Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-10-23
Cabul aud It's CaptOrs.



knows. Local tradition makes il six
thousand years old Twenty. miles
north is a place known as Beghram (the
final SYLLABLE of which word means
"city"l, where among the far.stretching
mounds are found such evidences oi
human habitation as leave little doubt
that there stool the principal city of
that region in the centuries preceding
the Christian era. 1t has been conec.
tured that this was the Mecca or Alex.
ander or the site of Alexander dd Cau.
cas,on. Three miles east of Cabul is an.
other Beghram, where the remains of
an old city OF importance, the immedi
ate predecessor, it is supposed, of the
present capital, the site of which may
have been selected for military reasons.
When the Chinese pilgrim Yuen Tsang
passed there, \. d. $50, he spoke of the
city and kingdom rs being named Kap.
lisa, and there a Hindoo monarch of the
Shatriya caste reigned over six king.
<loms. "The people," he added, "are
of q cruel and savage nature" BY the
tenth century, according to Ouseley,
Cabul had obtained such a character for
sanctity and antiquity that no king was
considered properly qualified TO govern
and Ghuznee seem to have been tribu.
tary to Bamian, but early in the elev.
enth century, Mahmoud's splendor and
success raised Ghuznee to the higher
rank, and the eclipsed Cabul became
an appanage of the Ghaznivides. In
1882 Ibn Batufa saw Cabul, "once a
large city, but now for the most part in
ruins, inhabited by people from Persia
f.l,
lie added, "are difficult of access, hav.
ing narrow passes; they are a powerful
and violent people, and the greater
part of them are highway robbers
When the Ghazuivide dynasty fell "a.
bul had passed into the possession OF
the house of Ghore; Barber took it in
1904, and for more than two centuries
it remained in the hands of the rulers
of Delhi. 1t was one of the conquerors
fayorite resorts. lie built a chain of
post houses connecting it with Agra,
and at his death was buried at spot
on the southwestern side of the city
which he had selected. There by
small river and under trees the tomb
still stands, a iavorite resort Of the Ca.
bulese. In l73S Cabul was taken by
the great Persian conqueror, Nedir
NnOn. In llti the alEau Guitl AhultI,
founder of the Sudoyse dynasty, incIud.
ed it in his dominions, OF which, how.
ever, ne made Candahsr the capital.
His son. Timour Shah, less astute, trans.
ferred in l7T6 the seat Of power from
that advantsgeously situated, famous
and revered city to Cabul, and ever
since Cabul has remained the capital of
Afghanistan, Dost Mohammed when
he overthrow the dynasty neglecting his
chance of winning over public opinion
by returning to the ancient seat and
abandoning the turbulent northern
stronghold.
The charms and climate OF Cabul of
course influenced Baber and Timour in
their choice. An Afghan proverb says
OF that region that it is paradise in.
habited by devils, and Barber, who like
Cesar was an author as we'll as n soldier,
wrote in his famous "Memoirs ~
The climate ia extremely delightful, and
there is no such place In the known world,
for its verdure and flowers render Cabul
in spring a heaven. Drink wine in the
citadel OF Cabul and send round the cup
without stopping, for there are at once
mountains and streams, town and desert.
The city stands on the southern side
of the Cabul River, at heigth OF 6,2I7
feet above the sea. Rocky hills of con.
siderable altitude inclose it on the south
and west, which now are covered with
snow, though snow only lies on the
plain from December till the middle OF
February. ill April there is a wet
season the remainder of the year is
dry The air is at all times salubrious !;
the city is clean its gardens are faa-
famed for their beauty, and from its
towers the eye sweeps champaign OF
singular variety and charm. The city
has some G0,OO0 inhabitants and does
large trade in fruit and India mer.
chandise. Sir Alexander Burnes wrote
that he had to shout to his attendant
TO make himself heard, so loud was the
hustle Of busy afternoon. Besides the
separate bazaars for each trade there
was great bazaar for the whole city
an arcade COO feet long and 30 feet wide,
which the English blew up in 1912 in
vengeance for the exposure there of the
mutilated corpses of their envoys. 1t
was rebuilt by the Afghans, but the
present building has no pretensions to
architectural beauty. The features of
Cabul are its public cooking shops
The kabobs of Cabul are far.famed, but
hardly less famous are its fruits, its
sweets and its cooling drinks. Its poo.
pie are scarcely less fanstical than those
of Bekhara, and the Bala Hssar. or cit.
adel, has much more frequently served
to defend the Ameer from their violence
than from the attacks of invaders.
The Bala Hisrar stands upon an emi.
nence about $50 feet high, completely
commanding the city. II is a mile and
n quarter in circumference, with walls
thirty.Rve feet high, built Of stone, sun.
baked brick and mud. In some places
the walls are double and even triple.
A garrison of some 5000 men occupies
IL, and within there is a strong-piace
holding limited number Of men. There
the Ameer has his palace the old mon.
archs buried their treasure in its cellars,
and IL Waa n convenient nriaon for rivals