Sheberghan

Sheberghan is the capital of Jowzjan Province, a busy market town on the flat plain of the north-west, about 130 kilometres west of Mazar-i-Sharif on the main highway. It lies on the river that flows down from Sar-e Pol, whose water is drawn off to irrigate gardens and fields around the town. The town is a meeting place for the Uzbek, Turkmen, Tajik, Pashtun and other communities of the surrounding districts, who come in to trade livestock, grain, carpets and karakul skins. Its centre is made up of bazaar streets, mosques and government buildings, with lower mud-brick neighbourhoods and walled gardens spreading out around it, and newer houses along the main roads. Sheberghan is best known beyond the region for two things nearby: the gas fields that have supplied northern Afghanistan since the 1960s, and the mound of Tillya Tepe, a short distance outside town, where the Bactrian gold was found. Little remains to be seen at the site itself, and the treasure belongs to the National Museum in Kabul, but the find has made the town's name familiar far beyond Afghanistan. For visitors, Sheberghan is a stop on the road between Mazar-i-Sharif and Faryab, and a base for exploring the carpet villages of Jowzjan.

A town has stood here for well over a thousand years, on the trade route across the north of Afghanistan between Balkh and Herat. Medieval geographers knew it as one of the towns of Guzganan, and Marco Polo, who passed through in the 13th century, called it Sapurgan and wrote that its melons were the best in the world, cut into strips and dried in the sun. In the 18th and 19th centuries Sheberghan was the seat of one of the small Uzbek principalities known as the Chahar Wilayat, or Four Provinces, ruled by its own khans, until the Afghan amirs brought the region under their control in the later 19th century. In the 20th century the town grew as the provincial centre, and the opening of the gas fields from the 1960s brought new roads, pipelines and workers. The town has been affected by the conflicts of recent decades.

Sheberghan's streets carry a mix of languages, with Uzbek, Turkmen, Dari and Pashto all heard in the bazaar. Market days are the busiest time, when farmers and herders come in from the districts and the streets fill with livestock, carts and traders. The tea houses of the bazaar are the town's meeting places, where men talk business and news over pots of green tea. Friday prayers at the main mosques draw large congregations, and the two Eids are marked with new clothes, visits to relatives and crowded markets. At Nowruz, families go out to the gardens around the town for picnics. Buzkashi is a passion here, and in the cold months matches on the open ground near the town attract riders from across the province and crowds of spectators, who follow the game from horseback, from car roofs and on foot.

The town sits on open, almost level ground at about 360 metres, with the plain stretching away on all sides and low hills to the south on clear days. The river from Sar-e Pol and the canals drawn from it support a belt of gardens, mulberry and poplar trees, and fields of wheat, cotton and melons around the town, which stand out green against the dry steppe beyond. To the north and west the land becomes semi-desert. In spring the grassland around the town is briefly green and full of flowers, and herds of sheep graze close to the edge of town; by summer the countryside is parched and dusty. The gas fields lie in the plains outside the town, marked by pipelines and processing plants rather than by any change in the landscape.

Sheberghan's bazaar eateries serve the hearty food of the north. Lamb kebabs cooked over charcoal, bowls of shorwa, and palaw in the Uzbek style are the standard meals, eaten with fresh bread from the tandoor bakeries of the market streets. Mantu and ashak are prepared at home and in some restaurants, especially for guests. The town's melons are still valued, and in late summer and early autumn they fill the markets alongside watermelons and grapes. Yoghurt and dried qurut from the herds are sold in the bazaar, as are dried fruit and nuts. Tea houses serve green tea in pots with sweets, and are a place for traders to meet and talk.

Sheberghan's bazaar is a trading point for the carpets of Jowzjan. Dealers buy rugs from weavers in the surrounding villages and from Aqcha, and their shops are stacked with Turkmen-style carpets, kilims and woven bags. Quality varies widely, and buyers often spend time drinking tea and looking through many pieces before choosing. Karakul skins are bought and sold in the town, and hat makers turn them into the peaked caps worn across Afghanistan. Other stalls sell chapans, embroidered caps, Turkmen silver jewellery and household goods such as copper pots, quilts and woven mats. Much of what is sold in the bazaar is everyday goods for the people of the province rather than souvenirs.

The most comfortable months are March to May and October to November. In spring the gardens around the town are in leaf, the air is clear, and Nowruz brings outings and fairs. In autumn the heat has passed and the markets are full of melons, grapes and other produce from the harvest. Summer, from June to September, is very hot, with afternoon temperatures often near or above 40°C and little shade outside the gardens; most activity happens in the early morning and evening. Winter is cool and damp, with frost at night, occasional snow and muddy side streets, but it is the season for buzkashi.

Sheberghan lies on the main highway across northern Afghanistan. From Mazar-i-Sharif it is about 130 kilometres to the west, roughly two hours by road, and from Kabul the journey of about 550 kilometres over the Salang Pass and through Mazar-i-Sharif takes nine to ten hours. Sar-e Pol is about an hour to the south, and roads lead on to Andkhoy and Maymana in Faryab. Shared taxis and minibuses run regularly between Sheberghan and Mazar-i-Sharif and leave from stands on the edges of town. The nearest airport with domestic flights is at Mazar-i-Sharif. Road conditions and local circumstances change, so travellers should check current conditions before setting out.

Accommodation in Sheberghan is limited to a small number of simple hotels in the town centre, near the bazaar and along the main road, used mostly by traders, officials and families on the move. Rooms are basic, and facilities such as hot water, heating and reliable electricity vary, so it is sensible to check before agreeing to stay. Some travellers prefer to base themselves in Mazar-i-Sharif, which has a wider choice, and visit Sheberghan for the day. Those with contacts in the town are often invited to stay with a family, which is a common and respected custom in the north.

The centre of Sheberghan is compact and easy to walk around, and most shops, offices and eating places lie within a short distance of the main bazaar. For longer trips across town, zaranj rickshaws and taxis are easy to find, and shared rickshaws run along the main roads. Bicycles and motorbikes are widely used on the flat streets, and carts pulled by donkeys or horses still carry goods to and from the market. To visit Tillya Tepe, the area of the gas fields or the surrounding villages, travellers usually hire a taxi or a car with a driver for a few hours.