Jalrez District
district of Maidan Wardak, Afghanistan
Jalrez (Pashto/Dari: جلریز) also known as "Death Valley," due to systemic persecution of the Hazaras traveling through the area, is a district in the west of Maidan Shar, Maidan Wardak Province, Afghanistan. The main town lies at Jalrez, which is 62.9 kilometres (39.1 mi) southwest of the centre of Kabul via the main Kabul-Behsud Highway. The valley has been one of the main active sites of the Taliban insurgents during the Afghanistan's Republic era.
History
Jalrez lay along the Silk Road between Kabul and Bamyan. The name is believed to derive from the Dari words "jal", meaning 'light reflection' and "rez" meaning 'to pour', possibly related to the confluence of two rivers in the area. Prior to 1964, Jalrez District belonged to the Maidan alaqadari (subdistrict) of Kabul province.
Due to its strategical importance geographical, Jalrez has a long history of conflict, which has capitulated since the Saur Revolution of 1978. Jalrez was one of the first districts to be captured by the mujahedin in 1979 during the war against the Soviet-backed Afghan communist regime. The mujahedin crossed the Unai Pass in the spring, taking Sarchashma and burning the school there, before moving on to take Takana and Jalrez in the district. Their control ended at the end of the year when a Soviet strike killed 60 to 70 of the mujahedin.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Jalrez District” is district of Maidan Wardak, Afghanistan. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Jalrez, District and district, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “district of Maidan Wardak, Afghanistan” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1679783. Authority coordinates are 34.472, 68.651. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1978 and 1979.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jalrez District”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jalrez District primary sources, Jalrez District archive and Jalrez research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jalrez District”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jalrez District” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.