Welcome to Kabul, the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It lies high in a narrow valley of the Hindu Kush, beside the Kabul River, at 1,791 metres above sea level, one of the highest capitals in the world. Kabul is believed to be over 3,500 years old. As a key stop on the ancient Silk Road, it was seen as the meeting point of Tartary, Hindustan and Persia, and many empires claimed it. In the 16th century the Mughal rulers used it as their summer capital. The city is known for its historic gardens and palaces, so let's begin among them.
Gardens of Babur
Photo: Danial f4 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe begin in Bagh-e Babur, the Gardens of Babur, a historic park more than 500 years old. It is thought to date from around 1504, when Babur, the first Mughal emperor, ordered an avenue garden to be laid out in Kabul, and he described it in his memoirs, the Baburnama. Mughal princes created pleasure gardens during their lives and later chose one as their resting place, and Babur's tomb lies here. His successors honoured the site: Shah Jahan, visiting in 1638, had a marble screen raised around the tomb and a mosque built on the terrace below.
Darul Aman Palace
Photo: ВАДИМ ЧУПРИНА · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia CommonsAbout 16 kilometres southwest of the centre stands Darul Aman Palace, three storeys and 150 rooms. Its name has a clever double meaning: Abode of Peace, but also Abode of Amanullah, after Amanullah Khan, during whose reign it was built in the 1920s. The palace was severely damaged during the civil war of the 1990s, and later restored, with most of the work finished for the 100th anniversary of Afghan independence in 2019. Around it stand the National Assembly, the National Museum of Afghanistan and a university.
Bala Hissar
Photo: John Burke · Public domain · Wikimedia CommonsOn the slopes south of the old city stood Bala Hissar, the High Fort, an ancient fortress thought to date from around the 5th century AD. From here the Walls of Kabul, about 6 metres high, sweep along the mountain ridge down to the river. The fortress was once divided in two: the lower part held stables, barracks and three royal palaces, while the upper fort housed the armoury and Kabul's dungeon, grimly known as the Black Pit. Bala Hissar was destroyed by the British in 1880, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
National Museum of Afghanistan
Photo: Babak Fakhamzadeh · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia CommonsJust across the street from Darul Aman Palace is the National Museum of Afghanistan, once considered one of the finest museums in the world. Its collection was among the most important in Central Asia, with over 100,000 items spanning several millennia, from Persian, Buddhist and Islamic dynasties. During the civil war that began in 1992, the museum was looted many times and hit by rockets, and 70 percent of its objects were lost. Since 2007 international organisations have helped recover thousands of artefacts, among them the famous Begram ivories from the 1st century, returned by the United Kingdom in 2012.
Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque
Photo: Masoud Akbari · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsBy the Kabul River, look for a bright yellow two storey building: the Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque, the Mosque of the King of Two Swords. It was built during the reign of Amanullah Khan and modelled on the Ortaköy Mosque in Istanbul. Its Italian decorative stucco is unusual for Islamic religious architecture, creating an effect some describe as Afghan Baroque. Next to it lies the tomb of Chin Timur Khan, a Mughal general and cousin of Babur.
Pul-e Khishti Mosque
Photo: Casimiri · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsWe finish in the heart of old Kabul at the Pul-e Khishti Mosque, the largest mosque in the city, easy to recognise by its great blue dome. It was first built in the late 18th century and largely rebuilt under Zahir Shah in the late 1960s. Damaged during the fighting of the 1990s, it was fully restored by 2019. Many people in Kabul tell a surprising story about it: that for years in the early 20th century its imam was an Englishman who had converted to Islam, and who later returned to England.
Lomakuume
