CAME; is the name given to that part of Afghanistan (q.v.) which lies s. of the Hindu Kush, and is drained by the Cabul river. It extends from the s. of Ghiznee to the Hindu Kush, and from Bamian (q.v.) to the Khyber pass. This region has long occu pied a prominent position in the world. Through it, as the passage from Persia to India, Alexander the great marched to complete his eastern conquests; from it issued Mahmoud of Ghiznee, the first Mohammedan invader of Hindustan.
The city of Cabul, from which tlmsurrounding territory takes its name, has 60,000 inhabitants, and stands in lat. 34° 30' n., and long. 69° 6' e., near the point where the river, here crossed by three bridges, ceases to be fordable. Elevated about 6400 ft., and overtopped, within a short distance to the n., by pinnacles of the Hindu Kush, about 14,000 ft. higher than itself, C. has a severe winter, and a temperate summer, ranging from 75° to 85' F. The city was formerly surrounded with an earthen wall, which no longer exists. It is separated into different quarters, for defense, by stone walls—the Bala Hissar, or citadel proper, being on the e., and the Kuzzilbashes or Persians having a strongly fortified quarter on the s.w. In the days of sultan Baber, C. was the capital of the Mogul empire. In more recent times, it has witnessed some of the most moment ous events in Anglo-Indian history. In 1839, it was taken by the British; in 1841, it
was lost through a treacherous outbreak, which led (6th Jan., 1842) to the massacre of about 4000 soldiers and 12,000 followers; and, finally, after being recovered by gen. Pol lock in the same year, it was abandoned, its bazaars and public buildings having previ ously been burned to the ground.
After the death of Dost Mohammed, =eel. of Afghanistan, Shere Ali, the son whom he had selected as his heir, had to fight for the possession of C. with Uzful Khan, his elder brother, and the son of the latter, Abdulrahman, who had married a daughter of the khan of Bokhara. Shere Ali was at first unsuccessful. On May 21, 1866, Uzful entered C. in triumph, and was proclaimed ameer of Afghanistan. He applied to sir John Lawrence, the Indian viceroy, to recognize him, but the request was declined on the ground that Shere Ali remained in possession of a large part of Afghanistan. At the death of Uzful, his brother Azim took the title of ameer, not of Afghanistan, but of C. and Candahar. In the end of 1868, Shere Ali, aided by his son Yakoob, obtained possession of C., which became again the capital of Afghanistan. At the close of the war of 1878-79, Yakoob, ameer of Afghanistan. agreed that there should be an English resident at Cabul.