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Concept
Badakhshan
Summary
Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Badakhshan lies within Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in the southeastern part of the country. The music of Badakhshan is an important part of the region's cultural heritage.
The name "Badakhshan" (بدخشان, Badaxšân; بدخشان; Бадахшон, Badakhshon; Бадахшан) is derived from the Sasanian official title bēdaxš or badaxš, which may be from an earlier *pati-axša; the suffix -ān indicates that the country belonged, or had been assigned as a fief, to a person holding the rank of a badaxš.
Badakhshan has a diverse ethnolinguistic and religious community. Tajiks and Pamiris are in the majority while a tiny minority of Kyrgyzs and Uzbeks are also found in some villages. There are also groups of speakers of several Pamir languages of the Eastern Iranian language group. During the 20th century within Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan, the speakers of Pamir languages formed their own separate ethnic identity as Pamiris. The Pamiri people were not officially recognized as a separate ethnic group in Tajikistan, but Tajikistan Pamiri movements and associations have been formed. The main religions of Badakhshan are Ismaili Islam and Sunni Islam. The people of this province have a rich cultural heritage and they have preserved unique ancient forms of music, poetry, and dance. Nasir Khusraw propagated Ismailism.
Badakhshan was an important trading center during antiquity. The only then-known deposits of lapis lazuli were mined there as early as the second half of the 4th millennium BC. Badakhshan was an important region, crossed by the Silk Road. Its significance was its geo-economic role in the silk trade and ancient commodities transactions between the East and West.
Marco Polo wrote that Balas ruby could be found under the "Syghinan" (Shighnan) mountain in Badashan/Badakshan.
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