Wakhan

Wakhan is a very mountainous and rugged part of the Pamir region.

Geography

Wakhan is located in and around the extreme north-east of Afghanistan, which is connected to China by a long, narrow strip called the Wakhan Corridor, which separates the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan from the North-West Frontier Province and Northern Areas of Pakistan.

It contains the headwaters of the Amu Darya (Oxus) River, and was an ancient corridor for travellers from the Tarim Basin to Badakshan. Western Wakhan (Xiumi) was conquered in the early part of the 1st century AD by Kujula Kadphises, the first "Great Kushan," and formed one of the five xihou or principalities that formed the nucleus of the original Kushan kingdom.

Demographics

Wakhan is sparsely populated. Most of its inhabitants speak the Wakhi language (x̌ik zik), and belong to an ethnic group known as Wakhi. Nomadic Kyrgyz herders live at the higher altitudes.

References

Gordon, T. E. 1876. The Roof of the World: Being the Narrative of a Journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian Frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir. Edinburgh. Edmonston and Douglas. Reprint: Ch’eng Wen Publishing Company. Tapei. 1971.
Hill, John E. 2004. The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. Draft annotated English translation.[link]
Stein, Aurel M. 1921a. Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China, 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [link]
Stein Aurel M. 1921. “A Chinese expedition across the Pamirs and Hindukush, A.D. 747.” Indian Antiquary 1923. From: www.pears2.lib.ohio-state.edu/ FULLTEXT/TR-ENG/aurel.htm. Last modified 24 June, 1997. Accessed 13 January, 1999.
Stein Aurel M. 1928. Innermost Asia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia, Kan-su and Eastern Iran, 5 vols. Clarendon Press. Reprint: New Delhi. Cosmo Publications. 1981.
Stein Aurel M. 1929. On Alexander's Track to the Indus: Personal Narrative of Explorations on the North-west Frontier of India. London. Reprint, New York, Benjamin Blom, 1972.

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