Babadaýhan District

Babadaýhan District
Kirov, (Cyrillic Киров) ????-1992
Babadaýhan etraby
Cyrillic Бабадайхан этрабы
Coordinates: 37°41′31″N 60°23′36″E / 37.69194°N 60.39333°E / 37.69194; 60.39333
Country Turkmenistan
ProvinceAhal Province
CapitalBabadaýhan
Government
  häkimMuhammetmyrat Amangeldiýewiç Garaýew
Area
  Total
14,400 km2 (5,600 sq mi)
Population
 (2022 census)
  Total
97,312
  Density6.8/km2 (18/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+5

Babadaýhan District (Turkmen: Babadaýhan etraby, Бабадайхан этрабы) is a district of Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. From the Soviet period until 1992, the settlement was named in honor of Sergei Kirov. On 26 June 1992, by Parliamentary Resolution No. 729-XII, Kirov District and its capital were renamed Babadaýhan.

The name Babadaýhan is the Turkmenized form of the Persian name Bābā-Dihqān (بابادهقان), which eans “Forefather Farmer”, a mythological and ritual character whose cult has been reported in agrarian communities of mountainous and lowland Tajikistan, North Afghanistan and adjacent rural areas of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. As an Iranian mythological figure, Bābā-ye Dehqān is believed to be the first man and the first farmer who taught his profession to mankind through a chain of his successors.