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"The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Persian: درهٔ پنجشير - Dare-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range….Banj Hir (Panjshir)...
Kapisa (Persian/Pashto: کاپيسا) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. ….
Website of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Urgyen Trinley Dorje………."Legend reports that Vasubandhu came from the "Kingdom of Shambhala' (approximately, modern Begram, otherwise known as the ancient kingdom of Kapisha, north of Kabul) located in the Afghanistan region, north-west of Peshawar....Bagram (بگرام Bagrám), founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus and known in medieval times as Kapisa, is a small town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul….in the old tradition of the 84 Mahasiddhas that the Kingdom of Uddiyana was divided between two countries, to the North and South. To the North, it bordered on the land of Shambhala (i.e., the Kingdom of Kapisa)…….….http://www.dharmafellowship.org/biographies/historicalsaints/pramodavajra.htm"….
PARWAN….."In 329 BC, Alexander the Great founded the settlement of Parwan as his Alexandria of the Caucasus. It was conquered by Arab Muslims in 792 AD. In 1221, the province was the site of the battle between the invading Mongols and the Khwarezmian Empire led by Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, where the Mongols were defeated. The famous Moroccan traveler and scholar, Ibn Battuta, visiting the area in 1333 writes: 'We halted next at a place called Banj Hir (Panjshir), which means "Five Mountains," where there was once a fine and populous city built on a great river with blue water like the sea. This country was devastated by Tinkiz, (Genghis Khan c.1227 AD) the king of the Tatars, and has not been inhabited since. We came to a mountain called Pashay, where there is a convent of the Shaykh Ata Awliya, which means "Father of the Saints." …We travelled thence to Parwan, where I met the amir Buruntayh…..We went on to the village of Charkh [Charikar], it being now summer, and from there to the town of Ghazna. This is the town of the famous warrior-sultan Mahmud ibn Sabuktagin …."—Ibn Battuta, 1304–1369
The earliest references to Kapisa appear in the writings of fifth century BCE Indian scholar Pāṇini. Pāṇini refers to the city of Kapiśi, a city of the Kapisa kingdom, modern Bagram……According to the scholar Pliny, the city of Kapiśi (also referred to as Kaphusa by Pliny's copyist Solinus and Kapisene by other classical chroniclers) was destroyed in the sixth century BCE by the Achaemenid emperor Cyrus (Kurush) (559-530 BC). Based on the account of the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang, who visited in AD 644, it seems that in later times Kapisa was part of a kingdom ruled by a Buddhist kshatriya king holding sway over ten neighboring states, including Lampaka, Nagarahara, Gandhara, and Banu. Hiuen Tsang notes the Shen breed of horses from the area, and also notes the production of many types of cereals and fruits, as well as a scented root called Yu-kin.
"The Panjshir Valley (also spelled Panjsheer or Panjsher; Persian: درهٔ پنجشير - Dare-ye Panjšēr; literally Valley of the Five Lions) is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River. The valley is home to more than 140,000 people, including Afghanistan's largest concentration of ethnic Tajiks…..The name Panjshir, literally meaning "Five Lions", refers to five Wali (literally, protectors), highly spiritual brothers who were centered in the valley….The Panjshir has always been an important highway. Nearly 100 km long, it leads to two passes over the Hindu Kush – the Khawak Pass (3848m) leading to the northern plains, and the Anjoman Pass (4430m) that crosses into Badakhshan – used by the armies of Alexander the Great and Timur.
Yuh.ana was on Mt. PARWAN, until age 22…….{[Skt.] PARWAN "mountain" (personified as god)
Pashay Ghar, Daychopan, Zabul, Afghanistan…Qalat (Pashto: قلات) is a town in southern Afghanistan and the capital of Zabul Province. It is linked by a highway with Kandahar to the west and Ghazni to the east….Qalat has been known as Qalāt, Qalat-i-Ghilzai, Qalat-i-Tokhi, Kalat, and Kalat-i Naser, Kalat-i Ghiljei…..The local skyline is dominated by a fortress constructed by the forces of Alexander the Great(see: Qalat (fortress)…..
The word qalat (kalata) is Persian and qal'at (qal‘a) is Arabic for 'fortified place'. It frequently occurs in place names. Qalats can range from castles like Rumkale to the mud-brick compound common throughout southwest Asia. The term is used throughout the Muslim world to indicate a defensive fortress. ….Qalāt-e Ġilzay Afghanistan ….CASTLES, primarily fortified country manors but also permanently inhabited defensive installations, maintained by the authorities along important land routes, and urban citadels, which functioned as administrative centers and places of refuge for inhabitants under siege, particularly in prehistoric and early historic times. The Old Persian word for “castle, fortress” is didā…..Middle Persian has diz, whence New Persian dez, as well as the archaizing form dež…… In New Persian kalāt “(mountain) fortress” (especially in Khorasan) and Arabic qaḷʿa “castle” are more commonly used…..http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/castles
ALEXANDER THE GREAT'S FORTRESS IN QALAT….Qalat (Pashto: قلات) is a town in southern Afghanistan and the capital of Zabul Province. It is linked by a highway with Kandahar to the west and Ghazni to the east….The local skyline is dominated by a fortress Qalat) constructed by the forces of Alexander the Great………. local Afghans call Ball Haizer, or simply "The Castle"….Zabul May 31, 2010, in Qalat City, Afghanistan. According to local officials, the fortress was built more than 2,000 years ago by the legendary Greek leader, Alexander the Great during his push to India. …the stone-structure, towering over the more than 10,000 inhabitants of Qalat City,….
Hallet, Stanley Ira and Samizay, Rafi (1980) Traditional Architecture of Afghanistan Garland STPM Press, New York, ISBN 0-8240-7059-3
Ghar Bolan Baba, a 730m deep cave historically used for religious purposes….
Email....okarresearch@gmail.com
John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….January 2014
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