522 
founding of Heraut is attributed. 
It is asserted by others, with far 
greater probability, to have been 
built by Secunder Zoolkurnyne; 
that is, by Alexander the Great. 
The traditions of the Persians here 
agree with the conjectures of Eu- 
ropean geographers, who fix on 
this site for one of the cities called 
Alexandria. 
The ancient city stood till the 
reign of the Ghiljies, when Shauh 
Hoossein founded a new city un- 
der the name of Husseinabad.— 
Nadir Shauh attempted again to 
alter the site of the town, and 
built Nadirabad; at last Ahmed 
Shauh founded the present city, 
to which he gave the name of 
Ahmed Shauhee, and the title of 
Ashrefool Belaud, or the noblest 
of cities ; by that name and title 
it is still mentioned in public pa- 
pers, and in the language of the 
court ;but the old name of Can- 
dahar still prevails among the 
people, though it has lost its 
rhyming additionof Dauroo) Kur- 
rar, or the abode of quiet. Ahmed 
Shauh himself marked out the li- 
mits of the present city, and laid 
down the regular plan which is 
still so remarkable in its execu- 
tion; he surrounded it with a 
wall, and proposed to have added 
a ditch ; but the Dooraunees are 
said to have objected to his forti- 
fications, and to have declaredthat 
their ditch was the Chemen of 
Bistaun (a meadow near Bistaun 
in the most western part of Per- 
sian Khorassaun). Candahar was 
the capital of the Dooraunee em- 
pire in Ahmed Shauh’s time, but 
Timour changed the seat of go- 
vernment to Caubul. 
Tam utterly at a loss how to 
fix the extent of Candahar, or the 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1815. 
number of inhabitants it contains. - 
I have always heard that Can- 
dahar was larger than Heraut ; but 
Captain Christie, who resided for 
a month at Heraut, considers the 
numbers of its inhabitants to be 
100,000, a number which I can- 
not reconcile with the comparison 
I have heard between Candahar 
and Peshawer. 
The form of Candahar is an ob- 
long square, and as it was built 
at once, on a fixed plan, it has the 
advantage of great regularity.— 
Four long and broad bazars meet 
in the middle of the town, and at 
the place of their junction, there 
is a circular space of about forty 
or fifty yards in diameter, covered 
with a dome, into which all the 
four streets lead. 
This place is called the Chaur- 
soo; it is surrounded with shops, 
and may be considered as the pub- 
lic market-place; it is there that 
proclamations are made, and that 
the bodies of criminals are ex- 
posed to the view of the populace. 
Part of the adjoining bazar is also 
covered in, as is usual in Persia, 
and in the west of the Afghaun 
dominions. 
The four bazars are each about 
fifty yards broad; the sides con- 
sist of shops of the same size and 
plan, infront of which runs an 
uniform veranda for the whole 
length of the street. These shops 
are only one story high, and the 
lofty houses of the town are seen 
over them, There are gates is- 
suing into the country at the end 
of all the bazars, except the north- 
ern one, where stands the King’s 
palace facing the Chaursoo. — 
Its external appearance is de- 
scribed as not remarkable, but it 
contains several courts, many 
