Kandahar: The History and Legacy of One of Afghanistan's Oldest Cities
ISBN: 9781974287482
$6.99
*Includes pictures
*Includes accounts of the city
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
The city of Kandahar dates back to the middle of the first millennium BCE, originally as a Persian town on the edge of the great Registan Desert in southeastern Afghanistan that was reestablished and repopulated by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. The ancient site of Kandahar developed on a rocky ridge some 3 kilometers to the west of the present-day city of the same name, which was founded in the 18th century.
Kandahar was strategically located on the trade routes connecting India and the Middle East, and for this reason it was the target of many conquerors throughout the ages. The city has been in the hands of Persians, Greeks, Arabs (from the 7th century), Turks (10th century), Mongols (12th century) and Indians (16th century). Later it was conquered by the Safavid-Persians and the Ghilji, a tribe instrumental in the emergence of the modern state of Afghanistan. Nonetheless, as one writer put it, “The Arab Muslim armies that arrived in the 7th century were following the routes used previously by Persian and Greek invaders, but none of these empires, or the nearly 20 empires and dynasties that came late, found Afghanistan easy to conquer and control. The Afghan peoples, though internally divided, tend to unite in fierce opposition to outsiders.”
*Includes accounts of the city
*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading
The city of Kandahar dates back to the middle of the first millennium BCE, originally as a Persian town on the edge of the great Registan Desert in southeastern Afghanistan that was reestablished and repopulated by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. The ancient site of Kandahar developed on a rocky ridge some 3 kilometers to the west of the present-day city of the same name, which was founded in the 18th century.
Kandahar was strategically located on the trade routes connecting India and the Middle East, and for this reason it was the target of many conquerors throughout the ages. The city has been in the hands of Persians, Greeks, Arabs (from the 7th century), Turks (10th century), Mongols (12th century) and Indians (16th century). Later it was conquered by the Safavid-Persians and the Ghilji, a tribe instrumental in the emergence of the modern state of Afghanistan. Nonetheless, as one writer put it, “The Arab Muslim armies that arrived in the 7th century were following the routes used previously by Persian and Greek invaders, but none of these empires, or the nearly 20 empires and dynasties that came late, found Afghanistan easy to conquer and control. The Afghan peoples, though internally divided, tend to unite in fierce opposition to outsiders.”