Bagram

Bagram بگرام بګرام
Town
Bazaar and part of Bagram (2009)
Bagram Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 34°56′25″N 69°15′18″E / 34.9403°N 69.2550°E / 34.9403; 69.2550Coordinates: 34°56′25″N 69°15′18″E / 34.9403°N 69.2550°E / 34.9403; 69.2550
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Parwan Province
District	Bagram District
Time zone	+04:30

Part of a series on the
History of Afghanistan
Timeline
show Ancient Indus Valley Civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Gandhara Kingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Seleucid Empire 330–150 BC Maurya Empire 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrian Kingdom 256–125 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Indo-Greek Kingdom 180–130 BC Indo-Scythian Kingdom 155–80? BC Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD Indo-Parthian Kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD Sasanian Empire 230–651 Kidarite Kingdom 320–465 Alchon Huns 380–560 Hephthalite Empire 410–557 Nezak Huns 484–711
show Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Principality of Chaghaniyan 7th–8th centuries Rashidun Caliphate 652–661 Umayyads 661–750 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghurids before 879–1215 Seljuks 1037–1194 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Mongol Invasion 1219–1226 Chagatai Khanate 1226–1245 Qarlughids 1224–1266 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1507 Arghuns 1520–1591
show Modern Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709 Hotak dynasty 1709–1738 Afsharid dynasty 1738–1747 Durrani Empire 1747–1823 Emirate 1823–1926 Saqqawist Emirate 1929 Kingdom 1926–1973 Daoud coup 1973 Republic 1973–1978 Saur Revolution 1978 Democratic Republic 1978–1992 Tanai coup attempt 1990 Islamic State 1992–2001 Islamic Emirate 1996–2001 US invasion 2001 Interim/Transitional Administration 2001–2004 Islamic Republic 2004–2021 Islamic Emirate's return to power since 2021
Related historical names of the region
Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan
Related topics
Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Muslim conquests
Category  Afghanistan portal
v t

Bagram (/bəɡrɑːm/; Pashto/Persian: بگرام‎) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the and Panjshir Valley, near today's city of Charikar, Afghanistan. The location of this historical town made it a key passage from Ancient India along the Silk Road, leading westwards through the mountains towards Bamiyan, and north over the Kushan Pass to the Baghlan Valley^[1] and past the Kushan archeological site at Surkh Kotal, to the commercial centre of Balkh and the rest of northern Afghanistan.

History[]

Ancient history[]

The origin of the name Bagram is not clear, with several theories proposed to describe its origins.^[2] Kapisa, an ancient site near the town, is known to be the location of a city once ruled by the Indo-Iranian Kamboja dynasty.

Bilingual edict (Greek and Aramaic) by Emperor Ashoka, from Kandahar - Afghan National Museum. (Click image for translation).

While the Diadochi were warring amongst themselves, the Mauryan Empire was developing in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. The founder of the empire, Chandragupta Maurya, confronted a Macedonian invasion force led by Seleucus I in 305 BC and following a brief conflict, an agreement was reached as Seleucus ceded Gandhara and Arachosia (centered on ancient Kandahar) and areas south of Bagram (corresponding to the extreme south-east of modern Afghanistan) to the Mauryans. During the 120 years of the Mauryans in southern Afghanistan, Buddhism was introduced and eventually become a major religion alongside Zoroastrianism and local pagan beliefs.

Bagram became the capital of the Kushan Empire in the 1st century; from here they invaded and conquered Peshawar in the south. The "Bagram treasure" as it has been called, is indicative of intense commercial exchanges between all the cultural centers of the classical time, with the Kushan empire at the junction of the land and sea trade between the east and west. However, the works of art found in Bagram, such as the Begram ivories, are either quite purely Hellenistic, Roman, Chinese or Indian, with only little indications of the cultural syncretism found in Greco-Buddhist art.

Islamic conquest[]

The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan and the adjoining Pashtun region began in 7th century after conquest of Persia. However, the complete Islamization of Afghanistan wasn't achieved until the Ghaznavid rule. The modern-day town is believed to be founded by Babur at the site of the ancient city.^[3] In Babur's memoirs, the Baburnama, the emphasis of his visit in 1519 is on the colony of Hindu ascetics at Gurh Kattri (Kur Katri), who fascinated him.^[4]

Recent history[]

Bagram school children

Bagram hosts the strategic Bagram Airfield, from which most US air activity in Afghanistan took place. The runway was built in 1976, and it was a Soviet air base from 1979 to 1989. There is also a Provincial Reconstruction Team which is led by the US.^[5] On 1 July, 2021 US troops departed from the air base, turning the outpost over to the Afghan government after 20 years.

Bagram is also the location of the Parwan Detention Facility; this detention facility was the last prison in Afghanistan under management of the US. It was handed back to the Afghan government on 25 March 2013.^[6] The detention centre had earlier come into the attention of the news media as it was claimed that prisoners were tortured (see the article Bagram torture and prisoner abuse). At the time of the hand-over of the facility, human-rights groups like Amnesty International have raised concerns about the treatment of prisoners there.^[6]

On December 21, 2015, Bagram was the site of a suicide bombing killing 6 people.^[7]

See also[]

• Bagram District
• Parwan Province

Footnotes[]

References[]

• The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. Alexander Cunningham. Trübner and Co., London. Complete and unabridged reprint (2006): Low Price Publications, Delhi.
• Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (2008). Eds., Friedrik Hiebert and Pierre Cambon. National Geographic, Washington, D.C. ISBN 978-1-4262-0374-9.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bagram.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bagram.

• Map of Bagram and the surrounding area, Afghanistan Information Management Service (AIMS)
• Human Rights First; Undue Process: An Examination of Detention and Trials of Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan in April 2009 (2009)
• Human Rights First; Arbitrary Justice: Trial of Guantánamo and Bagram Detainees in Afghanistan (2008)