iii. IN TAJIKISTAN The population of Tajikistan grew at an unprecedented rate during the 20th century. From an estimated 1,034,400…

ii. IN AFGHANISTAN The demography of Afghanistan is one of the least known in the world, owing to the lack…

iii. Afghan calendars The solar (šamsī) hejrī calendar, beginning with the vernal equinox, has been official in Afghanistan since 1301…

ii. In Afghanistan In Afghanistan rice cultivation (paddy: Pers. šālī, Pashto šāləy, šōlī</em>; hulled rice: Pers. berenj, Pashto wrījī/wrīžī) is…

ii. In Afghanistan Compared to Iran, Afghanistan is a very modest producer of electricity. Annual production is on the order…

ii. In Afghanistan Wild barleys (jaw-e daštī), including Hordeum spontaneum Koch which is regarded as the sole ancestor of all…

iv. Modern Province Bāmīān province (welāyat) of central Afghanistan covers 17,411 km2. It is presently (1363 Š./1984) divided into four…

ii. Modern Province Baḡlān is a province (welāyat) of northeastern Afghanistan which covers 17,106 km2. It is presently (1363 Š./1984)…

ii. Modern Province Bādḡīs is a province (welāyat) of northwestern Afghanistan created in 1343 Š./1964 out of the former province…

ii. The Modern Province Badaḵšān is a province (welāyat) of northeastern Afghanistan which covers 47,393 km2. It is presently (1363…

ĀQČA (or AQČA), a small market town in north Afghanistan, situated on the western edge of the great piedmont oasis…

ARḠANDĀB, the name of two non-contiguous administrative districts (woloswālī) in Afghanistan: (1) In the province of Qandahār, with an area…

ARḠANDĀB, a river in the south of Afghanistan, the biggest tributary of the Helmand (q.v.); also the name of a…

ASADĀBĀD (or ASʿADĀBĀD), the official name of a small town in eastern Afghanistan. The town occupies a very favorable situation…

AŠraf ḠILZAY, the Afghan chief who ruled as Shah over part of Iran from 1137/1725 to 1142/1729. The eldest son…

BĀBORĪ (or Bābor, Bābar; sing. Bāboray), a Paṧtūn tribe originally from the Solaymān mountains, now widely dispersed. Its principal territory…

BAČČA-YE SAQQĀ (popularly Bače Saqqāw), “the water-carrier’s child,” the derogatory name given to the leader of a peasants’ revolt which…

BAḴTĪĀRĪS of AFGHANISTAN. Two small Paṧtō-speaking groups in the eastern part of the Irano-Afghan area bear the name Baḵtīārī or…

BAKWĀ, DAŠT-E, an extensive piedmont alluvial plain in the southwest of Afghanistan. Lying at about 700-750 m above sea level,…

BALḴĀB (Bactros of the classical authors), the river of Balḵ (locally pronounced Balḵaw). This perennial river is a major feature…

BANGAṦ, one of the least-known Pashtun tribes in the Solaymān range, Pakistan, and one of the few that are not…

BĀRAKZĪ (singular Bārakzay), an ethnic name common in the entire eastern portion of Iran and Afghanistan, where it is found…

BĀRĀN “rain.” The words for “rain” and “to rain” in Iranian languages are all derived from the OIran. root wār-,…

BAṚĒC(Ī), a Pashtun tribe in southern Afghani­stan. Like neighboring Tarīn and Dorrānī, the Baṛēc are part of the Šarḵbūn branch…

SNOW or N. Pers. ‘barf’ (from OIr. *vafra- “snow,” root vap- “to toss in the air, to pile up”; cf….

BARLEY, Persian jow (from OIran. *yawa-, cf. Av. yauua- “grain,” Pahl. ǰōrdā “barley”), Pashto wərbəša.  i. In Iran.  ii. In…

AFGHANISTAN x. Political History The year 1160/1747 marks the definitive appearance of an Afghan political entity independent of both the…

v. Modern Province Balḵ is a province (welāyat) of northern Afghanistan which covers 11,833 km2. In 1363 Š./1984 it was…

i. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY Gardīz is the capital of the province of Paktīā and serves as the summer residence of…

i. IN AFGHANISTAN Inside Afghan territory a major suture line is the Herat fault which runs from west to east…

ii. IN MODERN TIMES Fāryāb (also Pāryāb), common Persian toponym meaning “lands irrigated by diversion of river water” (see ĀBĪ)….

COTTON iii. In Afghanistan Two Iranian words, paḵta (< Tajik) and pomba (Pers. panba < Pahl. pambag), are currently used...

CENSUS ii. In Afghanistan The first national census of Afghanistan was not conducted until 1358 Š./1979. Before that Afghanistan was…

CHINESE-IRANIAN RELATIONS vi. Relations with Afghanistan in the Modern Period Throughout history China and Afghanistan shared few mutual interests, with…

BOUNDARIES iii. Boundaries of Afghanistan Afghanistan, the seventh largest landlocked country in the world in area (652,626 km2) is delineated…

FELT (Mid. and New. Pers., namad), material produced by process of felting, the entanglement of animal fiber in all directions,…

FAYŻĀBĀD, a toponym of auspicious meaning (“blessed abode”) which enjoys great popularity throughout the Iranian world. Besides numerous villages of…

FARĀHRŪD (Nahr Farah, Ar. translation of Farāhrūd, in Eṣṭaḵrī, pp. 244, 247; Ebn Ḥawqal, p. 420, tr. Kramers, p. 410;…

FARĀH (Farah in early Islamic sources), a town and province in southwestern Afghanistan. City. The city is located at 730…

ESTĀLEF, a large Persian-speaking village of the Kōhdāman, 55 km north of Kabul, built on a foothill of the Paḡmān…

ESḤĀQZĪ (sometimes shortened as Sāqzī, Sākzī, or even Sāgzī; sg. Esḥāqzay), an important Pashtun tribe of Afghanistan, member of the…

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, efforts to protect natural resources, wildlife, and ecosystems and to control pollution in Persia. i. In Persia. ii….

DŌŠĪ, small town and district on the northern slope of the central Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. The town is situated…

DORRĀNĪ (sg. Dorrānay), probably the most numerous Pashtun tribal confederation, from which all Afghan dynasties since 1160/1747 have come. It…

DŌRĪ (Pashto Ḍôrəy; Aslanov, p. 432), river in southern Afghanistan, the main tributary of the Arḡandāb. It originates about 2,500…

DOMESTIC ANIMALS (Pers. ḥaywān-e ahlī; cf. ahlīkardan/šodan “to domesticate, be domesticated”), a group of animals raised or maintained in captivity…

DEH (village) in Persia and Afghanistan. The Persian word deh (Paštō kəlay, Ar. qarya) has a more precise meaning than…

DAWTĀNĪ (or Daftānī, sg. Dawtānay/Daftānay), Pashtun tribe of the Lōdī confederation, still mainly nomadic. The Dawtānī have sometimes been included…

DAWLATḴĒL, tribal name common among the eastern Pashtun at various levels of tribal segmentation, not to be confused with Dawlatzī….

DAWLATZĪ (singular Dawlatzay), ethnic name common among the eastern Pashtun on both sides of the Durand Line (see BOUNDARIES iii)….

DAWLATĀBĀD, name of several localities in Afghanistan that have grown up around civil or military government buildings. Some have never…

DARRA-YEṢŪF, name of a valley in northern Afghanistan, drained by a tributary of the right bank of the Balḵāb, and…

DARRA-YE NŪR (Pašaī Därē-i No: Herrlich et al., pp. 343, 858; lit., “valley of light”; a suggested Pashto etymology, in…

CHOLERA (Cholera asiatica, Cholera indica), epidemic intestinal disease of Indian origin caused by infectious bacteria. i. In Persia. ii. In…

CHEESE (Pers. panīr), with milk and other dairy products a significant part of the diet in Persia and Afghanistan (e.g.,…

CENSUS (Pers. sar-šomārī). No census for the purpose of ascertaining the population and acquiring statistical data was taken in Persia until the…

TEA  or ČĀY, derived from Chinese work Chi.ch’a (Mathews’ Chinese English Dictionary, no. 101), shrub of the genus Camellia and beverage…

ČARḴ, a common toponym all over the Iranian world. The following forms are attested in Iran and Afghanistan: Čarḵ-e Bīnal…

ČĀRĪKĀR (also Čahārīkār), the main town of Kōhdāman and the administrative capital of the Afghan province of Parwān, located about…

ČAḴĀNSŪR, principal town of the large Ḵāšrūd delta oasis in northeastern Sīstān. Immediately downstream from the oasis the complex of…

ČAḠČARĀN, principal town and administrative capital of the province of Ḡōr, in the mountains of central Afghanistan. Until the mid-14th/20th…

BĒṬANĪ (ṭ = retroflex t; singular Bēṭanay), a Pash­tun tribe on the eastern edge of the Solaymān moun­tains, where it…

GEREŠK, a small oasis-city on the right bank of the Helmand river in Southern Afghanistan, the headquarters of the district…

GARDĪZ (Gardēz), a city in the Solaymān Mountains of eastern Afghanistan, 122 km south of Kabul. i. Geography and History….

GANDOM, the New Persian word for wheat designating both the plant and the grain. All New Iranian names of wheat…