Charikar

History

In 1221, the Battle of Parwan was fought near Charikar, in which Jalal al-Din Mangburni with a large army defeated a column of 30,000 soldiers of the invading Mongols. He later escaped into the northern Punjab, and avoided the immediate consequences of the fall of the Khwarezmid Empire.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Charikar became a flourishing commercial town of several thousand inhabitants. Charikar was the location of major battle during the First Anglo-Afghan War. In 1841 a British garrison was massacred by Afghans led by Mir Masjidi Khan, and the Anglo-Indian army officer Major Eldred Pottinger was badly wounded.

During the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989), the region around Charikar saw fierce fighting. Some areas around Charikar served as a stronghold of the Liberation Organization of the People of Afghanistan (SAMA). Charikar was at the front line between Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance and the Taliban who captured Kabul in 1996. Charikar, Jabal Saraj District and Gulbahar were captured in January of 1997.

On 14 August 2011, a team of about six suicide bombers attacked the governor's palace in Charikar. The Governor Abdul Basir Salangi survived but 19 people were killed to which the Taliban claimed responsibility.

On 19 May 2020, gunmen opened fire inside a mosque in Charikar, killing 11 worshipers and injuring 16 others when they were offering the evening prayer after breaking their Ramadan fast. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack.

In late August 2020, the city was the site of floods that killed at least 92 people.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban provincial governor of Parwan province announced in December 2022 that the name of the city would be changed. One news source said the new name of the town was "Imam Abu Hanifa", while another reported the new name as "Imam Azam". A government official from the former Afghan regime said the renaming was the beginning of an anti-Farsi campaign by the regime.

Climate

Charikar has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dsa) with hot summers and cold winters. The winter months are much rainier than the summer months. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of 25.0 C. January is the coldest month, with temperatures averaging -2.9 C. |access-date=13 September 2022}}}}

Demographics

According to Afghanistan's National Statistics and Information Authority, Charikar has an estimated population of 222,751 people. They include various ethnic groups of Afghanistan. In 2015 there were about 10,671 dwellings in the city. Earlier figures provided 172,200 residents.

Notes

References

References

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17. Rezahi, Nizamuddin. (17 December 2022). "Massive Reactions to Changing the Name of 'Charikar' into 'Imam Abu Hanifa'". Khaama Press.
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