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For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation).

Template:Infobox Afghan City Kābul (Persian: کابل, former English: Tubul), is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with population of about 3 million people. It is an economic and cultural center, situated 5,900 feet (1,800 m) above-sea-level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River. Kabul is linked with Ghazni, Kandahar, Herat and Mazari Sharif via a long beltway (circular highway) that stretches across the country. It is also linked by highways with Pakistan to the southeast and Tajikistan to the north.

Kabul's main products include munitions, cloth, furniture, and beet sugar, though, since 1978, a state of nearly continuous war has limited the economic productivity of the city.

Kabul is over 3,000 years old. Many empires long fought over the city, due to its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1504, Babur captured Kabul and made the city his headquarters. Finally, in 1776, Timur Shah Durrani made it the capital of modern Afghanistan.[1] The population of the city is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, reflecting the diversity of the entire country. Kabul is currently in the process of being rebuilt following decades of wars and chaos.

History

Kabul City is thought to have been established between 2000 BCE and 1500 BCE.[2] In Rig Veda (composed between 1700–1100 BCE) the word "Kubhā" is mentioned, which refers to Kabul River and a reference to the settlement Kabura by the Persian Achaemenids around 300 BCE. Kabul was known as Chabolo in antiquity [citation needed].

File:Kabul Walls.jpg
A view of Kabul City's walls, built between 650 and 670 CE by Kabul-Shahan

According to other scholars, the Sanskrit name of Kabul is derived from Kamboj.[3] It is mentioned as Kophes or Kophene in the classical writings. Gazetteer of Bombay Presidency 1904 maintains that the ancient name of Kabul was Kambojapura, which Ptolemy (160 CE) mentions as Kaboura (from Ka(m)bo(j)pura?). Hiuen Tsang refers to the name as Gaofu, which according to Dr. J. W. McCrindle, Dr. B. C. Law, Dr. R. K. Mukkerji and others is equivalent to Kambojas (Kamboj/Kambuj). The Bactrians founded the town of Paropamisadae near Kabul, but it was later ceded to the Mauryans in the 1st century BCE.

Kabul (Kaofeu) was conquered by the first Kushan Emperor, Kujula Kadphises, in the early 1st century CE and remained Kushan territory until at least the 3rd century CE.[4][5] Kabul was one of the two capital cities of Kushans. It was later conquered by the Hephthalites in 425 CE followed by the Hindu Shahis. After their defeat, their descendants formed a small dynasty called Kabul-Shahan. The leaders of Kabul-Shahan built a long defensive wall around the city to protect it from possible attacks or invasions. This wall has survived until today and is considered as an old historical site.

File:Babur's tomb - Kabul - 2007.jpg
Tomb of Mughal Emperor Babur in Bagh-e Babur Park of Kabul.

In 674, the Islamic invasions reached modern-day Afghanistan and occupied Kabul. However, it was not until the 9th century when Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, a coppersmith turned ruler, established Islam in Kabulistan. Over the remaining centuries to come the city was successively controlled by the Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughols, Durranis, and finally by the Barakzais.

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 Lung (Tamer Lane), who married the sister of Kabul's ruler at the time. But as Timurid power waned, the city was captured in 1504 by Babur and made into his headquarters. Haidar, an Indian poet who visited at the time wrote "Dine and drink in Kabul: it is mountain, desert, city, river and all else."

Nader Shah of Persia captured the city in 1738 but was assassinated nine years later. Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander and personal bodyguard of Nader, took the throne in 1747, asserted Pashtun rule and further expanded his new Afghan Empire. His son Timur Shah Durrani, after inheriting power, transferred the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul in 1776.[6] Timur Shah died in 1793 and was succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani.

In 1826, the kingdom was claimed by Dost Mohammed and taken from him by the British Indian Army in 1839 (see Afghan Wars), who installed the unpopular puppet Shah Shuja. An 1841 local uprising resulted in the loss of the British mission and the subsequent Massacre of Elphinstone's army of approximately 16,000 people, which included civilians and camp followers on their retreat from Kabul to Jalalabad. In 1842 the British returned, plundering Bala Hissar in revenge before retreating back to India. Dost Mohammed returned to the throne.

The British invaded in 1878 as Kabul was under Sher Ali Khan's rule, but the British residents were again massacred. The invaders again came 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, King Amanullah Khan rose to power. His reforms included electricity for the city and schooling for girls. He drove a Rolls Royce, and lived in the famous Darul Aman Palace. In 1919, after the Third Anglo-Afghan War, Amanullah announced Afghanistan's independence from foreign interventions at Eidgah Mosque. In 1929, Ammanullah Khan left Kabul due to a local uprise and his brother Nader Khan took control. King Nader Khan was assassinated in 1933 and his 19 year-old son, Zahir Shah, became the long lasting King of Afghanistan.

A section of downtown area during winter.

Kabul University opened for classes in early 1930s, and in 1940s, the city began to grow as an industrial center. The streets of the city began being paved in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, Kabul developed a cosmopolitan mood. The first Marks and Spencer store in Central Asia was built there. Kabul Zoo was inaugurated in 1967, which was maintained with the help of visiting German Zoologists.

In 1969, a religious uprising at the Pul-e Khishti Mosque protested the Soviet Union's increasing influence over Afghan politics and religion. 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, on December 24, 1979, the Red Army occupied the capital. They turned the city into their command center during the 10-year conflict between the Soviet-allied government and the Mujahideen rebels. The American Embassy in Kabul closed on January 30, 1989. The city fell into the hands of local militias after the 1992 collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's pro-communist government. As these forces divided into warring factions, the city increasingly suffered. In December, the last of the 86 city trolley buses came to a halt due to the conflict. A system of 800 public buses continued to provide transportation services to the city.

New building blocks in Kabul, which is part of a bigger plan to modernize the city and bring it to international standards.

By 1993 electricity and water in the city was completely out. At this time, Burhannudin Rabbani's militia (Jamiat-e Islami) held power but the nominal prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami began shelling the city, which lasted until 1996. Kabul was factionalised, and fighting continued between Jamiat-e Islami, Abdul Rashid Dostum and the Hezbi Wahdat. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and many more fled as refugees. The United Nations estimated that about 90% of the buildings in Kabul were destroyed during these years.

Kabul was captured by the Taliban in September of 1996, publicly lynching ex-President Najibullah and his brother. During this time, all the fighting between different militias came to an end. Burhannudin Rabbani, Gulbuddin Heckmatyar, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Ahmad Shah Massoud, and the rest all fled the city.

Approximately five years later, in October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban abandoned Kabul in the following months due to extensive American bombing, while the Afghan Northern Alliance (former mujahideen or millias) came to retake control of the city. On December 20, 2001, Kabul became the capital of the Afghan Transitional Administration, which transformed to the present government of Afghanistan that is led by US-backed President Hamid Karzai.

Since the beginning of 2003, the city is slowly developing with the help of foreign investment. Security is also improving by the year, despite the occasional attacks on government forces.

Climate

Climate data for Kabul
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: weatherbase.com[7]

Demographics

Kabul has a population between 2.5 to approximately 3 million people. The population of the city reflects the general multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, and multi-confessional characteristics of Afghanistan. According to the 2005 United Nations estimate, the population of Kabul City reached 2,994,000,[8] while according to the 2006 estimates from the Central Statistics Office of Afghanistan, the city's population is only 2,536,300.[9]

Persian-speakers form the majority of the city's population, with Sunnite Tajiks possibly being the largest group, followed by Shi'ite Hazaras and Farsiwans. There is also a large number of Persianized Pashtuns.

Pashto-speakers, also Sunnites, form the most important minority, followed by the Turkic-speaking Uzbeks. There are also other people such as Baloch, Turkmen, Aimak, Sikhs and Hindus.

Infrastructure

Transport

Kabul International Airport serves the population of the city as a method of traveling to other cities or countries. The airport is a hub to Ariana Afghan Airlines, which is the national airlines carrier of Afghanistan. However, airlines from other nations also use the airport to arrive and depart. A new $35 million dollar terminal for international flight passengers, near the old terminal, is under construction and will be completed by 2008.[10]

Airport Road in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of the city.

Kabul has its own public buses (Millie Bus) that take commuters on daily routes to many destinations throughout the city. The service currently has approximately 800 buses but is gradually expanding and upgrading with more buses being added. Plans are underway to re-introduce the modern electric buses that the city once had. Besides the buses, there are yellow taxicabs that can be spotted just about anywhere in and around the city.

Private vehicles are also on the rise in Kabul, with Toyota, Land Rover, BMW and Hyundai dealerships all over the city. More and more people are buying new cars as the roads and highways are being improved. The average car driven in Kabul is a Toyota Corolla. With the exception of motorcycles many vehicles in the city operate on diesel fuel.

Communications and technology

GSM/GPRS mobile phone services in the city are provided by Afghan Wireless, Roshan and Areeba, and all have boasted increase in rapid cellular phone usage. In June 2006, Etisalat announced the acquisition of a mobile phone operator's licence from the Afghan government and its intention to build a country-wide mobile phone network. In November 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Communications signed a US 64.5 million dollar agreement with a company (ZTE Corporation) on the establishment of a countrywide fibre optical cable network. This will improve telephone, internet, television and radio broadcast services not just in Kabul but throughout the country.[11]

Local (Afghan) television channels include:

Reconstruction and developments

As of October 2006, there are fourteen licensed banks in Kabul: including Da Afghanistan Bank, Afghanistan International Bank (managed by the Dutch ING Bank), Standard Chartered Bank, Kabul Bank, Azizi Bank, Punjab National Bank, Habib Bank and others. Western Union offices are also found in many locations throughout the city.

A modern indoor shopping mall (Kabul City Center) with a 4-star (Safi Landmark) hotel on the top six floors opened in 2005. A 5-star Serena Hotel also opened in 2005. Another 5-star Marriott Hotel is under construction, which is scheduled for completion in 2007. The landmark InterContinental Hotel has also been refurbished and is in operation.

The plan for Kabul's nine billion dollar future modern urban development project, the City of Light Development.

An initial concept design called the City of Light Development, envisioned by Dr. Hisham N. Ashkouri, Principal of ARCADD, Inc. for the development and the implementation of a privately based investment enterprise has been proposed for multi-function commercial, historic and cultural development within the limits of the Old City of Kabul along the Southern side of the Kabul River and along Jade Meywand Avenue,[12] revitalizing some of the most commercial and historic districts in the City of Kabul, which contains numerous historic mosques and shrines as well as viable commercial activities among war damaged buildings. Also incorporated in the design is a new complex for the Afghan National Museum. Dr. Ashkouri has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with His Excellency Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad in Washington, DC to undertake this project and to develop it for actual implementation over the next 20 to 25 years. Dr. Ashkouri has presented the City of Light Plan to President Karzai and has received a letter of support from the President and the Minister of Urban Development in support of this project’s development.

About 4 miles (6 km) from downtown Kabul, in Bagrami, a 22-acre (9 ha) wide industrial complex has completed with modern facilities, which will allow companies to operate businesses there. The park has professional management for the daily maintenance of public roads, internal streets, common areas, parking areas, 24 hours perimeter security, access control for vehicles and persons. Another phase with additional 27 acres (11 ha) of land will be added immediately proceeding the first phase.[13]

Construction of new building blocks in the city.

The city hosts the We Are the Future center, a child care center giving children a chance to live their childhoods and develop a sense of hope. The center is managed under the direction of the mayor’s office, and the international NGO Glocal Forum serves as the fundraiser and program planner and coordinator for the WAF child center in each city. Each WAF city is linked to several peer cities and public and private partners to create a unique international coalition.

Launched in 2004, the program is the result of a strategic partnership between the Glocal Forum, the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation and Mr. Hani Masri, with the support of the World Bank, UN agencies and major companies.

A $25 million Coca-Cola bottling plant was opened in 2006. Financing was provided by a Dubai-based Afghan family. President Hamid Karzai formally opened the facility in an attempt to attract more foreign investment in the city.

Administration

Kabul City is one of the 15 districts of Kabul Province, and is divided into 18 sectors. Each sector covers several neighborhoods of the city. The number of Kabul's sectors were increased from 11 to 18 in 2005.

Unlike other cities of the world, Kabul City has two independent councils or administrations at once: Prefecture and Municipality. The Prefect who is also the Governor of Kabul Province is appointed by the Ministry of Interior, and is responsible for the administrative and formal issues of the entire province. The Mayor of Kabul City is selected by the President of Afghanistan, who engages in the city's planning and environmental work.

The police and security forces belong to the prefecture and Ministry of Interior. The Chief of Police is selected by the Minister of Interior and is responsible for law enforcement and security of the city.

Map of Kabul City
  • Areas of Kabul City
    • Shahr-e Naw (New City)
    • Wazir Akbar Khan
    • Macro Ryans (1, 2, 3 and 4)
    • Khair Khana (1, 2 and 3)
    • Klola Pushta and Taimani
    • Kartey Parwan
    • Kartey Naw (New Quarter)
    • Kartey (3 & 4)
    • Darul-Aman
    • Chehlstoon
    • Chendawol
    • Shahr-e Kohna (Old City of Kabul)
    • Deh Buri
    • Bibi Mahroo

Tourism and sightseeing

The old part of Kabul is filled with bazaars nestled along its narrow, crooked streets. Cultural sites include the Afghan National Museum, notably displaying an impressive statue of Surya excavated at Khair Khana, the ruined Darul Aman Palace, the Mausoleum of Emperor Babur and Chehlstoon Park, the Minar-i-Istiqlal (Column of Independence) built in 1919 after the Third Afghan War, the mausoleum of Timur Shah Durrani, and the imposing Id Gah Mosque (founded 1893). 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. The Minaret of Chakari, destroyed in 1998, had Buddhist swastika and both Mahayana and Theravada qualities.

Inside Kabul City Center
Bagh-e Babur Park (Babur Gardens)
Bagh-e Bala Park
Shar-e Naw Park

Other places of interest include Kabul City Center, which is Kabul's first shopping mall, the shops around Flower Street and Chicken Street, Wazir Akbar Khan district, Babur Gardens, Kabul Golf Club, Kabul Zoo, Shah Do Shamshera and other famous Mosques, the Afghan National Gallery, Afghan National Archive, Afghan Royal Family Mausoleum, the OMAR Mine Museum, Bibi Mahroo Hill, Kabul Cemetery, and Paghman Gardens.

Tappe-i-Maranjan is a nearby hill where Buddhist statues and Graeco-Bactrian coins from the 2nd century BC have been found. Outside the city proper is a citadel and the royal palace. Paghman and Jalalabad are interesting valleys north and east of the city.

  • Parks
    • Bāgh-e Bābur Park (Babur Gardens)
    • Bāghi Bālā Park
    • Lake Qargha Park
    • Zarnegar Park
    • Shar-e Naw Park
    • Bagh-e Zanana (Women's Park)
  • Mausoleums
    • Mausoleum of Tamim Ansar

Education

Universities in Kabul

Polytechnical University of Kabul

Kabul in literature and poetry

Kabul is mentioned on numerous occasions in classical Persian (Dari) literature well back into the last millennium. Many examples are notable.

ززابل به کابل رسید آن زمان
From Zabol he arrived to Kabul
گرازان و خندان و دل شادمان
Strutting, happy, and mirthful
---Ferdowsi in Shahnama

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Kabul-born Khaled Hosseini, are books set partially in Kabul.

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ^ Britannica Concise Encyclopedia - Kabul...Link
  2. ^ The history of Afghanistan, Ghandara.com website
  3. ^ Supplementary Glossary, p. 304, H. M. Elliot
  4. ^ Hill, John E. 2004. The Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu. Draft annotated English translation...link
  5. ^ Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation... Link
  6. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica - The Durrani dynasty (from Afghanistan)...Link
  7. ^ "Historical Weather for Kabul". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ UN World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision Population Database...link
  9. ^ Central Statistics Office, Annual Report, Kabul-Afghanistan, LINK
  10. ^ Pajhwok Afghan News - Work on terminal at Kabul Airport starts...Link
  11. ^ Pajhwok Afghan News - Ministry signs contract with Chinese company...Link
  12. ^ Kabul - City of Light Project...link
  13. ^ Afghanistan Industrial Parks Development Authority...Kabul (Bagrami)
  14. ^ Kabul International School...link
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