Helmand culture Helmand culture of western Afghanistan was a
Bronze Age culture of the 3rd millennium BC. It is exemplified by such major sites as
Shahr-i Sokhta,
Mundigak, and
Bampur. The term "Helmand civilization" was proposed by M. Tosi. This civilization flourished between 2500 BC and 1900 BC and may have coincided with the great flourishing of the
Indus Valley Civilisation. This was also the final phase of Periods III and IV of Shahr-i Sokhta, and the last part of Mundigak Period IV. According to Jarrige et al., There were also links between Shahr-i Sokhta I, II, and III periods, and Mundigak III and IV periods, and between the sites of
Balochistan and the Indus valley at the end of the 4th millennium, as well as in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. The
Jiroft culture is closely related to the Helmand culture. The Jiroft culture flourished in eastern Iran, and the Helmand culture in western Afghanistan at the same time. They may represent the same cultural area. The
Mehrgarh culture, on the other hand, is far earlier.
Achaemenid times Helmand was inhabited by ancient peoples and governed by the
Medes before falling to the
Achaemenids. Later, the area was part of the ancient
Arachosia polity, and a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in
Asia, which connects
Southern,
Central and
Southwest Asia. The Helmand river valley is mentioned by name in the
Avesta (Fargard 1:13) as
Haetumant, one of the early centers or origins of the
Zoroastrian faith, in
pre-Islamic Afghan history. However, there was also a presence of non-Zoroastrians when Zoroastrians were dominant before the
Islamization of Afghanistan – particularly Buddhists. Some Vedic scholars (e.g. Kochhar 1999) also believe the Helmand river corresponds to the
Sarasvati river mentioned in the
Rig Veda as the homeland of the
Aryan tribes before migrating into the
Indian subcontinent, ca. 1500 BC.
Alexander the Great to modern times It was invaded in 330 BC by
Alexander the Great and became part of the
Seleucid Empire. Later, it came under the rule of the
Mauryan emperor
Ashoka, who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in
Greek and
Aramaic. The territory was referred to as part of
Zabulistan and ruled by the sun-worshipping
Zunbils before the
Muslim Arabs arrived in the 7th century, who were led by
Abdur Rahman bin Samara. It later fell to the
Saffarids of
Zaranj and saw the first Muslim rule.
Mahmud of Ghazni made it part of the
Ghaznavids in the 10th century, who were replaced by the
Ghurids. , built by the United States around the 1960s. After the destructions caused by
Genghis Khan and his Mongol army in the 13th century, the
Timurids established rule and began rebuilding Afghan cities. From about 1383 until his death in 1407, it was governed by
Pir Muhammad, a grandson of
Timur. By the early 16th century, it fell to
Babur. However, the area was often contested by the
Shia Safavids and
Sunni Mughals until the rise of
Mir Wais Hotak in 1709. He defeated the Safavids and established the
Hotaki dynasty. The Hotakis ruled it until 1738 when the
Afsharids defeated Shah
Hussain Hotaki at what is now
Old Kandahar.
Durrani era When
Ahmad Shah Durrani came to power in 1747, after
Nader Shah was assassinated, he began redistributing land grants that had been given by his predecessor. At that time, the area of what is now Helmand province was part of
Kandahar Province (which continued until it was split off into the new
Farah Province during the reign of
Sher Ali Khan), and it was known as
Pusht-e Rud, or "across the river", reflecting how the region was viewed from
Kandahar, which was Ahmad Shah's capital. Pusht-e Rud traditionally consisted into four districts:
Zamindawar,
Now Zad, Pusht-e Rud proper, and
Garmsir. Ahmad Shah's land redistribution legitimized existing
Alizai influence in Zamindawar, while the powerful
Barakzai received Pusht-e Rud proper, and the district of Garmsir in the south was granted to the
Noorzai to protect against
Baluch raids. Now Zad was divided between the Noorzai and the Ishaqzai. This arrangement has survived, with a few exceptions, until the present day. Then, as now, relatively few members of the
Popolzai tribe (to which Ahmad Shah Durrani belonged) lived in Helmand. The Durrani monarchs were thus ambivalent towards the area's tribes and didn't favor any one tribe over the others. Rather, they treated the tribes according to their relative power. Thus, the powerful Barakzai tribe received a hereditary position as ministers to the crown, as well as some of the most valuable land in Helmand: the alluvial plains around present-day
Malgir,
Babaji, and Spin Masjid, as well as the strategically important
Gereshk. and 1960, the province of Girishk was carved out of the western parts of the
province of Kandahar. The new provincial capital was named after the city of
Girishk, reflecting the historical role of the Barakzai, whose local dominance had been diluted by the influx of outside settlers. The choice was short-lived, however, since the
United States, whose HVA headquarters was based in
Lashkar Gah, successfully pressured the Afghan government to relocate the capital there. By 1964, the provincial capital had shifted to Lashkar Gah, and the province was renamed
Helmand. It was announced in January 2006 in the
British Parliament that
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) would replace the
U.S. troops in the province as part of
Operation Herrick. The British
16 Air Assault Brigade would be the core of the force in Helmand Province. British bases were located in the districts of
Sangin,
Lashkargah and
Grishk. British forces were replaced in Sangin by elements of the
United States Marine Corps I Marine Expeditionary Force Forward. In summer 2006, Helmand was one of the provinces involved in
Operation Mountain Thrust, a combined NATO-Afghan mission targeted at Taliban fighters in the south of the country. In July 2006, this offensive mission essentially stalled in Helmand as NATO, primarily British, and Afghan troops were forced to take increasingly defensive positions under heavy insurgent pressure. In response, British troop levels in the province were increased, and new encampments were established in Sangin and Grishk. Fighting was particularly heavy in the districts of Sangin, Naway,
Nawzad and
Garmsir. There were reports that the Taliban saw Helmand province as a key testing area for their ability to take and hold Afghan territory from NATO-led
Afghan National Security Forces. Commanders on the ground described the situation as the most brutal conflict the
British Army had been involved in since the
Korean War. In Autumn 2006, British troops started to reach "cessation of hostilities" agreements with local Taliban forces around the district centers where they had been stationed earlier in the summer. Under the terms of the agreement, both sets of forces were to withdraw from the conflict zone. This agreement from the British forces implied that the strategy of holding key bases in the district, as requested by
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, was essentially untenable with the levels of British troop deployment. The agreement was also a setback for
Taliban fighters, who were desperate to consolidate their gains in the province, but were under heavy pressure from various
NATO offensives. News reports identified the insurgents involved in the fighting as a mix of Taliban fighters and warring tribal groups who are heavily involved in the province's lucrative opium trade. Given the amount of drugs produced in the area, it is likely that foreign drug traffickers were also involved. station in
Lashkargah. Fighting continued throughout the winter, with British and allied troops taking a more pro-active stance against the Taliban insurgents. Several operations were launched including
Operation Silicone at the start of spring. In May 2007,
Mullah Dadullah, one of the Taliban's top commanders, along with 11 of his men were killed by NATO-led Afghan forces in Helmand. In April 2008, about 1,500
2nd Battalion 7th Marines occupied over of Helmand River valley and neighboring
Farah Province. The operation was to set up forward operation bases and train the
Afghan National Police in an area with little or no outside support. Also in 2008, an
Embedded Training Team from the
Oregon Army National Guard led a Kandak of
Afghan National Army troops in fighting against the Taliban in
Lashkargah, as seen in the documentary
Shepherds of Helmand. In June 2009, ''Operation Panther's Claw'' was launched with the stated aim of securing control of various canal and river crossings and establishing a lasting ISAF presence in an area described by Lt. Col. Richardson as "one of the main Taliban strongholds" ahead of the 2009 Afghan presidential election. In July 2009, around 4,000 U.S. Marines pushed into the Helmand River valley in a major offensive to liberate the area from Taliban insurgents. The operation, dubbed
Operation Khanjar (
Operation Dagger), was the first major push since
U.S. President Obama's request for 21,000 additional soldiers in Afghanistan, targeting the Taliban insurgents. In February 2013,
BBC reported that
corruption occurs in Afghan National Police bases, with some bases arming children, using them as servants and sometimes
sexually abusing them; in early March 2013, the
New York Times reported that government corruption is rampant with routine accusations against the police of shaking down and sexually abusing civilians causing loyalty to the government to be weaker. On 13 August 2021, the capital of the province Lashkar Gah fell to the Taliban after weeks of fighting in the
Battle of Lashkargah. Around 1,500 Afghan soldiers were said to have surrendered, leaving the province in Taliban hands. According to
The Washington Post, the US withdrawal and Taliban victory was mostly met with relief in Helmand; the province had suffered through some of the deadliest battles of the war from 2001 to 2021 and heavy US-led bombardments. ==Administrative divisions==