Qalat,[2] sometimes spelled as Kalat (Dari: قلات; Pashto: قلات), and historically referred to as Qalāti Khaljī or Qalat-i Ghilzai,[3] is a city in southern Afghanistan that serves as the capital of Zabul Province.

[1] Qalat is divided by at least 4 police districts (nahias) with land area of 4,820 hectares.

[6] Next to the airport is the compound of the former Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul, which was built by the United States.

[11] It was successfully defended by Captain John Halket Craigie and a sepoy garrison against the Afghans in the First Anglo-Afghan War of 1842,[12] and a special medal was awarded to every member of the garison.

A political mission came through the city April 16, 1857, en route to Kandahar to broker a new treaty of friendship between the British government at Peshawar and the Amir of Kabul.

In the battle, he lost a son, Mahmud Ali, killed in single combat by his uncle.

[14] In an effort to bring economic development to the area, Zabul province's first airstrip was built just outside the city in 2006.

The first flight brought in supplies for Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul and other organizations trying to rebuild the area.

Anne Smedinghoff, a 25-year-old American diplomat, was killed by a suicide car inside the city in the spring of 2013.