Turkestan Province (Persian: ولایت ترکستان, romanized: Wilāyat-i Turkistān) was a province in Afghanistan.
| Turkestan Province ولایت ترکستان (Persian) | |
|---|---|
| Province of Afghanistan | |
 Afghan Turkestan Province in 1929 | |
| Capital | Balkh (1850 - 1854) Takhtapul (1854 - 1869/74) Mazar-i-Sharif (1869/74 onwards) |
| Demonym | Turkestani |
| • Type | Province |
| History | |
• Established | 1850 |
• Disestablished | Before 1946 |
| Today part of | Afghanistan |
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,[1] but was abolished by the time of the 1946 population census.[2]
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.[3][4] It would remain the capital until the governor Muhammad 'Alam Khan transitioned to Mazar-i-Sharif between July 1869 and 1873/74.[5]
Political administration
editIn the 19th century, Afghan Turkestan was governed by a governor (hakim) appointed by the Amir.[6] 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[7]
- Shahghasi Sherdil Loynab Khan - 1876 -1878
- Sardar Abdul Wahab Khan - 1911 - 1919[8]
Subdivisions
editIn 1886 the administrative divisions of Afghan Turkestan were as follows:[9]
- Mazar-i Sharif (with the districts of Shor Tapa, Boinkara, Kishindi, Aq Kupruk, Tunj
- Balkh (directly administered by the Sardar of Turkistan)
- Aqcha (with the districts of Khwaja Salar and Dawlatabad)
- Tashkorgan (with the districts of Pir Nakchir and Ghaznigak)
- Sheberghan
- Andkhui
- Aybak
- Dara-i Suf
- Doab
- Saighan and Kahmard
- Balkh-ab (high up the Band-i Amir river)
- Sangcharak
- Sar-i Pol
- Maimana
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "Afghanistan Provinces". www.statoids.com. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
- ^ Ḥabībī, ʿA. "AFŻAL KHAN, AMIR MOḤAMMAD". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ de Planhol, Xavier. "MAZĀR-E ŠARIF". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2024-02-28.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Christine Noelle. State and tribe in nineteenth-century Afghanistan: the reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan (1826-1863). Routledge, 1997. pp. 101
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.