' onMouseout='HidePop("64193")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Pakistan">Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
to the east.
Jalalabad is the largest city in eastern Afghanistan as well as its social and business center of activity. Major industries include papermaking, as well agricultural products including oranges, rice, and sugarcane. Jalalabad is one of the leading trading centers with Pakistan and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
.
History
In 630 Xuan Zang, the famous
ChineseChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
Buddhist monk, arrived in Jalalabad and considered himself to have reached
HindustanHindustan "land of Hind", is one of the popular names of South Asia. Though the meaning of Hindustan has evolved over the years, after the partition of India it primarily refers to the Republic of India.-Etymology:...
. The city was a major center of
GandharaSee also Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient kingdom , located in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. Gandhara was located mainly in the vale of Peshawar, the Potohar plateau and on the Kabul River...
's Greco-Buddhist culture in the past until it was conquered by
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
Arabs in the 7th century. However, not everyone converted to
IslamIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
at that period as some still refused to accept it. In a book called Hudud-al-Alam, written in 982 CE, it mentions a village near Jalalabad where the local king used to have many
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
, Muslim and
AfghanAfghan may refer to:* Someone or something related to Afghanistan, see Demography of Afghanistan* Pashtun people, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and second largest ethnic group in Pakistan; see also Afghan...
wives.
It became part of the Turkish Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century, during the Indian invasions by
SultanSultan is an Islamic title, with several historical meanings. Originally it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", or "rulership", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power"...
Mahmud of GhazniMahmud of Ghazni , also known as ' was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and ruled from 997 until his death in 1030...
. The modern city gained prominence during the reign of the
MughalThe Mughal Empire was an Islamic and Persianate imperial power of the Indian subcontinent which began in 1526, invaded and ruled most of Hindustan by the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and ended in the mid-19th century...
emperor,
BaburZahir ud-din Muhammad Jalal ud-din Babur was a Muslim conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty of India. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his...
. The founder of the Mughal empire of India, Babur, had chosen the site for this city and the city was built by his grandson
Jalal-uddin Mohammad AkbarJalaluddin Muhammad Akbar , also known as Akbar the Great was the third Mughal Emperor of India. He was the son of Nasiruddin Humayun whom he succeeded as ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1605, and the grandson of Babur who founded the dynasty...
in 1570. The original name of Jalalabad was Adinapur as also mentioned here:
British troops were besieged by
Akbar KhanMohammad Akbar Khan was an Afghan Prince, general and tribal leader. He was active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. He is prominent for his leadership of the national party in Kabul from 1841 to 1842, and his pursuit of the retreating British army from Kabul to ...
in the city in 1842 during the
First Anglo-Afghan WarThe First Anglo–Afghan War lasted from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between Great Britain and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the...
. In 1878, the British again passed through Jalalabad during the
Second Anglo-Afghan WarThe Second Anglo-Afghan War refers to a war between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan that lasted from 1878 to 1880.-War:After tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the June 1878 Congress of Berlin, Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. That same summer, Russia sent an...
.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, the city served as a strategic location for the pro-
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
government of Afghanistan. It fell to the Taliban in mid 1990s when they were on their way to capture
KabulKabul , is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of over 2.5 million, and is located in the province of Greater Kabul...
.
Today the city is being rebuilt under
NATOThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization ); ), also called "the Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949...
and UN direction after decades of war and has been receiving an influx of returning refugees largely from Pakistan. The city is considered one of the most important cities of the
PashtunPashtuns , also called Pathans or ethnic Afghans, are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan...
culture. The
Military of AfghanistanThe Military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Army Air Corps , and scattered small-sized authorized militia forces. Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy...
is in control of security while the United States Military also has heavy presense. There are a number of US military bases, with the
Jalalabad AirportJalalabad Airport is located 3 miles southeast of Jalalabad city in Afghanistan. This airport is currently being used only for military purposes and sometimes the United Nation's aircraft use this airport.New Jalalabad Airport...
being the largest.
Historical buildings and monuments
Seraj-ul-Emarat, the residence of Amir Habibullah and King Amanullah was destroyed in 1929; the other sanctuaries however, retain vestiges of the past and offer a peaceful afternoon's crunch. The
mausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
of both rulers is enclosed by a garden facing Seraj-ul-Emart.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar KhanKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule in India...
(Bacha Khan), the great Pashtun leader, is buried in the city of Jalalabad.
Demographics
The population of the city is mostly
Pashtun peoplePashtuns , also called Pathans or ethnic Afghans, are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan...
, at 90%.
PashaiPashai are a Dardic ethno-linguistic group living primarily in eastern Afghanistan. Their total population is estimated to be 500,000. They are mainly concentrated in the northern parts of Laghman and Nangarhar provinces and eastern Kapisa province. Pashai are believed to be descendants of ancient...
s, who are often considered as Pashtuns, are 7%. The remaining 3% are Tajiks and
GujjarThe Gujjar or Gurjar are an ethnic group in India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Alternative spellings include Gurjara, Gujar, Gujur and Goojar.-Origin:...
s (
SikhSikh is the title and name given to an adherent of Sikhism. The term has its origin in the Sanskrit term , meaning "disciple, learner" or , meaning "instruction"....
s/Hindus).
PashtoPashto , also known as Afghani, is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Pashto belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family...
is the main language of the city and is also used throughout the province.
PersianPersian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
and
UrduUrdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
are used as second languages due to the influence of the nearby people.
Modern development
There has been proposals for the establishment of Afghanistan's first rail network linking Jalalabad with Pakistan's vast and extensive rail service allowing for increased trade of goods, people and commerce between the two countries. An improvement in the road networks between the Jalalabad leading into Peshawar has also been proposed, with the intention of widening the existing road and improving security to attract more tourism and allow for safer passage of goods between to the two countries.
The international community has re-surfaced the road link between Jalalabad and the capital Kabul reducing the transit time between these two important cities.
See also
- Battle of Jellalabad
The Battle of Jellalabad was an Afghan siege of the isolated British outpost at Jellalabad about 80 miles east of Kabul...
- Gul Agha Sherzai
Gul Agha Sherzai is the current Governor of Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. He previously served as Governor of Kandahar province, in the early 1990s and from 2001 until 2003.-Biography:...
- Jalalabad Airport
Jalalabad Airport is located 3 miles southeast of Jalalabad city in Afghanistan. This airport is currently being used only for military purposes and sometimes the United Nation's aircraft use this airport.New Jalalabad Airport...
- Provincial Reconstruction Team
A Provincial Reconstruction Team is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or...
- International Security Assistance Force
International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security and development mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement.- Overview :...
External links