Shomali Plain

Shamali Plain from the Istalif Village Road, Kabul Province, Afghanistan.

The Shomali Plain, also called the Shomali Valley or Kohistan, is a plateau just north of Kabul, Afghanistan.[1] It is approximately 30 km wide and 80 km long. Shomali means 'windy' or 'northern' (i.e. north of Kabul). Most of the population is Tajik and some Pashtuns. Charikar, Qarabagh, Istalif, and Bagram are just some of the villages located within the Shomali Plan. It's a fertile area, where fruits and vegetables are cultivated and Kabul's residents picnic on weekends. The area is known for agriculture including grapes, walnuts, apricots, mulberries, pomegranates, and sour cherries. The village of Istalif is especially famous for its deep turquoise and green pottery.

Throughout history, because of its geographic location and proximity to Kabul, the Shomali Plain has experienced numerous periods of fighting and violence. Alexander the Great built forts in today's Bagram, then called Alexandria in the Caucasus. The region played an important role or was often battleground during the First Anglo-Afghan War, civil wars, the Soviet Union, and the United States. Today, the area is still affected by wars in Afghanistan since 1978.[2] The UN Mine Action Center once identified the Shomali Plain as one of the areas in the world most contaminated by land mines.

In the 1920s, the Shomali Plain became a focal point of tension following Habibullāh Kalakāni overthrowing Amanullah Khan, the King of Afghanistan. Most of the people of Shomali supported Habibullah, who hailed from the village of Kalakan. Civil war followed Habibullah's uprising and fighting ensued in Istalif in 1929. Eventually, Mohammad Nadir Shah, a General under Amanullah Khan, became king. In retribution and because he was beholden to the Pashtun tribes who supported him, Mohammad Nadir Shah gave them permission to raid and loot the Shomali Plain.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NPR2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference StepBeyond was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Coburn, Noah (2011). Bazaar politics: power and pottery in an Afghan market town. Stanford studies in Middle Eastern and Islamic societies and cultures. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-7671-4. OCLC 701330654.