ISTALIF, a town of Afghanistan, province of Cabool, and 22 miles N.W. of the town of that name. It is picturesque situated amid groves and orchards, at the base of the Hindoo Coosh, which here rises from 15,000 to 20,000 feet above the level of the sea. Till it was taken and partly destroyed by the British in 1842, its population was about 15,000. The inhabitants, much reduced in number since that year, are chiefly employed in the spinning, weaving, and dying of cottons.