Happy TravellerWelcome to Jalalabad, the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan and the capital of Nangarhar Province. Located about 130 kilometers from Kabul, Jalalabad is a leading center of social and trade activity due to its proximity to the Torkham border checkpoint and border crossing. The city is situated at the junction of the Kabul River and the Kunar River in a plateau to the south of the Hindu Kush mountains, making it a picturesque destination for travelers. Jalalabad is known for its major industries, including papermaking, as well as agricultural products such as oranges, lemon, rice, and sugarcane, thanks to its warm climate. The city is also home to Afghanistan’s second-largest educational institute, Nangarhar University. For centuries, Jalalabad has been favored by Afghan kings and has cultural significance in Afghan poetry. During Timur Shah’s reign of the Durrani Empire, Jalalabad served as the Afghan winter capital.
History:
Jalalabad has a rich history dating back to the late 1st millennium BCE when it was a major center of Greco-Buddhist culture. The city was known by names such as Nagarhara and Adinapur and was focused on sites such as Ahin Posh. The first surviving references to the city are in early 1st millennium CE accounts by visiting Chinese Buddhist monks. In or about 400 CE, Faxian visited Nagarhara and worshiped at sacred Buddhist sites, such as the Cave of the Buddha’s Shadow. In 630 CE, Xuan Zang visited Adinapur and other locations nearby. The Buddhist era began to end after the region was conquered by Muslim forces during the late 1st millennium. However, conversions to Islam evidently did not occur quickly. In Hudud-al-Alam, written in 982 CE, there is reference to a village near Jalalabad where the local king had Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu wives. The region became part of the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century. Sabuktigin annexed the land all the way west of the Neelum River in Kashmir. The Afghans and Khiljies who resided among the mountains having taken the oath of allegiance to Sabuktigin, many of them were enlisted in his army, after which he returned in triumph to Ghazni. The Ghurids succeeded the Ghaznavids and expanded the Islamic empire further into Hindustan. The region around Jalalabad later became part of the Khalji territory, followed by that of the Timurids.
Modern:
Jalalabad was named in honor of Mughal ruler Jalal-uddin in the last decade of the sixteenth century, the grandson of Babur. The modern city gained prominence during the reign of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire. Babur had chosen the site for this city which was built by his grandson Jalal-uddin Mohammad Akbar in 1560. It remained part of the Mughal Empire until around 1738 when Nader Shah and his Afsharid forces began defeating the Mughals. Nader Shah’s forces were accompanied by the young Ahmad Shah Durrani and his 4,000-strong Afghan army from southern Afghanistan. In 1747, he founded the Durrani Empire (Afghan Empire) after re-conquering the area. The Afghan army has long used the city while going back and forth during their military campaigns into the Indian-subcontinent. It was then conquered by the Marathas in 1758 and was under the brief control of the Marathas under Tukojirao Holkar, who defeated Jahan Khan. The British-Indian forces invaded Jalalabad in 1838, during the First Anglo-Afghan War. In the 1842 Battle of Jellalabad, Akbar Khan besieged the British troops on their way to Jalalabad. In 1878, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, the British again invaded and set up camps in Jalalabad but withdrew two years later. Jalalabad is considered one of the most important cities of the Pashtun culture.
Demographics:
The city population is estimated to be 280,685 in the year 2021. Nearly all residents of Jalalabad are Muslim, followers of Sunni Islam.
