History of Kabul

History of Afghanistan
Ariana · Khorasan

Antiquity

The city of Kabul is thought to have been established between 2000 BC and 1500 BC.It was once a centre of Zoroastrianism, then later of Buddhism. The word "Kubhā" is mentioned in Rigveda (composed between 1700–1100 BC), which appears to refer to the Kabul River. The Rigveda praises it as an ideal city, a vision of paradise set in the mountains. During this period the Kabul area was part of Ariana and ruled by ancient Persian emperors. There is a reference to a settlement called Kabura by the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire around 400 BC, which may be the basis for the use of the name Kabura (Κάβουρα) by Ptolemy. Alexander the Great explored the area after his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BC but not mention was made of Kabul.The city became part of the Seleucid Empire before becoming part of the Maurya Empire. The Bactrians founded the town of Paropamisadae near Kabul, but it was later ceded to the Mauryans in the 1st century BC.

Kushano-Hephthalite Kingdoms in 565 AD

According to many noted scholars, the Sanskrit name of Kabul is Kamboj. 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 mentions as Kaboura (from Ka(m)bo(j)pura?) in 160 AD. Hsuan Tsang refers to the name as Kaofu (高附), which according to J.W. McCrindle, Sylvain Lévi, B.C. Law, R.K. Mukkerji,N.L. Dey and many other scholars, is equivalent to Sanskrit Kamboja (Kamboj/Kambuj). Kaofu was also the appellation of one of the five tribes of the Yuechi who had migrated from across the Hindukush into the Kabul valley around the beginning of the Christian era. According to some scholars, the fifth clan mentioned among the Tochari/Yuechi may have been a clan of the Kambojas

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom captured Kabul from the Mauryans in the early 2nd century BC, then lost the city to their subordinates in the Indo-Greek Kingdom around the mid 2nd century BC. Indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the city to the Kushan Empire nearly 100 years later. It was conquered by Kushan Emperor Kujula Kadphises in the early 1st century AD and remained Kushan territory until at least the 3rd century AD.

Around 230 AD, the Kushans were defeated by the Sassanid Empire and replaced by Sassanid vassals known as the Kushanshas or Indo-Sassanids. In 420 AD the Kushanshahs (Kushan kings) were driven out of Afghanistan by the Xionites tribe known as the Kidarites, who were then replaced in the 460s by the Hephthalites. It became part of the surviving Turk Shahi Kingdom of Kapisa, also known as Kabul-Shahan. Barhatkin was the first Shahi king  followed by King Khingala about 5th Century.

    The Kabul rulers are probably identical with the so called Turk Shahi kings who are known from other sources, as for instance from the work of the earlier Islamic geographer, Abu Rahyan al-Biruni. This famous encyclopedic from Choresmia lived from AD 973 to about AD 1050 and worked at the court of the later Islamic ruler of East Afghanistan, Mahmud of Ghazni. In his large work on India (Tarikh al hind), al Biruni tells that the Turkic kings of Kabul and Gandhara claimed descent from King Kanishk, while at the same time they boasted of their Tibetan origins. They reigned according to al Biruni for 60 generations.

    —Willem Vogelsang, 2002

The Kabul rulers built a huge defensive wall around the city to protect it from future invaders. This wall has survived until today and is considered a historical site.

[edit] Islamic conquest to the Mongol invasion

Further information: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan

In 674, the Islamic conquest reached modern-day Afghanistan. Kabul to the east fell in 879 despite the resistance of the Kabul Shahi. In the 9th century Ya'qub bin Laith as-Saffar, a coppersmith turned ruler from Zaranj, further established Islam in Kabulistan. Over the centuries to come, the city was successively controlled by the Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, and Kartids.

    Ibn Hawqal who is supposed to have written in the middle of the 10th century, observes that at Kabul, although the castle was occupied by Mohammadans, the town was still possessed by idolators, that is, by Hindus.

    —H. Wilson and C. Masson

In the 13th century the Mongol horde passed through and fought with the local Turkic tribes in the area. Reports of a massacres in the close by Bamiyan is recorded around this period, where the entire population of the valley was annihilated by the Mongol troops. One of Genghis Khan's grandson is thought to be named "Kabul", which is believed to be the first documented mention of this name.The name is again mentioned following the era of the Khilji dynasty when a Moroccan traveller, Ibn Battuta, visiting Kabul in 1333 writes:

    We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Persians called Afghans.

    —Ibn Battuta, 1304-1369

Timurid and Mughal era

Further information: Timurid dynasty and Mughal Empire

Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's sons, Shah Shuja, Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh.

In the 14th century, Kabul rose again as a trading centre under the kingdom of Timur (Tamerlane). By 1504, the city was revitalized by Babur and made into his headquarters, which remained one of the principle cities of the Mughal Empire for over 200 years. Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat, an Indian poet who visited at the time wrote:

    Dine and drink in Kabul: it is mountain, desert, city, river and all else.

    —Haidar, 1499-1551

It was from here that Babur began his conquest of India in 1526. Babur wished to be buried in Kabul, a city he had always loved, but at first he was buried in Agra, India. Roughly nine years later his remains were dug back up and re-buried at Bagh-e Babur (Gardens of Babur) in Kabul by Sher Shah Suri on orders by Babur's wife. The inscription on his tomb contains Persian words penned by Babur:

    .اگر پردیس روی زمین است همین است و همین است و همین است

    (If there is a paradise on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this!)

    —Babur (1483-1531) [34]

The city was often contested by Babur's sons, especially Kamran Mirza and Humayun. Humayun was chased away from Hindustan by Sher Shah Suri but was able to return in November 1545 with Persian aid, where he is believed to have taken Kabul without any blood-spills. Kamran managed to retake Kabul twice but he remained a hated figure to the residents of the city, as his periods of rule involved atrocities against large numbers of them. Following his third and final ejection from Kabul in 1552, Kamran fled and was captured in Punjab, by Hindu General 'Hemu' of Islam Shah, who was ruling North India. Kamran was handed over to Humanyun in Kabul, who made him blind.

Durrani Empire and the Afghan nation-state

Further information: Durrani Empire

Shah Shuja, the last Durrani King, sitting at his court inside the Bala Hissar before it was destroyed by the British Army

Nader Shah Afshar invaded and occupied the city briefly in 1738 but was assassinated nine years later. Ahmad Shah Durrani, who commanded 4,000 Abdali Afghans under Nader Shah, asserted Pashtun rule in 1747 and further expanded his new Afghan Empire. His ascension to power marked the beginning of Afghanistan. His son Timur Shah Durrani, after inheriting power, transferred the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul in 1776.[35] Timur Shah died in 1793 and was succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani. The first European to visit Kabul was the 18th century English traveller George Foster, who described it as "the best and cleanest city in Asia".[8]

In 1826, the kingdom was claimed by Dost Mohammad Khan and taken from him by the British Indian Army in 1839, who installed the unpopular 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 foreign forces, which included civilians and camp followers on their retreat from Kabul to Jalalabad. In 1842 the British returned, plundering Bala Hissar in revenge before fleeing back to British India (now Pakistan). Dost Mohammed returned to the throne.

The British and Indian forces 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 British India (Pakistan). Amir Abdur Rahman Khan 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 affairs at Eidgah Mosque. In 1929 Ammanullah Khan left Kabul due to a local uprising orchestrated by Habibullah Kalakani and Ammanullah's brother, Nader Khan, took control over the nation. King Nader Khan was assassinated in 1933 and the throne was left to his 19-year-old son, Zahir Shah, who became the long lasting King of Afghanistan.

Life of Kabul's people in the 1950s.

During this period between the two World Wars France and Germany worked to help develop the country in both the technical and educational spheres. Both countries maintained high schools and lycees in the capital and provided an education for the children of elite families. Kabul University opened in 1932 and soon was linked to both European and American universities, as well as universities in other Muslim countries in the field of Islamic studies.By the 1960s the majority of instructors at the university had degrees from Western universities.

Aerial view of Kabul in 1969

When Zahir Shah took power in 1933 Kabul had the only 6 miles of rail in the country, few internal telegraph or phone lines and few roads. He turned to the Japanese, Germans and Italians for help developing a modern network of communications and roads.A radio tower built by the Germans in 1937 in Kabul allowed instant communication with outlying villages. A national bank and state cartels were organized to allow for economic modernization. Textile mills, power plants and carpet and furniture factories were also built in Kabul, providing much needed manufacturing and infrastructure.

In 1955 the Soviet Union forwarded $100 million in credit to Afghanistan, which financed public transportation, airports, a cement factory, mechanized bakery, a five-lane highway from Kabul to the Soviet border and dams.

In the 1960s, Kabul developed a cosmopolitan mood. The first Marks & Spencer store in Central Asia was built there. Kabul Zoo was inaugurated in 1967, which was maintained with the help of visiting German zoologists. Many foreigners began flocking to Kabul with the increase in global air travels around that time. The nation's tourism industry was starting to pick up rapidly for the first time. Kabul experimented with liberalization, dropping laws requiring women to wear the burka, restrictions on speech and assembly loosened which led to student politics in the capital. Socialist, Maoist and liberal factions demonstrated daily in Kabul while more traditional Islamic leaders spoke out against the failure to aid the Afghan countryside. A 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 the early 1970s Radio Kabul began to broadcast in other languages besides Pashtun which helped to unify those minorities that often felt marginalized, however this was put to a stop with Daoud's revolution in 1973.

The day after the April 1978 Saur Revolution

In July 1973, Zahir Shah was ousted in a nonviolent coup and Kabul became the capital of a republic under Mohammed Daoud Khan, the new President. Daoud's revolution was actually supported by the communist party in the city, the PDP. The support of the PDP helped to prevent a violent clash in his coup in 1973. He named himself President of this new democracy and planned to institute reforms. Daoud was the long standing prime minister, and while he instituted a republic he had Soviet leanings in terms of political allies. He had welcomed Soviet military aid and advisors in 1956 and the nation slowly took on the appearance of what one US diplomat called a "Soviet-style police state, where there is no free press, no political parties, and where the ruthless suppression of minorities is the established pattern." Conversely, some of the people of Kabul who lived under King Zahir Shah describe the period before the April 1978 Saur Revolution as a sort of golden age. All the different ethnic groups or tribes of Afghanistan lived together harmoniously and thought of themselves first and foremost as Afghans. They intermarried and mixed socially.

In the later years of his leadership, Daoud began to shift favour from the Soviet Union to Islamic nations, expressing admiration for their wealth from oil and expecting economic aid from them to quickly surpass that of the Soviet Union. The slow speed of reforms however frustrated both the Western educated elite and the Russian trained army officers.Daoud forced many communists out of his government, which unified the various communist factions within the city.

This would ultimately lead to the Saur Revolution which occurred on April 27, 1978. The PDPA, the People's Democratic Party Army, seized the palace and killed Daoud and his family along with many of his supporters. The new communist regime moved quickly to institute reforms. Private businesses were nationalized in the Soviet manner. Education was modified into the Soviet model, with lessons focusing on teaching Russian, Leninism-Marxism and learning of other countries belonging to the Soviet bloc. Rural guerrillas and disaffected army deserters took up arms in the name of Islam, due to the communist regime's increasing rejection of it. This rebellion would eventually lead to the invasion of Afghanistan by Russian forces.

Soviet invasion and civil war

Further information: Soviet war in Afghanistan and Civil war in Afghanistan

Tajbeg Palace in Kabul was used as the headquarters of the Soviet 40th Army

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, on December 24, 1979, the Red Army  occupied the capital. They turned the city into their command centre 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 and warlords after the 1992 collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's pro-communist government.[50] As these forces between Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and Pashtuns  divided into warring factions, the city increasingly suffered. In December, the last of the 86 city trolley buses came to a halt because of the conflict. A system of 800 public buses continued to provide transportation services to the city. By 1993 electricity and water in the city was completely out. At this time, Burhannudin Rabbani's Tajik fighters (Jamiat-e Islami) held power but the nominal Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami, Dostum's Junbish and Abdul Ali Mazari's Hezbe Wahdat  began shelling the city, which lasted until 1996. Initially the factions in the city aligned to fight off Hekmatyar but diplomacy between the groups quickly broke down.[51]  Due to the groups being mainly divided by ethnic origins the fighting quickly took on a genocidal aspect. The goal was to "purposefully eliminate people of a different identity ... by means of large-scale slaughter, coercive relocation, extortion and other modes of intimidation, such as rape and torture."[52]  Political control became almost feudal in manner, with a warlord controlling whatever area he and his followers could manage to militarily conquer. Tens of thousand of Kabul citizens were killed and many more fled as refugees. The United Nations estimated that 90% of the buildings in Kabul were destroyed during these years.

Kabul was captured by the Taliban on September 26, 1996,[53] publicly lynching ex-President Najibullah and his brother. During this time, all the fighting between the rival groups came to a sudden end. Burhannudin Rabbani, Gulbuddin Heckmatyar, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Ahmad Shah Massoud, and the rest of the warlords all fled the city. The Taliban rule also did not last long, which made Afghanistan come to the brink of starvation.

US-British invasion

Further information: War in Afghanistan (2001–present)

Downtown area of Kabul

Approximately five years later, in October 2001, the United States armed forces assisted by British Armed Forces invaded the country during Operation Enduring Freedom. The Taliban abandoned Kabul in the following months due to extensive American and British bombing, while the Afghan Northern Alliance (former mujahideen and warlords) came to retake control of the city. In late December 2001 Kabul became the capital of the Afghan Transitional Administration, which transformed to the present Government of Afghanistan that is led by President Hamid Karzai.

Since the beginning of 2003, the city of Kabul has been slowly developing with the help of foreign investment. It is also the scene of many suicide bombings and powerful explosions where many people become casualties. Most attacks are carried out against government and military installations but the majority of the victims are civilians. From early 2002 to 2008, security was provided by NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but now the newly trained Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Afghan National Army (ANA) are in charge of the area.