The Kokcha River (Dari: رودخانه کوکچه) is located in northeastern Afghanistan. A tributary of the Panj river, it flows through Badakhshan Province in the Hindu Kush. It is named after the Koksha Valley. The city of Feyzabad lies along the Kokcha. Near the village of Artin Jelow there is a bridge over the river.
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👉 Kokcha River in the context of Badakhshan Province
Badakhshan (Dari: ولایت بدخشان, romanized: Wilāyat-e Badakhshān and Pashto: د بدخشان ولایت, romanized: Da Badakhshān Wilāyat) is one of the northeastern provinces of Afghanistan and is widely regarded as one of the country's most geographically distinctive and historically significant regions. It borders Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan province to the north, China's Xinjiang province to the east, and Pakistan's northern provinces to the south, while internally it neighbors the Afghan provinces of Takhar and Panjshir. The provincial capital is Fayzabad, which functions as the main administrative, economic, and cultural center of the province.
Covering an area of approximately 44,000 square kilometers and having an estimated population of about 1.2 million people (as of 2025), Badakhshan is defined by its mountainous terrain, dominated by the Hindu Kush and Pamir mountain ranges, as well as by deep river valleys shaped primarily by the Kokcha and Panj rivers. The province includes the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow high-altitude strip that extends eastward between Tajikistan and Pakistan to China, giving Badakhshan a unique geopolitical position as Afghanistan's only land connection to China.
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Kokcha River in the context of Ai-Khanoum
Ai-Khanoum (/aɪ ˈhɑːnjuːm/, meaning 'Lady Moon'; Uzbek: Oyxonim) is the archaeological site of a Hellenistic city in Takhar Province, Afghanistan. The city, whose original name is unknown, was likely founded by an early ruler of the Seleucid Empire and served as a military and economic centre for the rulers of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom until its destruction c. 145 BC. Rediscovered in 1961, the ruins of the city were excavated by a French team of archaeologists until the outbreak of conflict in Afghanistan in the late 1970s.
The city was probably founded between 300 and 285 BC by an official acting on the orders of Seleucus I Nicator or his son Antiochus I Soter, the first two rulers of the Seleucid dynasty. There is a possibility that the site was known to the earlier Achaemenid Empire, who established a small fort nearby. Ai-Khanoum was originally thought to have been a foundation of Alexander the Great, perhaps as Alexandria Oxiana, but this theory is now considered unlikely. Located at the confluence of the Amu Darya (a.k.a. Oxus) and Kokcha rivers, surrounded by well-irrigated farmland, the city itself was divided between a lower town and a 60-metre-high (200 ft) acropolis. Although not situated on a major trade route, Ai-Khanoum controlled access to both mining in the Hindu Kush and strategically important choke points. Extensive fortifications, which were continually maintained and improved, surrounded the city.
Kokcha River in the context of Fayzabad, Badakhshan
Fayzabad (Pashto; Dari: فیض آباد), also known as Feyzabad or Faizabad, is a city in northeastern Afghanistan, with a population of around 39,555 people. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Badakhshan province. It is situated in Fayzabad district and is at an altitude of 1,254 m (4,114 ft).
Fayzabad is the main commercial and administrative center of the Pamir region. The Kokcha River runs alongside the city. The Fayzabad Airport is located next to the city, which provides limited domestic flight services.
Kokcha River in the context of Artin Jelow
Artin Jelow (also Atin Jilao) is a village in Badakhshan Province's Argo District in northeastern Afghanistan. It is roughly 16 miles (26 km) southeast of the village of Rostaq. There is a bridge over the Kokcha River there. In the 1970s, the village population was primarily Tajik.