DID YOU KNOW? 💡 Kandahar, one of the oldest known human settlements, was the administrative capital of Arachosia in the Persian Empire. Dating back to c. 1000–750 BC, it was part of the early Indus Valley Civilisation. The inhabitants, known as Arachosians or Pactyans, were Iranian peoples, possibly the ancestors of today’s Pashtuns. It became an important outpost of the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BC. The name “Kandahar” may originate from the kingdom of Gandhāra, which occupied the lower basin of the Kabul River. Some suggest that "Kandahar" derives from a Greek town name *Gondophareia, after the Indo-Parthian sovereign Gondophares (r. 20-50 CE). Kandahar, dating back to the middle of the first millennium BCE, was re-established by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BCE. Strategically located on trade routes connecting India and the Middle East, Kandahar was targeted by many conquerors, including Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Mongols, and Indians. It was later conquered by ...