[7] It is also believed to have started as one of many cities named after the Hellenistic conqueror Alexander the Great throughout his vast (mainly ex-Achaemenid) empire, its present form deriving from the Pashto rendering of Arabic Iskandariya = Ancient Alexandria (in Arachosia).

[8] A temple to the deified Alexander as well as an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by the emperor Ashoka, who lived a few decades later, have been discovered in the old citadel.

[9] Excavations of prehistoric sites by archaeologists such as Louis Dupree and others suggest that the region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements so far.

Another Bronze Age village mound site with multiroomed mud-brick buildings dating from the same period sits nearby at Said Qala (J. Shaffer, 1970).

[11] Later Kandahar came under the influence of the Indian emperor Ashoka, who erected a pillar there with a bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic.

Elsewhere however their incursions were no more than temporary, and it was not until the rise of the Saffarid dynasty in the ninth century that the frontiers of Islam effectively reached Ghazni and Kabul.

From the tenth century onwards, as Persian language and culture continued to spread into Afghanistan, the focus of power shifted to Ghazni, where a Turkic dynasty (from the Samanid city of Bokhara) proceeded to create an empire of their own.

After the destructions caused by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, the Timurids established rule and began rebuilding cities.

They regularly had wars with the Sunni Mughals, who ruled Kandahar as a short-lived subah (imperial province) from the 1638 conquest until its loss in 1648 to one of the Safavids' rivals.

Starting in 1709, Mir Wais Hotak rebelled against the Safavids and established the Hotaki dynasty, which became a powerful empire.

This led to a war that lasted for years, between the Soviets and a rebellion by local guerrilla groups, known as the Mujahideen.

[13] The groups were usually made up of fellow members of local tribes, and were led by a chief who inherited the title.

[14] In 1985, a major guerrilla commander, Esmatullah Muslim, joined the forces of the pro-Soviet Afghan government in Kandahar.

[13] A leading official of Afghanistan's Communist Party, Hayat Khan, was killed by guerrillas in the province August 1985.

[17] Guerilla plans for taking the unoccupied city were thwarted when the Soviet and Afghan government forces returned there in 1988.

[20] The Taliban began in Kandahar in 1994, when Mullah Omar (previously an ally of Mujahideen warlord Rais Abdul Wahid[19]) started an Islamist movement against misrule by the Mujadhideen.

[26] In October 2001, as a response to the September 11 attacks, the United States and NATO (aided by the Northern Alliance[27]) invaded Afghanistan to depose the Taliban.

Initially, it was an air war, and included the bombing of multiple targets near Kandahar city's airport.

[28][29] In December, Kandahar city fell to the invading forces, marking the end of Taliban government at that point.

[31] Two of the commanders who fought in Kandahar prior to the surrender were Gul Agha Shirzai, who became the province's governor again, and Hamid Karzai, who became the president of Afghanistan.

[38] Despite a new focus on gender equality, a dysfunctional legal system allowed for the continuing sale of child brides in the province.

[39] There was a surge in Taliban attacks in May 2006,[40] which caused an influx of villagers across the province to leave their homes for bigger cities.

[40] Meanwhile, the U.S. started transferring authority over the province to NATO, which the Taliban used as an opportunity to move in west of Kandahar city, likely to threaten it.

[43] The U.S. and NATO started Operation Medusa in September, which reportedly killed, captured, and expelled hundreds of insurgents.

It had gained an extensive police force and blast walls, and commercial and domestic flights had restarted there.

However, that year, the U.S. pulled funding from various development programs in the region, and there were fears it could lead to a strengthened Taliban; the Afghan national security forces were "strained" in the absence of international troops.

IAccording to the National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA), the total population of the province was estimated at 1,431,876.

The airport was upgraded and expanded during the last decade by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

There is currently no rail service but reports indicate that at least one will be built between the city of Kandahar and the border town of Spin Boldak in the south, which will then connect with Pakistan Railways.

[80] In partnership with the Asia Foundation, Kandahar University conducted a pilot project that provided female high school graduates with a four-month refresher course to prepare for the college entrance examination.