Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy network is often blamed as the masterminds behind the Taliban-led insurgency. The history leading up to the creation of the Kandahar, its ground-breaking rules, the introduction of the combined event, its winners which can still be counted on the fingers of one hand and the host resorts of international repute, are all an integrate part of the Arlberg Kandahar legend. The shrine of Baba Wali is important to Muslims and Sikhs. However, Kandahar was of much more strategic importance, to the extent that Minhaj-i-Siraj attributes the downfall of the Ghaznavids to the loss of Kandahar. Mundigak served as the provincial capital of Arachosia and was ruled by the Medes followed by the Achaemenids until the arrival of the Greeks from Macedonia.
XXIX[17]) to have sent "a Greek ("Yona") Buddhist head monk" named Mahadharmaraksita (literally translated as 'Great Teacher/Preserver of the Dharma') with 30,000 Buddhist monks from "the Greek city of Alasandra" (possibly Alexandria in Arachosia, as Kandhar was known under the Greeks) to Sri Lanka for the dedication of Great Stupa Buddhist temple in Anuradhapura. [11], British excavations in the 1970s discovered that Kandahar existed as a large fortified city during the early 1st millennium BCE; while this earliest period at Kandahar has not been precisely dated via radiocarbon, ceramic comparisons with the latest period at the major Bronze Age city of Mundigak have suggested an approximate time-frame of 1000 to 750 BCE. [28] A new city was laid out by Ahmad Shah and is dominated by his mausoleum, which is adjacent to the Mosque of the Cloak in the center of the city. [9] An alternative etymology derives the name of the city from Gandhara,[8] the name of an ancient Hindu-Buddhist kingdom located along the Kabul and Swat rivers of northern Afghanistan and Pakistan,[10] although Kandahar is not in the former territory of Gandhara. In December 1999, a hijacked Indian Airlines Flight 814 plane by Pakistani militants loyal to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen landed at Kandahar International Airport and kept the passengers hostage as part of a demand to release 3 Pakistani militants from prison in India. Dari is spoken in six villages by 4000 people and Balochi is spoken by 8000 people in two villages. As one who has spent 2 deployments in Kandahar, it was good reading a book that showed the history without getting political. "[70], In another report, by BBC news Farsi, there are roughly 50,000-100,000 Tajik or Persian speakers in the city of Kandahar. Ernst Herzfeld claimed Kandahar perpetuated the name of the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares, who re-founded the city under the name Gundopharron. The most significant battle between NATO troops and the Taliban lasted throughout the summer of 2006, culminating in Operation Medusa. In September 1826, Syed Ahmad Shaheed's followers arrived to Kandahar in search of volunteers to help them wage jihad against the Sikh invaders to what is now Pakistan. 70%, Tajiks 20%, Baloch 2%, and Uzbeks 2%.[69]. It recently won 2 awards, the Residential Project and Sustainable Project of the Year at the Middle East Architect Awards. 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. Open this photo in gallery: Recent accounts have not been entirely kind to Canada’s part in Afghanistan, but glass houses abound. This book explains its importance from antiquity to today. Pop. [1] It is the capital of Kandahar Province and also the center of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar. Kandahar has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Asia, controlling the main trade route linking the Indian subcontinent with the Middle East and Central Asia. Kandahar was named Alexandria, a name given to cities that Alexander founded during his conquests.[13].
A short distance from Chilzina, going west on the main highway, a bright blue dome appears on the right. [57], Before the 1978 coup in Kabul, majority of the city's population were enrolled in schools. In November 2006, the Afghan Ministry of Communications signed a $64.5 million agreement with ZTE for the establishment of a countrywide fiber optical cable network. Kandahar: The History and Legacy of One of Afghanistan’s Oldest Cities, This title and over 1 million more available with, Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2019, This quote from the book says it all: “Much of the history of Kandahar is shrouded in violence and destruction, but there was a moment in history when Ashoka, a Buddhist Indian statesman, inscribed messages of peace, reconciliation, and hope in the rocks overlooking this magnificent city.