; Kōh-i Bābā; or Kūh-e Bābā; ''Kōh'' or ''Kūh'' meaning ′mountain′, ''Bābā'' meaning ′father′) is the western extension 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 the origin 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 ...

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 ...

, Arghandab,

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 18 ...

, Farah,

Hari Hari () is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress. The name Ha ...

, Murghab,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

rivers. The mountain range is crowned by ''Foladi peak'' (or Shah Fuladi) rising 5048 m (some old maps and dictionaries:Kuh-e Baba
on universal_lexikon.de 5143 m) above sea level, and is located south of

Bamyan Bamyan (), also spelled Bamian or Bamiyan, is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 100,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an altitude of about above sea level. The ...

. The Koh-e Firoz plateau merges farther to the west by gentle gradients into the Paropamise, and which may be traced across the Hari River to

Mashad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad ...

. To the southwest of the culminating peaks, long spurs divide the upper tributaries of the

Helmand River The Helmand river (Pashto/Dari: ; Ancient Greek: Ἐτύμανδρος, ''Etýmandros''; Latin: '), also spelled Helmend, or Helmund, Hirmand, is the longest river in Afghanistan and the primary watershed for the endorheic Sistan Basin. It o ...

, and separate its basin from that of the

Farah River The Farah River (; ) is a river in western Afghanistan. The river originates in the Band-e Bayan Range in the eastern part of Ghor Province, and flows for to the Helmand swamps on the Afghanistan-Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Rep ...

. These spurs retain a considerable altitude, marked by peaks exceeding . They sweep in a broad band of roughly parallel ranges to the southwest, preserving their general direction till they abut on the Great

Registan The Registan () was the heart of the city of Samarkand of the Timurid Empire, now in Uzbekistan. The name ''Rēgistan'' () means "sandy place" or "desert" in Persian. The Registan was a public square, where people gathered to hear royal procla ...

desert to the west of

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

, where they terminate in a series of detached and broken anticlinals whose sides are swept by a sea of encroaching sand. The long, straight, level-backed ridges which divide the

Argandab The Arghandab is a river in Afghanistan, about in length. It rises in Ghazni Province, west of the city of Ghazni, and flows southwest, passing near the city of Kandahar, before joining the Helmand River below the town of Grishk. In its lower c ...

, the Tarnak and

Arghastan The Arghistan District (, ) is a district in the northeastern part of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. It borders Spin Boldak District to the south and west, Daman District to the west, Zabul Province to the north, Maruf District to the east and ...

valleys, flank the route from Kandahar to

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

Shah-Foladi-Sarkh-e-Shah-Foladi-Bamyan-Afghnaistan

The high jagged peaks above the

Hajigak Pass The Hajigak Pass ( ''hajji gak'' 'little pilgrim') is a mountain pass of Afghanistan. It is situated at a height of above sea-level in the northern part of Maidan Wardak province, connecting it with Bamyan province to the northwest. It is one ...

, blue-black and shining, shimmer in the sunlight for they contain an estimated reserve of 2 billion tons of iron ore; Asia's richest deposit. The very steep descent from the Hajigak Pass () with its numerous hairpin bends leads to the sparkling Kalu River, known locally as the Sauzao or Green Waters. It is bordered by poplars and several charming villages. Koh-e-Baba-Mountains-Bamyan-Afghanistan

The area is inhabited mostly by ethnic

Hazara people The Hazaras (; ) are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan’s population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras ...

followed by

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

. There are also Sayyid households. Much of the population heavily depends on agriculture as their prime source of income and potato the prime crop.

Literature

* Peter Lumsden, ''Countries and Tribes Bordering on the Koh-i-Baba Range'', Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography (1885).

References

External links

Tourism Conference In Bamyan - B-roll, Part 2
-

Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), formerly the Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System, is an operation supported by the Defense Media Activity (DMA). It provides a connection between world media and the American m ...

{{Bamyan Province Landforms of Bamyan Province Landforms of Maidan Wardak Province Hindu Kush Mountain ranges of Afghanistan

See also

Literature

References

External links