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Kabul
*** Shopping-Tip: Kabul
Image:Kabul_Skyline.jpg thumb|400px|A view of the old cityImage:Kabulnasa.jpg thumb|right|250px|Kabul
'''Kabul''' ({{coor dm|34|32|N|69|10|E|}}, '''Kâb'l''', in
Persian language Persian '''کابل''') is the capital and largest city of
Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. It is an economic and cultural center strategically situated in a narrow valley along the
Kabul River, high in the mountains before the
Khyber Pass. Kabul is linked with the
Tajikistan border via a tunnel under the
Hindu Kush Mountains. It is about 1,800
metres (5,900
feet) above sealevel.
Kabul's main products include
ordnance,
cloth,
furniture, and
beet sugar, though continual war since
1979 has limited the economic productivity of the city. Kabul remains one of the most
land mine mined cities in the world. Kabul's population is
multicultural and multi-ethnic, reflecting the diversity of Afghanistan, with
Pashtuns,
Tajiks, and
Hazaras all comprising the bulk of the city's population. Kabul is still in the process of being rebuilt following decades of war and devastation, so accurate census counts remain difficult and only rough estimates are available.
History
The first records of Kabul are a mention of the
Kubha River around
1200 BCE and a reference to the settlement
Kabura by the
Persians Persian Achaemenids around
300 BCE. Kabul was known as Chabolo in antiquity. The
Bactrians founded the town of
Parapamisidae near Kabul, but it was later ceded to the
Mauryan Empire Mauryans in the
1st century BCE,
Kushans in the
1st century CE and then
Hindus until its capture by the
Arabs in
664. Over the next 600 years, the city was successively controlled by the
Samanids of
Bokhara, the
Ghaznavid Empire, and the
Ghorids of
Bamiyan.
Image:Asmaye.jpg Hindu.html" title="Meaning of right right|thumb|250px|Ruins of the Kabul city dating back to the Pre-Islamic Kabul during the reign of Kabulshah, who is thought to have been a [[Hindu.html" title="Meaning of thumb|250px|Ruins of the Kabul city dating back to the Pre-Islamic Kabul during the reign of Kabulshah, who is thought to have been a [[Hindu">right|thumb|250px|Ruins of the Kabul city dating back to the Pre-Islamic Kabul during the reign of Kabulshah, who is thought to have been a [[Hindu">thumb|250px|Ruins of the Kabul city dating back to the Pre-Islamic Kabul during the reign of Kabulshah, who is thought to have been a [[Hindu">right|thumb|250px|Ruins of the Kabul city dating back to the Pre-Islamic Kabul during the reign of Kabulshah, who is thought to have been a [[Hindu
In the
13th century the Mongol horde passed through. In the
14th century, Kabul rose again as a trading center under the kingdom of
Timur, who married the sister of Kabul's ruler. But as Timurid power waned, the city was captured in
1504 and made into a capital by
Babur and subsequent
Mughal Empire Mughal rulers.
Haidar, an
Indian poet who visited at the time wrote "Dine and drink in Kabul: it is mountain, desert, city, river and all else."
Nadir Shah of
Iran Persia captured it in
1738. During the mid
18th century Ahmed Shah Durrani rose to power in Afghanistan, re-asserting Afghan rule. In
1772, his son
Timur Shah inherited power and made Kabul the capital, even as their empire began to crumble.
In
1826 the throne was claimed by
Dost Mohammed, but it was taken by the British army in
1839 (see
Afghan Wars), who installed the unpopular puppet
Shah Shuja. A
1841 local uprising massacred both the British mission and the British army on their subsequent retreat to
Jalalabad, Afghanistan Jalalabad. In
1842 the British returned, plundering
Bala Hissar in revenge before retreating to
India. Dost Mohammed returned to the throne.
The British returned in
1878 as the city was under
Sher Ali Khan's rule, but its residents were massacred again. The British army came again in
1879 under General Roberts, partially destroying Bala Hissar before retreating to India.
Amir Abdur Rahman was left in control of the country.
In the early
20th century Amanullah Khan King Amanullah reigned. His reforms included electricity and schooling for girls. He drove a
Rolls Royce, and lived in
Darul Aman Palace in south-west Kabul. In
1919 he announced Afghanistan's independence from
Id Gah Mosque, after the Third Anglo-Afghan War. In
1928,
Amir Habibullah Khan Khadim-e-Dine-Rasoolullah, a
Tajiks Tajik rebel, deposed Amanullah and took control of Kabul City and much of northern Afghanistan before being ousted by Nadir Khan, Amanullah's half-brother.
In
1932 Kabul University opened, and the
1950s saw the streets of the city paved with
Soviet assistance.
After
1940, the city began to grow as an industrial center.
In the
1960s, Kabul developed a cosmopolitan mood. The first
Marks and Spencer store in
Central Asia was built there, and
Kabul Zoo was inaugurated in
1967. The Zoo was maintained with the help of visiting
Germany German Zoology Zoologists, and focused on Afghan fauna.
In 1969, a religious uprising at the Pul-i Khishti Mosque protested the Soviet Union's increasing influence over Afghani politics and religion (
Islam). This protest ended in the arrest of many of its organizers including
Mawlana Faizani, a popular Islamic scholar.
In
1975 an east-west electric trolley-bus system provided public transportation across the city. The system was built with assistance from Czechoslovakia.
After the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the
Soviet Union occupied the city on
December 23,
1979, turning it into their command center during the 10-year conflict between the Soviet-allied government and the
mujahedeen rebels. The American
embassy in Kabul closed on
January 30,
1989. Kabul fell into guerrilla hands after the
1992 collapse of the
Mohammad Najibullah government. As these forces divided into warring factions, the city increasingly suffered. In
December the last of the 86 trolley buses in the city came to a halt due to the conflict. A system of 800 public buses continued to provide transportation to the population of about one million.
[[Image:Kabul.JPG |thumb|400px| A view of Kabul Dar-ul-Aman Palace
According to The New York Times, Dec 8, 2002:
"Anyone wanting a glimpse of what a lawless Afghanistan might look like need only take a drive along Dar-ul-Aman. Nearly 80 years ago, Robert Byron, the writer, described the avenue with its rows of tall, white-stemmed poplars as one of the most beautiful in the world. In the early 1990's, fighting among many of the factions now represented in Mr. Karzai's government left the road in ruins. Today, there's not a tree in sight."
]]
At this time,
Burhannudin Rabbani's
Jamiat-e Islami (Islamic Council of Afghanistan) held power but the nominal prime minister
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's
Hezb-e Islami began a five-year shelling of the city from its south, which lasted until 1996. Kabul was factionalised, and fighting continued between Jamiat-e Islami, Dostum and the
Hazara Hezb-e Wahdat. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and more fled as refugees.
According to the US Department of State Human Rights report on Afghanistan 1992: "In August the Hezb-e-Islami group of Gulbuddin Hekmatyrar began a 3-week rocket and artillery attack on Kabul that killed as many as 2,000 people. Thousands more fled the capital to the countryside or to Pakistan." [http://www.rawa.org/image9.htm]
Kabul was captured by the
Taliban in
September,
1996, publicly lynching ex-president
Najibullah, repressing the city's dangerously literate populace and effectively moving the capital to
Kandahar.
The Taliban abandoned the city on
November 12,
2001 due to extensive American bombing and Kabul came under the control of the
Afghan Northern Alliance. After the
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, it became the capital of the
Afghan Transitional Administration.
The city is served by
Kabul International Airport.
Kabul today
Attractions
The old part of Kabul is filled with
bazaars nestled along its narrow, crooked streets.
Kabul University was established in
1931, and there are a number of colleges. Cultural sites include the very good
Kabul Museum.
Afghan National Museum, notably displaying an impressive statue of
Surya excavated at
Khair Khana, Babur's tomb and gardens, the
mausoleum of
Mohammad Nadir Shah, the
Minar-i-Istiklal (column of independence) built in
1919 after the
Third Afghan War, the tomb of
Timur Shah, and some important
mosques.
Bala Hissar is a fort destroyed by the British in
1879, in retaliation for the death of their envoy, now restored as a military college.
Darul Aman Palace is the destroyed former Defence Ministry building. The Minaret of Chakari has
Buddhism Buddhist swastika and both
Mahayana and
Theravada qualities.
Other places of interest include
West Kabul,
Kabul Zoo,
Babur Gardens,
Bala Hisar,
Shah Do Shamshera Mosque, the
Afghan National Gallery, the
Afghan National Archive, the
Afghan Royal Family Mausoleum, the
OMAR Mine Museum,
Bibi Mahroo Hill, the
Kabul Christian Cemetery, and
Paghman Gardens.
Tappe-i-Maranjan is a nearby hill where
Buddhist statues and Graceo-Bactrian
coins from the
2nd century BC have been found. The mausoleum of the first Mughal Emperor
Babur is also on the outskirts of Kabul. Outside the city proper is a citadel and the royal palace.
Paghman and
Jalalabad, Afghanistan Jalalabad are interesting valleys north and east of the city.
The Kabul Zoo was once home to a lion named Marjan who was maimed in a grenade attack. The story goes that a soldier climbed into her cage in order to show off and was killed by the lion. Later, an angry friend of the dead soldier threw a grenade at Marjan and cost the lion an eye.
Reconstruction
Public transportation in the city is overcrowded, with only 108 public buses for a population of 2-4 million. A
United states dollar US$ 23 million project to restore and expand the public electric buses system aims at some 50
kilometer km of track and 50 vehicles. The goal was to have buses running along one line by the end of
2004, but there is no sign of this project getting underway. Expertise and training will come from the
Czech Republic, particularly
Ostrov-Skoda. In addition,
India,
Iran and
Japan have agreed to provide more regular buses for the city. Private mini-buses and
Taxicab taxis crowd the streets, often seriously overladen with passengers.
In October
2005, there were thirteen licensed
banks in Kabul: including Afghanistan International Bank (managed by the Dutch ING Bank),
Standard Chartered Bank, Kabul Bank,
Punjab National Bank and the
Habib Bank of Pakistan.
The
Kabul Hotel (in the center of Kabul) is being revamped by the
AKDN at the cost of US$25 million. The reconstruction was nearly completed in October 2005. It is unclear whether plans for a 200-room
Hyatt Regency hotel will come to fruition. The
landmark InterContinental Hotel, Kabul InterContinental Hotel has been partially refurbished, but is still dated by Western standards.
Education
*
Kabul University
*
Kabul Institute of Medicine
*
Kabul Polytechnic
*
Kabul International School [http://www.qsi.org/AFG_HOME/]
Kabul in literature and poetry
Kabul is mentioned on numerous occasions in classical
Persian literature Persian (Dari) literature well back into the last millenium. Many examples are notable.
ززابل به کابل رسید آن زمان
From
Zabul he arrived to Kabul
گرازان و خندان و دل شادمان
Strutting, happy, and mirthful
''---
Ferdowsi in
Shahnama''
See also
-
RAWA photos gallery of Kabul City after war
-
Beggary in Kabul
*
Kabul Golf Club
*
Radio Kabul
*
Timeline of Afghan history
*
Camp Julien
*
International Security Assistance Force
*
List of cities in Afghanistan
External links
-
Islam Way Online — Your Religion and Spirituality Portal The Website of
Mawlana Faizani, a celebrated Islamic scholar from Kabul (c. 1970s)
-
Kabul Caravan: Kabul
-
The Kabul Serena Hotel
-
Darul-Aman Palace
-
Local news from Kabul
Category:Capitals in Asia
Category:Cities along the Silk Road
Category:Cities in Afghanistan
Category:Kabul
ar:كابول
bn:কাব�ল
bg:Кабул
ca:Kabul
cv:Кабул
cs:Kábul
da:Kabul
de:Kabul
et:Kabul
es:Kabul
eo:Kabulo
fa:کابل
fr:Kaboul
gl:Cabul - کابل
ko:카불
hi:काब�ल
hr:Kabul
io:Kabul
id:Kabul, Afganistan
it:Kabul
he:ק×?בול
ka:ქ�ბული
lt:Kabulas
mo:Кабул
nl:Kabul
ja:カブール
no:Kabul
nn:Kabul
ps:کابل
pl:Kabul
pt:Cabul
ro:Kabul
ru:Кабул
sq:Kabuli
simple:Kabul
sl:Kabul
sr:Кабул
fi:Kabul
sv:Kabul
ta:காபூல�
tr:Kabil
uk:Кабул
zh:喀布尔
Kabul, capital of
Afghanistan.
Category:Capitals in Asia
Category:Cities in Afghanistan
*** Shopping-Tip: Kabul
