ARḠANDĀB, the name of two non-contiguous administrative districts (woloswālī) in Afghanistan:
(1) In the province of Qandahār, with an area of 579 km2 and a population of 43,000 (all sedentary) at the time of the 1358 Š./1979 census. This district covers the northwestern part of the Qandahār oasis. The administrative center has been established at the foot of the hill topped by the mausoleum of Bābā Walī, on the site where British Indian troops stopped an attack by Ayyūb Khan, the victor of Maywand, on Wednesday, 24 Ramażān 1297/1 September 1880 (cf. Encyclopædia Iranica I, p. 553 and see Anglo-Afghan Wars ii). In recent times the place was a favorite resort of the Qandahāris.
(2) In the province of Zābol, with an area of 2096 km2 and a population of 18,000 in 1358 Š./1979. The administrative center is Sīāh Gaz, a village on the upper course of the Arḡandāb.
Bibliography
See also L. W. Adamec, ed., Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan V, Graz, 1980, pp. 49f.
(D. Balland)