Jalalabad
Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar Province, and is one of the largest cities in Afghanistan. Its population is primarily of Pashtun ethnicity.
History
Present-day Jalalabad was the major city of the ancient Greco-Buddhist center of Gandhara. Babur, founder of the Moghal empire of India, chose the site for the modern city, which was built c.1570 by his grandson, Akbar. In 1842, during the First Afghan War, British troops held Jalalabad against an Afghan siege.[1]
Economics and transportation
The city has a university and medical school. Oranges, rice, and sugarcane grow in the fertile surrounding area, and the city has cane-processing and sugar-refining as well as papermaking industries. It lies on one of the country's first paved roads, connecting the capital Kabul with the border crossing at Towr Kham and, ultimately, Peshawar in Pakistan.