Mazar-e Sharif
Encyclopedia
Mazār-i-Sharīf or Mazār-e Sharīf (Persian
/Pashto
: مزارِ شریف, ˌmæˈzɒːr ˌi ʃæˈriːf) is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan
, with a population of about 375,000 as of 2006. It is the capital of Balkh province
and is linked by roads to Kunduz
in the east, Kabul
in the south-east, Herat
to the west and Uzbekistan
to the north. The city is a major tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Muslim
and Hellenistic archeological sites. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced.
The region around Mazar-e-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan
and was controlled by the Tahirids
followed by the Saffarids
, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanate
s, Timurids
, and Khanate of Bukhara
until the mid-18th century when it became part of the Durrani Empire
after an agreement was signed between Amir
Murad Beg and Amir Ahmad Shah Durrani
. The Mazari Sharif Airport
in the city has been heavily used during the 1980s Soviet war
and the latest 2001-present war in Afghanistan.
Mazari Sharif means "Noble Shrine", a reference to the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Hazrat Ali
or the Blue Mosque. Some Muslims believe that the tomb
of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad
, is at this mosque in Mazari Sharif. Twelver Shi'as however, believe that the real grave of Ali
is found within Imam Ali Mosque
in Najaf
, Iraq
, as was disclosed by the Sixth Twelver Shi'a Imam
, Ja'far as-Sadiq. On the other hand, some believe that it is possible that the shrine in Mazari Sharif is of Zoroaster
(Zarathushtra), the founder of the first universally monotheistic religion. As a common theme in the Iranian lands falling into the hands of the advancing Muslims, the true identity of many holy and sacred sites were hidden to prevent their sacrilege and destruction.
and was controlled by the Tahirids
followed by the Saffarids
, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanate
s, Timurids
, and Khanate of Bukhara
. According to tradition, the city of Mazari Sharif owes its existence to a dream. At the beginning of the 12th century, a local mullah
had a dream in which the 7th century Ali bin Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Islam
's prophet Muhammad
, appeared to reveal that he had been secretly buried near the city of Balkh
. After conducting researches in the 12th century, the Seljuk
sultan Ahmed Sanjar
ordered a city and shrine
to be built on the location, where it stood until its destruction by Genghis Khan
and his Mongol army in the 13th century. Although later rebuilt, Mazar stood in the shadow of its neighbor Balkh, until that city was abandoned in 1866 for health reasons.
The Mazar-e-Sharif means the grave of Sharif, in Asia and middle east lot of people believe that all the Islamic territories have the graves of the great holy leader but in reality the meaning of Mazar is (Grave) and when they say Mazar-e-Sharif means grave of Sharif the brother of Ameer sher Ali Khan in 18th century he was the great king as when we pronounce (Amir) means the leader of Islamic country because in Islam, by the shir-e-law is only Ameer not a king but on the other hand the it is a king, but the rights are different in punishment, implementing law or others.
The Full name of Sharif was (Sardar Muhammad Sharif Khan Durrani) and he spent his last days in peace and harmony which he spent in Mazar-e-Sharif because of his sins in his life as he was known as the most brutal warier of his times but the greatest soldier and the general of his times.
Some people say that in war and his tough administration (Sharif) killed more men than his hair on his head but others still remembers him as a savoir of Afghanistan but some calls him as a destroyer of Hazara nation and the whole tribe.
Durrani is the father of (Barakzai, Mohammadzai, Asakzai, Polplezai and others) in mid 18th century when the leader of Mohammadzai's (Sardar Jamal Khan) was killed by his own cousins (kamran) and on the same night as soon as, Barakzai's got to know that the leader and the cousin got killed than they stood in front of poplezai and helped to gave control to Mohammadzai's to rule the whole Afghanitan and since than till (1905) there most powerful and inovative government lasted and after that they fled and migrated to the boarder of Pakistan with Afghanistan (Quetta and Pakhtoonistan the new name of NWFP) and remain there for the time to come to return to there thrown and still some says that 98% of Pakistan's top administrators (NOT Politicians ) are Mohammadzai's durrani.
The attempt to regain Mohammadzai's kingdom was in between 1944 to 1947 and the leader of Mohammadzai's was (Sardar Sultan Ahmed Khan Durrani Muhammadzai) who retire after the promise of British Government that they will be responsible for there (7 generations) where ever they go in the world they will be kept as a kings. All the statements are given in above paragraphs are true and with evidence in writing by the British Government.
The city and region became part of the Afghan Durrani Empire
in around 1750 when after an agreement was signed between Mir Muhammad Murad Beg
and Ahmad Shah Durrani
Poplezai, the founding father of Afghanistan. In the late 1870s, Afghan Emir Sher Ali Khan
escaped from Kabul to take refuge in Mazar-e Sharif, which was un-affected by the Anglo-Afghan wars
of the 19th century between Afghanistan and then British India
.
Mazar-e Sharif remained peaceful for the next one hundred years until 1979, when then neighboring Soviet Union
invaded Afghanistan. During the 1980s Soviet war
, Mazari Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army
, as they used its airport to launch air strikes on Afghan mujahideen
. In the early 1990s, after the Soviet withdraw from Afghanistan, control of Mazar was contested by the Tajik militia Jamiat-e Islami
, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani
, and the Uzbek
militia Jumbesh-e Melli led by Abdul Rashid Dostum
. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan army, the city was under the command of Dostum, who mutinied against Najibullah
's government in 1992.
Under Dostum's 5 year rule from the early 1990s to early 1997, Mazar was an oasis of peace. As the rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by the Taliban, Dostum strengthened political ties with the newly independent Uzbekistan
as well as Turkey
. He printed his own currency and established his own airline. This peace was shattered in May 1997, when he was betrayed by one of his generals, Abdul Malik Pahlawan, forcing him to flee from Mazar as the Taliban were getting ready to take the city.
's recognition of the Taliban regime. Soon afterward, the United Arab Emirates
, and Saudi Arabia
extended official recognition to the regime, while Turkmenistan
resumed relations – although the Taliban were not officially recognized by Turkmenbashi
as the rulers of Afghanistan.
(United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into a rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. On November 9, 2001 the city was officially captured by the Afghan Northern Alliance forces after the Battle of Mazar e Sharif with help from the United States Special Operations Forces
and bombing by U.S. Air Force
aircraft. As many as 2,000 Taliban fighters who surrendered were reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance after the battle, and reports also place U.S. ground troops at the scene of the massacre. The Irish documentary Afghan Massacre - the Convoy of Death investigated these allegations. Filmmaker Doran claims that mass grave
s of thousands of victims were found by United Nations
investigators. The Bush administration reportedly blocked investigations into the incident.
Small scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were also reports about northern Pashtun
civilians being ethnic cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks.
The city slowly came under the control of the Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President
Hamid Karzai
. The 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army
is based at Mazari Sharif, which provides military
assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police
headquarters is also located in the city. Despite all the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and assassination
s of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-e Sharif reported that between 20 to 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in the Balkh Province
in the last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezbi Islami
political party.
, is stationed at Camp Marmal
which lies near to the city at an airport. Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif
has since 2006 had unit commanders from Sweden, on loan to ISAF. The unit is stationed at Camp Northern Lights, located 10km west of Camp Marmal.
Camp Nidaros, located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from Latvia
and Norway, and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway.
In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban insurgency. Violence is at a record high in the insurgency, and transition comes as 150,000 NATO-led troops begin a gradual withdrawal designed to recall all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
The United States Department of State
is building a consulate
in the city which will be operational by the end of 2011.
s Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning
in Florida
, United States. Among the dead were five Nepal
ese, a Norwegian, Romanian
and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be decapitated
. Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn Islam
's Holy Book
, denied his responsibility for incitement. President Barack Obama
strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
, also condemned both the burning and the violence in reaction to it.
or 104 degree Fahrenheit in June and July. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing.
and multilingual
society. There is currently no reliable data on the exact percentage of each ethnic group but most sources suggest that the majority are Tajiks followed by Uzbeks
, Hazaras, Pashtuns
, Turkmen
, and others. Occasional ethnic fightings have been reported in the region in the last couple of decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. Some latest news reports show assassinations taking place in the area but with no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it.
The dominant language in Mazari Sharif is Dari (Persian)
followed by Pashto
, both of which are the official
languages of Afghanistan
.
sport, and the Blue Mosque is the focus of Afghanistan's Nawroz celebration.
from Mazar-e Sharif to Uzbekistan
that began in 2011 is expected to rapidly boost the economy of the city. Cargo on freight trains arrives to the last station near Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan. As the industry grows, it will provide employment for many local residents as well as large revenues for the city officials.
The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and karakul production; small scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted the city's prospects.
.
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
/Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
: مزارِ شریف, ˌmæˈzɒːr ˌi ʃæˈriːf) is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, with a population of about 375,000 as of 2006. It is the capital of Balkh province
Balkh Province
Balkh is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country and its name derives from the ancient city of Balkh, near the modern town...
and is linked by roads to Kunduz
Kunduz
Kunduz also known as Kundûz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz is a city in northern Afghanistan, the capital of Kunduz Province. It is linked by highways with Mazari Sharif to the west, Kabul to the south and Tajikistan's border to the north...
in the east, Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , 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...
in the south-east, Herat
Herat
Herāt is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan...
to the west and Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
to the north. The city is a major tourist attraction because of its famous shrines as well as the Muslim
Islamic architecture
Islamic architecture encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day, influencing the design and construction of buildings and structures in Islamic culture....
and Hellenistic archeological sites. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic remains was announced.
The region around Mazar-e-Sharif has been historically part of Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and was controlled by the Tahirids
Tahirid dynasty
The Tahirid Dynasty, was a Persian dynasty that governed from 820 to 872 over the northeastern part of Greater Iran, in the region of Khorasan . The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun...
followed by the Saffarids
Saffarid dynasty
The Saffarids or the Saffarid dynasty was a Persian empire which ruled in Sistan , a historical region in southeastern Iran, southwestern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan...
, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
s, Timurids
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
, and Khanate of Bukhara
Khanate of Bukhara
Khanate of Bukhara was a significant state in Central Asia from the second quarter of 16th century to the late–18th century. Bukhara became the capital of the short-lived Shaybanid empire during the reign of Ubaydallah Khan . The khanate reached its greatest extent and influence under its...
until the mid-18th century when it became part of the Durrani Empire
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire was a Pashtun dynasty centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the Kashmir region, the modern state of Pakistan, and northwestern India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief...
after an agreement was signed between Amir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...
Murad Beg and Amir Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani , also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī and born as Ahmad Khān, was the founder of the Durrani Empire in 1747 and is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan.Ahmad Khan enlisted as a young soldier in the military of the Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose...
. The Mazari Sharif Airport
Mazari Sharif Airport
Mazar-i-Sharif Airport is located 9 km east of the Mazar-i-Sharif city, a journey of 15 minutes by taxi.-ISAF:Germany took command of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Area North at the end of March 2006...
in the city has been heavily used during the 1980s Soviet war
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...
and the latest 2001-present war in Afghanistan.
Mazari Sharif means "Noble Shrine", a reference to the large, blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine of Hazrat Ali
Shrine of Hazrat Ali
The Shrine of Hazrat Ali, also known as the Blue Mosque, is a mosque in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan. It is one of the reputed burial places of Ali...
or the Blue Mosque. Some Muslims believe that the tomb
Tomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, is at this mosque in Mazari Sharif. Twelver Shi'as however, believe that the real grave of Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
is found within Imam Ali Mosque
Imam Ali Mosque
The Imām ‘Alī Holy Shrine , also known as Masjid Ali or the Mosque of ‘Alī, located in Najaf, Iraq, is the third holiest site for some of the estimated 200 million followers of the Shia branch of Islam. ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, the cousin of Muhammad, the fourth caliph , the first Imam is buried here...
in Najaf
Najaf
Najaf is a city in Iraq about 160 km south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2008 is 560,000 people. It is the capital of Najaf Governorate...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, as was disclosed by the Sixth Twelver Shi'a Imam
Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)
Imāmah is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt,...
, Ja'far as-Sadiq. On the other hand, some believe that it is possible that the shrine in Mazari Sharif is of Zoroaster
Zoroaster
Zoroaster , also known as Zarathustra , was a prophet and the founder of Zoroastrianism who was either born in North Western or Eastern Iran. He is credited with the authorship of the Yasna Haptanghaiti as well as the Gathas, hymns which are at the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism...
(Zarathushtra), the founder of the first universally monotheistic religion. As a common theme in the Iranian lands falling into the hands of the advancing Muslims, the true identity of many holy and sacred sites were hidden to prevent their sacrilege and destruction.
History
The region around Mazar-e-Sharif has been historically part of Greater KhorasanGreater Khorasan
Greater Khorasan or Ancient Khorasan is a historical region of Greater Iran mentioned in sources from Sassanid and Islamic eras which "frequently" had a denotation wider than current three provinces of Khorasan in Iran...
and was controlled by the Tahirids
Tahirid dynasty
The Tahirid Dynasty, was a Persian dynasty that governed from 820 to 872 over the northeastern part of Greater Iran, in the region of Khorasan . The dynasty was founded by Tahir ibn Husayn, a leading general in the service of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun...
followed by the Saffarids
Saffarid dynasty
The Saffarids or the Saffarid dynasty was a Persian empire which ruled in Sistan , a historical region in southeastern Iran, southwestern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan...
, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanate
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate , was a Mongol khanate established in Azerbaijan and Persia in the 13th century, considered a part of the Mongol Empire...
s, Timurids
Timurid Dynasty
The Timurids , self-designated Gurkānī , were a Persianate, Central Asian Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turko-Mongol descent whose empire included the whole of Iran, modern Afghanistan, and modern Uzbekistan, as well as large parts of contemporary Pakistan, North India, Mesopotamia, Anatolia and the...
, and Khanate of Bukhara
Khanate of Bukhara
Khanate of Bukhara was a significant state in Central Asia from the second quarter of 16th century to the late–18th century. Bukhara became the capital of the short-lived Shaybanid empire during the reign of Ubaydallah Khan . The khanate reached its greatest extent and influence under its...
. According to tradition, the city of Mazari Sharif owes its existence to a dream. At the beginning of the 12th century, a local mullah
Mullah
Mullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
had a dream in which the 7th century Ali bin Abi Talib, cousin and son-in-law of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
's prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, appeared to reveal that he had been secretly buried near the city of Balkh
Balkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
. After conducting researches in the 12th century, the Seljuk
Great Seljuq Empire
The Great Seljuq Empire was a medieval Persianate, Turko-Persian Sunni Muslim empire, originating from the Qynyq branch of Oghuz Turks. The Seljuq Empire controlled a vast area stretching from the Hindu Kush to eastern Anatolia and from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf...
sultan Ahmed Sanjar
Ahmed Sanjar
Ahmad Sanjar Ahmad Sanjar Ahmad Sanjar (Mu'iz ud-Dīn Ahmad-e Sanjar; was the sultan of the Great Seljuq Empire from 1118 to 1153. He was initially the sultan of Khorasan until he gained the rest of the territory upon the death of Muhammad I....
ordered a city and shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
to be built on the location, where it stood until its destruction by Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
and his Mongol army in the 13th century. Although later rebuilt, Mazar stood in the shadow of its neighbor Balkh, until that city was abandoned in 1866 for health reasons.
The Mazar-e-Sharif means the grave of Sharif, in Asia and middle east lot of people believe that all the Islamic territories have the graves of the great holy leader but in reality the meaning of Mazar is (Grave) and when they say Mazar-e-Sharif means grave of Sharif the brother of Ameer sher Ali Khan in 18th century he was the great king as when we pronounce (Amir) means the leader of Islamic country because in Islam, by the shir-e-law is only Ameer not a king but on the other hand the it is a king, but the rights are different in punishment, implementing law or others.
The Full name of Sharif was (Sardar Muhammad Sharif Khan Durrani) and he spent his last days in peace and harmony which he spent in Mazar-e-Sharif because of his sins in his life as he was known as the most brutal warier of his times but the greatest soldier and the general of his times.
Some people say that in war and his tough administration (Sharif) killed more men than his hair on his head but others still remembers him as a savoir of Afghanistan but some calls him as a destroyer of Hazara nation and the whole tribe.
Durrani is the father of (Barakzai, Mohammadzai, Asakzai, Polplezai and others) in mid 18th century when the leader of Mohammadzai's (Sardar Jamal Khan) was killed by his own cousins (kamran) and on the same night as soon as, Barakzai's got to know that the leader and the cousin got killed than they stood in front of poplezai and helped to gave control to Mohammadzai's to rule the whole Afghanitan and since than till (1905) there most powerful and inovative government lasted and after that they fled and migrated to the boarder of Pakistan with Afghanistan (Quetta and Pakhtoonistan the new name of NWFP) and remain there for the time to come to return to there thrown and still some says that 98% of Pakistan's top administrators (NOT Politicians ) are Mohammadzai's durrani.
The attempt to regain Mohammadzai's kingdom was in between 1944 to 1947 and the leader of Mohammadzai's was (Sardar Sultan Ahmed Khan Durrani Muhammadzai) who retire after the promise of British Government that they will be responsible for there (7 generations) where ever they go in the world they will be kept as a kings. All the statements are given in above paragraphs are true and with evidence in writing by the British Government.
The city and region became part of the Afghan Durrani Empire
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire was a Pashtun dynasty centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the Kashmir region, the modern state of Pakistan, and northwestern India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief...
in around 1750 when after an agreement was signed between Mir Muhammad Murad Beg
Mir Muhammad Murad Beg
Mir Muhammad Murad Beg was Khan of Kunduz and later Emir of Bokhara in the 19th century. Earlier in the 19th century, he defeated Mir Yar Beg to take control of Badakhshan, and extended his rule north of the Oxus river.-References:...
and Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani , also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī and born as Ahmad Khān, was the founder of the Durrani Empire in 1747 and is regarded by many to be the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan.Ahmad Khan enlisted as a young soldier in the military of the Afsharid kingdom and quickly rose...
Poplezai, the founding father of Afghanistan. In the late 1870s, Afghan Emir Sher Ali Khan
Sher Ali Khan
Sher Ali Khan was Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was the third son of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai Dynasty in Afghanistan....
escaped from Kabul to take refuge in Mazar-e Sharif, which was un-affected by the Anglo-Afghan wars
Anglo-Afghan War
Anglo-Afghan War may refer to:*First Anglo-Afghan War *Second Anglo-Afghan War *Third Anglo-Afghan War -See also:* European influence in Afghanistan where the backdrop for the three wars mentioned above are discussed....
of the 19th century between Afghanistan and then British India
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
.
Mazar-e Sharif remained peaceful for the next one hundred years until 1979, when then neighboring Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invaded Afghanistan. During the 1980s Soviet war
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...
, Mazari Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
, as they used its airport to launch air strikes on Afghan mujahideen
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
. In the early 1990s, after the Soviet withdraw from Afghanistan, control of Mazar was contested by the Tajik militia Jamiat-e Islami
Jamiat-e Islami
Jamiat-e Islami , is an Islamic political party in Afghanistan along the line of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. Jamiat-e Islami means "Islamic society" in the Persian language and is also known as just Jamiat for short. Jamiat is the oldest Islamic political party in Afghanistan...
, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani
Burhanuddin Rabbani
Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani was President of the Islamic State of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996. After the Taliban government was toppled during Operation Enduring Freedom, Rabbani returned to Kabul and served as a temporary President from November to December 20, 2001, when Hamid Karzai was...
, and the Uzbek
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
militia Jumbesh-e Melli led by Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdul Rashid Dostum
Abdul Rashid Dostum is a former pro-Soviet fighter during the Soviet war in Afghanistan and is considered by many to be the leader of Afghanistan's Uzbek community and the party Junbish-e Milli-yi Islami-yi Afghanistan...
. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan army, the city was under the command of Dostum, who mutinied against Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad 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...
's government in 1992.
Under Dostum's 5 year rule from the early 1990s to early 1997, Mazar was an oasis of peace. As the rest of the nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by the Taliban, Dostum strengthened political ties with the newly independent Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
as well as Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He printed his own currency and established his own airline. This peace was shattered in May 1997, when he was betrayed by one of his generals, Abdul Malik Pahlawan, forcing him to flee from Mazar as the Taliban were getting ready to take the city.
Taliban conquest
Between May and July 1997, the Taliban unsuccessfully attempted to take Mazar, leading to approximately 3,000 Taliban soldiers being executed or massacred by Abdul Malik and his Shia followers. In retaliation for this incident, the Taliban on August 8, 1998, returned and led a six-day killing frenzy of Hazaras, a report the Taliban denied at that time. Soon after, the city was occupied and taken over by the Taliban. It was this capture of Mazar, the last major city in Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban, that prompted PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , 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...
's recognition of the Taliban regime. Soon afterward, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
extended official recognition to the regime, while Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan
Turkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states...
resumed relations – although the Taliban were not officially recognized by Turkmenbashi
Saparmurat Niyazov
Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov; , was a Turkmen politician who served as President of Turkmenistan from 2 November 1990 until his death in 2006...
as the rulers of Afghanistan.
United States military action
Following 9/11, Mazar Sharif was the first Afghan city to fall to the Northern AllianceNorthern Alliance
The Afghan Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996.Northern Alliance may also refer to:*Northern Alliance , a Canadian white supremacist group...
(United Front). The Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into a rout from the rest of the north and west of Afghanistan. On November 9, 2001 the city was officially captured by the Afghan Northern Alliance forces after the Battle of Mazar e Sharif with help from the United States Special Operations Forces
United States Special Operations Forces
United States Special Operations Forces under United States Special Operations Command are active and reserve component forces of U.S. Military...
and bombing by U.S. Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
aircraft. As many as 2,000 Taliban fighters who surrendered were reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance after the battle, and reports also place U.S. ground troops at the scene of the massacre. The Irish documentary Afghan Massacre - the Convoy of Death investigated these allegations. Filmmaker Doran claims that mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
s of thousands of victims were found by United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
investigators. The Bush administration reportedly blocked investigations into the incident.
Small scale clashes between militias belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme. After some pressure, an office of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were also reports about northern Pashtun
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
civilians being ethnic cleansed by the other groups, mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks.
The city slowly came under the control of the Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President
President of Afghanistan
Afghanistan has only been a republic between 1973 and 1992 and from 2001 onwards. Before 1973, it was a monarchy that was governed by a variety of kings, emirs or shahs...
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
. The 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army
Afghan National Army
The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the military of Afghanistan, which is currently trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the role in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. , the Afghan National Army is divided into seven regional Corps. The strength of the Afghan...
is based at Mazari Sharif, which provides military
Military of Afghanistan
The military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Army Air Force . Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy, and the private security forces who are sometimes seen wearing military uniforms are not part of Afghanistan's military...
assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police
Afghan Border Police
The Afghan Border Police secure Afghanistan's border and international airports. The ABP is also responsible to administer the country's immigration process and administer customs regulations. The ABP's anti-narcotic efforts are a prominent concern to the international community at present...
headquarters is also located in the city. Despite all the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
s of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-e Sharif reported that between 20 to 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in the Balkh Province
Balkh Province
Balkh is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is in the north of the country and its name derives from the ancient city of Balkh, near the modern town...
in the last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated with the Hezbi Islami
Hezbi Islami
Hezbi Islami , meaning Islamic Party is an Islamist organization commonly known for fighting in the Marxist Government of Afghanistan and their close ally the Soviet Union. Founded and led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, it was established in Pakistan in 1975...
political party.
NATO and United Nations presence
There are also NATO peacekeeping forces in and around the city providing assistance to the Afghan government. ISAF Regional Command North, led by GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, is stationed at Camp Marmal
Camp Marmal
Camp Marmal is the largest base of the Bundeswehr outside of Germany. It is located outside of Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains. The camp was opened in September 2005...
which lies near to the city at an airport. Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif
PRT Mazar-i-Sharif
Provincial Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif is a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan, and is part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force mission. Mazar-i-Sharif is a city in Balkh province which falls under the control of Regional Command North. Since 2006 the PRT's unit...
has since 2006 had unit commanders from Sweden, on loan to ISAF. The unit is stationed at Camp Northern Lights, located 10km west of Camp Marmal.
Camp Nidaros, located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Norway, and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway.
In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political and there is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban insurgency. Violence is at a record high in the insurgency, and transition comes as 150,000 NATO-led troops begin a gradual withdrawal designed to recall all foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.
The United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
is building a consulate
Consul (representative)
The political title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the peoples of the two countries...
in the city which will be operational by the end of 2011.
April 2011 killings of UN workers and protesters
On April 1, 2011, as many as ten foreign employees working for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) were killed by angry demonstrators in the city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to pastorPastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
s Terry Jones and Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning
2010 Qur'an-burning controversy
The Dove World Quran-burning controversy arose in July 2010, when Terry Jones, the pastor of the Christian Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, U.S., declared he would burn 200 Qurans on the 2010 anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Media coverage resulted in international...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, United States. Among the dead were five Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese, a Norwegian, Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
and Swedish nationals, two of them were said to be decapitated
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going to burn Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
's Holy Book
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, denied his responsibility for incitement. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of "extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters, referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
, also condemned both the burning and the violence in reaction to it.
Climate
The climate in Mazari Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over 40°CCelsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
or 104 degree Fahrenheit in June and July. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below freezing.
Demography
The population of Mazari Sharif is around 375,000, which is a multiethnicMultiethnic society
A multiethnic society is one with members belonging to more than one ethnic group, in contrast to societies which are ethnically homogenous. In practice, virtually all contemporary national societies are multiethnic...
and multilingual
Multilingualism
Multilingualism is the act of using, or promoting the use of, multiple languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of...
society. There is currently no reliable data on the exact percentage of each ethnic group but most sources suggest that the majority are Tajiks followed by Uzbeks
Uzbeks
The Uzbeks are a Turkic ethnic group in Central Asia. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, and large populations can also be found in Afghanistan, Tajikstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Mongolia and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China...
, Hazaras, Pashtuns
Pashtun people
Pashtuns or Pathans , also known as ethnic Afghans , are an Eastern Iranic ethnic group with populations primarily between the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan...
, Turkmen
Turkmen people
The Turkmen are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and northeastern Iran. They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai,...
, and others. Occasional ethnic fightings have been reported in the region in the last couple of decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. Some latest news reports show assassinations taking place in the area but with no conclusive evidence as to who is behind it.
The dominant language in Mazari Sharif is Dari (Persian)
Dari (Persian)
Dari or Fārsī-ye Darī in historical terms refers to the Persian court language of the Sassanids. In contemporary usage, the term refers to the dialects of modern Persian language spoken in Afghanistan, and hence known as Afghan Persian in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized...
followed by Pashto
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
, both of which are the official
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
languages of Afghanistan
Languages of Afghanistan
Afghanistan is home to more than 40 languages, with around 200 different dialects. The two official languages of Afghanistan are Persian Dari and Pashto, also known as Pakhto or Afghani. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family...
.
Local events
The city is a centre for the traditional buzkashiBuzkashi
Buzkashi or Kok-boru or Oglak Tartis or Ulak Tartysh is a traditional Central Asian...
sport, and the Blue Mosque is the focus of Afghanistan's Nawroz celebration.
Economy and transport
Mazar-e Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan, which is the first city to connect itself by rail with a neighboring country. The rail serviceRail transport in Afghanistan
Railways were planned in Afghanistan since the 19th century but never completed due to the Great Game between the Russian and British empires followed by the Soviets and the Americans. At least one rail track was built in the capital of Kabul during the 1920s but was dismantled as Afghan leaders...
from Mazar-e Sharif to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
that began in 2011 is expected to rapidly boost the economy of the city. Cargo on freight trains arrives to the last station near Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan. As the industry grows, it will provide employment for many local residents as well as large revenues for the city officials.
The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and karakul production; small scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted the city's prospects.
Notable buildings
The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is centered around the Shrine of Hazrat Ali. Much restored, it is one of Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient city of BalkhBalkh
Balkh , was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan...
.
- Airports
- Mazari Sharif AirportMazari Sharif AirportMazar-i-Sharif Airport is located 9 km east of the Mazar-i-Sharif city, a journey of 15 minutes by taxi.-ISAF:Germany took command of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Area North at the end of March 2006...
- Mazari Sharif Airport
- Shrines and Mosques
- Shrine of Hazrat AliShrine of Hazrat AliThe Shrine of Hazrat Ali, also known as the Blue Mosque, is a mosque in Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan. It is one of the reputed burial places of Ali...
- Shrine of Hazrat Ali
- Universities
- Balkh UniversityBalkh UniversityBalkh University is located in Mazari Sharif, capital of Balkh province, in northern Afghanistan. Established in 1986, the university in 2008 had about 5500 students and is the third largest in Afghanistan after Kabul University and Nangarhar University...
- Balkh University
- Hotels
- Serena Hotel Mazar-i-Sharif
- Aros-e-Shahr
- Mazar HotelMazar HotelMazar Hotel is a hotel in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. The hotel is decorated in 1930s decor, featuring all high ceilings, grand dining rooms and pillars.Described as a "medium-class" hotel", despite being one of the city's best hotels, in the late 1970s the hotel was said to also accommodate for...
- Farhat HotelFarhat HotelFarhat Hotel is a hotel in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. Lonely Planet describes the hotel has being "all overstuffed furniture, bright carpets and fake sunflowers, trying their best to dispel the slightly gloomy post-Soviet atmosphere."...
- Kefayat hotel
- Banks
- Da Afghanistan BankDa Afghanistan BankThe Afghanistan Bank is the central bank of Afghanistan. It regulates all the banking and money handling operations in Afghanistan.Da Afghanistan Bank is one of the leading & government recognized bank of Afghanistan which was established on 1939....
- Afghanistan International Bank (AIB)Afghanistan International BankAfghanistan International Bank is a local commercial bank in Afghanistan, with its head office in Kabul. The bank has seven branch offices in the major cities of the country....
- Kabul BankKabul BankKabul Bank is a commercial bank in Afghanistan, with its main branch in the capital of Kabul. Established in 2004, it is the main bank used to pay the salaries of the army and security forces. The bank provides facilities to maintain accounts in Current, Savings Bank and Fixed Deposits; and offers...
- Azizi BankAzizi BankAzizi Bank is the name of a commercial bank in Afghanistan, which has its main branch in Kabul. It also has branches in many provinces of the country. The bank opened in June 2005 and is named after its chairman, Haji Ali Akbar Zhawandai...
- Da Afghanistan Bank