Kabul was invaded by the Arabs in the thirty-fifth year of the Hegira, but it was long before the Mohammedans effected any lasting settlement. Kabul first became a capital when Baber made himself master of it in 1504, and here he reigned for fif teen years before his invasion of Hindustan. In modern times it became a capital again, under Timur Shah (see AFGHANISTAN), and so has continued both to the end of the Durani dynasty, and under the Barakzais, who now reign. It was occupied by Sir John Keane in 1839, General Pollock in 1842, and again by Sir Frederick, afterwards Lord Roberts, in 1879.
Kabul is also the name of the province including the whole of the plains called Koh Daman and Beghram, etc., to the Hindu Kush northward, with the Kohistan or hill country adjoining. Eastward it extends to the border of Jalalabad at Jagdalak; south ward it includes the Logar district, and extends to the border of Ghazni; north-westward it includes the Paghman hills, and the valley of the upper Kabul river, and so to the Koh-i-Baba. Roughly it embraces a territory of about roo m. square, chiefly
mountainous. Wheat and barley are the staple products of the arable tracts. Artificial grasses are also much cultivated, and fruits largely, especially in the Koh Daman. A considerable part of the population spends the summer in tents. The villages are not enclosed by fortifications, but contain small private castles or f ortalices.
It is pleasant to record that the graveyard of those officers who fell in the Kabul campaign of 1879-1880, which lies at the north ern end of the Bemaru ridge, is not uncared for. Since the World War the number of Europeans (non-British) in Kabul has greatly increased, and European engineers have developed elec tricity by water power, and made the main roads fit for motor traffic. King Amanullah soon after his succession started a new royal suburb at Dar-es-Salaam a few miles from the city and much modernized the environs of Kabul.