occupied (1839-1842 and 1879-1880) by
British troops. The city grew as an industrial center after 1940.|
Kabul - History |
Kabul, due to its strategic location and beautiful scenery, it has been one of the crossroads of history. It has been both a trading center and a meeting point for various religions and cultures. Because of the fact that it is a gateway to India, it has attracted traders as well as invaders. The snow-covered mountains surrounding Kabul and the green hills of the valley give a special beauty to the city.
On one of the hills, Tappe-i-Maranjan, archaeologists found artifacts including Buddha statues and Graeco-Bakhtar coins belonging to 2nd century B.C. that gave even more valuable information on the city's history.
Historic monuments decorate the city. To the east of the city lies the minaret of Chakari, bearing a Swastika sign and displaying the big and small sects of Buddhism (Mahayana and Hinayana). The beautiful statue of the sun God, Surya, excavated at Khair Khana and currently on display at the National Museum, shows that in the past sun-worship was commonplace.
The city is divided in two different segments by Kabul River. Along its banks lined public parks and gardens. Haidar, an Indian poet who had visited Kabul during the Maghul times, described Kabul:
"Dine and drink in Kabul, which is mountain, desert, city, river and all else."
A quite unique feature of Kabul is its two valleys, Paghman in the north and Jalalabad in the east, one hot and one cold. They have been for centuries the summer and winter resorts of Kabul.
The ancient community of Kabul rose to prominence in 1504, when it was made the capital of the Mughol Empire by the conqueror Babur. Delhi replaced
it as the imperial capital in 1526, but Kabul remained an important Mughol center until it was captured, in 1738, by the Persian ruler Nadir Shah.
In 1747 Kabul became part of an independent Afghan state, and in the 1770s it replaced Kandahar as the capital of Afghanistan. It was a focus of
British, Persian, and Russian rivalry for control of the Khyber Pass in the 19th century, when it was twice
occupied (1839-1842 and 1879-1880) by
British troops. The city grew as an industrial center after 1940.
Kabul was occupied by troops of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1979; the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan by early 1989. The
city has gone through the toughest and most disastrous civil war in its history between 1992-1996. The city
was under the control of the Taliban
government from 1996 to 2002 and steps are being taken to rebuild the city. Infrastructure such as roads and
the transportation system, telephone system, electricity,
renovation of buildings and much more is being done to bring back the city of Kabul to a better
standard of living despite the depicting living standards
because of poverty and war.
In 2002, following the September 11th terrorist attack, the United States of America forces launched a series of heavy air-bombardments against the Taliban regime, in co-operation with Taliban hostile rebel groups attacking from the North. The outcome of this war is still to be evaluated, since the main alleged goal of bringing Osama Bin Laden to court has not been accomplished.
A lot of people all over the world thought that the Taliban were not solely responsible for the situation in Afghanistan, as those who once supported them and encouraged their obscurantist tendencies were equally blameworthy. The appalling deliberate destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas that had taken place in the name of religion engaged the world attention. The world, though, paid less attention to bother help alleviate the suffering of the people faced with famine due to the drought that had taken many areas of Afghanistan in its sweep for many consequent years.
FOOTNOTE by Ian Alexander (with whom the World Travel Gate editors fully agree)
The
Taliban were defeated by the anger of the USA - and its air force - after its
protégé Al Qaeda attacked Manhattan and Washington with airliners hijacked by
suicide bombers. Afghanistan is again free, but desperately poor with everything
shattered by war, and still riven by factions following rival warlords more or
less along tribal lines. The Americans came, destroyed their enemies, promised
money to rebuild, and (more or less) left. Very little of the money has ever
appeared. It is easy to believe that in such conditions, people in Afghanistan
and other countries could again turn to war and terrorism. When will we in the
rich West ever learn?
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