Kandahar, also spelled Qandahar, is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of 324,800 (2006 estimate). It is the capital of Kandahar province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs right next to the city.
Kandahar is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Farah and Herat to the west, Ghazni and Kabul to the northeast, Tarin Kowt to the north, and Quetta in Pakistan to the south.
Many empires have long fought over the city, due to its strategic location along the trade routes of Southern and Central Asia. In 1748, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Durrani Empire, made Kandahar the capital of Afghanistan.
Excavations of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian Institution, and others suggest that the region around Kandahar is one of the oldest human settlements known so far. Dupree writes:
...Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan ca. 5000 B.C., or 7000 years ago. Deh Morasi Ghundai, the first prehistoric site to be excavated in Afghanistan, lies 27 km (17 mi.) southwest of Kandahar (Dupree, 1951). Another Bronze Age village mound site with multiroomed mud-brick buildings dating from the same period sits nearby at Said Qala (J. Shaffer, 1970). Second millennium B.C. Bronze Age pottery, copper and bronze horse trappings and stone seals were found in the lowermost levels in the nearby cave called Shamshir Ghar (Dupree, 1950). In the Seistan, southwest of these Kandahar sites, two teams of American archaeologists discovered sites relating to the 2nd millennium B.C. (G. Dales, University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 1969, 1971; W, Trousdale, Smithsonian Institution, 1971 – 76). Stylistically the finds from Deh Morasi and Said Qala tie in with those of pre-Indus Valley sites and with those of comparable age on the Iranian Plateau and in Central Asia, indicating cultural contacts during this very early age
Kandahar was founded in 330 BC by Alexander the Great, near the site of the ancient city of Mundigak (established around 3000 BC). Previously, the city was the provincial capital of Arachosia and was ruled by the Achaemenid Empire. The main inhabitants of Arachosia were the Pactyans, an ancient Iranian tribe, who were probably one of the ancestors of today's Pashtuns. Kandahar was named Alexandria, a popular name given to many cities that Alexander founded or refounded during his conquests.
The city has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Southern Asia, controlling the main trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East, Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. It later became part of the Indian Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya, after the departure of Alexander. The Mauryan emperor Ashoka erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom occupied Kandahar after the Mauryans, but then lost the city to the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
n the 7th century AD, Arab armies invaded the region with the new religion of Islam but were unable to succeed in fully converting the population. In 870 AD, Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, a local ruler of the Saffarid dynasty in Seistan, conquered Kandahar and the rest of the nearby regions in the name of Islam. Dupree writes:
...Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the Sasanians in 642 AD and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the Afghan area the princes of Herat and Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the Caliphate became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the Saffarids of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the coppersmith’s apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 AD and marched through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamiyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam...
Kandahar was taken by Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century, and in the 13th century it was invaded by Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies. It became part of the Timurid Empire from the 14th century to the 15th century, which was founded by Tamerlane. Pir Muhammad, a grandson of Tamerlane, held the seat of government in Kandahar from about 1383 until his death in 1407. Following Pir Mohammad's death, the city was ruled by other Timurids. In the late 15th century Kandahar was entrusted to the Arghuns, who eventually achieved independence from the Timurids.
Tamerlane's descendant, Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, annexed Kandahar in the 16th century. Babur's son, Humayun, lost it to the Shah of Persia. Humayun's son, Akbar, regained control of Kandahar but by the early 1700s subsequent Mughal emperors lost the territory once again to the Persians.
Modern history
Mirwais Khan Hotak, a local Afghan (Pashtun) from the Ghilzai clan, revolted and killed Gurgin Khan, the Georgian governor who ruled in the name of the Persian Shah. Mirwais Khan defeated a subsequent expedition by Gurgin's nephew Kay Khusraw and succefully resisted attempts by the Persian government to convert the local people from Sunni to the Shia version of Islam. Mirwais Khan remained in power until his death in 1715 and was succeeded by his son, Mir Mahmud Hotaki
In 1722, Mir Mahmud led an army of Afghans to Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid Persia and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Hotaki dynasty was eventually removed from power by a new ruler, Nader Shah Afshar, who invaded Kandahar in 1738 and destroyed the city by artillery fire. Removing the surviving inhabitant, Nader Shah built a new town to the west of the ancient city, naming it after himself, "Naderabad". Today, this part of the city is called Topekhana and where the city's Persian residents can be found. Nader Shah was assassinated nine years later assumingly by his own family members.
Ahmad Shah Durrani, an ethnic Pashtun and chief of the Abdali clan, born near the city of Multan in Pakistan, gained control of Kandahar in 1747 and made it the capital of his new Afghan Empire. Previously, Ahmad Shah served as a military commander and personal bodyguard of Nader Shah of Persia. His empire included present-day Afghanistan, the southern provinces of the then Soviet Russia, Pakistan, and Kohistan provinces of Iran. In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Maruf, Kandahar, where he died peacefully. The (now) "Old City" was laid out by Ahmad Shah and is dominated by his mausoleum. Between 1773-76, his eldest son Timur Shah Durrani transferred the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul, where the Durrani legacy continued.
On 28th Muharram 1242 Hijri (September 2, 1826) Syed Ahmad Shaheed's forces reached Kandahar en route to Peshawar. Their purpose was to wage jihad against the Sikh kingdom of Ranjit Singh and aid their fellow Pashtuns and co-religionist in Pakistan. Within a few days more than 400 Kandharians presented themselves for the jihad, out of whom 270 were selected. Sayed Deen Muhammad Kandharai was appointed their leader.
British and Indian forces from British India occupied the city in 1839, during the first Anglo-Afghan war. They were forced to withdraw approximately three years later, in 1842. The British and Indian forces returned in 1878 during the second Anglo-Afghan war. They emerged from the city in July 1880 to confront Ayub Khan, but were heavily defeated at the Battle of Maiwand. They were again forced to withdraw a few years later, despite winning a battle near the city (see Battle of Kandahar). Kandahar remained peaceful for the next 100 years.
In the 1960s, Kandahar International Airport was built, with the help of the United States Agency for International Development, 10 miles (16 kilometers) south-east of the city. It was used by the Red Army during their ten-year occupation of the country. As of 2001, the airport is used by the US and NATO forces as a military base.
During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989), Kandahar was under Soviet command and witnessed heavy fighting. Soviet troops surrounded the city, and subjected it to a heavy artillery and air bombardment in which many civilians lost their lives. After the Soviet withdrawal and the fall of Najibullah's government in 1992, Kandahar fell into the hands of a local mujahideen commander, Gul Agha Sherzai.
In August 1994 the Taliban captured Kandahar and soon after the city was turned into their capital.In October 2001, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States Navy began hitting targets inside the city by precision-guided cruise missiles that were fired from the Persian Gulf. These targets were the airport and buildings that were occupied by the Taliban, including Arab families who arrived several years ago and were residing in the area.About a month later the Taliban began surrendering to private militia in and around the city, which was formed by Gul Agha Sherzai and Hamid Karzai. Kandahar once again fell into the hands of Sherzai, who had control over the area before the rise of the Taliban, and was credited with permitting the same corruption that first fueled the growth of the Taliban. Sherzai was transferred in 2003 and replaced by Yousef Pashtun until Asadullah Khalid took the post in 2005. The current Governor of the province is Tooryalai Wesa.
The military of Afghanistan, which is supported by US-NATO forces, has gradually expanded its authority and presence throughout most of the country. Kandahar is in full control of the new Afghan government, which is led by US-backed President Hamid Karzai. The Canadian Forces maintain their military command headquarters at Kandahar, being the main NATO-led security force in the province. The Taliban also have many agents inside the city reporting what goes on everyday.
