A look at Maidan Wardak Province

Maidan Wardag is one of the six central provinces of Afghanistan. It is situated at west of Capital Kabul and Parwan, to the north-west of Logar and to the east of Ghazni and Bamyan provinces.

Presently its capital is Maidan Shar, "means Ground with city" which lays about 35 kilometers to the west of Kabul.

During the reign of King Zaher Shah in 1336 lunar  (1957 A.D) Maidan Wardag became a province. Before being a province it was a district of Logar and some districts of the province were belonging to Ghazni province.

At first it was called only Wardag “Persian pronunciation, Wardak” and its first ever capital was Kot-e-Ashro. But in the reign of Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan (1973-1978) the capital shifted to (Maidan Shar) consequently it became the second capital of the province.

When Mujahideen (Islamic religious fighters) beat Soviets and the communist regime broke down in Afghanistan. The local commanders of Maidan Shar took control of the provincial capital (1992). They added “Maidan, which means ground and desert in Pashto/Dari Languages” to Wardag and started calling the province, Maidan Wardag instead of only Wardag.

But still, some Wardags (Wardag People) do not accept Maidan Wardag as a province name. They prefer to call it only Wardag or Wardag-Maidan. Also plenty of foreigners use Wardak as a province name in their official documents.

WARDAG AS A CLAN NAME

Originally Wardag is the name of a famous Pashtun clan. The person, who belongs to the clan, is called Wardag and also the region where Wardags dwell is named Wardag as well. In English when we speak of Wardag people we had better use the plural form (Wardags).

Certain Wardags believe that, they are relations of Zadrann and Mangal, who are main Pashtun tribes related to Karlanni Pashtuns. Zadrann and, Mangal also think, they are blood-related to each other. This claim can be proved by studying dialects and folklore of Wardag, Mangal and Zadrann clans comparatively.

However, some other Wardags and historians claim, Wardags are “Sayeds” descendents of (Sayed Gaiso Daraz), who was a religious saint, descended from (Hazrat Bibi Fatima, only living daughter of Hazrat Muhammad. The descendants of Hazrat Bibi Fatima are called (Sayeds) and they are supposed more respectful among Muslims.

DISTRICTS

Maidan Wardag has eight districts and a capital, they are as following:

1. Maidan Shar (Provincial Capital),

2. Jalrez,

3. Behsood-1,

4. Markazi Behsood (Behsood-2),

5. Dai Mirdad,

6. Chack,

7. Sayedabad,

8. Narkh,

9. Jaghatu.

ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES

Maidan Wardag is one of the richest provinces regarding Archeological sites. The information and culture provincial directorate said that there are 42 sites throughout the province, and the number can be increased if more excavations take place in the region. Some famous sites and historic regions are as following:

1.      Khawat: this site is in Jalrez district and some samples of Kharwashti script have been discovered there. Before Islam Kharwashti was most famous script in Pashtun region. Samples of the script have been found in Daronta and Shabaz Garrai regions also.

2.      Alghata hill (Narkh)

3.      Kafir Kala (Daimirdad)

4.      Badasaib  (Jaghatu)

5.      Siakhak (Behsood)

ETHNICITIES

Three important Afghan ethnicities dwell in MWP, which are as following:

Pashtun: Most Maidan Wardag residents are Pashto speakers. They are divided into below tribes and branches:

WARDAG: Wardag is the main and major Pashtun clan in the province. They are majority in (Jaghatu, Sayedabad, Chack, Jalrez and Daymirdad) districts.

Wardags also live in Takhta-pul and Qothar Bolagh of (Imam Saib, Qunduz,) Azar Bagh, Khwajah Ghar of (Takhar) and Gor-e-gaa, Sapari of (Kunar) Provinces.

Wardags are divided into three sub- tribes (Mayar, Noori and Meerkhel).

AMAR KHEL: This is another important Pashtun clan in Maidan Wardag. This clan mostly lives in capital Maidan Shar, Narkh and Jalrez districts. Mostly residents of Maidan Shar are Amar Khel.

Hothak, Ebrahimkhel, Hassnzai, Andarr, Sthankzai, Mullah Khel, Kharotee, Haripal, Sheranni, Wazeer, and other Pashtun clans dwell in various parts of the Province.

Hazara: they are about 20 percent(?) of the residents. They mostly abide in two districts (Behsoods-1, Behsood-2) some of them also live in Dai Mirdad district.

Hazaras dwelling region is supposed a part of Hazarajath.

Since, century’s nomadic tribes of Pashtuns traveled to HAZARAJAT to have fertile pastures for their cattle, Hazaras and Pahtuns had been living together pleasantly for centuries.

Others: Some Dari speaking Afghans dwell in Capital Maidan Shar and Jalrez but they are less in number.

MINERALS

There are certain mines of copper, iron, marble, cromide and slate stones found in the Province.

FAMOUS SHRINES

As some other Muslims, people of Maidan Wardag, especially the un-learned women and men believe in shrines. On the base of this reason there are many shrines. Some famous are as following:

1.     Shah Qalndar Baba (Kaka village, Chack Distract) some Hazaras believe that they are descendents of this saint.

2.     Akhwand Baba (Speen Kshara , Chack)

3.     Khwajah Mahyat Baba ( Nekpaiqol Valley, Chack)

4.     Khwajah Ghurban Baba (Chack Khalili Village)

5.     Sufi Baba (Say Bakah, Chack)

6.     Mullah Banaras Famous by Mullah Kaka (Charka, Capital Maidan Shar)

7.     Boom (Narkh)

8.     Kherqa Sharifa (Kote-e-Ashro, Capital)

9.     Shahidano Ziarat (Kote-e-Ashro, Capital)

10. Shah Qubad-e-Wali (Seenzai, Narkh)

11. Loy Mullah Saeb, “Means Great priest” ( Shahabuddin Valley,Narkh)

12. Sobai (Amir Khar, Sayedabad)

GOVERNORS

During the reign of King Muhammad Zahir Shah (1933 – July 25, 1973):

1. Mr. Abdul Baqi “Yousafzai”

2. Mr. Mohammad Ebrahim “Abbasi”

3. Mr. Abdul Malik “Lal Purwal”

4. Mr. Abdul Samad “Bakhshi”

During the reign of Sardar Muhammad Daud Khan (July 17 1973- April 27, 1978):

5. Mr. Abdul Qadir “Qazi”

6. Mr. Amir Mohammad “Amiri”

During the reign of Noor Muhammad Tarakay and Hafiz Ullah Amen (April 1978--December 27, 1979):

7. Mr. Ghulam Hassan

8. Mr. Azizullah “Wagarrai”

9. Mr. Mehmood “Ghafuri”

During the reign of Babrak Karmal (December 1979-May 4, 1986):

10.  Mr. Ahmad Jan “Razma Awar”

11.  Mr. Ghulam Rasool “Yousufi”

12.  Mr. Besmillah “Omar”

During the reign of Dr. Najibullah, Mr. Sibghatullah and Burhanuddin Rabani (May 4, 1986- September 1996 A.D):

13.  Mr. Mohammad Sharif “Noori”

14.  Mr. Sher Mohammad “Walasyar”

15.  Mr. Hayatullah “Raziqi”

16.  Mr. General Mohammad Zarif “Amarkhel”

17.  Mr. Fazal Din “Mehri”

18.  Mr. Dr. Ezattullah “Anwari”

During the reign of Taliban (September 1996-November 13, 2001 A.D):

19.  Mr. Mullah Abdul Rashid

20.  Mr. Mullah Abdul Samad “Khanjaree”

21.  Mr. Mullah Abdul Hakim “Haqani”

22.  Mr. Mullah Shamsuddin

From the interim administration and After the Presidential Election of Mr. Hamid Karzai (September 13, 2001- Until now):

23.  Mr. Al-Haj Saifullah “Ahmadzai” [5/2/1381- 23/5/1382]

24.  Mr. Al Haj Hamid Ullah “Tokhai” [23/5/1382- 13/12/1382]

25.  Mr. Al-Haj Raz Mohammad Dalili [23/7/1382- 13/12/1383]

26. Mr. Abdul Jabbar”Naeemi” (13/12/1383 until now)

ELECTED MEMBERS

Senators

There are two senators of Maidan Wardag Province in Afghan senate, one female and one female.

1.      Mr. Samay Jan. (Pashtoon)

2.      Mrs. Kobra Mustafavi. (Hazara).

Parliamentarians

There are five persons from the province in Afghan Parliament. Three are male and two are female. They are as following:

1. Mr. Abdul Raza Razaee (With 10278Votes)

2. Mr. Ahmad Hussain Sangardost (With 6500Votes)

3. Mr. Muhammad Mussa Hothak.  (With 5706Votes)

4. Mrs. Roshanak Wardak (With 3880 Votes)

5. Mrs. Sadiqa Mubarez (With 4763 Votes)

Members of provincial council

1. Mr. Mohammad Hussain Fahimi, ( with 9991 votes)               

2. Mr. Mohammad Mokhles Mokhles, (with 7670 votes)   

3. Mr. Sher Shah, (with 3609 Votes)

4. Mr. Haji Mohammad Hazrat Janan, ( with 3350 votes)

5. Mr. Said Mohammad Saidee, (with 2961 votes)

6. Mrs. Rahilah Wardag, (with 1998votes)

7. Mrs. Rabia Amini, (with 1863 votes)

8. Mrs. Bas Bibi, (with          votes)

REFERENCES

1. Pashtana Da Tareekh Pa Ranna Kay (Pashtuns in Light of History)

2. Personal Notes

3. Talking to people

4. Published Documents of Cultural and information office for governor of MWP.

 

Note: This article was written for information purpose about the province and is last updated on  April 22, 2008