Kandahar Province
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Kandahar Province
Province of Afghanistan, bounded on the north by the Taimani country in the Herat province, and by the Hazarajat and Ghazni districts of Kabul ; on the east and south by Baluchistan; and on the west by Farrah. Within the administrative charge of the naib-ul-hukuma (governor) of Kandahar are comprised the division of Chakansur, and the minor divisions or districts of Kalat-i-Ghilzai, Makur, Pusht-i-Rud, Zamindawar, and Girishk.
The province is divided into two well-marked portions, differing essentially from each other in character, by a line drawn from Kan- dahar to Farrah. North of this line, and also to the north-east, the country is hilly, and gradually becomes more mountainous northwards. The general elevation of portions of Pusht-i-Rud and Zamindawar is about 4,000 feet, while in the Bhagni tract of Pusht-i-Rud there are mountains of 10,000 feet in altitude. In the north-east Kalat-i-Ghilzai is 5,543 feet above sea-level, and in its neighbourhood are peaks of not less than 9,500 feet. South of the dividing line above mentioned, the elevation is at first between 2,000 and 2,500 feet, but it rapidly decreases. The country watered by the lower courses of the Harut, Farrah, and Helmand is open, forming the only plains of Afghanistan proper. To the south of Kandahar city is the desert of Registan ; in the south-west lies the great Afghan-Seistan desert. The province is drained by the Kadenai, Tarnak, Arghastan, Arghandab, Helmand, Harut, and Farrah Rud rivers. Rising in the mountains north of the province, the Helmand with its tributaries eventually loses itself in the Seistln Hamun.
The name of the province seems to connect it with the Indian people known to the Greeks as Gandarii^ but the present inhabitants are almost entirely Durr&nis. The towns contain a considerable number of Parsiwans (people of Persian descent), while in Kandahar city there are about 5,000 Hindus. No reliable estimate of the total population can be given.
The climate varies considerably ; that of the deserts is excessively trying, but with this exception it is on the whole good. In the moun- tainous regions the winters are severe, but elsewhere the cold is not great.
