KABUL (kah'bool), capital of Afghanistan, at an elevation of 6,90o ft. above the sea in 32' N. and 69° 14' E. Estimated pop. c. 8o,000. Lying at the foot of the bare and rocky mountains forming the western boundary of the Kabul valley, just below the gorge made by the Kabul river, the city extends a mile and a half east to west and one mile north to south and is hemmed in by the mountains except to the north. Kabul has been a city of vast importance for countless ages commanding all the passes which here debouch from. the north through the Hindu Kush, and from the west through Kandahar; and through it passed successive invasions of India by Alexander the Great, Mahmud of Ghazni, Jenghiz Khan, Baber, Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah. Indeed from the time of Baber to that of Nadir Shah (1526-1738) Kabul was part of the empire of Delhi. It is now some r6o m. from the British frontier post of Jamrud near Peshawar.
Kabul was formerly walled ; and the city itself is a huddle of narrow and dirty streets, with the Bala Hissar or fort forming the south-east angle, and rising about 15o ft. above the plain. The Amir's palace is situated outside the town about midway between it and the Sherpur cantonment which lies about a mile to the north-east. Formerly the greatest ornament of the city was the arcaded and roofed bazaar called Chihar Chatd, ascribed to Ali Mardan Khan, a noble of the r7th century, who has left behind him many monuments of his munificent public spirit both in Kabul and in Hindustan. Its four arms had an aggregate length of about 600 f t., with a breadth of 30. This edifice was destroyed by Sir G. Pollock on evacuating Kabul in 1842 as a record of the treachery of the city.
The tomb of the Sultan Baber stands on a slope about a mile to the west of the city in a charming spot. Near him lie several of his wives and children; the garden was formerly enclosed by a marble wall; a clear stream waters the flower-beds. From the hill that rises behind the tomb there is a noble prospect of his beloved city, and of the all-fruitful plain to the north of it.
After the accession of Abdur Rahman in 188o the city under went great changes. The Bala Hissar was destroyed and has never since been entirely rebuilt, and a fortified cantonment at Sherpur (one side of which was represented by the historic Be maru ridge) had taken the place of the old earthworks of the British occupation of 1842 which were constructed on nearly the same site. The city streets were as narrow and evil-smelling, the
surrounding gardens as picturesque and attractive, and the wealth of fruit was as great, as they had been fifty years previously. The amir, however, effected many improvements. Kabul is now con nected by well-planned and metalled roads with Afghan Turkestan on the west, with the Oxus and Bokhara on the north, and with India on the east. The road to India was first made by British and is now maintained by Afghan engineers. Improvements were continued under the Amir Habibullah, and the road from Kabul to Ghazni was surfaced for motors. A good road from Jalalabad runs now to Kafiristan via Asmar. The city ways have been im proved until it has become possible for wheeled vehicles to pass, and the various roads connecting the suburbs and the city are efficiently maintained. A purely local railway has also been intro duced, to assist in transporting building material. The buildings erected by Abdur Rahman included a new palace and a durbar hall, a bridge across the river and embankment, a pavilion and garden laid out around the site of Baber's tomb overlooking the Chardeh valley ; and many other buildings of public utility con nected with stud arrangements, the manufacture of small arms and ammunition, and the requirements of what may be termed a wholesale shop under European direction, besides hospitals, dis pensaries, bazaars, etc. The new palace is within an entrenchment just outside the city. It is enclosed in a fine garden, well planted with trees, where the harem serai (or ladies' apartments) occupies a considerable space. But the arrangement of terraced gardens and the lightly constructed pavilion which graces the western slopes of the hills overlooking Chardeh are the most attractive of these innovations. Here, on a summer's day, with the scent of roses pervading the heated air, the cool refreshment of the passing breezes and of splashing fountains may be enjoyed by the officials of the Kabul court, whilst they look across the beauty of the thickly planted plains of Chardeh to the rugged outlines of Pagh man and the snows of the Hindu Kush. The artistic taste of the landscape gardening is excellent, and the mountain scenery is not unworthy of Kashmir.