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Ghōr (Pashto, Dari: غور) also known as Ghowr or Ghur, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in the western Hindu Kush in central Afghanistan, towards the northwest. The province contains eleven districts, encompassing hundreds of villages, and approximately 764,472 settled people. Chaghcharan (known as “Chaghcharan” until 2014) is the capital of the province.
The inhabitants of Ghor had completely embraced Islam during the Ghurids era. Before the 12th century, the region was home to Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Hindus and a small number of Jews. Remains of the oldest settlements discovered by Lithuanian archaeologist in 2007 and 2008 in Ghor date back to 5000 BC. Province hides monuments some of which date back to 5000 BC, Quqnoos.com, 22 May 2008 Ruins of a few castles and other defense fortifications were also discovered in the environs of Chaghcharan. A Buddhist monastery hand-carved on the bluff of the river Harirud existed in the first centuries during the prevalence of Buddhism. The artificial caves revealed testimony of the daily life of the Buddhist monks. Lithuanian archeologists make discovery in Afghanistan , The Baltic Times, May 22, 2008; Archaeologists make new discoveries about ancient Afghan cultures , Top News, May 23, 2008.
Various scholars and historians such as John McLeod attribute the conversion of the Ghauris to Islam to Mahmud Ghazni after his conquest of Ghor.The history of India By John McLeod Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002 Page 34
Traditional Muslim historians such as Estakhri and Ibn Haukal attest to the existence of the non-Islamic enclave of Ghor before the time of Ghazni, which is attributed to converting its population to Islam.
Minhaju-S-Siraj recorded strife between the non-Muslim and Muslim populations:
According to Minhahu-S Siraj, Amir Suri was captured by Mahmud of Ghazni, made prisoner along with his son, and taken to Ghazni, where Amir Suri died. The History of India as Told by Its Own Historians by Eliot and Dowson, Volume 2, page 286
In 1011, 1015 and 1020, both Mahmud and Mas'ud I led expeditions into Ghur and established Islam in place of indigenous paganism. After this, Ghur was considered a vassal state of the Ghaznavids.C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, (Columbia University Press, 1977), 68. During the reign of 'Abd ar Rashi and the usurper Toghrul, Ghur and Gharchistan gained autonomy.C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, 69.
Ghor was also the center of the Ghurids in the 12th and 13th centuries. The remains of their capital Firozkoh, which was sacked and destroyed by the Mongols in 1222, includes the Minaret of Jam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Fifty people were killed in floods in the Ghor province in May 2024.
Etymology
The ancient Indo-European, Sogdian language gor-/ gur- ("mountain"-) is well preserved in all Slavic languages gor-/ gór- (goor-/gur-), e.g.: Gorals, Goran, Goranci, Góra, Gora..., in Iranian languages, e.g.: Gorani language, Guran (Kurdish tribe). The Polish language notation using gór- ("ó" stands for a sound between English language "oo" and "u") instead of the popular gur- or ghur- preserves the ancient orthography.
History
Beginning in 725, the Umayyad governor Asad b. 'Abdallah al-Qasri unsuccessfully raided the region of Ghur.
Karzai and Ghani administrations
In June 2004, hundreds of troops of Abdul Salaam Khan, who had rejected the Afghan government's plan to disarm regional militias, attacked Chaghcharan and took over the city in an afternoon-long siege. Eighteen people were killed or wounded in the fighting, at which point Governor Mohammed Ibrahim fled. Three days later the Afghan government announced that it would not retake Chaghcharan. Khan and Ibrahim began negotiations soon after but reached no agreement. Khan's troops left Chaghcharan on 23 June, a day ahead of when an Afghan National Army battalion, led by Lieutenant-General Aminullah Paktiyanai, arrived with the support of roughly 20 U.S. soldiers.
Taliban administration (2021-present)
In 2021, the Taliban regained control of Ghor after the 2021 Taliban offensive.
Geography
Ghor occupies the end of the Hindu Kush mountains. Ghor is 2,500 meters above sea level and heavy snowfalls often block many of its rugged passes from November to April. It is also a drought-prone area in the summer.
Administrative divisions
+ Districts of Ghor Province 96% Tajiks Aimaq people, 2% Pashtuns, 2% Hazaras 60% Tajik Aimaqs, 30% Hazaras, 10% Uzbeks Predominantly Hazaras, few Tajik Aimaqs Predominantly Tajik Aimaqs 100% Hazaras Predominantly Tajiks 84% Tajiks, 11% Pashtuns, 5% Hazaras Predominantly Tajik-Aimaq, few Pashtuns 100% Tajik-Aimaq Predominantly Tajik-Aimaq, few Hazaras Predominantly Tajik-Aimaq, few Pashtuns and Uzbeks Ghor 764,472 36,657 21 71.0% Farsiwan (59.2% Aimaq people, 11.8% Tajiks), 26.5% Hazaras, 2.0% Pashtuns, 0.4% Uzbeks.
Economy
Agriculture
Agriculture and animal husbandry are the primary economic activities in Ghor Province. According to the United Nations, many young men were forced to leave the province to find work in Herat or Iran and a small percentage of the population were teachers, government officials, carpet weavers, carpenters and tailors. Over half of the population could not cover their basic needs with their level of income. Opium production had returned to the region following the Taliban's departure as locals attempted to increase their incomes by farming a more economically lucrative crop.
Transportation
As of September 2014, Chaghcharan Airport, located at the provincial capital of Chaghcharan, had regularly scheduled flights to the provinces of Kabul and Herat.
| + Estimated ethnolinguistic and -religious composition ! style="width:10em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Ethnicity ! colspan="2"style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Farsiwan ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Hazaras ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Pashtuns ! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Uzbeks ! rowspan="2" style="width:3em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | Sources |
| 2020 CSSF | 58%|| 3% || 39% || 1% | – | ||||
| 2018 UN | – | ||||
| 2015 Colombo Plan | ∅ | ||||
| 2015 NPS | <1% | ||||
| 2011 USA | 58%|| – || 39% || 3% | – | ||||
| 2009 ISW | – | >90% | – | – | |
Legend:
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Ghor University that first established as Ghor Higher Education Institute and then promoted to Ghor University has around 500 students with a significant number of girls. There are also some Teacher Training Institutes in the Firuzkoh, Taywara and Lal districts. The number of high schools increased in last the 10 years and attendance in university entrance exams (Kankor) jumped from hundreds to thousands of students. Several agriculture and mechanical schools were also established. There is only one nursing school that trains young female high school graduates for midwifery and nursing that is part of the Ministry of Public Health and run by an NGO in association with Ghor provincial hospital.
The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 9% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.
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