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Sheberghan CitySheberghan which can be also spelled as Shebirghan and Shibarghan, is the capital city of the Jowzjan Province in northern Afghanistan.The city is located along the Safid River which is about 130 km (80 miles) west of Mazari Sharif and it links by ring road to Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, Mazari Sharif, Maymana, capital of Faryab privince. The 2006 estimated population is 66,000 people with different ethic groups such as Uzbeks, Hazaras and Tajiks but mostly it’s dominated by Uzbeks and the common spoken language in sheberghan is Uzbeki and Dari. The ancient history of the city starts with the flourishing settlement along the Silk Road. In 1978, Soviet archaeologists discovered the famed Bactrian Hoard in the village of Tillia Tepe outside of the city. In the 13th century Marco Polo visited the city and later wrote about its honey and sweet melon. The city became the capital of an independent Uzbek khanate that was allotted to Afghanistan by the 1873 Anglo-Russian border agreement. The city has a focal point of power in the northeast corner of Bactria. It is still sits astride in the main route between Balkh and Herat, and controls the direct route north to the Oxus/Amu River, about 90 km away, as well as the important branch route in south to Sari Pul province.
The heavily fortified town of Yemshi-tepe, just five kilometers to the northeast of modern Sheberghan city which is on the road to Akcha (Aghcha) district and about 500 meters (547 yards) away from the famous necropolis of Tillya-tepe, where an immense treasure was excavated from the graves of the local royal family by joint Afghan-Foreign archaeologists. In 1977 a Soviet-Afghan archaeological team began serious excavations three miles (5 km) north of the town. They had uncovered mud-brick columns and revealed a cross-shaped altar of an ancient temple dating back to at least 1000 B.C. In this huge discovery six royal tombs were excavated at Tillia Tepe revealing a vast amount of gold and other treasures. Several coins were found dating to the early 1st century CE, with a non-dated later. The ancient names of the city were Shaporgan, City of Shapor or Shapur, which was one of Sasanian’s king’s name. He has built many cities and named them after him such as Nishapor/Neishabour and Pishapor/Bishapour in Iran. The city is surrounded by irrigated agricultural lands and most of the people are farmers, carpet waving are common too. The exploitation of Afghanistan's natural gas reserves began in 1967 with the assistance of Russians at the Khowaja Gogerak field, 15 kilometers east of the city in Jowzjan Province. In 1967, the Soviets also completed a 100-kilometer gas pipeline linking from Keleft Russia to Shiberghan city. Sheberghan Afghanistan a has key and important role in supplying of energy infrastructure to the region. There several oil and gas exploring stations in the city such as Zomrad Sai Oilfield, The the city Topping Plant processes crude oil for consumption in heating boilers for Kabul, Mazari Sharif and the city, As well as the Jorqaduk, Khowaja Gogerak, and Yatimtaq gas fields are all located within 20 miles (32 km) of the city. This is the satellite map of Sheberghan, city of Jowzjan province. Please click on the + button on top lift side of the map to zoom in and move your curser for more details of the city.
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