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 .