Maimana is the capital of Faryab province, northern Afghanistan, near the Uzbekistan border. It is approximately 400 km northwest of the Afghan capital Kabul.
During the 19th century, the population of the settlement was estimated at 15,000-18,000, the majority being of Uzbek descent. In 1958 the population was estimated to be 30,000, by 1979 this had risen to 38,250. Today Maymana has a population of 75,900 (2004).
The town is of ancient origin. It seems clear that Maymana citadel dates back to the early Iron Age. Ceramic materials in a nearby cave at Bilchiragh are from the Paleolithic and late Neolithic-Bronze Age. The city itself was first settled by Israelites sent here from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and was then named "Al-Yahudiya", the "City of the Jews".
In the 10th century it was the residence of the Malik of Guzganan, which was then under the control of the Farighunid native dynasty.
In the 16th century, Uzbek influence came to Maymana with the invasions of Turkistan and Herat by Shaibanid Khan.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Maymana was the centre of an independent Uzbek khanate and an important centre for commerce, as well as being the gateway to Turkistan from Herat and Persia.
In 1876 the city fell to the Afghans and was put in ruins, and only ten percent of the population was left.
The city was once strongly walled with thick walls and towers and surrounded by a moat, but in the 20th century all this has been reduced to an anonymous mound. In 1934, the rebuilding of the city started, and in 1949 the western parts of the old city were renewed, the old city citadel changed to a park.
At the moment there is a Provincial Reconstruction Team based which is led by Norway.
The town serves an agricultural area irrigated from the Qeysar River and also handles the trade in Karakul sheep with nomads. Maymana is an important livestock centre in Afghanistan. In the 1970s, the wool and cotton processing industry was booming in the city. Maymana is a market for leather goods, silk, carpets, wheat, barley, melons and grapes.
There is also an airport located 2 miles (3.2 Km) west of Maimana in a valley surrounded by hills and a range of mountains with some peaks reaching 12,000 ft.; 24 miles (39 km) southeast of the Turkmenistan border; and 64 miles (103 km) south of Andkhoy.The runway is with gravel surface.
Maymana is, after Kabul, Mazari Sharif, Herat and Kunduz, the fifth Afghan town with an independent women-managed radio station, Radio Quyaash, established in February 2005. |
