• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
WAKHAN & the AFGHAN PAMIR
 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCO POLO 
 
68ºE 70ºE 72ºE 74ºE38ºN36ºN34ºN
300 Kilometres200100200 Miles1000 20 40 60 800Nsee route mapPAKISTANINDIA
N  E  P  A L 
CHINATAN
KYRGYZSTAN
KAZAKHSTAN
U    Z    B    E    K    I    S    T    A    N    
T   U   R  K   M   E   N   I   S   T   A  N   
IRANSTANTAJIKIS
 
 Wakhan & the Afghan Pamir
PAKISTANTAJIKISTANUZBEKISTAN
DushanbeIslamabadKabul
PeshawarJalalabadChitralGilgitKhorogFaizabadKunduzTaluqanIshkashim
Qila-e PanjaKhandudQazidehSarhad-e Broghil
  U
K
U
S
H
Noshaq7492m
KHYBERPASS
© 2006 Mareile Paley 
WAKHAN FACTS
Country
Aghanistan
ProvinCe
Badakhshan
DistriCt
 Wakhan
nearest internationaL airPort 
Kabul
nearest DomestiC airPort
Faizabad
Gateway town
Ishkashim
DistriCt heaDquarters
Khandud
main viLLaGes
Qazideh, Qila-e Panja,Goz Khun, Sarhad-e Broghil
PoPuLation
approximately 12,000in 1500 households
LanGuaGes
Persian, Wakhi and Kyrgyz
“We were glad to seek shelter from  the keen air of these breezy altitudes in the felt tents of the  Kyrgyz of the Afghan Pamir.” 
 
Sir Aurel Stein
 
Snowcapped 7000mHindukush peaks beckontrue mountain lovers
Kyrgyz nomads in the hearto the Aghan Pamir preservea vanishing way o lie
Rare and spectacularwildlie roam isolated highelevation valleys
Sparkling mountain lakes oZorkol and Chaqmaqtin eedCentral Asia’s mighty Oxus River
Ancient Silk Road caravanhistory inscribed in petroglyphsshowcases the archeology
   H   I   G   H   L   I   G   H   T   S
 
DISCOVERING WAKHAN
The great explorers who visited Wakhan are still asource o inspiration and wonder or today’s intrepidtravellers – Hsuan Tsang, the 7th century Chinese monkwho went in search o Buddhist teachings; Marco Polo,who in the 13th century journeyed overland to China;Mirza Muhammad Haidar, who chronicled the MoghulEmpire in the 16th century; Lieutenant John Wood andLord Curzon, Englishmen who searched or the source othe Oxus River in the 19th century; Sir Aurel Stein, the20th century British archeologist who sought to unravelthe Buddhist history o Innermost Asia; and mountaineerH.W. Tilman who sought unknown routes across themountain ranges.Snowcapped peaks soar majestically above villagesand glaciers descend precipitously to eed raging rivers inthis land o immense scale, beauty and contrast. On theAghan Pamir, the unimaginably wide open spaces seemto extend orever. Here you’re more likely to bump into abig-horned sheep or a brown bear than another humanbeing.Yet Wakhan is also home to hardy mountain people– Wakhi armers and herders, who greet guests withunmatched hospitality – a warm smile, a cup o tea and abowl o yogurt – and the last remaining Kyrgyz nomads,whose welcoming yurts dot the ertile grasslands o theAghan Pamir.
“In the middle of the Pamir valley is a great dragon lake, clean and pure as a  mirror; the colour of the lake is dark blue and the taste of  the water sweet and soft.” 
Hsuan Tsang
THE AFGHAN PAMIR
 Pamir 
areuniqueU-shaped,high-elevationmountain valleysdistinctivetoCentralAsia,wheretherearemorethanhaladozennamed
 pamir 
.Renownedassummergrazinggroundsortheirabundantgrassandwater,thesevastplateausarecoveredbysnowsixmonthsotheyear.TeAghanPamirincludetwosuchgrasslandsattheeasternendoWakhan–theBigPamirandtheLittlePamir,whicharebetterknownbytheirPersiannames.TeBigPamirorGreatPamiriscalledPamirKalanandPamir-e-Buzurg(
kalan
and
buzurg 
bothmean‘great’or‘large’).TeLittlePamiriscalledPamirKhurdandPamir-e-Kochak(
khurd 
and
kochak 
bothmean‘little’or‘small’).Te60kmlongBigPamirnestlesbetweentheSouthernAlichurRangetothenorthandtheWakhanRangetothesouth.TeLittlePamir,at100kmlongand10kmwide,isactuallylargerinareathantheBigPamir,yetthemoreruggedBigPamirhasahigherelevationandsoearnsitsname.Tepropername‘Pamirs’typicallyreerstotheCentralAsianmountainrangethatextendsromajikistanintoAghanistanandChina.
WAKHAN IS A LAND SO REMOTE THAT FEW OUTSIDERS HAVE EVER VENTURED THERE. YET THROUGH WAKHANFLOWED A VITAL BRANCH OF THE GRAND TRANS-ASIAN ARTERY KNOWN AS THE SILK ROAD, LINKING EAST TO WEST.PETROGLYPHS DEPICTING WARRIORS, HUNTING SCENES, CARAVANS AND BUDDHIST HISTORY, ALONG WITH THEOCCASIONAL
RABOT 
OR TRAVELLERS’ SHELTER, BEAR SILENT WITNESS TO THE TRACKS OF TRADITION, AND OFFERTHE VISITOR A GLIMPSE INTO THE RICH HERITAGE OF PILGRIMS, CARAVANS AND ARMIES THAT ONCE TRAVERSEDTHIS CLASSIC ROUTE.www.wakhan.org
Aghanistan’sWakhanDistrictisanarrowstripolandseparatingajikistanandPakistanthatjutseastwardsome350kmtomeettheChinaborder.WakhanDistricthastwodistinctparts–theWakhanCorridorandtheAghanPamir.AlloWakhanliesatelevationshigherthan2000mandtheAghanPamirliesabove3500m.TeWakhanCorridorisadeepvalleyormedbythePanjRiverthatcoursesbetweenthe7000mpeaksotheHindukushtothesouthandthelotymountainsoajikistantothenorth.AlongthesouthbankothePanjRiveranditsuppertributary,theWakhanRiver,arenumerousWakhivillages.TevillagesbetweenIshkashimandQila-ePanjaaretermedLowerWakhan.Morethan5000moverticalreliecommandsthesouthernhorizonoLowerWakhan,wherethevalleyisasbroadas2km.TevillagesinUpperWakhanbetweenQila-ePanjaandSarhad-eBroghilliealongthemorenarrowbanksotheWakhanRiver,whichopenstoadramaticriverbasin3kmwideatSarhad-eBroghil.StreamsedbyprecipitousHindukushglacierscutacrosstheWakhanCorridorandowintothemainriver.Treemountainranges–theHindukush,KarakoramandPamir–convergeinWakhantoormwhatiscalledthePamirKnot.TeHindukushRange,whichormstheborderwithPakistan,has38summitshigherthan7000m,includingAghanistan’shighestpeakNoshaq(7492m).PermanentsnowblanketsWakhan’shighestpeaks.Tehigh,openvalleysbetweenthesethreemountainrangesormtheAghanPamir,knowninPersianastheBam-eDunya,orthe“roootheworld,”whichishometoKyrgyznomads.Highpassescalled
kotal 
transectthemountainrangesandwereusedbyarmiesandancienttradecaravans.IntheAghanPamir,passes,althoughathighelevation,arerelativelyeasyorpeopletocross.TepassesacrossthemoreruggedHindukusharemoredicult.TekeyHindukushpassesare:BroghilPass(3882m)andDarwazaPass(4288m)toChitral;KhodargWerth(orKhoraBortPass)toIshkoman;andIrshadUween(4979m)andDilisangPass(5290m)toGojal.AlloWakhanisasemi-aridzone.IntheWakhanCorridor,agricultureisonlypossiblethroughirrigation,edbymeltwaterinthestreamsdescendingromthemountains.Apartromoccasionalclustersoshrubsorwillow,birchandothersmalltrees,thelandscapeislargelybarrenovegetation.Above3500m,thevalleyswidenontotheexpansiveAghanPamirwithitslushseasonalmeadows,peatysoil,andvividbluelakes.
THE LANDTHE MOTHER RIVER
TeAmuDaryaor“MotherRiver”isthePersiannameortheriverthatclassicalGreekgeographerscalledtheOxus.ItormsmuchoAghanistan’snorthernborderwithajikistanandUzbekistanandcoursesmorethan2400kmacrossCentralAsiatotheAralSea.TeAmuDarya,oneoAghanistan’sourmajorriversystems,hasitssourceintheicyheightsothePamirMountainsattheheadoWakhan’sWakhjirValley.JoinedbythestreamcomingromChaqmaqtinLakesouthoBozaiGumbaz,itbecomestheWakhanRiver,whichismetatQila-ePanjabythePamirRiverowingromZorkol.DownstreamoQila-ePanja,theriveriscalledtheAb-ePanja(PanjRiver)andowsthroughadeepgorgeormingtheborderbetweenAghanistan’sBadakhshanProvinceandajikistan.Finally,eastoKunduz,it’sjoinedbyajikistan’sVakshRiverandbecomestheAmuDaryaortheremainderoitscourseacrossCentralAsia.
The Oxus is a river whose headwaters,“tell of forgotten peoples and secrets of  unknown lands, and are believed to have  rocked the cradle of our race.” 
Lord Curzon
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...