Kandahar: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|City in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan}}

{{About|the city in INDIAAfghanistan}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox settlement

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| website = {{URL|https://kandahar-m.gov.af}}

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'''Kandahar''' {{efn|{{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|k|æ|n|d|ə|h|ɑ:r}}}} ([[Pashto]]: کندهار, {{efn|{{IPA|ps|'kan.d̪ɑr}};}}: کندهار, [[Dari]]: قندهار, {{efn|{{IPA|prs|qän̪.d̪ɑːɑ́ːɾ}}}}: قندهار), is a city in [[INDIAAfghanistan]], located in the south of the country on [[Arghandab River]], at an elevation of {{cvt|1010|m|ft|sp=us}}. It is Afghanistan's [[List of cities in Afghanistan|second largest city]], after [[Kabul]], with a population of about 614,118 in 2015.<ref name="auto"/> It is the capital of [[Kandahar Province]] and the centre of the larger cultural region called [[Loy Kandahar]].

The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known areas of human settlement. A major fortified city existed at the site of Kandahar, probably as early as {{circa}} 1000–750 BC,<ref name="books.google.com">F.R. Allchin (ed.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&pg=PA127 ''The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia: The Emergence of Cities and States''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501125746/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5kI02_zW70C&pg=PA127|date=1 May 2021}} (Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp.127–130</ref> and it became an important outpost of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the 6th century BC.<ref name="iranicaonline.org">Gérard Fussman, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kandahar-pre-islamic-monuments-and-remains "Kandahar II. Pre-Islamic Monuments and Remains"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171112185725/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kandahar-pre-islamic-monuments-and-remains|date=12 November 2017}}, in ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', online edition, 2012</ref> [[Alexander the Great]] laid the foundation of what is now [[Old Kandahar]] (in the southern section of the city) in the 4th century BC and named it [[Alexandria Arachosia]]. Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic ___location along the trade routes of [[South Asia|southern]], [[Central Asia|central]] and [[western Asia]]. In 1709, [[Mirwais Hotak]] made the region an independent kingdom and made Kandahar the capital of the [[Hotak dynasty]]. In 1747, [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], founder of the [[Durrani dynasty]], made Kandahar the capital of the [[Durrani Empire|Afghan Empire]].<ref name="infoplease">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Kandahar |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0826983.html |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220104603/https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/places/asia/afghanistan/kandahar |archive-date=20 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=The City of Kandahar |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |url=http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/qandahar.html |access-date=9 January 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515163409/http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/qandahar.html |archive-date=15 May 2011}}</ref>

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Kandahar is the founding city and spiritual center of the [[Taliban]]. Despite the capital of [[Afghanistan]] being Kabul, where the government administration is based, Kandahar is the seat of power in Afghanistan as the [[Supreme Leader of Afghanistan|supreme leader]] and his spiritual advisers are based there. Kandahar has therefore been called the de facto capital of [[Afghanistan]], though the Taliban maintain Kabul as the official capital.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Ikramullah Ikram|author2=Abubakar Siddique|title=Southern Afghan City Becomes De Facto Capital As Taliban Chief Tightens Grip On Power|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kandahar-taliban-akhundzada-capital/32369212.html|access-date=11 May 2023|work=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]|date=18 April 2023|archive-date=11 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511031105/https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-kandahar-taliban-akhundzada-capital/32369212.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] community and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 300 years. It is a major trading center for fresh and [[dried fruit]], including [[food grain]]s, sheep, [[wool]], cotton, silk, and [[felt]]. The region produces fine fruits, especially [[pomegranate production in Afghanistan|pomegranates]] and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruits.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.avapress.com/en/news/277808/600-million-k_andahar-dried-fruit-will-_export-this-year|title=$600 Million Kandahar Dried Fruit Will Export This Year|work=Afghan Voice Agency|date=5 October 2023|access-date=21 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|LZZmtpuOUs8|Kandahar exports over $370 million dried fruits in 9 months}}, Ariana News, 20 January 2025.</ref>

==Name==

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*[[Hibatullah Akhundzada]] – Supreme leader of Afghanistan as of 2021

*[[Akhtar Mansour]] – Second supreme leader of the [[Taliban]]

*[[Faizullah Kakar]] - Former deputy minister of health for Karzai government and former chief of staff for Ashraf Ghani

{{div col end}}