KABUL, the name of a city and a river on the N.W. borders of British India, under the rule of the Barakz.ai clan of Afghans. The origin of the name Kabul has not been traced. It is not mentioned by any of the Greek or Roman writers, who were familiar with the Aria territory of which Herat is the capital ; with Ariana, the general name of the country east of Persia and Media, as far as the Indus; with 13actria, the country watered by the Oxus and its tributaries, and Sogdiana, the mountains which feed the Jaxartes and divide the two rivers. Mr. Masson derives its name from Kt' tpila, a city ruled once by a prince Kanishka.
It is built directly under a rocky hill of gneiss that rises 1000 feet above it, and bends round it from the south-east to the south-west, where, with the dip of another hill opposite, is formed a pass which leads into Char Deh, 150 yards broad. At, the eastern extremity of the rocky hills which enclose it on the south is the Bala 'limas, on a neck of land about 150 feet high, which commands the city.
The Bala Hissar comprises two portions,---one is the Bala Hissar Bala, or upper citadel, and the Bala Hissar Pahin, or the lower fortress. The defences of the Bala Hissar are connected with and form part of those of the city, over which it dominates. There is a large open space in the centre, containing the Amir Mahal, with gardens and other places necessary for a chief's residence.
Within the Bala Hissar also are two wells lined with masonry, having been used as state prisons, and receptacles for the corpses of those executed or murdered for political purposes during the stormy periods of Kabul history. On one of the higher points of the Bala Hissar there are two blocks of hewn marble, called Takhts or as they have on each side a flight of three steps for ascending to sit upon them. The Bala Hissar Pahin contains about a thousand houses. It is also divided into its mahalas, or quarters. One is called the Mahala Arabs, from an Arabic popula tion ; another is the Mahala Habashi, from its inhabitants being the descendants of Negroes ; and another is the Mahala Armani, front its Armenian residents. These tell something of the very great variety among the dwellers in Kabul.
Both in a military and commercial point of view, Kabul possesses many advantages. The emperor Babes vaunts the commercial value of the city, and the consequent resort to it of the merchants of all countries, and the display in its markets of the fabrics and produce of all climes.
The secretary to Akbar the Great, writing in the Ayin-i-Akbari, says, Kabul is the gate of Hindustan towards Tartary, as Kandahar is towards Persia, and if both places be properly guarded, that extensive empire is safe from the irruption of foreigners. According to the Indians, no man can be called the ruler of Hindustan who has not taken possession of Kabul.' The eminent advantage possessed by Kabul is that of locality, happily situate between India and Central Asia, lat. 34° 30' N., long. 69° 5' E., at the gorge of the nearest and most practicable passes between the two countries. It is 88 miles from Ghazni, 318 miles from Kandahar, 103 miles from Jalalabad, and 190 from Peshawar. The southern parts of the city are supplied with water from a canal called Bala Jui, which is brought from the river at its entrance into the plain of Char Deh, and is carried on the western face of the hill Koh-i-Takht Shah.
The city is situated at the western extremity of a spacious and fertile plain. It lies in a tri angular gorge, formed by the approach of two ranges of hills, which, running from the north and cast, meet at the south-west corner of the city. A narrow gorge separates these hills, and
through it dashes the Kabul river, bearing away to the north-east ; while by its side runs the high I road from Kandahar and Ghazni. The range 1 which runs to the south of the city is only separ ated from the ruins of the old walls by a narrow path. These hills are steep, bare, and rugged, terminating in a commanding eminence, which dominates the south-eastern corner of the city, and on the slopes of which rise the walls of the Bala Hissar. The Kabul river is spanned by a bridge at the gorge which separates the two ranges, and on its left bank the hills trending away to the north-west join in with the lower spurs of the Hindu Kush. Along the crest of both ranges, starting from the Bala Hissar, and conforming to the configuration of the ground, runs a long line of loopholed wall, flanked at short intervals by round towers. This wall is carried up the steep side of the hills and across the narrow gorge which lies between them, and well round the western flank of the city. The town formerly was encircled by ramparts built partly of burnt bricks and partly of mud. It is said that the walls fell into disrepair in the reign of Timur Shah. About the year 1773 this monarch transferred the seat of the Daurani government from Kandahar to Kabul, and from that date the importance of the place largely increased. Prior to the visit of Nadir Shah, the population of Kabul in all probability did not exceed 20,000 souls ; but on his death large numbers of foreign tribes domiciled themselves in the place, and their descendants now represent several thousands of people. The houses are slightly and indifferently built, generally of mud and sun-dried bricks ; the few of burnt brick are those of old standing. Those occupied by the Shiahs in the Chandol quarter are particularly fine. The city is divided into quarters, called mahalas, and these again into sections, kuchas. The latter are enclosed and entered by srhall gates, and are invariably occupied by people of t® same class or profession. On occasion of war or tumult the entrance-gates are built up, when the 'city contains as many different fortifications as there are sections in it. This means of defence is called kuchabandi. An insecure state of society has induced this precautionary mode of building the city. The Shor bazar and the Lahore bazar run parallel to each other, from east to west. The western portion of the latter street is occu pied by the Charchata. Of this the inhabitants are exceedingly proud. It is ascribed to Ali Mardan Khan (A.D.1637), a man whose name is remembered in these countries from the many visible testimonies to his public spirit extant in various forms. It consisted of four covered arcades, of equal length and dimensions, handsomely constructed and highly embellished with paintings ; these were separated from each other by square, open areas, provided with wells and fountains. The shops of the Char chata are tenanted by retail vendors of manufac tured goods, who sit perched cross-legged on low counters in front of their shops, on which are displayed their wares. In Kabul, as in most eastern cities, the several descriptions of traders and artisans congregate. Thus the shops of drapers, saddlers, armourers, ironmongers, curriers, etc., are all found in their own quarter. Besides the shopkeepers or fixed tradesmen, a vast number of itinerant traders parade the bazar.