Photo Gallery

About Afghan Village Scenes

The following text is courtesy of The Center for Afghanistan Studies, University of Nebraska at Omaha. The editorial opinions expressed in these pieces are not necessarily those of the webmaster(s).

Image 1: Istalif
Istalif lies north of Kabul in the Koh Daman, a valley ringed by barren hills dotted with villages nestled within green orchards. It is one of the largest, most ancient and loveliest of them all. Istalif is famous for its green and blue pottery and its picturesque bazar. A visitor to this place combines beautiful scenery with an introduction to Afghan Village life.

Image 2: Helmund river
The Helmund River in southwestern Afghanistan and eastern Iran, about 715 miles (1,150 km) long. Rising in the Range in east-central Afghanistan, it flows southwestward across more than half the length of Afghanistan before flowing northward for a short distance through Iranian territory and emptying into the Helmand swamps on the Afghan-Iranian border. It receives several tributaries, including the Arghandab and Tarnak, and drains more than 100,000 square miles (160,000 square km).

The Helmand is one of Afghanistan's most important rivers and has been extensively developed under the Helmand Valley Authority. A reservoir has been built at Kajak, 50 miles (80 km) above Gereshk, for irrigation and flood control, and just above the same town a dam diverts water to a canal. Below the reservoir much of the river's length is tapped for irrigation, and a fertile, populous belt follows its course. A long-standing dispute between Afghanistan and Iran has centred on Iran's claim to a portion of the Helmand's waters.

Images 3 & 4: Nuristan
The region called Nuristan is one in a chain of ethnic refuge areas that line the mountains of the Indian Plate collision zone from Afghanistan to Southeast Asia. Nuristan lies in the Hindu Kush mountains of northeastern Afghanistan, spanning the basins of the Alingar, Pech, Landai Sin, and Kunar rivers. It is the homeland of a unique group of Indo-European-speaking tribal peoples, now called Nuristanis, who fled and resisted Islam as it spread eastward. In 1895-96 the Nuristanis were finally conquered by the Afghan armies of amir Abdur Rahman Khan, and the people were obliged to abandon their ancient religious beliefs in favor of Islam.

Nuristanis are today such devout Muslims that they were the first citizens of Afghanistan to successfully revolt against the communist overthrow of their government in 1978. Their success inspired others throughout the country to rise up and bleed the Soviet Union to death through thirteen years of war. The straw that broke the Soviet Union's back sprouted in Nuristan, and we must acknowledge the pivotal historical role that the Nuristanis played in nurturing the seed.