the capital of afghanistan
 

Kabul The Capital of Afghanistan


Kābul (city), city in east central Afghanistan, capital of the country and Kābul Province. Kābul is on the Kābul River, situated at an elevation of about 1800 m (about 5900 ft). The nation’s chief economic and cultural center, it has long been of strategic importance because of its proximity to the Khyber Pass, an important pass in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Manufactures of the city include textiles, processed food, chemicals, and wood products. Tajiks are the predominant population group of Kābul, and Pashtuns are an important minority. Kābul University (founded in 1932) was the country’s most important institution of higher education prior to its closure due to war in 1992.

An ancient community, Kabul rose to prominence in 1504, when the founder of the Indian Mughal dynasty, Babur, made it his capital. Delhi replaced it as the imperial capital in 1526, but Kābul remained an important center of the Mughal Empire (1526-1858) until it was captured in 1738 by the Persian ruler Nadir Shah. In 1747 Ahmad Shah, first emir of Afghanistan, made Kābul one of two Afghan capitals, along with the southern city of Kandahār. It became the sole capital after the death of Ahmad in 1773. 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.

Kābul was occupied by troops of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1979 until early 1989. After the Soviet withdrawal, a civil war ensued in Afghanistan. Beginning in 1992 Kābul was besieged by various mujahideen (Islamic guerrilla) factions. In September 1996 the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist movement, seized the city after a two-year campaign and took control of the government. The anti-Taliban forces of the Northern Alliance (or United Front) captured Kābul in November 2001, signaling the collapse of the Taliban regime. Population (1999 estimate) 2,450,000.