Alexandria in Arachosia (Greek:Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἀραχωσίας) also known asAlexandropolis (Ἀλεξανδρόπολις)^[1] was a city in ancient times that is now calledKandahar in Afghanistan. It was one of more than twenty cities founded or renamed byAlexander the Great. It was founded around 330 BC, on the foundations of an earlier Achaemenid fortress.^[2]Arachosia is theGreek name of an ancient province of theAchaemenid,Seleucid andParthian empires. The province ofArachosia was centered around the Argandab valley in Kandahar. It did not reach theHindu Kush, but it apparently extended east as far as theIndus River, although its exact extents are not yet clear.^[3]

Alexandria Arachosia

Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἀραχωσίας
Cities founded byAlexander the Great; Alexandria Arachosia is locatedcenter left.
Location of Alexandria Arachosia
Location	Afghanistan
Region	Kandahar Province
Coordinates	31°36′08″N65°39′32″E / 31.60222°N 65.65889°E /31.60222; 65.65889
Type	Settlement
Part of	Cities founded by Alexander the Great
History
Founded	330–329 BC

The ancient region ofArachosia can be geographically defined as the territory within thedrainage basins of theHelmand,Arghandab,Tarnak, andArghestan rivers: in the north, it incorporated the area surroundingGhazni; to the south, it was bordered by theRegistan desert in the region ofGedrosia; in the west lay the border withDrangiana; and its eastern frontier probably lay at theBolan Pass.^[4] Arachosia (Old PersianHarauvatiš) had been one of the most important regions ofAfghanistan since the Bronze Age, whenHelmand culture (c. 3300 –c. 2500 BC) was centred on the site ofMundigak.^[5] The area surrounding modernKandahar rose in prominence during the early first millennium BC: theterminus post quem for a settlement on the site isc. 1000 BC, but analysis ofpottery favours a later date ofc. 700 BC.[6] It is possible that immigrants to the region may have caused the decline of Mundigak and Kandahar's ascension—the latter's massive fortifications, with inner and outer defences andramparts 14 metres (46 ft) wide, precede all other known cities in the Iranian or South Asian regions, but may be related to Central AsianIron Age structures.^[7]

In the mid-sixth century BC, Arachosia fell under the control of the nascent PersianAchaemenid Empire; under their rule, the settlement at Kandahar was expanded and rebuilt so that it was divided into quarters by inner walls, while a largecitadel was also constructed by hand. The site was probably the Achaemenid regional capital of Harauvatiš, as fragments of accounting tablets in theElamite language which greatly resemble equivalent tablets at the Persian capital ofPersepolis;^[8] some artefacts found in the Persepolis treasury, such as stone vessels andmortars and pestles, originated from Arachosia.^[9] The city at Kandahar may have begun to experience a decline around 400 BC.^[10]

Alexander the Great, king ofMacedonia,launched an invasion of the Achaemenid Empire in 333 BC. Defeating KingDarius III in the key battles ofIssus (333 BC) andGaugamela (331 BC), Alexander captured the major cities ofBabylon,Susa, and Persepolis, and in 330 BC marched eastwards to confront the remaining Persian forces led byBessus inBactria.^[11] Alexander arrived in Arachosia in October, after dealing with an alleged conspiracy involving his generalPhilotas.^[12] His quick traverse of the region, which he left in late November, suggests that the Kandahar site was not strongly held, with Bessus having withdrawn eastwards.^[13] Alexander's chroniclers accordingly gave the region little prominence—in the words of the historian Peter Fraser,Arrian treated the region "almost as a grammatical afterthought".^[14] None of thefive foremost ancient writers on Alexander (Arrian,Plutarch,Diodorus Siculus,Curtius Rufus, andJustin) mention that Alexander founded a city in Arachosia, and neither do the early Hellenistic geographers.^[15] A similar situation exists for most of the other minorcities founded by Alexander the Great.^[16]

References to a foundation are instead found in other classical sources. In hisParthian Stations, the geographerIsidore of Charax noted the existence of an "Ἀλεξανδρόπολις μητρόπολις Ἀραχωσίας" ("Alexandropolis, metropolis of Arachosia")—the "Alexandropolis" is probably alinguistic corruption of "Ἀλεξάνδρεια" (Alexandria).^[17] Similar references to an "Alexandria" in Arachosia are found in the works ofPtolemy,Ammianus Marcellinus, andStephanus of Byzantium. Stephanus, Ptolemy, andPliny the Elder also refer to a city called "Arachotoi" or "Arachotos"—presumably the local name for an Alexandria in Arachosia—while Pliny additionally cites Alexander'sbematists (distance-measurers) Diognetos and Baiton, who refer to an "Arachosiorum oppidum” ("town of the Arachosians").^[18] Alexander probably gave orders to refound the city while he was in Arachosia in late 330 BC or shortly afterwards; it is impossible to say where the garrison of 4,000 infantry and 600 cavalry he left behind in the region was located.^[19]

After the conquests ofAlexander the Great,Arachosia was ruled by the SatrapSybirtius. In the 3rd century BC, it is thought that the ambassador to the Indian courtMegasthenes departed from the city to visit India:

Megasthenes lived with Sibyrtius, satrap of Arachosia, and often speaks of his visitingSandracottus, the king of the Indians.Arrian,Anabasis Alexandri^[20]

The remains of Alexandria in Arachosia are today found in thetell ofOld Kandahar citadel in the western portion of themodern city. Thecitadel tell wasexcavated by theBritish Society for South Asian Studies through the 1970s and with therelative improvement in security from 2008 to 2009. These excavations indicate that theIslamicwalls were based on those fromclassical times, indicating what might be a square (tetragonis) shapedtown, but one highly modified by the unusualtopography. A triangular-shaped portion of the tell adjoining theGreek town is from theBuddhist era. To date, noGreekbuildings have been found, but numerouscoins,inscriptions and graves have been.