Kapisa (/kəˈpiːsə/ kə-PEE-sə; Dari and Pashto: کاپيسا Kāpisā) is the smallest of Afghanistan's thirty-four provinces and is located in the north-east of the country.

[12] Based on the account of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who visited in AD 644, it seems that in later times Kapisa was part of a kingdom ruled by a kshatriya king holding sway over ten neighboring states, including Lampaka, Nagarahara, Gandhara, and Banu.

The Mauryas promoted both Buddhism and Hinduism to the region which was entirely Hindu for all its history till then, and were planning to capture more territory of Central Asia when they decimated local Greco-Bactrian forces and the chief general of Alexander Seleucus.

Seleucus is said to have reached a peace treaty with Chandragupta by giving his daughter in marriage, control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas and 500 elephants.

Alexander took these away from the Aryans and established settlements of his own, but lasted only a decade before Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.

Sandrocottus, having thus acquired a throne, was in possession of India, when Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness; who, after making a league with him, and settling his affairs in the east, proceeded to join in the war against Antigonus.

Afghanistan's significant ancient tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage is recorded through wide-ranging archeological finds, including religious and artistic remnants.

In this context, a legend recorded by Xuanzang refers to the first two lay disciples of Buddha, Trapusa and Bhallika responsible for introducing Buddhism in that country.

The province was served by the Kapisa PRT, located at Forward Operating Base Morales-Frazier in Nijrab District.

[18] The PRT conducted counterinsurgency and stability operations in the province for more than six years, working with leaders of Kapisa at the provincial and district level, to bolster the capacity and credibility of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

The key focus was on building roads, bridges, construction of schools, and also improvements to power capabilities on existing infrastructure.

[19] Composed of U.S. Air Force, Army, State Department, and USAID subject matter experts and mentors, the team sought to work closely with key leaders to facilitate development.

[citation needed] After taking over from the U.S., which exercised partial control over the province for several years beforehand, the French continued to follow the U.S.-led approach of sending troops through an area to kill or chase away militants.

[citation needed][21] In early 2009, French forces embarked on a significant campaign which aimed to retake an eastern Alasay District that the Taliban has controlled for the previous year.

By 2010, the French had stopped liaising with their Afghan Army counterparts, and the Provincial Reconstruction Team had ceased most of its operations.

The provincial governor, Ghulam Qawis Abubaker, was widely viewed as corrupt and was accused by contractors and district officials of funding insurgent elements in order to keep Kapisa unstable enough to keep PRT dollars coming into the province at higher levels, which in turn would widen the corruption problem.

[25] For much of the period leading up to this, the French forces, ISAF, and the U.S. PRT differed in strategies for dealing with the problem and whom to deal with among the Afghan population, eventually seeking out district-level shura approaches to fund projects at the community level and alleviate the concerns villagers had with existing projects and bypassing the provincial leadership.

France being the fifth largest contributor to NATO's ISAF coalition, with nearly 3,300 soldiers, began its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July and completed it by the end of the 2012.

Most of the province population believe that the long-term presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan can only serve to perpetuate the war cycle and the departure of the French will weaken the Taliban stance.

Whilst the districts of Tagab, Alasay and Nijrab are Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin supporters and are a mixture of Pashtuns, Tajiks and Pashai.

In July 2007 Abdul Sattar Murad, was removed from office by President Hamid Karzai, and his replacement was Ghulam Qawis Abubaker.

Southern areas of the province, in particular the Tagab district, have been the site of repeated clashes between U.S. and Afghan forces and insurgent groups.

[42] On 17 November 2009, Taliban insurgents fired rockets on a bazaar in Tagab district where French forces were meeting with tribal elders, killing 10 Afghan civilians and wounding 28.

The province of Kapisa is an area that constitutes an invisible boundary between a zone to the west and north where the population is Tajik, and generally hostile to the Taliban, and the steep-sided valleys to the south-east dominated by the Pashtun and Pashai people, where there is a lot of rebel activity.

Mahmud-i-Raqi, capital of Kapisa Province is Tajik dominated, where there are more fighters who fought with Massoud than there are Taliban sympathizers.

Kapisa is allocated four seats in the Wolesi Jirga, Afghanistan's lower house of Parliament, one of which is reserved for female candidates.

Mirdad Khan Nijrabi came in first place in the contest, Agha Jan come in third, and Tahira Mujadidi, the winning female candidate, came in fourth.

[2][45] It is believed that predominately of kapisa are Tajiks population followed by few Pashtuns & Pashai[46][47] Agriculture is the largest portion of the economy.

Cotton, sesame, tobacco, confection, honey, karakul skin, and sugar sweets appear to be the most common industrial goods produced in this area.