Closeup of children.  Karte-Char, Kabul.  The girl on the left and boy on the right are Mongoliform
 and likely Hazaras or Uzbeks, both minority ethnic groups.



Turkomen/Turkmen children, region of Herat.  Some of the best Afghan carpets were woven by
 Turkomens.  Herat is a major city in western Afghanistan into which one could fly, as well as
drive.  Note straw interwoven with mud on walls of house.  Many Afghans fled to Iran, the
closest foreign country to Herat, during the Soviet occupation and civil conflict which
followed thereafter.  Most Afghans, in the more populous east and south, fled to Pakistan.



Nuristani girl, streets of Kabul.  Nuristan is a remote, relatively inaccessible area in
northeastern Afghanistan where most inhabitants are not Muslim.  Nuristan means
  "land of light," (so called by a conqueror who thought he'd converted the people to
Islam), but was also known as Kafiristan ("land of unbelievers").  Many Nuristanis,
like a minority of Tajiks, were blond and blue-eyed.  Note blue
midline low forehead tattoo resembling Indian Hindu tilak.



This wood carving in the Kabul Museum was from
 Nuristan, a land of steep cliffs, heavy woods, and
rapidly-flowing streams.  Houses were built of wood
(unlike elsewhere in Afghanistan).  Nuristanis
practiced an animistic religion and made wood
 figures, often used as grave markers. 



Men, young and older.  Shari-Nau ("new city") district, Kabul.



Young men.  Western attire.  These two were likely students. 



Shari-Nau district, Kabul.  Old fort (Bala Hissar), where Afghans and British fought, in background.



On road to Paghman.  Paghman was a small town no more than 20 miles west of Kabul. 
Mud kilns above and behind lower buildings.




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