English: Some of the tunnels were clearly service or airflow, because the ceiling was either 15 feet tall or three.

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After visiting the village we went to the 'Buddhist Caves', which have been carved into a set of cliffs on the north side of the Kabul river.

Interviews with locals yielded few results, they know virtually nothing about the pre-Islamic history of the country.

These caves were part of a Buddhist monastery, and are significant because they were the home of part of the Edicts of Ashoka from around the year 272 BC probably put there by Devanampiya Tissa. The inscriptions are now in the Kabul Museum collection.

The rest of the caves are completely looted. The only remains are the caves themselves, classic Buddhist 'hand' rock inscriptions, and the occasional remnants of stuccos or statues.

In the year 629 the Chinese scholar Xuanzang visited the monastaries here and reported a 300 foot tall stupa. I'm not sure which stupa he is referring to of the ~37 in the area, but there is one above the caves which appears to be fairly elaborate.

These caves also served in various wars over the years housing mujahadeen due to its good lookout position and ready retreat routes. We found bullets embedded in various places.

More information:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devanampiyatissa

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashoka_the_Great

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edicts_of_Ashoka

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xuanzang

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stupa