Shighnan

Infobox Settlement
official_name =Shighnan
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map_caption = District location


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pushpin_map_caption =Location in Afghanistan
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = flag|Afghanistan
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = Badakhshan Province
subdivision_type2 = District
subdivision_name2 = Shighnan District
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population_total =24,000

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latd=37|latm=37 |lats=0|latNS=N
longd=71|longm=27|longs=0|longEW=E
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Shighnan (also Shignan, Shugnan, Shughnan,Khughnan in the local language) is the name of a town and a district in Badakhshan Province in the mountainous northeast of Afghanistan and also a district in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province in Tajikistan. The administrative center of the Shughnan district of Afghanistan is called Baar Panja Qala. The administrative center of the Shughnan district of Tajikistan is called Khorogh.

The Afghan Rushan (Rushan is also a separate district in Tajikistan) falls under the administrative rule of Shughnan district, and is referred to as Rushan sub-district (i.e Rushan Alaqadari). There are about ten sizable and many more smaller villages in the Shughnan district of Afghanistan. These villages include, south to north, Darmarakht, Wiyod, Wiroodhj, Bashor, Vuzh-Pidrudh, Dhishahr, Shidwood, and Tsaghnod. Note; the village names are given as they appear in the local language. Population of the Afghan district totals approximately 24,000 residents. Some of the bigger villages in the Tajik side of Shughnan include, south to north, Darmarakht, Porshnev, Buni, Sokhcharv, and Rosht Qala.

In ancient times the area was known for its ruby mines, which are mentioned in the writings of Marco Polo:

:"It is in this province that those fine and valuable gems the Balas Rubies are found. They are got in certain rocks among the mountains, and in the search for them the people dig great caves underground, just as is done by miners for silver. There is but one special mountain that produces them, and it is called Syghinan." [http://www.ruby-sapphire.com/afghanistan-ruby-spinel.htm]

In the nineteenth century, Shughnan and its vassal Roshan were states whose native rulers claimed descent from Alexander the Great. The archaeologist Marc Aurel Stein wrote: "North of Shughnan lies Roshan, ruled usually by relatives of the old chiefs of Shughnan... there is no proof, however, to their genealogical claims." [http://www.angelfire.com/sd/tajikistanupdate/yzintro.html] Both states were conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1882, but were assigned to Russia by the Durand agreement of 1893. In an 1895 agreement between the British and Russia, Moscow agreed to hand over all districts previously occupied by her on the left bank of the Panj, or upper Oxus, to Afghanistan in exchange for lands on the right hand bank in Darvaz. The Russian controlled half of Shughnan was incorporated into to the Gorno-Badakhshan oblast in 1925, which was merged into the newly formed Tajikistan in 1929.

The people residing in the Shughnan district, both the Tajik side and Afghan side of the border, speak their own language called Shughni (Khughnani).

References

External links

* [http://www.aims.org.af/maps/district/badakhshan/shighnan.pdf Map of Shighnan] (PDF)
* [http://www.angelfire.com/sd/tajikistanupdate/yzintro.html] A brief account of the region, its people and their language.