Jalalabad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jalalabad | |
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  Jalalabad
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| Coordinates: 34°31′N 70°31′E / 34.517°N 70.517°E | |
| Country |  Afghanistan |
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| Province | Nangarhar Province |
| District | |
| Elevation | 1,814 ft (553 m) |
| Population (2007) | |
| - Total | 168,068 |
| Time zone | UTC+4:30 (UTC) |
Jalalabad (Persian: جلال اباد - Jalālābād; also known as Pashto: جلالکوټ - Jalālkot) is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul and Kunar rivers near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately 95 miles (153 km) of highway with Kabul to the west and about the same distance to Peshawar in Pakistan to the east.
Jalalabad is one of the leading trading centers with India and Pakistan. [1][2]
Jalalabad is the largest city of east Afghanistan as well as its social and business center of activity. Major industries include papermaking, as well agricultural products including oranges, rice, and sugarcane.
The city was a major center of Greco-Buddhist culture in the past until it was conquered by Muslim Turks by the 10th century. The modern city gained prominence during the reign of the Mughal emperor Babur. Invaded on numerous occasions, the city fell to the British in 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War. Today the city is being rebuilt under NATO and UN direction after decades of war and has been receiving an influx of returning refugees largely from Pakistan.
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[edit] History
Present-day Jalalabad was the major city of the ancient Gandhara's Greco-Bhuddist center.
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 Akbar in 1570.
The original name of Jalalabad was Adinapur as also mentioned here:
| “ | 'In the following year 1505 , Babar meditated an incursion into India and proceeded by Jalalabad (then called Adinapur) and the Khaibar Pass to Peshawar [3] | ” |
In 630 Xuan Zang, the famous Chinese Buddhist monk, arrived in Jalalabad and considered himself to have reached Hindustan.
The city is considered one of the most important cities of the Pashtun culture.
[edit] 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 mausoleum of both rulers is enclosed by a garden facing Seraj-ul-Emart.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan), the great Pashtun leader, is buried in the city of Jalalabad.
[edit] Demographic
The majority of the city population are the Pashtuns .[4] The minorities in the city include Tajiks, Kizilbash, the Pashai and a large number of Afghan war refugees, returning from Pakistan
Sunni branch of Islam is the religion of a majority of the population. On the other hand, the Turi Pashtuns and Dari-speaking Kizilbash inhabitants practice the Shia form of Islam (L. Dupree, Afghanistan, 1972) These, however, suffered immensely under the Taliban government, and were dispersed. [5] Wahhabism--an introduction by the Saudi fundamentalists and their Taliban cohorts, thrived in the city in the late 1980s and 1990s.
[edit] 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.
 Street scene in Jalalbad in 2004 |
 Helicopters at Jalalabad's main airport |
 A green field in Jalalabad |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.bartleby.com/65/ja/Jalalaba.html
- ^ http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/299643/Jalalabad
- ^ Gazetteer of the Peshawar District 1897-98 Page 55
- ^ http://www.bartleby.com/65/ja/Jalalaba.html
- ^ Jalalabad, Columbia University (retrieved 28 March 2008).
[edit] See also
- Gul Agha Sherzai
- Jalalabad Airport
- Provincial Reconstruction Team
- International Security Assistance Force
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jalalabad |
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