Editing Kabul (section)

===Antiquity===
{{Cleanup|subsection|reason=chaotic structure, contradicting information, etc.|date=January 2018}}

The origin of Kabul, who built it and when, is largely unknown.<ref name="Adamec">Adamec, p.231</ref> The Hindu [[Rigveda]], composed between 2000 and 1500 BC and one of the four canonical texts of [[Hinduism]], and the Avesta, the primary canon of texts of Zoroastrianism, refer to the [[Kabul River]] and to a settlement called ''Kubha''.<ref name="Adamec" /><ref name="Dupree-name">{{cite web|url=http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php|title=An Historical Guide to Kabul&nbsp;– The Name|author=Nancy Hatch Dupree / Aḥmad ʻAlī Kuhzād|publisher=American International School of Kabul|year=1972|access-date=18 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830031416/http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php|archive-date=30 August 2010}}</ref>

The Kabul valley was part of the [[Medes|Median Empire]] (c. 678–549 BC).<ref>{{cite book|first=Graciana|last=del Castillo|author1-link=Graciana del Castillo|title=Guilty Party: The International Community in Afghanistan|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4931-8570-2|page=28|date=2 April 2014}}</ref> In 549 BC, the Median Empire was annexed by [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus The Great]] and Kabul became part the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (c. 550–330 BC).<ref>{{cite book|first1=Hafizullah|last1=Emadi|title=Culture and Customs of Afghanistan|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33089-6|page=26|year=2005}}</ref> During that period, Kabul became a center of learning for Zoroastrianism, followed by [[Buddhism]] and [[Hinduism]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Peter|last1=Marsden|title=The Taliban: War, Religion and the New Order in Afghanistan|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-85649-522-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/12 12]|date=15 September 1998|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/12}}</ref> An inscription on [[Darius I|Darius the Great]]'s tombstone lists Kabul as one of the 29 countries of the Achaemenid Empire.<ref name="Dupree-name" />

[[File:Map of the Kushan Empire.png|left|thumb|[[Kushan Empire]]]]

When [[Alexander the Great]] annexed the Achaemenid Empire, the Kabul region came under his control.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Trudy|last1=Ring|title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania|year=1994|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-04-6}}</ref> After his death, his empire was seized by his general [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]], becoming part of the [[Seleucid Empire]]. In 305 BC, the Seleucid Empire was extended to the [[Indus River]] which led to friction with the neighbouring [[Mauryan Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Meredith L.|last1=Runion|title=The History of Afghanistan|year=2007|url=https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653|url-access=limited|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33798-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyafghanist00runi_653/page/n61 41]}}</ref>

During the Mauryan period, trade flourished because of uniform weights and measures. Irrigation facilities for public use were developed leading to an increased harvest of crops. People were also employed as artisans, jewelers, and carpenters.<ref>Romano, p.12</ref>

The [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrians]] took control of Kabul from the Mauryans in the early 2nd century BC, then lost the city to their successors in the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] around the mid-2nd century BC. Buddhism was greatly patronised by these rulers and the majority of people of the city were adherents of the religion.<ref>{{cite book|first1=John|last1=Snelling|title=The Buddhist Handbook: A Complete Guide to Buddhist Teaching and Practice|date=31 August 2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4464-8958-1}}</ref> [[Indo-Scythians]] expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the city to the [[Kushan Empire]] about 100 years later.<ref name="Houtsma">{{Cite book|title=E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|last1=Houtsma|first1=Martijn Theodoor|volume=2|year=1987|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-08265-6|page=159|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA159|access-date=23 August 2010|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503085005/https://books.google.com/books?id=zJU3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA159|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first1=Louis|last1=Dupree|title=Afghanistan|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-5891-0|page=299|date=14 July 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Kabul Museum statue2.jpg|thumb|[[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] statue at the [[National Museum of Afghanistan|museum in Kabul]], early 1st millennium]]
It is mentioned as ''Kophes'' or ''Kophene'' in some classical Greek writings. The Chinese Buddhist monk [[Xuanzang|Hsuan Tsang]] refers to the city as ''Kaofu''<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times|last1=Mookerji|first1=Radhakumud|edition=4|year=1966|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ|isbn=978-81-208-0405-0|page=173|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA173|access-date=18 September 2010|archive-date=29 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229185942/http://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA173|url-status=live}}</ref> in the 7th century AD, which is the [[appellation]] of one of the five tribes of the [[Yuezhi]] who had migrated from across the [[Hindu Kush]] into the Kabul valley around the beginning of the [[Anno Domini|Common Era]].<ref name="Elliot-2">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=99|title=A.—The Hindu Kings of Kábul (p.2)|work=Sir H. M. Elliot|publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]]|location=London|date=1867–1877|access-date=18 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110905192644/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=99|archive-date=5 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> It was conquered by Kushan Emperor [[Kujula Kadphises]] in about 45&nbsp;AD and remained Kushan territory until at least the 3rd century AD.<ref>Hill, John E. 2004. ''The Peoples of the West from the Weilue'' 魏略 ''by Yu Huan'' 魚豢'': A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265&nbsp;AD.'' Draft annotated English translation... [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html Link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223070446/http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |date=23 December 2017 }}</ref><ref>Hill (2004), pp. 29, 352–352.</ref> The Kushans were [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European-speaking]] peoples related to the Yuezhi and based in [[Bactria]].<ref>A. D. H. Bivar, [http://iranicaonline.org/articles/kushan-dynasty-i-history KUSHAN DYNASTY] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118071505/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kushan-dynasty-i-history |date=18 January 2012 }}, in [[Encyclopaedia Iranica]], 2010</ref>

Around 230&nbsp;AD, the Kushans were defeated by the [[Sassanid Empire]] and replaced by Sassanid vassals known as the [[Indo-Sassanids]]. During the Sassanian period, the city was referred to as "Kapul" in [[Pahlavi scripts]].<ref name="Dupree-name" /> Kapol in the [[Persian language]] means Royal (ka) Bridge (pol), which is due to the main bridge on the Kabul River that connected the east and west of the city. In 420&nbsp;AD, the Indo-Sassanids were driven out of Afghanistan by the [[Xionites|Xionite]] tribe known as the [[Kidarites]], who were then replaced in the 460s by the [[Hephthalite Empire|Hephthalites]]. It became part of the surviving [[Ashina tribe|Turk]] [[Turk Shahis|Shahi]] [[Kingdom of Kapisa]], also known as ''Kabul-Shahan''.<ref name="Elliot">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=98|title=A.—The Hindu Kings of Kábul|work=Sir H. M. Elliot|publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]]|location=London|date=1867–1877|access-date=18 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408220905/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201012&ct=98|archive-date=8 April 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to ''Táríkhu-l Hind'' by [[Abu Rayhan Biruni|Al-Biruni]], Kabul was governed by princes of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] lineage.<ref name="Elliot" /> It was briefly held by the [[Tibetan Empire]] between 801 and 815.