Kabul
(2002 est. pop. 2.1 million). At the base of the Kabul River in Afghanistan and at the foot of the Khyber Pass in the Hindu Kush mountains lies the city of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. For thousands of years, the country of Afghanistan has been the crossroads of commerce, immigration, and invasion for India, Iran, Pakistan, and the area now comprising the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Located on the eastern edge of modern-day Afghanistan, the populated areas of the Kabul River are thought to be over 4,000 years old.
The earliest reports of a city called Kabul come in ancient Indian songs dating back to 1000 BCE. In the ancient villages that are thought to make up modern-day Kabul, there was a particularly lush oasis that traders and merchants used as a stop for their camels. Its strategic location at the base of the Khyber Pass, which leads into Pakistan, and the availability of fresh water and arable land allowed a population to grow and prosper.
The number and variety of empires that used the city to control the numerous Afghan tribes mark the history of Kabul. Alexander the Great and his Greek army took over Kabul between 330 BCE and 326 BCE
during his campaigns through Central and South Asia. The Arab conquests of the seventh century CE reached as far as Kabul. In the sixteenth century, Kabul was the capital of the Mughal empire from 1504 to 1526. From 1747 until 1979, Kabul was ruled by the Durrani kings;
Afghans in the street in front of war-damaged buildings in Kabul in 1995. (BACI/CORBIS).in 1979 it was occupied by the Soviet Union. The city remained under nominal Soviet control until the Soviet Union withdrew its troops in 1989, leaving the city in the hands of the Mujahideen rebel forces.
Mujahideen control was short-lived, as civil war soon broke out throughout the country of Afghanistan. Various tribal groups and political parties controlled Kabul until 1996, when the city came under control of the Taliban regime. The Taliban moved the capital of Afghanistan from Kabul to Kandahar and left Kabul in shambles. The Taliban lost control of Afghanistan in December 2001 to U.S. forces, sent by the U.S. government to remove the Taliban because of the Taliban's support of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 11 September attacks in New York City and Washington, DC.
Modern-day Kabul is undergoing massive reconstruction. The interim government of Hamid Karzai has received funding to rebuild the city and reestablish Kabul as the capital of Afghanistan.
Jennifer Nichols
This complete Kabul contains 424 words. This
article contains 627 words (approx. 2 pages at 300
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