Yellow Area: Wakhan Corridor set up in 1895 to separate Russian and British spheres of influence. Visited by Marco Polo in 1274.Orange line: Our route, Pamir Highway and detour south.
Yellow line: Karakoram Highway.
A, Alichor; B, Bozai Gumbaz; F, Faizabad, I/I, Ishkashim/Ishkoshim; K, Kalaikhum; L, Langar; S, Sarhad (near Broghil Pass).
We made contact with the Wakhan Corridor when we followed the Pamir River to its confluence with the Wakhan River. At the point where the two rivers join to form the Pyanj River the elevation is about 9,500 ft above sea level. By the time the southernmost point in the river is reached the level is about 800 ft lower. For most of this section the river is broad and there are in many places islands used for grazing. This turning point is the end of the Wakhan corridor appendage to Afghanistan.
The road follows the Pyanj River due north. As it flows north the river becomes more turbulent because the valley narrows and the level drops some 4,700 ft. Before the river swings to the southwest it takes a Z detour through a narrow gorge with near vertical walls. 
The photograph shows a trail along the Afghan side of the gorge. On the Tajik side the road in many places has been blasted out of the cliff face.
At Kalaikhum (1,200m/3,934ft) we left the border and the river to climb over a high grassy plateau region and eventually reached our final destination Duschanbe. 
In the wider valley before the northward turn the main drama is the view of the major peaks of the Hindu Kush. These define the Afghan-Pakistan border and appear as a line of white in Satalite phtographs. They are not much more than 12 miles away and several of the peaks are over 7,000 m. Of these Nashaq Peak (7429m/24580ft), first climbed in 1960, is the highest peak in Afganistan and the third highest in the Hindu Kush. The observed elevation from river level is about 15,800 ft. The slightly higher Tirich Mir (7,709m/25,292ft), whose importance goes back to the early days of Himalayan climbing, is further away and may not be visible, or if it is visible it appers as a lesser peak. On the Afghan side of the river the main peaks are Marx (6,732m) and Engels (6,507m).
The Bridge Not Crossed. At Ishkoshim on the Pyanj River there is a bridge and border crossing to Ishkashim in Afghanistan. The bridge was opened in 2006, thanks to the support of the Agha Kahn foundation. There is a major contrast between the two sides of the river. In Soviet times the Tajik side of the river was developed as a resort area, thanks to the presence of hot springs and the dramatic scenery. Hydropower supports local industry. The Afghan side has been a largely forgotten region. The better agricultural land is limited and in places there is only subsistence farming. Both sides of the river have a reputation for drug smuggling and there is also an illegal trade in gemstones such as rubies. On the Afghan side there is a road through the mountains to Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province. It is situated in the only major valley that crosses the main north-south mountain chain. This junction town was a military center during the Soviet occupation. A road to the east from Ishkashim provides access to the Corridor but it comes to an end at Sarhad (10,112 ft.) Up to this point the road passes small Tajik-speaking farming settlements. Beyond Sarhad there is a deep river gorge and a steep ascent. Transport of goods requires pack animals, notably yaks. Eventually a high rich grassland area is reached inhabited by Turkic speaking Kyrgyz herders living in Yurts. Here at about 12,500 ft is Bozai Gumbaz, a historic place of meeting. Although we only viewed the western end of the Wakhan Corridor, its importance in the Great Game, past and future, requires comment.
The Gibraltar of the Hindu Kush. In Part 1 in discussing the consulate at Kashgar I noted that in 1891 Francis Yonghusband, on his way back to Gilgit from a grim winter of diplomatic isolation in Kashgar, made a detour over the broad Wakhjir Pass (4,847m/15,836ft) and to his surprise encountered Russian Cossacks. He was informed that this was Russian territory and politely ordered to leave. Cables were sent back and forth between Simla and London. In London Lord Rosebery, shortly to become Foreign Secretary, declared: “Bozai Gumbaz is the Gibraltar of the Hindu Kush.” There was no backing down. Gurkha troops were sent to Bozai Gumbaz from Gilgit and Younghusband, with his added troops, sat out the crisis on the Wakhan side of the passes through the Hindu Kush to India. (See Patrick French, Younghusband. 1994; Chs 6, 7.)
The Cradle of Our Race. The next major player in the Great Game was Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1898-1904. He hsd become deeply suspicious of Russia’s motives while traveled extensively on Russia railways and in Afghanistan. There was however diplomatic progress. In 1893 the Durand line was drawn to establish the border of Afghanistan with India (still a festering issue.) In1894 Curzon probed the boundary by crossing the Wakhjir Pass, with permission from Kabul. He probably wanted to find out what in practice Russia was doing, but he took the opportunity to investigate the source of the Oxus. A river “believed to have rocked the cradle of our race.” He settled as the source a glacier towards the Hindu Kush that feeds the upper Ab-i-Wakhan River. By this choice he discounted Lake Victoria on the Pamir River, mentioned above, and also the Chakmak lake area that feeds the Murghab River. His account in the Geographic Journal (Aug and Sept 1898) led to a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society.
The Innermost Heart of Central Asia. In the Soviet era the Russians seem to have accepted the Wakhan boundaries, however the source of the Oxus was still of interest in the postwar World War II period. In 1948 the noted climber Bill Tilman left the British Consulate in Kashgar, after indulging in a little climbing with the outgoing consul Eric Shipton. He aimed to brighten up the travel to Gilgit by detouring from China into the Wakhan valley by the Wakhjir Pass and exit by a pass through the Hindu Kush. On the Oxus question he wrote: “Speaking as a Mountaineer, the only fit and proper birthplace for this mighty river of most ancient fame is the ice-cave…at the innermost heart of Central Asia.” Unfortunately he trusted in the remoteness of the area and did not worry about Afghan intransigence. He was arrested and imprisoned as a spy by the local authorities. He was eventually escorted to a high and inconvenient border pass and discharged into the newly created Pakistan – minus his notebooks and passport. (See W. H. Tilman. Two Mountains and a River. 1949. Ch 13,14, 15. Tillman is my source for the Curzon visit.)
The Gibraltar of the Hindu Kush. In Part 1 in discussing the consulate at Kashgar I noted that in 1891 Francis Yonghusband, on his way back to Gilgit from a grim winter of diplomatic isolation in Kashgar, made a detour over the broad Wakhjir Pass (4,847m/15,836ft) and to his surprise encountered Russian Cossacks. He was informed that this was Russian territory and politely ordered to leave. Cables were sent back and forth between Simla and London. In London Lord Rosebery, shortly to become Foreign Secretary, declared: “Bozai Gumbaz is the Gibraltar of the Hindu Kush.” There was no backing down. Gurkha troops were sent to Bozai Gumbaz from Gilgit and Younghusband, with his added troops, sat out the crisis on the Wakhan side of the passes through the Hindu Kush to India. (See Patrick French, Younghusband. 1994; Chs 6, 7.)
The Cradle of Our Race. The next major player in the Great Game was Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India from 1898-1904. He hsd become deeply suspicious of Russia’s motives while traveled extensively on Russia railways and in Afghanistan. There was however diplomatic progress. In 1893 the Durand line was drawn to establish the border of Afghanistan with India (still a festering issue.) In1894 Curzon probed the boundary by crossing the Wakhjir Pass, with permission from Kabul. He probably wanted to find out what in practice Russia was doing, but he took the opportunity to investigate the source of the Oxus. A river “believed to have rocked the cradle of our race.” He settled as the source a glacier towards the Hindu Kush that feeds the upper Ab-i-Wakhan River. By this choice he discounted Lake Victoria on the Pamir River, mentioned above, and also the Chakmak lake area that feeds the Murghab River. His account in the Geographic Journal (Aug and Sept 1898) led to a gold medal from the Royal Geographical Society.
The Innermost Heart of Central Asia. In the Soviet era the Russians seem to have accepted the Wakhan boundaries, however the source of the Oxus was still of interest in the postwar World War II period. In 1948 the noted climber Bill Tilman left the British Consulate in Kashgar, after indulging in a little climbing with the outgoing consul Eric Shipton. He aimed to brighten up the travel to Gilgit by detouring from China into the Wakhan valley by the Wakhjir Pass and exit by a pass through the Hindu Kush. On the Oxus question he wrote: “Speaking as a Mountaineer, the only fit and proper birthplace for this mighty river of most ancient fame is the ice-cave…at the innermost heart of Central Asia.” Unfortunately he trusted in the remoteness of the area and did not worry about Afghan intransigence. He was arrested and imprisoned as a spy by the local authorities. He was eventually escorted to a high and inconvenient border pass and discharged into the newly created Pakistan – minus his notebooks and passport. (See W. H. Tilman. Two Mountains and a River. 1949. Ch 13,14, 15. Tillman is my source for the Curzon visit.)
Stones into Schools. Despite these endorsements Bozai Gumbaz, the Yurt settlement, had been off the political map until it was mentioned by Greg Mortenson at the end of Three Cups of Tea. Its symbolic importance forms the basic narrative of his second book Stones into Schools (2010), now in paperback. Some photographs of these schools are included in a recent New York Times article by Edward Wong. (Oct 28, 2010. Wakhan Corridor Journal.) In the new book Mortenson relates how a promise to the local Kahn was fulfilled. His organization The Central Asia Institute has managed to create 21 schools in the region between Faizabad and Sarhad. Bozai Gumbaz, however, was almost a ‘bridge too far.’ Eventually cement and rebars were driven by truck from Khorog by the Pamir Highway to Murgab and then overland to cross the Afghan border north of Bozai Gumbaz. From the trail end 43 local yaks were used to take the loads to the building site. Less weighty goods were brought from Sarhad. Experienced masons and carpenters that had crossed the Irshad Pass from Pakistan directed the building of the foundation by the local Kyrgyz. The impossible was finished, thanks to the local commitment and the vision of their leader Abdul Rashid Khan, on September 28, 2009.
The Next Chapter in the Great Game; Enter China. The players in the Great Game have changed. China has adopted the role played by Russia in the time of Lord Curzon. The Russians built railways; the Chinese have built roads and railways in the most forbidding terrains. Their ‘forward policy’ has been to reach out across borders, as in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. I have twice traveled the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan and in 2003 I descended the road to the Kathmandu valley that links the Tibetan plateau to Nepal. Internally the highway and rail linkages are being steadily expanded. The high altitude railway to Lhasa is an example and the main motivation is probably the shipment of minerals. A New York Times article by Andrew Jacobs (Kashgar Journal Nov 15, 2010) that describes the massive building program in Kashgar notes the intended extension of the railroad system to Kashgar. In 2008 China signed a $3 billion mining agreement with Afghanistan that grants them a 30 year lease on copper mining. The proposal is to build Afghanistan’s first railroad. It would, I assume, run through either the Panjir valley and over a high pass or via Faizerbad to reach the Wakhan Corridor and then over the mountains to Kashgar. Expect Bozai Gombaz to be an exotic railroad stopping point with a bright pink hotel resembling the one near the Rongbuck Monastery near to Everest.
Given such economic leverage, China can expect to be a major player in the future of Afghanistan. However it will not be the only economic player. 2008 India completed a road connecting the Iranian container port of Chahbahar to northern Afghanistan and Central Asia. (See Thomas Barfield. Afghanistan; a Cultural and Political History. 2010. Princeton UP. p 346, p 344 )
The Mes Aynak Mine. The copper that the China Metallurgical Group Corp plans to mine happens to be beneath a major Buddhist site 40 km to the southeast of Kabul. The site has seven stupas and a great numbers of statues. The complex was evidently a key center in the transmission of Buddhism between the first and seventh centuries CE, akin to Taxilla in Pakistan. The Chinese have given archeologist a three year window before they start to blow up the ruins. Because of political instability and low funding Archeologists estimate that it is at least a ten year task. An article in Science states that only Karzai can stop the destruction (Vol 329, 30 July 2010.)
Breakfast at Khorog
Our brief say at Khorog, the capital of the large eastern Gorno-Badakhshan egional, provided a morning when there was no immediate departure. It was a moment to review, to ask the question: What had we not expected? As tourists it was easy to see only the wonderful setting. There was a pleasant garden with a view across the river. To the left was the confluence with the Gunt Rriver, to the right the new suspension bridge to Afghanistan. But what were we not seeing?
Our first surprise; The Russian Influence: both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are still firmly bound to Russia. The normal post-Regan narrative in the USA is that these former components of the USSR remembered the Soviets as oppressors. But the separation was in 1991 and the pain of most of those who suffered has died with them. The next generation remembers the Soviet period as providing work and economic stability. With separation the factories closed. Now large numbers have to travel to Russia to find employment and the remittances sent home are an essential part of their economies. Russian is still the necessary common language of the region. The USA ships almost half its essential military supplies to Afghanistan via air from Bishkek and by road from western Tajikistan, but, in general, it keeps as low a profile as possible and provides some cultural support.
The economic condition of Tajikistan has not been helped by the civil war that began in 1992 a year spurred on by Islamic beliefs and clan loyalties. The Pamir region starved in 1992-3 as the result of a blockade. Russian troops moved back to the Afghan border. A cease fire in 1996 and a peace agreement in June of 1997 left Tajikistan one of the poorest countries in the world. As might be expected, the drug trade flourishes.
Our brief say at Khorog, the capital of the large eastern Gorno-Badakhshan egional, provided a morning when there was no immediate departure. It was a moment to review, to ask the question: What had we not expected? As tourists it was easy to see only the wonderful setting. There was a pleasant garden with a view across the river. To the left was the confluence with the Gunt Rriver, to the right the new suspension bridge to Afghanistan. But what were we not seeing?
Our first surprise; The Russian Influence: both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are still firmly bound to Russia. The normal post-Regan narrative in the USA is that these former components of the USSR remembered the Soviets as oppressors. But the separation was in 1991 and the pain of most of those who suffered has died with them. The next generation remembers the Soviet period as providing work and economic stability. With separation the factories closed. Now large numbers have to travel to Russia to find employment and the remittances sent home are an essential part of their economies. Russian is still the necessary common language of the region. The USA ships almost half its essential military supplies to Afghanistan via air from Bishkek and by road from western Tajikistan, but, in general, it keeps as low a profile as possible and provides some cultural support.
The economic condition of Tajikistan has not been helped by the civil war that began in 1992 a year spurred on by Islamic beliefs and clan loyalties. The Pamir region starved in 1992-3 as the result of a blockade. Russian troops moved back to the Afghan border. A cease fire in 1996 and a peace agreement in June of 1997 left Tajikistan one of the poorest countries in the world. As might be expected, the drug trade flourishes.
Our second surprise; the Pamiri Culture: In all this turmoil the distinctive Pamiri culture has survived. The Pamiris, mainly Nizari-Ismaili Muslims, are located on both sides of the Pyanj River. The treaty establishing the Afghan-Russian border that was signed by Russia and Britain on February 25, 1895 left the Pamiri community divided. The cultural, ethnic and religious contacts between the two sides of the river were maintained until 1936 when the USSR closed the Tajik-Afghan border but contact has resumed in recent years. The culture on the Tajik side must have been influenced by the Russian presence.
This culture we glimpsed while visiting Langar, Yamg and Khorog, The above picture is of performer in a folk music event at Yamg. The hats are signatures of that particular village.
Permission to photograph women in many Muslim countries is normally refused but here everyone was delighted to be photographed — old and young, male and female. The above photo is of a holiday gathering at Langar. Head scarves for women seemed to be optional.
Women shopping at the Afghan market near the Khorog bridge.
Afghan selling boots.The Ismaili Muslims require some explanation as from the US perspective they have a very low profile. The Ismalis are a branch of Shia Islam that separated over a dispute about the choice of the seventh Imam in the family line from Mohammed. They are often known as Seveners and they were once the main branch. The Imam line for the other branch came to an end with the 12th Imam, hence they are known as Twelvers. For the Nizari-Ismailis the present Imam is the 49th: the Agha Kahn IV. The twelvers, now the majority, tend to be legalistic and text directed; they are often associated with large cities. The Nizari-Ismalis, Seveners, are more mystical and have linkages to the Sufi tradition. That has made them the particular target of traditionalist Suni Muslims. From the point of view of many Suni and Shia Muslims the Ismalis are at best deluded and at worst heretical. One can compare their situation to that of the Samaritans in the first century CE who had their own Torah and their own temple on Mount Gerizim in Samaria and claimed to be of the true Abrahmic line. The Ismailis do not go in for mosques; we saw none. We did see family devotional centers. In general the Ismailis have been pushed into the more remote areas. I encountered them in the Hunza valley in Pakistan.
The importance of family traditions was shown to us by a visit to the Mubarak Kadam Wakhani museum and center built inYamg by relatives. He is described as a Sufi Sage and mystic who lived from 1843-1903. The museum is built on family ground next to a small building that has been his work and study place. 
The above photograph shows to the left the custodian, the driving force in the enterprise, and his cousin who was there to read some of Mubarak’s poetry. In addition to the poetry, that reminded me a little of Rabindranath Tagore in its universalism (but it draws on mystic Shia Muslim traditions about Ali.) He wrote songs, commentaries on the Koran and devised a solar devotional calendar.
The above photograph shows to the left the custodian, the driving force in the enterprise, and his cousin who was there to read some of Mubarak’s poetry. In addition to the poetry, that reminded me a little of Rabindranath Tagore in its universalism (but it draws on mystic Shia Muslim traditions about Ali.) He wrote songs, commentaries on the Koran and devised a solar devotional calendar. The Agha Kahn Foundation and the Agha Kahn Development Network have been of enormous importance to the Pamiri community. Money from the foundation helped keep the area from starvation during the civil war. The bridges at Iskashim and Khorog and Darwaz, built with the help of the Foundation, have allowed contact between the Pamiris on both sides of the river to be renewed. On the Tajik side schools and hospitals have been built. Khorog has been provided with a well tended tree-covered park next to the river. The contribution that impressed us most was the University of Central Asia that was started in 1994 and funded by the Foundation. We were shown the plans drawn up by an award winning Japanese architect, for an impressive larger Khorog campus. But the aims of the university is to be trans-national. The Network supports three branches: at Khorog in Tajikistan, at Naryin in Kyrgyzstan and at Tekeli in Kazakhstan. There are connections to Karakoram International University in Gilgit-Hunza, Pakistan, and a school in Faizerbad in Afghanistan (built with US aid.) The basic aim of this university movement is to address the problems of mountain communities. Childhood education is enormously important for all the reasons that Greg Mortenson has spelled out, but the danger is that the impact of rural education will be diminished because it serves to provide a means for the young to leave. Sustainable mountain communities need the commitment of the educated to local economic and environmental problems.
But what of the Afghan side of the river? How is the future of the mountainous Badakhshan Province tied to the fate of Afghanistan as a whole? The linkage of the University of Central Asian to Faizabad and the schools built by the Central Asia Institute suggests one possibility: an empowered Pamiri culture could help create a Badakhshan with some sort of responsible autonomy within Afghanistan. The Soviet regime, the Taliban and US policy have all emphasized a strong central controlling government— a typical nation state. The present centralized self-serving and corrupt Pashtun-dominated government in Kabul seems to be fatally flawed. Sooner or later it could collapse in all out war, or there could be a blending of the Pashtun with the Taliban. Given past brutality, there is no evident way such a combination can be reconciled with the Pamiri culture. A measure of separation seems essential. Perhaps education can help bring this about.
The present situation is by no means stable. While we were in Tajikistan a Taliban group killed 10 medical aid workers in the Badakhshan Mountains. The latest Journey of Hope from Greg Mortenson's organization reports on the way in which small bands of Taliban from Pakistan attacking the adjacent Nuristan region have created floods of refugees into Badakshan. If civil war breaks out when the US leaves that flood will only increase.
As to the place of education: A letter just received by my wife (Betty) from a former student from Pakistan described his summer visiting his family, wandering in the Hindu Kush, locating Sufi shrines and taking a university course. He writes: “The course on Allama Iqbal's Urdu poetry was a treat in its own.” … “Though things [in Pakistan] look really bad and sound even worse, I have my hopes pinned on the students studying in the universities. They are very passionate and want to see Pakistan prosper and they are willing to work hard and smart for it. I could sense the frustration these kids had with the current state of affairs. I understand that action is harder than just talking but a lot of students have taken the initiative to improve their worlds in their own way and I can see the rest following soon. Honestly it is hard to explain but it was very encouraging to spend a couple of months in the university.”
May we also be encouraged.
SOURCES
Edward Wong New York Times Oct 28, 2010 Wakhan Corridor Journal.
Andrew Jacob, Kashgar Journal, New York Times Nov 15, 2010. Kashgar Journal
Journey of Hope 2010, Vol IV. Jaskol and Ronnow. Just issued by the Central Asia Institute.
(This has phtographs of the Ishkashim school.)
Middleton Pamir Blog.
Thomas Barfield: Political Legitimacy in the Land of the Hindu Kush.Posted summary of Lecture May 23, 2010.
TRIP
Our trip was organized by MIR of Seattle, USA.
Our excellent guide was Yura Kim of Bukhara, Uzbekistan.
CURIOUS EVENT.
Betty and I attended the above Barfield Lecture at Yale in May. It had been enthusiastically organized by two students: Anna Kellar and Mari Oye. We talked to them afterwards. At Yamg on August 12 as we were waiting for lunch what should happen but that the same two enterprising students walked into the guest house. Tajikistan was providing them with the chance to use their Yale studied Farsi (the Tajik language is a form of Persian.) Anna's perspective on her trip is contained in her blog for August 2010. (Also, check out the watermellon song. )
Betty and I attended the above Barfield Lecture at Yale in May. It had been enthusiastically organized by two students: Anna Kellar and Mari Oye. We talked to them afterwards. At Yamg on August 12 as we were waiting for lunch what should happen but that the same two enterprising students walked into the guest house. Tajikistan was providing them with the chance to use their Yale studied Farsi (the Tajik language is a form of Persian.) Anna's perspective on her trip is contained in her blog for August 2010. (Also, check out the watermellon song. )
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