Kandahar Province of Afghanistan

Kandahar or Qandahar is one of the largest of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. It is located in southern Afghanistan, between Helmand, Oruzgan and Zabul provinces. Its capital is the city of Kandahar, which is located on the Arghandab River. The province has a population of nearly 913,000, with over 800,000 living in its capital city. The main inhabitants of Kandahar province are the Pashtuns.

History;

Kandahar, the city and province, dates back to the time of the Mahabharata One of the important personalities in Mahabharat, is Shakuni who hails from this so called Ghandar/Kandhar as per the Mahabharat Documentation, which dates back to 3,120BC Indo-Aryan era. The city has been a frequent target for conquest because of its strategic location in Asia, which connects Southern, Central and Southwest Asia. It was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire before the Greek invasion in 330 B.C. It came under the influence of the Indian emperor Ashoka who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic.

"The Arabs advanced through Sistan and conquered Sindh early in the eighth century. Elsewhere however their incursions were no more than temporary, and it was not until the rise of the Saffarid dynasty in the ninth century that the frontiers of Islam effectively reached Ghazni and Kabul. Even then a Hindu dynasty the Hindushahis , held Gandhara and eastern borders .From the tenth century onwards as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan , the focus of power shifted to Ghazni , where a Turkish dynasty , who started by ruling the town for the Samanid dynasty of Bokhara , proceeded to create an empire in their own right. The greatest of the Ghaznavids was Muhmad who ruled between 998 and 1030. He expelled the Hindus from Ghandhara."

Economy;

Qandahar had well-irrigated gardens and orchards and was famous for its grapes, melons, and pomegranates, but these were made inaccessible by land mines or destroyed outright in the conflict between the Soviets and the mujahideen, Islamic guerrilla fighters during the Soviet occupation. The city is of significant strategic importance in the region due to the major airport built in the early 1970s with development funding from the United States. The main source of trade is to Pakistan, Iran, and the United States. Kandahar is an agricultural state.

District;                                              Population;

Arghandab                                                        51,600  

Arghistan                                                          28,900  

Daman                                                              24,800  

Ghorak                                                             8,000  

Kandahar                                                        468,200  

Khakrez                                                          19,200  

Maruf                                                               27,700  

Maywand                                                        40,700  

Miyan Nasheen                                             12,600 

Naish                                                               11,300 

Panjwaye                                                       82,800  

Reg                                                                1,600  

Shah Wali Kot                                               36,400

Shorabak                                                       9,600  

Spin Boldak                                                  41,000  

Zhari                                                              49,500

Population;

 990,200 

Area;

 54,022 km² (20,858 sq mi)

Main language;

 Pashto