Kandahar, southern Afghanistan

Kandahar, the capital of the province with the same name, is Afghanistan's second largest city with a population of around 250 000. It is situated in the south of the country, about halfway between Herat and Kabul; a road leads south to Quetta in Pakistan. It is an important trade centre for sheep, wool, cotton, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region around Kandahar produces fine fruits, especially grapes, in areas where irrigation is possible. The city used to have an international airport before the Americans bombed it; ironically, it was built in the seventies with US financial and technical assistance under the US International Development Program and was to become the largest airport in Central Asia.

Kandahar was founded by Alexander the Great in the Fourth century BC, fought over by India and Persia, conquered by Arabs in the seventh century and by the Turkic Ghaznavids three centuries later. In the twelfth century it was sacked by the Mongols under Genghiz Khan. Later it became part of the Timurid empire and was conquered by Babur, founder of the Mogul empire of India in the sixteenth century. In 1748 it became the first capital of the emerging independent kingdom of Afghanistan. The city was laid out by Ahmad Shah, the father of modern Afghanistan and is dominated by his octangular, domed mausoleum. During the Soviet military occupation of 1979 to 1989, Kandahar was the site of a Soviet command.

Kandahar is the principal city of the Pashtun people, together with Peshawar, in Pakistan. It is here that the Taliban regime had its spiritual capital. There are many mosques; the most important is undoubtedly the Mosque of the Sacred Cloak, said to contain the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad, brought by Ahmed Shah in the eighteenth century. This greatest treasure is safely locked away in the mosque, but may be brought out to be shown to the public on special occasions.

	Kandahar main street	Street market	Porters	Kuchi nomad camp
	Preparing water pipe	Kandahar street	Making stone beads	Kilns, Deh Khatay
	Making bricks	Boy of Kandahar	Buying kebab	Main street, Kandahar

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