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.

Beginning in 725, the Umayyad governor Asad b. 'Abdallah al-Qasri unsuccessfully raided the region of Ghur.

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 archaeologists in 2007 and 2008 in Ghor date back to 5000 BC. 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.

Various scholars and historians such as John McLeod attribute the conversion of the Ghauris to Islam to Mahmud Ghazni after his conquest of Ghor.

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.

thumb|The [[Minaret of Jam built by the Ghurid dynasty]]

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 Ghaznavid empire. During the reign of 'Abd ar Rashi and the usurper Toghrul, Ghur and Gharchistan gained autonomy.

Ghor was also the center of the Ghurid dynasty 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.

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.

Fifty people were killed in floods in the Ghor province in May 2024.

Geography

thumb|Ghor province under a deep winter in 2012.

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

250px|thumb|Map of the districts of Ghor as of January 2004, prior to the redrawing of provincial and district boundaries later that year

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+ Districts of Ghor Province

|-

!District

!Capital

!Population

!Area

!Pop.<br/>density

!Notes

|-

|Chaghcharan || || align=right| 132,537 || align=right| 6,870 || align=right| 19 || 96% Tajik Aimaqs, 2% Pashtuns, 2% Hazaras

|-

|Charsada || || align=right| 30,956 || align=right| 1,485 || align=right| 21 ||60% Tajik Aimaqs, 30% Hazaras, 10% Uzbeks

|-

|Marghab || || align=right| 21,051 || align=right| 2,930 || align=right| 7 ||Predominantly Hazaras

|-

|Pasaband || || align=right| 107,217 || align=right| 5,073 || align=right| 21 || 84% Tajiks, 11% Pashtuns, 5% Hazaras

|-

|Saghar || || align=right| 39,193 || align=right| 2,404 || align=right| 16 || Predominantly Tajik Aimaqs, few Pashtuns 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.

Demographics

Population

As of 2020, the total population of Ghor province is about 764,472.

Ethnicity, languages and religion

Western Ghor is predominantly of Tajik ethnicity while Eastern Ghor is mostly Hazara.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0"

|+ Estimated ethnolinguistic and -religious composition

! style="width:10em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Ethnicity</small>

! colspan="2"style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Farsiwan</small>

! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Hazara</small>

! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Pashtun</small>

! rowspan="2" style="width:4.6em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Uzbek</small>

! rowspan="2" style="width:3em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Sources</small>

|-

! style="width:10em; background-color:#ddf;" | <small>Period</small>

! style="width:10em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Tajik</small>

! style="width:10em; background-color:#d8f3d8;" | <small>Aimaq</small>

|}

{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="text-align:center; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; margin:0"

|- style="background-color:#e6f2ff;"

! style="width:10em; background-color:#ddf;" | <small>2004–2021<br>(Islamic Republic)</small>

| colspan="2" style="width:4.6em;" | ≥58%

| style="width:4.6em;" | 17 – 39%

| style="width:4.6em;" | 1 – 3%

| style="width:4.6em;" | <1%

| style="width:3em;" |

|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"

| 2020 EU

|| 1st || 3rd || 2nd || – || –

|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"

| 2020 CSSF

|| 58% || 3% || 39% || 1% || –

|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"

| 2018 UN

|| majority || – || 17% || 2 – 3% || –

|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"

| 2015 CP

| colspan="3" | 97% || 2% || ∅

|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"

| 2015 NPS

|colspan="2" | 58% || 39% || 3% || <1%

|-style="background-color:#E6E6E6;"

| 2011 PRT

| colspan="3" | 97% || 2.4% || ∅

|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"

| 2011 USA

|| 58% || – || 39% || 3% || –

|-style="background-color:#FFFFFF;"

| 2009 ISW

| –

|colspan="2" | >90%

| –

| –

|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:left; table-layout:fixed; margin:0"

| <small>Legend:<br>

<ul style="margin:0; padding-left:1.2em; list-style-position:inside;">

<li>∅: Ethnicity mentioned in source but not quantified</li>

<li>–: Ethnicity not mentioned specifically</li>

<li>Source abbreviations: , , .</li>

</ul></small>

|}

Education

The overall literacy rate (6+ years of age) increased from 19% in 2005 to 25% in 2011.

The percentage of births attended to by a skilled birth attendant fell from 9% in 2005 to 3% in 2011.

See also

  • Mandesh
  • Hazarajat
  • Provinces of Afghanistan

Notes

References

Further reading

  • The Places in Between by Rory Stewart, 2005, Picador Publishers,
  • World Food Programme, Ghor Provincial Profile (accessed 11 February 2013; archived)