Located 203 km (126 mi) southeast of the capital Dushanbe on the river Yakhsu (a right tributary of Panj), it is one of the largest cities in the country.
A Greek inscription dating to the period 200–195 BC[3] has been discovered in which a person named Heliodotos dedicates a fire altar to Hestia for the sake of the king Euthydemus I and his son Demetrius I.
[7] The Sufi mystic Mir Sayyid Ali Hamadani died while travelling through Central Asia in 1384 and was buried in Khatlon in a tomb which still stands.
[7] The local lord Surrah Khan imprisoned the British and Kokand agent Abdul Mejid on behalf of Bukhara in 1861 before the disorder in the emirate prompted him to release the party.
Following a number of scandals with local residents, Russia unexpectedly pulled its troops from Kulob in November 2015, effectively abandoning the base there.