Afghanistan, Jalalabad, Afghanistan

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Situated near the base of the Khyber Pass, Jalalabad is the gateway from Afghanistan to the Indian Subcontinent. It sits between two mountain ranges, the Hindu Kush to the north and the Safed Kuh (White Mountains or Spinghar in Pashtu) to the south, on the old Grand Trunk Road leading from Kabul to Peshawar and beyond. Jalalabad is famous for its fruit (particularly oranges), but has grown prosperous on the trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan, both licit and smuggled. Its proximity to the border means that Jalalabad is the centre of operations for many aid organisations.

The mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan was one of the great centres of Buddhist culture from the 2nd to 7th centuries AD. The Kushans produced the first human representations of Buddha, and their Gandharan art was a fusion of the western traditions they had inherited from Greek predecessors and the eastern themes of the Subcontinent. The Jalalabad valley was one of the most important centres of Buddhist pilgrimage in the world, centred around the city of Hadda, who remains lie just south of modern Jalalabad. The city boasted a thousand stupas, and contained many relics of Buddha, including his staff, robe and one of his teeth.

Hadda barely survived the pillages that eventually brought down the Kushan empire, but the region held out under a Hindu dynasty against the Arabs invaders in the mid 7th century. The advent of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century finally spelled the end of Gandharan culture. Sultan Mahmud who conquered territory as far east as Delhi from his base at Ghazni, brought Islam to the Jalalabad valley with a policy of mass conversion.

Jalalabad was founded in 1507 by the Moghul emperor Akbar, meaning to dominate the route through the Khyber Pass. A warm winter climate made it a popular retreat for many subsequent Afghan rulers, although little of the old city has survived in to the modern era. Jalalabad played little part in Afghan history until the first Anglo-Afghan War, and the retreat from Kabul by the British army in the winter of 1840-41. The retreat of the Kabul garrison ranks as one of the worst disasters in the hisotory of the British Army. Led by an ineffectual general, almost the entire force of 4,500 troops and 12,000 camp followers were massacred by Afghan tribesmen or died of exposure in the passes and defiles on their way to Jalalabad. Only a single officer, Dr Brydon survived the retreat to reach the garrison at Jalalabad, although the British 'Army of Retribution' later rescued some 2,000 sepoys and camp followers the following year. More on www.kabulcaravan.com

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General Tips about Afghanistan

» Required travel documents for Afganistan
» Electric power
» Area code to Afghanistan
» Mines danger
» Packing list
» Tea - favourite drink
» Bargains
» Northern Afghanistan
» Visas
» Takht-i-Rostam
» Nouristan
» Qunduz
» Khyber Pass
» Qandahar
» Jalalabad
» Herat (Aria)
» Ghazni
» Bost (Lashkar Gah)
» Begram
» Band-i-Amir
» Bamiyan
» Balkh (Wazirabad)
» Hindu Kush
» Afghanistan, Jalalabad
» Mazar-e Sharif
» Afghanistan, Herat
» Kabul, PAGHMAN GARDENS
» Kabul, THE NATIONAL GALLERY
» Kabul, BALA HISSAR
» Kabul, BABUR GARDENS
» Kabul Zoo
» Kabul, DARULAMAN PALACE
» The Kabul Museum
» Kandahar, Afghanistan
» Kabul

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