Samangan Province
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Samangan Province سمنگان |
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|---|---|
| Province | |
Samangan Province
|
|
 Location of Samangan within Afghanistan |
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| Country |
 Afghanistan
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| Capital | Samangan |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Mohammad Hashim Zare |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11,262 km2 (4,348 sq mi) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 368,800 |
| • Density | 33/km2 (85/sq mi) |
| Time zone | AST (UTC+04:30) |
| ISO 3166 code | AF-SAM |
| Main language(s) |
Persian Uzbeki Pashto |
Samangan (Persian: سمنگان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located north of the Hindu Kush mountains in the central part of the country. The province covers 11,218 square kilometres (4,331 sq mi) and is surrounded by Sar-e Pol Province in the west, Balkh in the north, Baghlan in the east, and Bamyan in the south. The majority of the population here is Uzbek, but there also significant numbers of Pashto and Persian speakers in the province.
Samangan province is divided into 7 districts and contains 674 villages. It has a population of about 368,800, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a rural society. The city of Samangan serves as the provincial capital.
The earliest known history of the province is linked to the identification of the Samangan by Aoros Ptolemy as the place of the Varni or Uarni and the fortified city of Samangan on the banks of the Khulm River identical to the Bhaktria regi on the Dargydus river south east of Zariaspa. The ruins found here established the city’s founding by Eukratides, the King of Bactria. It was then known as Edrisi the size of the Khulm city.
Historicity of the Samangan town dates to the time of the Kushan Empire during the 4th and 5th centuries when it was a famous Buddhist centre. Witness to this period is seen now in the form of ruins at a place called the Takht-e-Rostam, which is located 3 km from the town on a hilltop. Arabs and Mongols came to this place when it was already famous as a Buddhist religious centre. Aibak was the name given to this place when, during the medieval period, caravans used to stop here.
Afghanistan has various archaeological sites where caves were hewn out of rocks and inhabited by Buddhists. "One of the most spectacular sites is that of Takth i Raustam, near Samangan (Haybak), north of Hindu Kush passes. It includes a complex of stupa with monastery, hewn out of the rock. Other caves have been found near Jalalabad and at the site of Humay Qal'a southwest of Ghazni.
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Wikipedia