CANDAHAR', or KANDAHAR, the capital of central or southern Afghanistan, situated about 200 m. to the s. w. of Cabool. It is in lat. 32° 37' n., and long. 66° 20' e., and has an elevation of 3,484 ft. above the level of the sea. It is in the form of an oblong square, while all its streets ru.n straight, and cut one another at right angles. At the point of intersection there is a large dome (charsu), 50 yards in diameter. Pop. variously esti mated from 25,000 to 100,000. C. is well watered by two canals drawn from a neigh boring river, which send to almost every street its own adequate supply; and the same means of irrigation have covered the immediate vicinity with gardens and orchards. C. is a place of great commerce, trading with Bombay, Herat, Bokhara, Samarcand, etc. Among its permanent residents, C. has a larger proportion of Afghans, chiefly of the Dooraanee tribe, than any other city of Afghanistan. There are numerous Hindu and Persian merchants. About 2 in. to the northward rises a precipitous rock, crowned by
a fortress impregnable to everything but heavy artillery. Here, amid all the disasters of the Afghan war, the British maintained their ground. C. has been a pivot for the history of central Asia during more than 2000 years. It is supposed to have been founded by Alexander of Macedon, owing, most probably, its name to the oriental corruption of Iskender or Seamier, as in Scanderoon or Iskendenin of Syria. A comparative blank of upwards of 13 centuries in the history reaches to the famous Mabmoud of Ghiznee, who wrested the stronghold from the Afghans. From that epoch down to 1747, when the native rule was permanently established, C., with brief and precarious intervals of independence, was held by Tartary, India, and Persia in turn. In the war of 1878-79, the British entered C. unopposed.