Samangan سمنگان
Province
Samangan Province
Location of Samangan within Afghanistan
Country	Afghanistan
Capital	Aybak
Government
• Governor	Abdul Rahman Muslim Kunduzi[1]
• Deputy Governor	Abdul Manan[2]
Area
• Total	11,262 km2 (4,348 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[3]
• Total	438,235
• Density	39/km2 (100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+04:30 (Afghanistan Time)
ISO 3166 code	AF-SAM
Main language(s)	Persian, Uzbeki and Turkmeni

Samangan (Dari: سمنگان; Pashto: سمنګان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located north of the Hindu Kush mountains in the central part of the country. The province covers 11,218 square kilometres (4,331 sq mi) and is surrounded by Sar-e Pol Province in the west, Balkh in the north, Baghlan in the east, and Bamyan in the south.

Samangan province is divided into 7 districts and contains 674 villages.^[4] It has a population of about 325,000 ^[3] which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. The city of Aybak serves as the provincial capital.

In 2021, the Taliban gained control of the province during the 2021 Taliban offensive.

History

The earliest known history of the province is linked to the identification of the Samangan by Aoros Ptolemy as the place of the Varni or Uarni and the fortified city of Samangan on the banks of the Khulm River identical to the Bhaktria regi on the Dargydus river south east of Zariaspa. The ruins found here established the city's founding by Eukratides, the King of Bactria. It was then known as Edrisi the size of the Khulm city.^[5][6]

Below Buddhist stupa is a series of five caves, former monks’ cells for meditation.

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Historicity of the Samangan town dates to the time of the Kushan Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries when it was a famous Buddhist centre. Witness to this period is seen now in the form of ruins at a place called the Takht-e Rostam, which is located 3 km from the town on a hilltop. Arabs and Mongols came to this place when it was already famous as a Buddhist religious centre. Aibak was the name given to this place when, during the medieval period, caravans used to stop here.^[6]

Afghanistan has various archaeological sites where caves were hewn out of rocks and inhabited by Buddhists. "One of the most spectacular sites is that of Takth i Raustam, near Samangan (Haybak), north of Hindu Kush passes. It includes a complex of stupa with monastery, hewn out of the rock. Other caves have been found near Jalalabad and at the site of Humay Qal'a southwest of Ghazni.^[7]

The Buddhist in Takth i Raustam here in the form of a mound, located on the hilltop, represents the earliest link to the evolution of Buddhist architecture in Afghanistan^[6]

The area was conquered by the Hephthalites followed by the Saffarids who brought Islam. The Samanids took it and controlled it until the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century, they were replaced by the Ghorids. After the Mongol invasion the Timurids took possession.

Between the early 16th century and the mid-18th century, the Province was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara. It was given to Ahmad Shah Durrani by Murad Beg of Bukhara after a treaty of friendship was reached in or about 1750, and became part of the Durrani Empire. It was ruled by the Durranis followed by the Barakzai dynasty, and was untouched by the British during the three Anglo-Afghan wars that were fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. It remained peaceful for about one hundred years until the 1980s Soviet–Afghan War.

Healthcare

Health services provided by the Ministry of Health are fairly basic with 6 health centres and 3 hospitals with 60 beds. They are reasonably well staffed with 21 doctors and 33 nurses. To cater to the pharmaceutical needs of the patients, there are 24 pharmacies, two are run by the government and the rest are privately owned. In 2006, two dozen women completed a midwifery course.^[10] The percentage of households with clean drinking water increased from 7% in 2005 to 18% in 2011.^[11] The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 29% in 2005 to 20% in 2011.^[11]

Education

Samangan School

The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 19% in 2005 to 27% in 2011.^[11] The overall net enrolment rate (6–13 years of age) increased from 37% in 2005 to 47% in 2011.^[11]

Owing to its relative isolation, Samangan province is underdeveloped with no energy infrastructure and has a high rate of illiteracy,^[12] although some students have access to education in neighbouring Mazari Sharif. Educational facilities in the province is at a low level with literacy rate recorded at only 19% for the province as a whole, with 28% literacy rate among men and a low of 10% among women. The Kuchi people are the least literate, recording a literacy rate of only 3%, that too among men only. The province has 159 primary and secondary schools with attendance of 59,915 students; 83% of schools are boys’ schools with 68% students. While the village schools are within easy reach, the high schools are generally about 10 km away from the villages.

Economy

Villagers in Samangan province receiving food parcels

Flat agricultural fields with mountains in the background

Agriculture and some small scale mining are the main industries of the province. Economic condition of the people is very hard with nearly 12% households finding it difficult to meet the food requirements to sustain. This has resulted in allocations of food aid to the province.

In October 2010, the first dish-making factory run by women began operations. The women were trained for several months and now work in two shifts. During the last few years, thousands of other women have worked on a variety of different projects such as tailoring and carpet knitting.^[13]

Agriculture

Pistachio farmers

The economy revolves around agriculture, with farmers in Samangan province cultivating grains, fruits, and nuts on the region's fertile river plains.^[12] The province of Samangan is second only to the northwestern Afghan province of Badghis in terms of pistachio production. As of 2005, 10 Agricultural cooperatives were functioning in the province with 665 enrolled members controlling an area of 5532 ha which brought prosperity to its members. The staple food crops grown in the province are wheat, barley and potato and flax. The horticultural or garden crops grown are grapes, pomegranates and other fruit and nut trees. Cash crops grown in a few villages were sesame, cotton and tobacco; and they are mostly in Dara-i-Soofi-Payin and Aybek districts; cotton was major crop in Hazrat-i-Sultan district while tobacco was produced on a large scale in the Roi-Do-Ab district. Use of fertilizers is also common among 60% of the on both field and garden crops Industries are almost non existent in the province, except for minor leather industry producing the karakul skin and a few small scale handicrafts producing rugs, shawls, jewellery and carpets.

Horse breeding also sustains the economy of the province as it caters particularly for the popular sport of buzkashi in Afghanistan.^[15] Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport played on horseback in Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, northern Pakistan and Kazakhstan.^[16]

Irrigation

The agricultural economy of the province is further enhanced with irrigation facility provided to 21,242 ha. The irrigated areas deciphered from the land-cover maps, under a collaborative project of FAO, the United Nations Development Programme and the Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office, Kabul are in Aybak, Samangan - 5 426ha, Dara-I-Suf, Samangan - 4 149ha, Hazrati Sult, Samangan -6 884 ha, Khuram Wa Sa, Samangan - 1 733 ha and Ruyi Du Ab, Samangan -3,049 ha.^[17]

Cultural heritage

Remains of the Buddhist stupa and monastery on a hill above Samangan. Instead of being built up, it has been carved out of the rock so is completely below ground level

The historical cultural heritage in the province which is mainly at Samangan City, the provincial headquarters of Samangan are the Takt-e Rostam and the adjacent Buddhist caves and stupas on a top of hill.

Takht-i Rustam

Takht-i Rustam (Haibak), literal meaning the throne of Rustam, named after Rustam, a king in Persian mythology, is a hilltop settlement. It is dated to the 4th and 5th centuries of the Kushano-Sassanian period, which is corroborated by archaeological, architectural and numismatic evidence. It is located 3 km to the southwest of Samangan town. It is the location of a stupa-monastery complex which is fully carved into the mountain rock. The monastery of major Buddhist tradition of Theravada Buddhism, has five chambers, two are sanctuaries and one is a domed ceiling with an intricate lotus leaf beautification. In the adjacent hill is the stupa, which has a harmika, with several caves at its base. Above one of the caves, there is square building in which there are two conference halls; one is 22 metres square and the other is circular. In one of these caves, Archaeological excavations have revealed a cache of Ghaznavid coins.^[18][19] The Buddhist temples near the Takht are 10 numbers known locally as Kie Tehe.^[15]

Malek Cave

Yar Mohammad Malek cave in Roy Doaab district is a small canyon that consists of a big historical cave, believed to be endless. Many bones, silk clothes, and Islamic symbols were found in this district, but due to the erosion and landslide, the entrance of these places has disappeared. During the civil war, many of the artifacts were found by people who were displaced and lived in those caves. Archived 2021-04-19 at the Wayback Machine

Hazar Sum

Hazar Sum is another ancient Buddhist centre in north central Afghanistan where several caves have been found and in one of these caves a Buddhist stupa has been carved.^[20]

Geography

Map of the Khulm River basin

Samangan is located in northern central Afghanistan, delimited by Baghlan province in the east, Bamyan in the south, Sar-e-Pul in the south-west and Balkh province in the northwest. Samangan encompasses an area of 11218 km2 consisting 59% of mountainous terrain, 21% of semi mountainous terrain, 12% of flat land, 4.8% of semi-flat land and the balance 2.2% is unclassified land.

Some parts of the province are characterised by distinctive rolling hills and mountains and rich green valleys. The provincial jurisdiction is spread over seven administrative districts, with Samangan City as its capital. This town is located on the banks of the Khulm River, in the valley formed below the junction of Hindu Kush mountains and the Central Asian Steppe; the valley has very fertile agricultural land. The highest mountain ranges of the province thus lie to the southwest of the province, southwest of Samangan City. Only 12% of the provincial area consists of flat land.^[6] The city of Samangan lies in the Khulm River valley, with mountains to the west and east. It is located to the northwest of the city of Baghlan and about is 190 km (120 mi) north-west of the capital Kabul and the same distance south-east of Mazar-i-Sharif city.^[21]

Samangan Province has a long history of earthquakes which has led to the loss of thousands of people and their homes. In 1998, two earthquakes struck measuring 5.9 and 6.6 on the Richter scale, claiming some 6,000 lives along the border with Tajikistan.^[21] A series of earthquakes struck nearby Baghlan province on March 3, 2002, killing roughly 1,000 people. In April 2010 at least 11 people were killed and more than 70 injured when a 5.7 magnitude quake at a depth of 10 km struck the province. It damaged some 300 houses and killed hundreds of cattle, causing landslides which blocks some of the main roads.^[21]

Demography

As of 2021, the total population of the province is about 438,000,^[3] which is predominately rural with only 7% living in urban centres.

"Samangan like most of Afghanistan is ethnically diverse with Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazara, Turkomen and even a minority of Pashtuns living throughout the province."^[22] Roughly 72.5% people of the province speak Persian with ethnic Tajiks comprising more than 65% of the province's population^[23] and 22.1% people speak Uzbek as their native language.

The estimated figures for the ethnic groups of the province are as follows: 30% Tajik, 30% Uzbek, 30% is Hazara, remaining 10% are Arabs, Tatar and Pashtuns.^[24]

Districts

Districts of Samangan

Current Map of the Districts of Samangan (as linked to on the Districts of Afghanistan page)

Districts of Samangan Province

District	Capital	Population[3]	Area in km2	Pop. density	Number of villages and ethnic groups
Aybak	Samangan	118,537	2,145	55	96 villages. 55% Uzbek, 35% Tajik, 5% Pashtun, 5% other.[25]
Darah Sof Balla	Dari Suf Bala	73,072	2,283	32	146 villages. 100% Hazara.[26] Used to be part of Darah Sof District.
Darah Sof Payan	Dari Suf Payan	80,778	1,699	48	209 villages. Majority Uzbek and minority Pashtun.[27] Used to be part of Darah Sof District.
Feroz Nakhchir	Feroz Nakhchir	14,747	930	16	22 villages. Mixed Pashtun and Tajik.[28] Used to be part of Aybak District.
Hazrat Sultan	Hazrat Sultan	46,766	2,102	22	66 villages. Majority Hazara, minority Tajik, Pashtun, Arab.[29]
Khuram Wa Sarbagh	Khuram Wa Sarbagh	45,039	1,815	25	52 villages. Majority Tajik, minority Pashtun and Hazara.[30]
Ruyi Du Ab	Ruyi	51,550	2,477	21	83 villages. Predominatly Hazara (Tatar tribe).[31]
Samangan		430,489	13,438	32	32.1% Hazaras (26.1% Shiites, 6.0% Sunni Tatars), 28.3% Uzbeks, 26.8% Farsiwans (25.7% Tajiks, 1.1% Persianized Arabs), 11.4% Pashtuns, 1.4% others.[note 1]

1. ↑ Note: "Predominantely" or "dominated" is interpreted as 99%, "majority" as 70%, "mixed" as 1/(number of ethnicities), "minority" as 30% and "few" or "some" as 1%.

Notable people

• Tahmina, princess of samangan
• Sohrab, son of Rustam
• Basira Paigham, LGBT activist

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samangan Province.

• Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1977): An Historical Guide to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Tourist Organization.