Zarnegar Park ( prs, پارک زرنگار, ''Park-e Zarnegar'') is an

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

in the center of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

, north of the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

. The park, a popular landmark, has a green hill in its center with trees and decorated with flowers. A large pavilion is located in the park which serves as

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

's resting place.

History

The park itself was developed in the late 1950s after the government's demolishing of several state owned buildings at the site. About 50 million afghanis were spent on developing the park, in a very central location of the city. The name "Zarnegar" ( prs, زرنگار, meaning ''adorned with gold'') is taken from the

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

that existed here since the 19th century. The park became a very popular hotspot for civilians and local students who would meet and relax on the grass and benches. Soldiers from the garrison would also often come here, listening to

Radio Afghanistan Radio Afghanistan, also known as Radio Kabul or Voice of Sharia, is the public radio station of Afghanistan, owned by Radio Television Afghanistan. The frequencies are 1107 kHz (AM) and 105.2 MHz (FM) for the Kabul area. The name ''Radio Kabul'' ...

's public address system. In more recent years, the park has been a popular place used by protestors and campaigners.

Mausoleum

1973-12-14 tomb Amir-Abdur-Rahman Kabul (1) - cropped

Stamp of Afghanistan - 1966 - Colnect 483154 - Tomb of Abdur Rahman Khan Kabul

The

inside the park was built around 1892 by the then-Emir of Afghanistan,

, designed by architects from

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

. The house served as a personal guest house; after Rahman's death, his son

Habibullah Khan Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901 ...

decided to bury him here. The historic 1921 treaty between Afghanistan under

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan ( Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1 ...

and the United Kingdom, a follow-up to the

Treaty of Rawalpindi The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end. It was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United King ...

, was signed at this palace. Sir

Henry Dobbs Sir Henry Robert Conway Dobbs (26 August 1871 – 30 May 1934) was an administrator in British India and High Commissioner in Iraq. Career Dobbs was educated at Winchester College and Brasenose College, Oxford. He joined the Indian Civil Servic ...

led the British delegation while

Mahmud Tarzi Mahmud Tarzi ( ps, محمود طرزۍ, Dari: محمود بیگ طرزی; August 23, 1865 – November 22, 1933) was an Afghan politician and intellectual. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism. He became a key figure in the history of ...

led the Afghan side. The mausoleum was restored in 2005 by the

Aga Khan Trust for Culture The Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a family of institutions created by Aga Khan IV with distinct but complementary mandates to improve the welfare and prospects of people in the developin ...

Location

It is located between several major roads and landmarks of the city. On its western side were the Spinzar Hotel and the ministries of Information as well as Education buildings. To the north is the

Lycée Esteqlal In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...

, while to the east was the former Hotel Kabul with its own small park. Since 2012, the

Abdul Rahman Mosque The Abdul Rahman Mosque ( ps, د عبدالرحمان جومات; Dari: مسجد عبدالرحمان), also known as the Grand Mosque of Kabul, is one of the largest mosques in Afghanistan. It is located in one of Kabul's central commercial are ...

touches the park to the south-west.

References

{{coord, 34, 52, 11, N, 69, 17, 55, E, display=title Parks in Kabul