Current Time in Jalālābād, Afghanistan

Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar Province in eastern Afghanistan, standing where the Kabul River is joined by the Kunar in a broad, fertile valley about one hundred and fifty kilometres east of Kabul. At only some six hundred metres above sea level it is far warmer than the capital, and its winters are so mild that Afghan rulers traditionally moved here to escape the snows of Kabul. Irrigated orchards, sugar cane and rice fields fill the valley floor, while the snow-covered Spin Ghar range rises to the south and the Khyber Pass leads east towards Pakistan.

Around three hundred and fifty thousand people live in the city, making it one of the largest in the country. Its economy rests on agriculture and trade. The valley is famous for citrus fruit, especially oranges, along with olives, sugar cane and rice, and the highway to the border at Torkham carries a very large share of Afghanistan's overland commerce. Markets, transport, food processing and small manufacturing employ many, and the city has long attracted people from the surrounding mountain districts.

The region has an ancient and remarkable past. Known in antiquity as Nagarahara, it was a flourishing centre of the Gandhara civilisation, where Greek, Indian and Central Asian influences met, and Buddhism thrived here for centuries. Chinese pilgrims described its monasteries and relics, and the ruins of Hadda nearby produced thousands of stucco sculptures among the finest Buddhist art ever found. The modern city was founded in the sixteenth century during the Mughal period and named after the emperor Akbar, whose full name began with Jalal. Later it became a favoured winter residence of Afghan kings, and King Amanullah Khan built palaces and gardens here. The city has endured heavy fighting and displacement through decades of conflict since 1979.

Visitors will find wide tree-lined avenues, the mausoleum of Amanullah Khan and his father set in a garden, the ruins of the royal Seraj-ul-Emarat palace, and the crowded bazaars where fruit, spices, cloth and Pakistani goods are sold. The bird market is a local institution, and tea houses along the riverbank are popular in the evening. Excursions lead to the archaeological mounds of Hadda, to the Darunta reservoir and towards the dramatic gorges of the Kabul River road, one of the most scenic and demanding highways in Asia. The Spin Ghar mountains, including the Tora Bora caves, rise a short distance to the south.

Pashtun culture is dominant, expressed in hospitality, poetry, the attan dance and the code of honour known as Pashtunwali. Local food features rice pilau, kebabs, fresh bread, yoghurt and quantities of fruit, and green tea is drunk throughout the day.

Highways connect the city with Kabul and the Torkham border crossing, and buses and shared taxis run constantly. Nangarhar University is one of the oldest and largest in Afghanistan, with a well-known medical faculty.

Jalalabad is important as Afghanistan's gateway to the east and as the warm, fruit-growing heart of the Kabul River valley.