Uruzgan is a highland province in south-central Afghanistan, a country of mountains and hills cut by green river valleys. Almost half the land is mountainous and nearly a third hilly, and almost all of its streams eventually feed the Helmand, Afghanistan’s longest river, which passes through the west of the province on its way south-west. Its capital, Tarinkot, sits about 1,317 metres above sea level beside two rivers and a web of canals.
Rivers and valleys
Rising in the Koh-e Baba mountains west of Kabul, the Helmand enters Uruzgan as a young river and runs through Shahid-e Hassas (Char Chino) to Dehrawud. The Teri Rud flows from Khas Uruzgan past Tarinkot, where it is joined by the Darwishan or Chora river coming down from Chora; the Khalaj and Tamazan streams descend from the north. All of these waters meet the Helmand around Dehrawud.
Most farmland is irrigated by water led from the rivers through traditional canals, while karez channels and wells supply the rest. Winters are cold, and snow falls on Tarinkot every year; summers are hot and dry, and long droughts have lowered the rivers and hurt both fields and flocks.
People and places
Most of Uruzgan’s people are Pashtuns, among them Nurzai, Popalzai, Barakzai and Achakzai, and there are Hazara communities as well. Pashto is the main language, and Dari is spoken among Hazaras. The neighbouring province of Daykundi was created from what had been northern Uruzgan.
Tarinkot was historically part of the wider Kandahar region, and tradition holds that chiefs of the Tarin Pashtuns had a seat here as early as the twelfth or thirteenth century. Roads lead from the town south to Kandahar, north to Nili in Daykundi and north-east towards Malistan in Ghazni, linking the valleys of Uruzgan with their neighbours. Tarinkot is also home to Uruzgan University.
Almonds, apricots and cumin
Farming and herding are the backbone of life. Wheat is the staple, alongside maize, barley, potatoes (especially from Khas Uruzgan), rice from the valleys of Dehrawud, Tarinkot and Char Chino, and melons and watermelons from Dehrawud. Cumin is a valued cash crop.
Orchards give apricots, many of them sold dried, and almonds; Uruzgan’s almonds are well known in the markets of Kandahar, where much of the province’s produce is traded. In summer, Kuchi herders take their flocks up to the highland pastures of Chora and Khas Uruzgan, coming down to Dehrawud and Tarinkot for winter. Village households keep cows, sheep and donkeys and make ghee, qurut (dried yoghurt) and wool for sale.