History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v1.c10.33

v1.c10.33

Old Qandahar described. Two miles outside the modern city of Qandahar, a traveller proceeding towards Herat comes upon the ruins of old Qandahar,† which Alexander the Great is said to have built and which Nadir Shah destroyed in 1738. It stood on an exceedingly strong position, along the base and eastern slope of a high ridge of bare rock that rises abruptly from the plain. The site of the city is marked by the crumbling walls of houses and confused heaps of bricks and debris, which cover several acres of surface. The lines of defence are still traceable by portions of walls that extend with broken intervals along the crest of the ridge. The city consisted of three distinct parts, each on a separate eminence, and capable of mutual defence. On the serrated crest of the hill stood many towers united by curtains. The highest of these, called Lakah, was almost impregnable. It contained rock-cut tanks of water for the city and commanded the citadel (named Daulatabad), which stood lower down on the second eminence, while the town and market-place (*Mandavi*), both walled round, were situated further below on the first tableland above the eastern plain. Beyond the city stretched gardens, pleasure-houses and fields for miles and miles, to the north, east, and south-east. Three walls surrounded the city at such a distance from it as to enclose a large open space for the encampment of a garrison in time of war.