Photo By Staff Sgt. Derek M. Smith | Melting ice from the mountain peaks of the Hindu Kush range in Afghanistan feed into...... read more read more
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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – Silent sentinels they stand as testament to history. They have many names - given to them by many people. To some they are protectors. To others they are grave reminders of times best forgotten. They have hindered some while assisted others. They are majestic, threatening, beautiful, barren, nurturing, oppressive, barriers or home depending on whose eyes one looks through. From their eyes one may watch history unfold. They are the Hindu Kush Mountains.
As one travels north in Afghanistan, the Hindu Kush is a sight to behold. Traveling by land over or through the range can be treacherous at times. The terrain and weather can both be daunting to the wary traveler. By air can be equally discomforting. Turbulence and ominous cliffs keep pilots vigilant as they pass through the high peaks. At times, one may get the impression the walls of rock are closing in, ready to envelop the craft.
The Hindu Kush is a 500 mile-long mountain range stretching between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. Its highest point, Tirich Mir, overlooks the town of Chitral, Pakistan, bordering on the northeast extension of Afghanistan. Local legend warns would-be adventurers that the 25,289 foot-high peak is impossible to climb because it is inhabited by Jinns, demons and witches. Fueling such legends, tourists are killed nearly every year trekking around the mountain, some of which are never found.
Legend aside, the range has hosted a varied and tumultuous history. The name Hindu Kush can be literally translated as “Hindu Killer.” It is a harsh reminder of an era when slaves from the Indian subcontinent died in the unforgiving terrain and weather of the Afghan mountains en route to Central Asia.
The range formed from the collision of the Indian and Eurasian continental plates approximately 50 million years ago. The Hindu Kush remains one of the most seismically active earthquake zones in the world. The nearly barren range produced countless mines for the lapis lazuli rock and emeralds.
These mountains host a mosaic of peoples to include Tajik in the northwest, Uzbek and Hazara in the central and western valleys, Kyrgyz nomads and Pashtun around the major towns. Melting ice from the peaks feeds tributaries to the major waterways in the area. The mountain system feeds the Helmand, Hari and Kabul Rivers.
High passes transecting the mountains form an important transit network. The most prominent is the Salang Pass linking Kabul to northern Afghanistan. With the completion of the Salang Tunnel in 1964, travel time along the route was reduced to a few hours. The tunnel was drilled 1.7 miles through the heart of the Hindu Kush.
Military actions are believed to have begun in the range during the reign of the Achaemenid King Darius the Great between 550 and 486 BC. Alexander the Great explored the area after his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire on 330 BC. Alexander’s Seleucid Empire ultimately fell to the Maurya Empire in 305 BC.
The Hindu Kush became the unofficial dividing line between British and Russian Empires’ areas of influence from approximately 1813 until the end of World War II. The Cold War brought its own turbulence to the region. Soviet Union forces invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and were in constant conflict with mujahedeen forces until the Soviet withdrawal in 1988.
Northern Alliance forces under the command of Ahmed Shah Massoud and others became intimately familiar with the Hindu Kush as mujahedeen against the Soviets. “The Lion of Panjsher” and his allies took up arms against the Taliban regime after it took power in 1996. He successfully defended northern Afghanistan, effectively using the mountains as a line of defense until his death on September 9, 2001.
A relative calm has settled over the range since the beginning of the current military operations in Afghanistan. Life in the villages nestled between the peaks continues on as it has for years as the giants keep vigil over them. The sentinels stand as they have for ages. They maintain their silence, but in their silence, they still speak volumes.
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 07.10.2012 06:48 |
| Story ID: | 91309 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 4,865 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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