Bagram

Bagram
Bazaar and part of the city of Bagram.
Bagram Location in Afghanistan
Coordinates: 34°58′N 69°18′E / 34.967°N 69.300°E / 34.967; 69.300Coordinates: 34°58′N 69°18′E / 34.967°N 69.300°E / 34.967; 69.300
Country	Afghanistan
Province	Parwan
District	Bagram
Elevation	4,895 ft (1,492 m)
Time zone	+ 4.30

Bagram (بگرام Bagrām), founded as Alexandria on the Caucasus and known in ancient times as Kapisa, is a small 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 Ghorband 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.

It is unknown when the site was originally settled. In the mid 6th century BC, Cyrus the Great of the Persian Achaemenid Dynasty destroyed the city as part of his campaign against the Saka nomads in the region. The town, however, was soon rebuilt by his successor Darius I.

In the 320s BC, Alexander the Great captured the city and established a fortified colony named Alexandria of the Caucasus. The new town, laid out in the "hippodamian plan" or iron-grid pattern—a hallmark of Greek city 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 general Seleucus, who traded it with the Mauryans of India in 305 BC. After the Mauryans were overthrown by the Shunga dynasty in 185 BC, the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom invaded and conquered northwestern India (present-day Pakistan) with an army led by Demetrius I of Bactria. Alexandria became a capital of the Eucratidian Indo-Greek Kingdom after they were driven out of Bactria by the Yuezhi in 140 BC.