BagramFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThis article is about the city. For United States military base, seeBagram Airfield. For the village in Iran, seeBagram, Iran.Bagram

Bazaarand part of the city of Bagram.

BagramLocation in Afghanistan

Coordinates:3458N6918ECoordinates:3458N6918E

CountryAfghanistan

ProvinceParwan

DistrictBagram

Elevation4,895ft (1,492m)

Time zone+ 4.30

Bagram(Bagrm), founded asAlexandria on the Caucasusand known in medieval times asKapisa, is a small town and seat inBagram DistrictinParwan ProvinceofAfghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capitalKabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of theGhorbandandPanjshir Valley, near today's city ofCharikar, Afghanistan.The location of this historical town made it a key passage fromAncient Indiaalong theSilk Road, leading westwards through the mountains towardsBamiyan.Contents[hide] 1History 1.1Bagram under the Maurya Empire 2Recent history 3References and footnotes 4External linksHistory[edit]It is unknown when the site was originally settled. In the mid 500s BC,Cyrus the Greatof thePersian Achaemenid Dynastydestroyed the city as part of his campaign against theSakanomads in the region. The town, however, was soon rebuilt by his successorDarius I.In the 320s BC,Alexander the Greatcaptured the city and established a fortified colony namedAlexandria of the Caucasus. The new town, laid out in the "hippodamian plan" or iron-grid patterna hallmark ofGreekcity planning, had brick walls reinforced with towers at the angles. The central street was bordered with shops and workshops.After his death in 323 BC, the city passed to his generalSeleucus, who traded it with theMauryansof India in 305 BC. After the Mauryans were overthrown by theSunga Dynastyin 185 BC, theGreco-Bactrian Kingdominvaded and conquered northwestern India (present-dayPakistan) with an army led byDemetrius I of Bactria. Alexandria became a capital of the EucratidianIndo-Greek Kingdomafter they were driven out ofBactriaby theYuezhiin 140 BC.Bagram became the capital of theKushan Empirein the 1st century, from here they invaded and conqueredPeshawarin 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 are either quite purely Hellenistic, Roman, Chinese or Indian, with only little indications of the culturalsyncretismfound inGreco-Buddhist art.Bagram under the Maurya Empire[edit]Main article:Maurya Empire

Bilingual edict (GreekandAramaic) by EmperorAshoka, fromKandahar-Afghan National Museum. (Click image for translation).While theDiadochiwere warring amongst themselves, theMauryan Empirewas developing in the northern part of theIndian subcontinent. The founder of the empire,Chandragupta Maurya, confronted a Macedonian invasion force led bySeleucus Iin 305 BC and following a brief conflict, an agreement was reached as Seleucus cededGandharaandArachosia(centered around ancientKandahar) 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. The ancient Grand Trunk Road was built linking what is now Kabul to various cities in the Punjab and the Gangetic Plain. Commerce, art, and architecture (seen especially in the construction ofstupas) developed during this period. It reached its high point under Emperor Ashoka whose edicts, roads, and rest stops were found throughout the subcontinent. Although the vast majority of them throughout the subcontinent were written in Prakrit, Afghanistan is notable for the inclusion of 2 Greek and Aramaic ones alongside the court language of the Mauryans.Inscriptions made by the Mauryan EmperorAshoka, a fragment ofEdict 13in Greek, as well as a full Edict, written in both Greek and Aramaic has been discovered inKandahar. It is said to be written in excellent Classical Greek, using sophisticated philosophical terms. In this Edict, Ashoka uses the wordEusebeia("Piety") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous "Dharma" of his other Edicts written inPrakrit:"Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka) made known (the doctrine of) Piety (,Eusebeia) to men; and from this moment he has made men more pious, and everything thrives throughout the whole world. And the king abstains from (killing) living beings, and other men and those who (are) huntsmen and fishermen of the king have desisted from hunting. And if some (were) intemperate, they have ceased from their intemperance as was in their power; and obedient to their father and mother and to the elders, in opposition to the past also in the future, by so acting on every occasion, they will live better and more happily." (Trans. by G.P. Carratelli[1])The last ruler in the region was probablySubhagasena(SophagasenusofPolybius), who, in all probability, belonged to theAshvaka(q.v.) background. An Indian ivory from Bagram, 2nd century. Statue ofHarpocrates, Bagram, 2nd century. Statuette ofSerapisfrom Bagram. Statuette of the youngAlexander the Great. A Greco-Roman gladiator on a glass vessel, Bagram, 2nd century. Bagram vase depicting the rape ofGanymedebyZeus. Bagram vase fragments depicting a fighting scene. Plaster mold from Bagram. Plaster mold from Bagram depicting acupid. Plaster mold from Bagram. Plaster mold from Bagram. Plaster mold from Bagram depicting a Greek soldier.Recent history[edit]

Bagram school childrenBagram hosts the strategicBagram Airfield, from which most US air activity in Afghanistan takes place. The runway was built in 1976, and it was aSovietair basefrom 1979 to 1989. There is also aProvincial Reconstruction Teamwhich is led by the US.Bagram is also the location of theParwan 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.[2]The detention centre had earlier come into the attention of the news media as it was claimed that prisoners were tortured (see the articleBagram torture and prisoner abuse). At the time of the hand-over of the facility, human-rights groups likeAmnesty Internationalhave raised concerns about the treatment of prisoners there.[2]