Badakshan

Badakshan, a country of Central Asia, lying on the N.E. frontier of Afghanistan, in the valley of the Kokcha, a tributary of the Oxus, and on the flank of the Hindu Kush range. The district is therefore mountainous, rising sharply from 500 to 15,500 feet above sea-level. The mineral resources are great, lapis-lazuli and rubies being abundant. Faizabad is the most fertile and important of the sixteen administrative divisions, and is the seat of the government of the Mir, who is a vassal of the Amir of Kabul. The inhabitants are Persian-speaking Mohammedans, and the slave trade flourishes among them. Badakshan extends 200 miles from E. to W., and 150 miles from N. to S.