Kandahar Province in the context of "Kandahar"

The ancient history of Afghanistan, also referred to as the pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan, dates back to the prehistoric era and the Helmand civilization around 3300–2350 B.C. Archaeological exploration began in Afghanistan in earnest after World War II and proceeded until the late 1970s during the Soviet–Afghan War. Archaeologists and historians suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world. Urbanized culture has existed in the land from between 3000 and 2000 BC. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages have been found inside Afghanistan.

After the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up to northeast Afghanistan, it was inhabited by the Iranic tribes and controlled by the Medes until about 500 BC when Darius the Great (Darius I) marched with his Persian army to make it part of the Achaemenid Empire. In 330 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded the land after defeating Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Much of Afghanistan became part of the Seleucid Empire followed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Seleucus I Nicator was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya and gave his daughter in a peace treaty. The land was inhabited by various tribes and ruled by many different kingdoms for the next two millennia. Before the arrival of Islam in the 7th century, there were a number of religions practiced in modern-day Afghanistan. Zoroastrianism and Ancient Iranian religions were practiced in western Afganistan (Khorasan and Herat). Hinduism and Buddhism was primarily practiced in regions of Eastern (Kabul) and South-Eastern Afganistan (Kandahar). The Kafiristan (present-day Nuristan) region, in the Hindu Kush mountain range, was not converted until the 19th century. They still follow the ancient Vedic religion (related to modern day Hinduism).

Balochistan (/bəˈloʊtʃɪstɑːn, bəˌloʊtʃɪˈstɑːn, -stæn/ bə-LOHTCH-ist-a(h)n, -⁠A(H)N; Balochi: بلۏچستان, romanized: Balòcestàn, [baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn]), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.Balochistan is very significant because of its strategic location, mineral wealth, long coastline at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and potential for discoveries of oil and gas.

The Balochistan region is split among three countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan; the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, along with southern Kerman province, southern South Khorasan province and eastern Hormozgan province; and the southern areas of Afghanistan, which include Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces. It borders what was historically the Pashtunistan region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and Persian regions to the west. Its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the Gulf of Oman.

Balochistan (/bəˈloʊtʃɪstɑːn, bəˌloʊtʃɪˈstɑːn, -stæn/ bə-LOHTCH-ist-a(h)n, -⁠A(H)N; Balochi: بلۏچستان, romanized: Balòcestàn, [baˈloːt͡ʃest̪ɑːn]), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.Balochistan is very significant because of its strategic location, mineral wealth, long coastline along the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and potential for discoveries of oil and gas.

The Balochistan region is split among three countries: Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Administratively it comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan; the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, along with southern Kerman province, southern South Khorasan province and eastern Hormozgan province; and the southern areas of Afghanistan, which include Nimruz, Helmand and Kandahar provinces. It borders what was historically the Pashtunistan region to the north, Sindh and Punjab to the east, and southeastern Iran to the west. Its southern coastline, including the Makran Coast, is washed by the Arabian Sea, in particular by its western part, the Gulf of Oman.

The Helmand culture (also Helmand civilization), c. 3300–2350 BCE, is a Bronze Age culture that flourished mainly in the middle and lower valley of the Helmand River, originally in eastern Iran (Zabol, other name: Sistan in Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and southern Afghanistan (Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz provinces) , predominantly in the third millennium BCE.

The people of the Helmand culture lived partly in cities with temples and palaces, providing evidence for a complex and advanced social structure. The main cities so far known are Shahr-i Sokhta (in Zabol, Iran) and Mundigak (in modern Afghanistan). Research on the finds from both places showed that these cities shared the same culture. These are the earliest discovered cities in this part of the world, although the village Mehrgarh further to the southeast is considerably older. It is possible that the Helmand culture once formed one ancient state.

Spin Boldak (Pashto: سپین بولدک) is a city in Kandahar Province of Afghanistan, serving as the capital of Spin Boldak District. Its current mayor is Lutfullah Latifi.

Spin Boldak sits along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It is linked by a highway with the city of Kandahar to the north, and with Chaman and Quetta in Pakistan to the south. The Wesh-Chaman border crossing is located in the southeast of the city.

The Sulaiman Mountains Range are a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system in western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. They rise to form the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau. They extend from the Kandahar, Zabul and Paktia provinces of Afghanistan across the northern Balochistan, Waziristan and Kurram of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. In southwestern Punjab, the mountains extend into the Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts, which are located west of the Indus River on the boundary with Balochistan. Bordering the mountains to the east are the plains of the Indus River valley, and to the north are the arid highlands of the Central Hindu Kush whose heights extend up to 3,383 m (11,099 ft). The total area on which this range spans around 6,475 km (2,500 sq mi). Together with the Kirthar Mountains on the border between Balochistan and Sindh Province, the Sulaiman Mountains form the Sulaiman-Kirthar geologic province.

The most well-known peak of the Sulaimans is the twin-peaked Takht-e-Sulaiman at 3,487 m (11,440 ft), located near Darazinda in Dera Ismail Khan Subdivision, close to the border with both South Waziristan and the Zhob District of neighboring Balochistan. The highest peak is Zarghun Ghar at 3,578 m (11,739 ft) near Quetta. The next highest peak in Balochistan province is Khilafat Hill at 3,475 m (11,401 ft) located in the Ziarat District of Pakistan and is famous for the Ziarat Juniper Forest, where Juniperus macropoda trees grow.

The Subah of Multan (Punjabi: ملتان دا صوبہ, romanized: Multān Dā Sūbāh; Persian: صوبه ملتان, romanized: Sūbāh-ey-Multān) was one of the three subahs (provinces) of the Mughal Empire in the Punjab region, alongside Lahore and Delhi subahs. It was also amongst the original twelve Mughal provinces, encompassing southern parts of Punjab, stretching towards parts of the regions of Pashtunistan and Balochistan, bordering Kandahar Province and the Persian Safavid Empire. It was one of the largest and most important provinces of the Mughal Empire. The province was annexed by Durrani Empire in 1752, with Ali Mohammad Khakwani as its first Durrani governor.

The Toba Kakar or Toba Kakari (Pashto: توبه کاکړۍ; Urdu: توبہ کاکڑ) are a southern offshoot of the Sulaiman Mountains in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, extending into the Kandahar and Zabul provinces of Afghanistan. The historical route through the mountains is known as the Bolan Pass. The mountains originally received media attention in August 1979; when evidence emerged that Pakistan may be using them as a potential workspace towards development of nuclear weapons. It was an occasional hideout for the Taliban during the Afghanistan conflict.

A western offshoot of the range in Killa Abdullah, Balochistan and Maruf District, Afghanistan is called the Toba Achakzai, where Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of Afghanistan, used to pass some of the hot weeks in summer during the last few years of his life.