KABUL - A just-opened exhibit is providing residents of Kabul with a glimpse into a time when Afghanistan belonged to a large empire made up of a wide range religions and nationalities.

Opened on Sunday in the city’s Babur Gardens, the exhibit, ‘The Mughals: Arts, Culture and Empire,’ presents numerous prints from the collection of the British Library in London that explore the arts, science and life during that period, which lasted from 1526 to 1858.

At its peak, the Mughal Empire, founded by Babur, a prince from present day Uzbekistan, ruled over the area encompassing India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The exhibit contains several dozen drawings ranging from street scenes, to battles, to colourful portrayals of court life at the Red Fort in the Indian capital of New Delhi. Some of the images show the capital, Kabul, as it was 300 years ago.

“The exhibit is important because it sheds light on Afghanistan’s long history and culture,” said Mohammad Shafiq Mashai, an documentation officer with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), one of the exhibit's organizers and sponsors. “The Mughal period was a time of great cultural and artistic growth which shows that people can change their mind and their attitudes through interaction with other cultures.”

In recent years, the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan has dominated the international community’s perceptions of the country, rather than its rich cultural heritage and history.

Efforts are underway to change this. At a UN-backed event last month, the south-eastern city of Ghazni was officially declared the Asian Capital of Islamic Culture for this year. At the time, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN agency charged with building intercultural understanding through the protection of heritage and support for cultural diversity, noted that the declaration underlines the fact that Afghanistan does have a number of important cultural heritage sites and there are many Islamic sites in need of preservation.

The Government of Afghanistan is planning a series of activities to highlight Afghanistan’s rich cultural heritage throughout 2013. The events include a UNESCO-organized international conference in Kabul next month aimed at raising the profile of Ghazni.

One point the Kabul exhibit makes is that the Mughals were able to rule over an empire composed of subjects from different religions and nations. The exhibit suggests that one reason the Mughals were able to thrive and build a strong cultural identity is that they promoted a degree of religious and cultural tolerance.

Other sponsors of the exhibit are the British Library, the Norwegian Embassy and the Afghan Ministry of Culture. Organizers expect 35,000 visitors will take in the exhibit, which ends on 25 June.

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