Samangan Province

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. Its capital is named Aybak City.

History

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.

Samangan

Samangan (previous: Eukratidia; then Aybak or Aibak) is a provincial town, medieval caravan stop, and the headquarters of the Samangan Province in the district of the same name in the northern part of Afghanistan. As an ancient town and major Buddhist centre during the 4th and 5th centuries under the then Kushan rulers, it has the ruins of that period at a place known now as Takht-e-Rustam, which is located on a hill above the town.

History

The earliest known history is linked to the identification of the place by 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 city on the Dargydus River, south east of Zariaspa/Balkh. The ruins found here establish the city's founding by Eucratides I, the King of Bactria. It was then known as Eukratidia, the size of the present Khulm city.

Historicity of the town is dated to the Kushan Dynasty reign 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.