Babur had chosen the site for this city which was built by his grandson Jalal-uddin Mohammad Akbar in 1560. The modern city gained prominence during the reign of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire. Jalalabad was named in honour of Mughal ruler Jalal-uddin in the last decade of the sixteenth century, the grandson of Babur. It is said that the original name of Jalalabad was Adinapur. The region around Jalalabad later became part of the Khalji territory, followed by that of the Timurids. 'The Afghans and Khiljies who resided among the mountains having taken the oath of allegiance to Sabuktigin, many of them were enlisted in his army, after which he returned in triumph to Ghazni.' The Ghurids succeeded the Ghaznavids and expanded the Islamic empire further into Hindustan. Sabuktigin annexed the land all the way west of the Neelum River in Kashmir. The region became part of the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century. The Emir's gardens, pictured in the 19th century. During Timur Shah's reign of the Durrani Empire, Jalalabad served as the Afghan winter capital. For centuries the city has been favored by Afghan kings and it has a cultural significance in Afghan poetry. It hosts Afghanistan's second largest educational institute, Nangarhar University. Major industries include papermaking, as well as agricultural products including oranges, lemon, rice, and sugarcane, helped by its warm climate. Jalalabad is a leading center of social and trade activity because of its proximity with the Torkham border checkpoint and border crossing, 65 km (40 mi) away.

It is linked by the Kabul-Jalalabad Road to the west and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to the east through Torkham and the Khyber Pass. Jalalabad is located at the junction of the Kabul River and the Kunar River in a plateau to the south of the Hindu Kush mountains. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about 130 kilometres (80 mi) from the capital Kabul.

Jalalabad ( / dʒ ə ˈ l æ l ə ˌ b æ d/ جلال آباد) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan.

Jalalabad afghanistan map arma 3