Shignan

Shignan and Roshan, two small hill states E. of the Badakshan province of Afghanistan. They extend eastwards from the Panja, where it forms the eastern boundary of Badakshan to the Pamirs. The native rulers of Roshan and Shignan claim descent from Alexander the Great, of whom legends are still current in the country about the upper Oxus. The two states were conquered by Abdur Rahman in 1882, but were assigned to Russia by the Durand agreement of 1893. Since that agreement Russia has retired from all districts previously occupied by her on the left bank of the Panja, or upper Oxus.