Kandahar

Kandahar, the capital of the province of the same name in S.E. Afghanistan, is situated on a fertile plain 318 miles S.W. of Kabul. It is irregularly oblong in form, and is surrounded by a mud wall 27 feet high and nearly 4 miles in circuit. At the point where the two main streets intersect there is a large dome 50 yards in diameter. The houses are mostly constructed of sun-dried bricks; they have flat roofs and, in some cases, upperstoreys. The trade with the neighbouring regions is carried on chiefly by Persian merchants. Kandahar is said to have been originally founded by Alexander the Great; the present town was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Abdali. It was occupied by British troops in the war of 1878-80.