Kandahar or Qandahar (Pashto: کندهار Kandahār, Persian: قندهار, Qandahār, known in older literature as Candahar) is the second-largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 491,500 as of 2012. Formerly called Alexandria Arachosia, the city is named after Alexander the Great, who founded it in 329 BCE around a small ancient Arachosian town. Kandahar is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at an altitude of 1,010 m above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city.
Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 200 years. It 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, and is a major source of marijuana and hashish. The area is believed to be the birthplace of cannabis indica.[citation needed]
Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Lashkar Gah and Herat to the west, Ghazni and Kabul to the northeast, Tarinkot to the north, and Quetta in neighboring Balochistan to the south.
The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements. Alexander the Great had laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Αλεξάνδρεια Aραχωσίας (Alexandria of Arachosia). Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic location along the trade routes of southern, central and western Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the capital of the Hotaki dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan.Since the 1978 Marxist revolution, the city has been a magnet for groups such as the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, Quetta Shura, Hezbi Islami, al-Qaida and other terrorist groups, many of which are believed to receive support from Pakistan's ISI spy network. From late 1994 to 2001, it served as the capital of the Taliban government until they were toppled by US-led NATO forces during Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001 and replaced by the government of President Hamid Karzai.
Bilingual edict (Greek and Aramaic) by Emperor Ashoka, from Kandahar - Afghan National Museum.
A miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Shi'a Safavid garrison at what is now Old Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughal army of Shah Jahan commanded by Kilij Khan.
Painting by Abdul Ghafoor Breshna depicting the 1747 coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who is regarded as the founding father of Afghanistan (Father of the Nation).
Mirwais Hotak, revolted against the Safavid rule and declared the Kandahar region an independent Afghan kingdom in 1709, which was later expanded by his son Mahmud to include large parts of Persia.
British and allied forces at Kandahar after the 1880 Battle of Kandahar, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The large defensive wall around the city was finally removed in the early 1930s by the order of King Nader Khan, the father of King Zahir Shah.
U.S. Army troops in 2009 passing by the starting point of the Army Ten-Miler run at their base next to Kandahar International Airport.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Toryalai Wesa, the Governor of Kandahar Province.
Afghan National Security Forces and members of ISAF providing security in 2012.
A Kam Air passenger plane at Kandahar International Airport in 2012
Children from the Zarghona Ana High School watch members of Afghan National Security Force and Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team prepare for the Kandahar Nursing and Midwifery Institute grand opening ceremony in 2012.
An 1881 photo showing the ruined Old Kandahar citadel of Shah Hussain Hotaki that was destroyed by the Afsharid forces of Nader Shah in 1738. This destroyed fortress is still standing today.
The original model plan of the Aino Mina neighborhood, which began in 2003 by Mahmud Karzai and associates.
The mausoleum of Baba Wali Kandhari next to the Arghandab Valley, in the northern outskirts of the city.
The mausoleum of Ahmad Shah Durrani in the center of the city, which also serves as the Congregational Mosque and contains a sacred cloak that used to be worn by Islam's Prophet Muhammad.
Al-Jadeed indoor shopping center in the Shahre Naw section of the city.
Local children watching a football match at the playground of Ahmad Shah Baba High School.
A gathering of tribal and religious leaders following a shura held by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in June 2010 to start a dialogue for peace with the Taliban.
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