It is born in the eastern Shibar Pass (which connects the provinces of Parwan and Bamyan, or watersheds of the Ghorband and Kunduz River) and passes in an eastbound direction which it maintains throughout most of its course. It runs along the south and the imposing central range of the Hindu Kush, receiving meltwater in the Shibar Pass area of Salang. It flows from this in a long valley between the high range of the Hindu Kush (north) and Koh-i-Baba in the south.