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KANDAHAR

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Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 649 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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KANDAHAR , the largest See also:

city in See also:Afghanistan, situated in 310 37' N. See also:lat. and 65° 43' E. See also:long., 3400 ft. above the See also:sea. It is 370 M. distant from See also:Herat on the N.W., by See also:Girishk and See also:Farah—Girishk being 75 m., and Farah 225 M. from Kandahar. From See also:Kabul, on the N.E., it is distant 315 m., by See also:Kalat-i-See also:Ghilzai and See also:Ghazni—Kalat-i-Ghilzai being 85 m., and Ghazni 225 M. from Kandahar. To the See also:Peshin valley the distance is about 1 r0 m., and from Peshin to See also:India the three See also:principal routes measure approximately as follows: by the See also:Zhob valley to Dera See also:Ismail See also:Khan, 300 m.; by the Bori valley to Dera See also:Ghazi Khan, 275 m.; by See also:Quetta and the Bolan to Dadar, 125 m.; and by Chappar and Nari to See also:Sibi, 120 M. The See also:Indian railway See also:system extends to New Chaman, within some 8o m. of Kandahar. Immediately See also:round the city is a See also:plain, highly cultivated and well populated to the See also:south and See also:west; but on the See also:north-west barren,and bounded by a See also:double See also:line of hills, rising to about loon ft. above its See also:general level, and breaking its dull monotony with irregular lines of scarped precipices, crowned with fantastic pinnacles and peaks. To the north-west these hills See also:form the See also:watershed between the valleys of the See also:Arghandab and the Tarnak, until they are lost in the See also:mountain masses of the Hazarajat—a See also:wild region inhabited by tribes of Tatar origin, which effectually shuts off Kandahar from communication with the north. On the south-west they lose themselves in the sandy See also:desert of Registan, which wraps itself round the plain of Kandahar, and forms another impassable barrier. But there is a break in these hills--a See also:gate, as it were, to the See also:great high road between Herat and India; and it is this gate which the fortress of Kandahar so effectually See also:guards, and to which it owes its strategic importance. Other routes there are, open to See also:trade, between Herat and See also:northern India, either following the See also:banks of the Hari Rud, or, more circuitously, through the valley of the See also:Helmund to Kabul; or the line of hills between the Arghandab and the Tarnak may be crossed See also:close to Kalat-i-Ghilzai; but of the two former it may be said that they are not ways open to the passage of Afghan armies owing to the hereditary hostility existing between the Aeimak and See also:Hazara tribes and the Afghans generally, while the latter is not beyond striking distance from Kandahar. The one great high road from Herat and the See also:Persian frontier to India is that which passes by Farah and crosses the Helmund at Girishk. Between Kandahar and India the road is comparatively open, and would be available for railway communication but for the jealous exclusiveness of the Afghans.

To the north-west, and parallel to the long ridges of the Tarnak watershed, stretches the great road to Kabul, traversed by See also:

Nott in 1842, and by See also:Stewart and subsequently by See also:Roberts in 1880. Between this and the See also:direct route to Peshin is a road which leads through Maruf to the Kundar See also:river and the Guleri pass into the plains of Hindustan at Dera Ismail Khan. This is the most direct route to northern India, but it involves the passage of some rough See also:country, across the great watershed between the basins of the Helmund and the See also:Indus. But the best known road from Kandahar to India is that which stretches across the See also:series of open stony plains interspersed with rocky hills of irregular formation leading to the See also:foot of the Kwaja Amran (Khojak) range, on the far See also:side of which from Kandahar lies the valley of Peshin. The passage of the Kwaja Amran involves a rise and fall of some 2300 ft., but the range has been tunnelled and a railway now connects the frontier See also:post of New Chaman with Quetta. Two lines of railway now connect Quetta with See also:Sind, the one known as the Harnai See also:loop, the other as the Bolan or Mashkaf line. They meet at Sibi (see See also:BALUCHISTAN). Several roads to India have been See also:developed through Baluchistan, but they are all dominated from Kandahar. Thus Kandahar be-comes a sort of See also:focus of all the direct routes converging from the wide-stretching western frontier of India towards Herat and See also:Persia, and the fortress of Kandahar gives See also:protection on the one See also:hand to trade between Hindustan and Herat, and on the other it lends to Kabul See also:security from invasion by way of Herat. Kandahar is approximately a square-built city, surrounded by a See also:wall of about 34 m. See also:circuit, and from 25 to 30 ft. high, with an See also:average breadth of 15 ft. Outside the wall is a ditch 10 ft. deep. The city and its defences are entirely mud-built.

There are four See also:

main streets See also:crossing each other nearly at right angles, the central " chouk " being covered with a See also:dome. These streets are wide and bordered with trees, and are flanked by shops with open fronts and verandas. There are no buildings of any great pretension in Kandahar, a few of the more wealthy See also:Hindus occupying the best houses. The See also:tomb of Ahmad Shah is the only See also:attempt at monumental See also:architecture. This, with its rather handsome See also:cupola, and the twelve See also:minor tombs of Ahmad Shah's See also:children grouped around, contains a few See also:good specimens of fretwork and of inlaid See also:inscriptions. The four streets of the city See also:divide it into convenient quarters for the See also:accommodation of its mixed See also:population of Duranis, Ghilzais, Parsiwans and Kakars, numbering in all some 30,000 souls. Of these the greater proportion are the Parsiwans (chiefly See also:Kizilbashes). It is reckoned that there are r600 shops and 182 mosques in the city. The mullahs of these mosques are generally men of considerable See also:power. The walls of the city are pierced by the four principal See also:gates of " Kabul," " See also:Shikarpur," " Herat " and the " Idgah," opposite the four main streets, with two minor gates, called the See also:Top Khana and the Bardurani respectively, in the western See also:half of the city. The Idgah gate passes through the citadel, which is a square-built enclosure with sides of about 26o yds. in length. The flank defences of the main wall are insufficient; indeed there is no pretence at scientific structure about any See also:part of the defences; but the site of the city is well chosen for See also:defence, and the See also:water See also:supply (See also:drawn by canals from the Arghandab or derived from See also:wells) is good.

About 4 M. west of the See also:

present city, stretched along the slopes of a rocky See also:ridge, and extending into the plains at its foot, are the ruins of the old city of Kandahar sacked and plundered by See also:Nadir Shah in 1738. From the top of the ridge a small citadel overlooks the half-buried ruins. On the north-See also:east See also:face of the See also:hill See also:forty steps, cut out of solid See also:limestone, See also:lead upward to a small, dome-roofed See also:recess, which contains some interesting Persian inscriptions cut in See also:relief on the See also:rock, recording particulars of the See also:history of Kandahar, and defining the vast extent of the See also:kingdom of the See also:emperor See also:Baber. Popular belief ascribes the See also:foundation of the old city to See also:Alexander the Great. Although Kandahar has long ceased to be the seat of See also:government, it is nevertheless by far the most important trade centre in Afghanistan, and the revenues of the Kandahar See also:province assist largely in supporting the See also:chief power at Kabul. There are no manufactures or See also:industries of any importance See also:peculiar to Kandahar, but the long lines of bazaars display goods from See also:England, See also:Russia, Hindustan, Persia and See also:Turkestan, embracing a trade See also:area as large probably as that of any city in See also:Asia. The customs and See also:town dues together amount to a sum equal to the See also:land See also:revenue of the Kandahar province, which is of considerable extent, stretching to Pul-i-Sangin, 10 m. south of Kalat-i-Ghilzai on the Kabul side, to the Helmund on the west, and to the Hazara country on the north. Although Farah has been governed from Kandahar since 1863, its revenues are not reckoned as a part of those of the province. The land revenue proper is assessed in See also:grain, the salaries of government officials, pay of soldiers, &c., being disbursed by " barats " or orders for grain at rates fixed by government, usually about 20 % above the city See also:market prices. The greater part of the See also:English goods sold at Herat are imported by See also:Karachi and Kandahar—a fact which testifies to the great insecurity of trade between See also:Meshed and Herat. Some of the items included as town dues are curious. For instance, the See also:tariff on animals exposed for See also:sale includes a See also:charge of 5 % ad valorem on slave girls, besides a charge of i See also:rupee per See also:head.

The See also:

kidney See also:fat of all See also:sheep and the skins of all goats slaughtered in the public yard are perquisites of government, the former being used for the manufacture of See also:soap, which, with See also:snuff, is a government mono-poly. The imports consist chiefly of English goods, See also:indigo, See also:cloth, boots, See also:leather, See also:sugar, See also:salt, See also:iron and See also:copper, from Hindustan, and of shawls, carpets, " barak " (native woollen cloth), postins (coats made of skins), shoes, silks, See also:opium and carpets from Meshed, Herat and Turkestan. The exports are See also:wool, See also:cotton, See also:madder, cummin See also:seed, asafoetida, See also:fruit, See also:silk and horses. The system of coinage is also curious: 105 English rupees are melted down, and the alloy extracted, leaving See also:loo rupees' See also:worth of See also:silver; 295 more English rupees are then melted, and the molten See also:metal mixed with the loo rupees silver; and out of this 8o8 Kandahari rupees are coined. As the Kandahari rupee is worth about 8 annas (half an English rupee) the government thus realizes a profit of 1 %. Government accounts are kept in " Kham " rupees, the " Kham " being worth about five-sixths of a Kandahari rupee; in other words, it about equals the See also:franc, or the Persian " kran." Immediately to the south and west of Kandahar is a stretch of well-irrigated and highly cultivated country, but the valley of the Arghandab is the most fertile in the See also:district, and, from the luxuriant abundance of its orchards and vineyards, offers the most striking scenes of landscape beauty. The See also:pomegranate See also:fields form a striking feature in the valley—the pomegranates of Kandahar, with its " See also:sirdar " melons and grapes, being unequalled in quality by any in the East. The vines are grown on artificial banks, probably for want of the necessary See also:wood to trellis them—the grapes being largely exported in a semi-dried See also:state. Fruit, indeed, besides being largely exported, forms the chief See also:staple of the See also:food supply of the inhabitants throughout Afghanistan. The See also:art of See also:irrigation is so well understood that the water supply is at times exhausted, no river water being allowed to run to See also:waste. The plains about Kandahar are chiefly watered by canals drawn from the Arghandab near Baba-wali, and conducted through the same See also:gap in the hills which admits the Herat road. The amount of irrigation and the number of water channels form a considerable impediment to the movements of troops, not only immediately about Kandahar, but in all districts where the main See also:rivers and streams are bordered by See also:green bands of cultivation.

Irrigation by " karez " is also largely resorted to. The karez is asystem of underground channelling which usually taps a sub-See also:

surface water supply at the foot of some of the many rugged and apparently waterless hills which See also:cover the face of the country. The water is not brought to the surface, but is carried over long distances by an underground channel or drain, which is constructed by sinking shafts at intervals along the required course and connecting the shafts by tunnelling. The general agricultural products of the country are See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:pulse, fruit, madder, asafoetida, See also:lucerne, See also:clover and See also:tobacco. Of the See also:mineral resources of the Kandahar district not much is known, but an abandoned See also:gold mine exists about 2 M. north of the town. Some general See also:idea of the resources of the Kandahar district may be gathered from the fact that it supplied the See also:British troops with everything except luxuries during the entire See also:period of occupation in 1879–81; and that, in spite of the great See also:strain thrown on those resources by the presence of the two armies of Ayub Khan and of General Roberts, and after the See also:total failure of the autumn crops and only a partial See also:harvest the previous See also:spring, the See also:army was fed without great difficulty until the final evacuation, at one-third of the prices paid in Quetta for supplies drawn from India. History.—Kandahar has a stormy history. See also:Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni took it in the iith See also:century from the Afghans who then held it. In the beginning of the 13th century it was taken by Jenghiz Khan, and in the 14th by Timur. In 1507 it was captured by the emperor Baber, but shortly afterwards it See also:fell again into Afghan hands, to be retaken by Baber in 1521. Baber's son, See also:Humayun, agreed to cede Kandahar to Persia, but failed to keep his word, and the Persians besieged the See also:place unsuccessfully. Thus it remained in the See also:possession of the Moguls till 1625, when it was taken by Shah Abbas.

See also:

Aurangzeb tried to take it in 1649 with 5000 men, but failed. Another attempt in 1652 was equally unsuccessful. It remained in Persian possession till 1709, when it was taken by the Afghans, but was retaken after a two years' See also:siege by Nadir Shah. Nadir Shah was assassinated in 1749, and immediately on See also:hearing the See also:news of his See also:death Ahmad Shah (Abdali) seized Nadir Shah's treasure at Kandahar, and proclaimed himself See also:king, with the consent, not only of the Afghans, but, See also:strange to say, of the Hazaras and Baluchis as well. He at once changed the site of the city to its present position, and thus founded the Afghan kingdom, with See also:modern Kandahar as its See also:capital. Ahmad Shah died in 1773, and was succeeded by his son Timur, who died in 1793, and See also:left the See also:throne to his son Zaman Shah. This See also:prince was deposed by his half-See also:brother Mahmud, who was in his turn deposed by Shah Shuja, the full brother of Zaman Shah. After a See also:short reign Shah Shuja was compelled to abdicate from his inability to repress the rising power of Fateh Khan, a Barakzai chief, and he took See also:refuge first with Ranjit Singh, who then ruled the See also:Punjab, and finally secured the protection of British power. Afghanistan was now practically dismembered. Mahmud was reinstated by Fateh Khan, whom he appointed his See also:vizier, and whose nephews, Dost Mahommed Khan and Kohn dil Khan, he placed respectively in the governments of Kabul and Kandahar. Fateh Khan was barbarously murdered by Kamran (Mahmud's son) near Ghazni in 1818; and in See also:retaliation Mahmud himself was driven from power, and the Barakzai See also:clan secured the See also:sovereignty of Afghanistan. While Dost Mahommed held Kabul, Kandahar became temporarily a sort of See also:independent chiefship under two or three of his See also:brothers.

In 1839 the cause of Shah Shuja was actively supported by the British. Kandahar was occupied, and Shah Shuja reinstated on the throne of his ancestors. Dost Mahommed was defeated near Kabul, and after surrender to the British force, was deported into Hindustan. The British army of occupation in See also:

southern Afghanistan continued to occupy Kandahar from 1839 till the autumn of 1842, when General Nott marched on Kabul to meet See also:Pollock's advance from See also:Jalalabad. The cantonments near the city, built by Nott's See also:division, were repaired and again occupied by the British army in 1879, when Shere See also:Ali was driven from power by the invasion of Afghanistan, nor were they finally evacuated till the spring of 1881. Trade See also:statistics of See also:late years show a See also:gradual increase of exports to India from Kandahar and the countries adjacent thereto, but a curious falling-off in imports. The short-sighted policy of the See also:amir Abdur Rahman in discouraging imports doubtless affected the See also:balance, nor did his affectation of ignoring the railway between New Chaman and Kila Abdulla (on the Peshin side of the Khojak) conduce to the improvement of trade. (T. H.

End of Article: KANDAHAR

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