Kabul was described in the Rig Veda (1500 BCE) and later emerged as a town on the southern Silk Route. Its estimated population is 1,500,000. The old town, badly damaged by the wars, is located between the river and Darwaza Mountain. The destruction of monuments and cultural buildings by rocket attacks and 10 years of neglect necessitates massive rebuilding projects in the city. Babur’s Garden on Chilsitun Road, a favourite place for family picnics, was heavily mined to ensure no large gatherings during the Soviet regime, but is currently being rebuilt with the help of numerous agencies. Reconstruction efforts by the Aga Khan Development Network will rebuild the old city in the style it had before, but with better infrastructure. On the other side of the river is ‘new town’, started in 1935. In the 1920s King Amanullah built government buildings eight kilometres from the centre, with a railway linking the new and old sites.