Mazar-i-Sharif or Mazar-e-Sharif is the third-largest city of Afghanistan, with
a population of 693,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked
by highways with Kunduz in the east, Kabul in the southeast, Herat in the
west and Uzbekistan in the north. Mazar-e Sharif, along with Herat,
Jalalabad in the east and Kandahar in the south, makes Afghanistan an
important strategic location in Asia. The city also serves as one of the many
tourist attractions because of its famous shrines as well as the Muslim and
Hellenistic archeological sites. In 2006, the discovery of new Hellenistic
remains was announced. Mazar-i-Sharif is the Regional Hub
located in the northern region in close proximity to Uzbekistan and Tajikstan.
Mazar-i-Sharif has the highest percentage of built-up land of all the
provincial capitals, and it has additional built-up area extending
beyond the municipal boundary but forming a part of the larger urban area.
The region around Mazar-e-Sharif has been historically part of Greater
Khorasan and was controlled by the Tahirids followed by the Saffarids,
Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Ilkhanates, Timurids, and Khanate of
Bukhara until the mid-18th century when it became part of the Durrani Empire
after a friendship treaty was signed between emirs Murad Beg and Ahmad Shah
Durrani. The Mazari Sharif Airport in the city has been heavily used during
the 1980s Soviet war and the latest 2001-present war.
The name "Mazar-e Sharif" means "Noble Shrine", a reference to the large,
blue-tiled sanctuary and mosque in the center of the city known as the Shrine
of Hazrat Ali or the Blue Mosque. Some Muslims believe that the tomb of Ali ibn
Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, is at this
mosque in Mazari Sharif, after Ali's remains were transferred to
Mazar-i-Sharif as per request of Ja'far as-Sadiq. However, most Muslims believe
that the grave of Ali is at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq.
History The region around Mazar-i-Sharif has
been historically part of Greater Khorasan and was controlled by the
Tahirids followed by the Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids,
Ilkhanates, Timurids, and Khanate of Bukhara. According to tradition, the
city of Mazari Sharif owes its existence to a dream. At the beginning of the 12th
century, a local mullah had a dream in which the 7th century Ali bin Abi Talib,
cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, appeared to reveal that he had been
secretly buried near the city of Balkh. The famous Jalal al-Din Rumi was born in
this area but like many historical figures his exact location of birth
cannot be confirmed. His father Baha' Walad was descended from the first
caliph Abu Bakr and was influenced by the ideas of Ahmad Ghazali, brother of
the famous philosopher. Baha' Walad's sermons were published and still exist
as Divine Sciences. Rumi completed six books of mystical poetry and tales
called Masnavi before he died in 1273. After conducting researches in the 12th
century, the Seljuk sultan Ahmed Sanjar ordered a city and shrine to be built on
the location, where it stood until its destruction by Genghis Khan and his
Mongol army in the 13th century. Although later rebuilt, Mazar stood in
the shadow of its neighbor Balkh. During the nineteenth century, due to the
absence of drainage systems and the weak economy of the region, the excess water
of this area flooded many acres of the land in the vicinity of residential
areas causing a malaria epidemic in the region. Thus the ruler of North Central
Afghanistan decided to shift the capital of the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
The Mazar-i-Sharif means "the noble shrine". This name represents the Blue
Mosque which is widely known to be the grave of Hazrat Ali.
The city along with the region south of the Amu Darya became part of the Durrani
Empire in around 1750 after a treaty of friendship was reached between Mohammad
Murad Beg and Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founding father of Afghanistan. In the
late 1870s, Emir Sher Ali Khan ruled the area from his Tashkurgan Palace in
Mazar-i Sharif. This northern part of Afghanistan was un-visited by the
British-led Indian forces during the Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th century.
Mazar-i-Sharif remained peaceful for the next one hundred years until 1979, when
then neighboring Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. During the 1980s Soviet
war, Mazar-i-Sharif was a strategic base for the Soviet Army as they used its
airport to launch air strikes on Afghan mujahideen. After the Soviet withdrawal
from Afghanistan in 1989, control of Mazar-i-Sharif was often contested
between the Hazara milita Hezbe Wahdat, led by warlord Hajji Mohammed Mohaqiq,
the Tajik militia Jamiat-e Islami, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin
Rabbani, and the Uzbek militia Jumbesh-e Melli led by warlord Abdul Rashid
Dostum. As a garrison for the Soviet-backed Afghan army, the city was
under the command of Dostum, who mutinied against Najibullah's government
in 1992. Under Dostum's 5 year rule from the
early 1990s to early 1997, the city was relatively peaceful. The rest of the
nation disintegrated and was slowly taken over by the Taliban forces, Dostum
strengthened political ties with the newly independent Uzbekistan as well as
Turkey. He printed his own currency and established his own airline. This peace
was shattered in May 1997, when he was betrayed by one of his generals, warlord
Abdul Malik Pahlawan, forcing him to flee from Mazar-i-Sharif as the Taliban
were getting ready to take the city. = 1997-1998 civil unrest=
It is reported that between May and July 1997 Abdul Malik Pahlawan executed
thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by
slaughtering the prisoners as a revenge for the 1995 death of Abdul Ali Mazari.
"He is widely believed to have been responsible for the brutal massacre of
up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif."
Several of the Taliban escaped the slaughtering and reported what had
happened. In retaliation for this incident, other
shocked and furious Taliban came to the city on August 8, 1998, and retaliated
against Hazara and Uzbek warlords. Soon after, the city was surrendered and
taken over by the Taliban. It was this capture of Mazar-i-Sharif, the last
major city in Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban, that prompted Pakistan's
recognition of the Taliban regime. Soon afterward, the United Arab Emirates, and
Saudi Arabia extended official recognition to the regime, while
Turkmenistan resumed relations – although the Taliban were not officially
recognized by Turkmenbashi as the rulers of Afghanistan.
= U.S.-led military action= Following 9/11, Mazar-i-Sharif was the
first Afghan city to fall to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance. The
Taliban's defeat in Mazar quickly turned into a rout from the rest of the north
and west of Afghanistan. After the Battle of Mazar-i-Sharif in November
2001, the city was officially captured by forces of the Northern Alliance. They
were joined by the United States Special Operations Forces and supported by U.S.
Air Force aircraft. As many as 3,000 Taliban fighters who surrendered were
reportedly massacred by the Northern Alliance after the battle, and reports
also place U.S. ground troops at the scene of the massacre. The Irish
documentary Afghan Massacre - the Convoy of Death investigated these allegations.
Filmmaker Doran claims that mass graves of thousands of victims were found by
United Nations investigators. The Bush administration reportedly blocked
investigations into the incident. Small-scale clashes between militias
belonging to different commanders persisted throughout 2002, and were the
focus of intensive UN peace-brokering and small arms disarmament programme.
After some pressure, an office of the Afghan Independent Human Rights
Commission opened an office in Mazar in April 2003. There were also reports
about northern Pashtun civilians being ethnic cleansed by the other groups,
mainly by ethnic Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks.
= Karzai and Ghani administrations= The city slowly came under the control
of the Karzai administration after 2002, which is led by President Hamid Karzai.
The 209th Corps of the Afghan National Army is based at Mazar-i-Sharif, which
provides military assistance to northern Afghanistan. The Afghan Border Police
headquarters for the Northern Zone is also located in the city. Despite all
the security put in place, there are reports of Taliban activities and
assassinations of tribal elders. Officials in Mazar-i-Sharif reported
that between 20 to 30 Afghan tribal elders have been assassinated in Balkh
Province in the last several years. There is no conclusive evidence as to
who is behind it but majority of the victims are said to have been associated
with the Hezb-i Islami political party. There are also NATO-led peacekeeping
forces in and around the city providing assistance to the Afghan government.
ISAF Regional Command North, led by Germany, is stationed at Camp Marmal
which lies next to Mazar-i-Sharif Airport. Since 2006, Provincial
Reconstruction Team Mazar-i-Sharif had unit commanders from Sweden, on loan to
ISAF. The unit is stationed at Camp Northern Lights, located 10 km west of
Camp Marmal. Camp Nidaros, located within Camp Marmal, has soldiers from
Latvia and Norway, and is led by an ISAF-officer from Norway.
On April 1, 2011, as many as ten foreign employees working for United Nations
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan were killed by angry demonstrators in the
city. The demonstration was organized in retaliation to pastors Terry Jones and
Wayne Sapp's March 21 Qur'an-burning in Florida, United States. Among the dead
were five Nepalese, a Norwegian, Romanian and Swedish nationals, two of
them were said to be decapitated. Terry Jones, the American pastor who was going
to burn Islam's Holy Book, denied his responsibility for incitement. President
Barack Obama strongly condemned both the Quran burning, calling it an act of
"extreme intolerance and bigotry", and the "outrageous" attacks by protesters,
referring to them as "an affront to human decency and dignity." "No religion
tolerates the slaughter and beheading of innocent people, and there is no
justification for such a dishonorable and deplorable act." U.S. legislators,
including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, also condemned both the burning
and the violence in reaction to it. By July 2011 violence became at a record
high in the insurgency. In late July 2011, NATO troops also handed control of
Mazar-i-Sharif to local forces amid rising security fears just days after it
was hit by a deadly bombing. Mazar-i-Sharif is the sixth of seven
areas to transition to Afghan control, but critics say the timing is political
and there is skepticism over Afghan abilities to combat the Taliban
insurgency. Climate
Mazar-i-Sharif has a cold steppe climate with hot summers and cold winters.
Precipitation is low, and mostly falls between December and April. The climate
in Mazar-i-Sharif is very hot during the summer with daily temperatures of over
40 °C from June to August. The winters are cold with temperatures falling below
freezing; it may snow from November. Demography
The city of Mazar-i-Sharif has a total population of 693,000, and is the third
largest city of Afghanistan in terms of population. It has a total land area of
8,304 Hectares with 77,615 total number of dwellings.
Mazari Sharif a multiethnic and multilingual society of around 375,000
people. There is no official government report on the exact ethnic make-over but
a map appeared in the November 2003 issue of the National Geographic
magazine showing Tajiks 60%, Hazaras 10%, Pashtun 10%, Turkmen 10%, and
Uzbeks 10%. Occasional ethnic violence have been reported in the region in the
last decades, mainly between Pashtuns and the other groups. Some latest news
reports mentioned assassinations taking place in the area but with no evidence
as to who is behind it. The dominant language in Mazari Sharif
is Dari followed by Uzbeki and [[Pashto language}Pashto]]. Both Pashto and Dari
are the official languages of Afghanistan. Majority of the population
of Mazar-i Sharif practice Sunni Islam. Economy
Mazar-e Sharif serves as the major trading center in northern Afghanistan.
The local economy is dominated by trade, agriculture and Karakul sheep farming.
Small-scale oil and gas exploitation have also boosted the city's prospects.
Transportation = Rail=
It became the first city in Afghanistan to connect itself by rail with a
neighboring country. Rail service from Mazar-e Sharif to Uzbekistan began in
December 2011 and cargo on freight trains arrive at a station near
Mazar-i-Sharif Airport, where the goods are reloaded onto trucks or airplanes
and sent to their last destinations across Afghanistan.
= Air= As of June 2014 Mazar-i-Sharif Airport
had direct air connections to Kabul, Moscow, Mashad,Dubai and Istanbul.
Notable places The modern city of Mazar-i Sharif is
centered around the Shrine of Hazrat Ali. Much restored, it is one of
Afghanistan's most glorious monuments. Outside Mazar-i Sharif lies the ancient
city of Balkh. The city is a centre for the traditional buzkashi sport, and the
Blue Mosque is the focus of northern Afghanistan's Nawruz celebration.
Although most Muslims believe that the real grave of Ali is found within Imam
Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq, others still come to Mazar-e Sharif to pay respect.
Airports Mazari Sharif Airport - serves the
population of Balkh Province and is also used by NATO-led forces, including the
Afghan Air Force. It is being expanded to become the 4th international airport
in Afghanistan. Mosques
Shrine of Hazrat Ali Parks and monuments
Maulana Jalaludin Cultural Park Tashkurgan Palace
Governors Palace Mazar-i-Sharif Gate
Khalid Ibn-al Walid Park Stadiums
Mazar-i-Sharif Cricket Stadium Buzkashi Stadium
Universities Balkh University
Aria University Sadat University
Mawlana University Taj University
Hospitals Regional Hospital of Mazar-e-Sharif
Saleha Bayat Hospital Afghan National Army Regional Hospital
at Camp Shaheen Hotels
Serena Hotel Mazar-i-Sharif Aros-e-Shahr
Mazar Hotel Farhat Hotel
Kefayat hotel Barat Hotel
Shinwari hotel Marco Polo hotel
Banks Da Afghanistan Bank
Afghanistan International Bank Kabul Bank
Azizi Bank Pashtany Bank
Social Organizations Balkh Youth Conformity Association
Sister cities Dushanbe, Tajikistan
See also Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
References Further reading
"Mazar-i-Sharif". The Encyclopaedia Britannica. New York: Encyclopaedia
Britannica. 1910. OCLC 14782424 Dupree, Nancy Hatch: An Historical Guide
to Afghanistan. 1st Edition: 1970. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan
Tourist Organization. External links
"Mezar-i Sharif". Islamic Cultural Heritage Database. Istanbul:
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Research Centre for Islamic History, Art
and Culture.