Gardez, Afghanistan
Encyclopedia
History
According to the Encyclopaedia Iranica, Gardēz is a city "belonging to a network of old isolated Tājīk settlements in southern Afghanistan that are remnants of a time when Pashto had not yet reached the area."Gardēz is an ancient settlement, located in the Highlands of the Hindu Kush. Unfortunately, its history is only very poorly documented. Archaeological discoveries, including Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Sassanid, Hephthalite, and Turki-Shāhī coins give a small insight into the rich history of Gardēz.
According to the medieval Tārīkh-i Sīstān, the city was founded by the Kharijite
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
warlord Hamza bin Abdullāh Shārī, although scholars agree that this is probably only a reference to the Islamic conquest of the city. In any case, Gardēz became a center of Kharijite belief for more than a century under the local dynasty of the Aflahids in the distant eastern parts of the Abbasid caliphate.. In 870, the city was conquered by the Saffarid ruler Yaqub ibn Layth. In 975, the Ghaznavids took over the city, while the converted Aflahids entered the Ghaznavid nobility. In 1162, the city fell to the Sultāns of Ghōr
Ghurids
The Ghurids or Ghorids were a medieval Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries in Khorasan. At its zenith, their empire, centred at Ghōr , stretched over an area that included the whole of modern Afghanistan, the eastern parts of Iran and the northern section...
.
Renowned for its multi-storied houses - as mentioned by the Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n conqueror Babur
Babur
Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of South Asia. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother...
- the city was part of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century. However, nothing is known of the town during the subsequent centuries and no building remains.
Today, Gardēz is the administrative center of a district of the Paktiā
Paktia Province
Paktia , is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, in the east of the country. Its capital is Gardez. The population is predominantly Pashtun.- History:...
province, which covers 650 km² and had a total population of 44,000 inhabitants in 1979, but was almost totally depopulated during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
.
In 1960 the German government had their biggest rural development project with a budget of 2.5 million Deutsch Marks for the development of Paktiā ("Paktiā Development Authority", see above). The project was unsuccessful as the communist regime came to power in the 1979. The communists lost control of most of Paktiā during the 80s as the country plunged in to war with only Gardēz remaining in government control.
Today Paktiā remains one of the most stable provinces in the southeast compared to Khost and Paktikā.
Economy and administration
The city of Gardēz is also a major fuel wood market for Kabul. Many of its natural forests are being cut down to provide fuel wood especially during winter. Gardēz is also the regional center for the southeastern Afghanistan that includes Paktikā, KhostKhost
Khost or Khowst is a city in eastern Afghanistan. It is the capital of Khost province, which is a mountainous region near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan...
and Ghaznī
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
provinces.
During the 1970s, Gardēz experienced an economic boom as a result of the German-funded "Paktiā Development Authority", established in 1965, and of the asphalting of the road to Kabul. Social services included three schools for boys, one school for girls, a hospital, one teacher training institute, the Madrasaye Roshānī, two hotels, and forty mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s. Most of these buildings were destroyed during the civil war in the 1980s.
After the fall of the Taliban, the first PRT (provincial reconstruction team)
Provincial reconstruction team
A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or...
in Afghanistan was established in Paktiā near Gardēz in early March 2003, headed by the US Army along with a US Agency for International Development (USAID) representative. The PRT's now number over 30 in Afghanistan. The continuing challenge to bring electricity, medical clinics, schools and water to the more remote villages in Paktia are a result of ongoing security issues.
Security and Politics
According to local Police Chief Brigadier General Aziz Ahmad Wardak, on 19 August 2009 6 people were arrested for distributing night letters threatening people with attacks if they participated in the election.Famous people from Gardēz
- Abdullah MujahidAbdullah Mujahid-Witnesses:Mujahid requested eight witnesses:* Said Mohammed Ali Shah - a Guantanamo detainee.* Haji Mohammed Aktiar - the Tribunal's President doesn't identify Aktiar any further, but assumes he is back in Afghanistan...
, Tajik militiaMilitiaThe term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
leader and terrorist who is held in extrajudicial detentionExtrajudicial detentionArbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
in the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
by the Military of the United StatesMilitary of the United StatesThe United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
. - Abu Saīd Abdul Hay Dhahhak Gardēzī (Abu Said Gardezi) (died c. 1061) was a geographer and historian of the early 11th century from Gardēz (now in Afghanistan) the author of the general history book, Zayn al-Akhbār or "Tarikh-i Gardezi". Gardēzī's work is of great importance to the history of medieval Afghanistan, Persia, and Central AsiaCentral AsiaCentral Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
. - Mohammad NajibullahMohammad NajibullahMohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai , originally merely Najibullah, was the fourth and last President of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is also considered the second President of the Republic of Afghanistan.-Early years:Najibullah was born in August 1947 to the Ahmadzai...
, the last president of the SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-backed Democratic Republic of AfghanistanDemocratic Republic of AfghanistanThe Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...
. After his overthrow, he was murdered by the Taliban on September 27, 1996. He is buried in Gardēz. - Shah GardezShah GardezWithin the city of Multan Pakistan there is a beautiful shrine of Hazrat Muhammad Shah Yusaf Gardezi commonly known as Shah Yousaf Gardez just inside the Bohar Gate. It is a rectangular dome-less building decorated with glazed tiles, a work of considerable beauty. He came to Multan in 1088 AD and...
, an 11th-century Syed saint from Gardez, established himself in MultanMultanMultan , is a city in the Punjab Province of Pakistan and capital of Multan District. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about from Islamabad, from Lahore and from Karachi...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. - Abu Saʿīd Gardēzī, an 11th-century geographer and historian.
Literature
- S. Radojicic, "Report on Hydrogeological Survey of Paktya Province", KabulKabulKabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, UNICEF, 1977 - C.E. BosworthClifford Edmund BosworthClifford Edmund Bosworth FBA is an English historian and orientalist, specializing in Arabic studies. He received his B.A. degree from Oxford University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Edinburgh University. He held permanent posts at St. Andrews University, Manchester University, and the Center...
, "Notes on the Pre-Ghaznavid History of Eastern Afghanistan", in The Islamic Quarterly IX, 1965