Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush mountains at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
Highest point
PeakTirich Mir (Pakistan)
Elevation7,708 m (25,289 ft)
Coordinates36°14′45″N 71°50′38″E / 36.24583°N 71.84389°E / 36.24583; 71.84389
Dimensions
Length800 km (500 mi)
Geography
Topography of the Hindu Kush range[1]
CountriesAfghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan
RegionSouth and Central Asia
Parent rangeHimalayas

The Hindu Kush is an 800-kilometre-long (500 mi) mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and eastern Afghanistan[2][3] into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan. The range forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH);[4][5][6] to the north, near its northeastern end, the Hindu Kush buttresses the Pamir Mountains near the point where the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, after which it runs southwest through Pakistan and into Afghanistan near their border.[2]

The eastern end of the Hindu Kush in the north merges with the Karakoram Range.[7][8] Towards its southern end, it connects with the White Mountains near the Kabul River.[9][10] It divides the valley of the Amu Darya (the ancient Oxus) to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. The range has numerous high snow-capped peaks, with the highest point being Tirich Mir or Terichmir at 7,708 metres (25,289 ft) in the Chitral District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

The Hindu Kush range region was a historically significant center of Buddhism, with sites such as the Bamiyan Buddhas.[11][12] The range and communities settled in it hosted ancient monasteries, important trade networks and travelers between Central Asia and South Asia.[13][14] While the vast majority of the region has been majority-Muslim for several centuries now, certain portions of the Hindu Kush only became Islamized relatively recently, such as Kafiristan,[15] which retained ancient polytheistic beliefs until the 19th century when it was converted to Islam by the Emirate of Afghanistan and renamed Nuristan ("land of light").[16] The Hindu Kush range has also been the passageway for invasions of the Indian subcontinent,[17][18] and continues to be important to contemporary warfare in Afghanistan.[19][20]

  1. ^ Hindu Kush, Encyclopedia Iranica
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Searle2013p157 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ George C. Kohn (2006). Dictionary of Wars. Infobase Publishing. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4381-2916-7.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ICIMOD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference deborahkh was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Claudio Margottini (2013). After the Destruction of Giant Buddha Statues in Bamiyan (Afghanistan) in 2001: A UNESCO's Emergency Activity for the Recovering and Rehabilitation of Cliff and Niches. Springer. pp. 5–6. ISBN 978-3-642-30051-6.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference Neelis2010p249 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Ibn Battuta; Samuel Lee (Translator) (2010). The Travels of Ibn Battuta: In the Near East, Asia and Africa. Cosimo (Reprint). pp. 97–98. ISBN 978-1-61640-262-4.; Columbia University Archive
  15. ^ Cacopardo, Augusto S. (2017). Pagan Christmas: Winter Feasts of the Kalasha of the Hindu Kush. Gingko Library. ISBN 9781909942851.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference paganp29 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference Konrad H. Kinzl 2010 577 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wink2002p52 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Clements2003p109 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Michael Ryan 2013 54–55 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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