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Turkestan Province

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Defunct province in Afghanistan Not to be confused with Russian Turkestan.

Turkestan Province (Persian: ولایت ترکستان, romanized: Wilāyat-i Turkistān) was a province in Afghanistan.

Turkestan Provinceولایت ترکستان (Persian)
Province of Afghanistan

Afghan Turkestan Province in 1929
CapitalBalkh (1850 - 1854)
Takhtapul (1854 - 1869/74)
Mazar-i-Sharif (1869/74 onwards)
DemonymTurkestani
 • TypeProvince
History 
• Established 1850
• Disestablished Before 1946
Today part ofAfghanistan

It was located in northern Afghanistan in the region still known as Afghan Turkestan. In 1890, Qataghan-Badakhshan Province was separated from Turkestan Province. It is present in an administrative map of 1929, but was abolished by the time of the 1946 population census.

From its founding in 1850 until 1854, Balkh was the capital of the province. However, the city of Balkh was deprecated and in ruins. As a result, in 1854 the capital was moved by Muhammad Afzal Khan to Takhtapul. It would remain the capital until the governor Muhammad 'Alam Khan transitioned to Mazar-i-Sharif between July 1869 and 1873/74.

Political administration

In the 19th century, Afghan Turkestan was governed by a governor (hakim) appointed by the Amir. Below is a list of governors of Afghan Turkestan.

  • Sardar Mohammad Akram Khan - 1850 - 1852
  • Sardar Mohammad Afzal Khan - 1852 - 1864
  • Sardar Fath Mohammad Khan - 1864 - 1865
  • Fayz Mohammad Khan - 1865 - 1867
  • Naib Muhammad Alam Khan - 1868 - 1876
  • Shahghasi Sherdil Loynab Khan - 1876 -1878
  • Sardar Abdul Wahab Khan - 1911 - 1919

Subdivisions

In 1886 the administrative divisions of Afghan Turkestan were as follows:

  1. Mazar-i Sharif (with the districts of Shor Tapa, Boinkara, Kishindi, Aq Kupruk, Tunj
  2. Balkh (directly administered by the Sardar of Turkistan)
  3. Aqcha (with the districts of Khwaja Salar and Dawlatabad)
  4. Tashkorgan (with the districts of Pir Nakchir and Ghaznigak)
  5. Sheberghan
  6. Andkhui
  7. Aybak
  8. Dara-i Suf
  9. Doab
  10. Saighan and Kahmard
  11. Balkh-ab (high up the Band-i Amir river)
  12. Sangcharak
  13. Sar-i Pol
  14. Maimana

See also

References

  1. Muḥammad, Fayz̤; Hazārah, Fayz̤ Muḥammad Kātib (1999). Kabul Under Siege: Fayz Muhammad's Account of the 1929 Uprising. Markus Wiener Publishers. pp. XII. ISBN 9781558761551.
  2. "Afghanistan Provinces". www.statoids.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  3. Ḥabībī, ʿA. "AFŻAL KHAN, AMIR MOḤAMMAD". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  4. de Planhol, Xavier. "MAZĀR-E ŠARIF". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
  5. McChesney, R. D. (2014-07-14). Waqf in Central Asia: Four Hundred Years in the History of a Muslim Shrine, 1480-1889. Princeton University Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-1-4008-6196-5.
  6. Christine Noelle. State and tribe in nineteenth-century Afghanistan: the reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826-1863). Routledge, 1997. pp. 101
  7. Lee, Jonathan L. (1996-01-01). The "Ancient Supremacy": Bukhara, Afghanistan and the Battle for Balkh, 1731-1901. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-10399-3.
  8. Adamec, Ludwig W. (1975). Historical and political who's who of Afghanistan. Hauptbd: Historical and political Who's who. Graz: Akad. Druck- u. Verlagsanst. p. 101. ISBN 978-3-201-00921-8.
  9. Adamec, Ludwig W.; Branch, India Army General Staff (1979). Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 4: Mazar-I-Sharif and North-Central Afghanistan. Graz: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt. ISBN 978-3-201-01089-4.

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