Effort is not effort without zaman, makan, ikhwan - right time, right place, right people. - Jalaludin Rumi

The Citadel or 'Ark' of Herat
	The original fortifications were built by none other than Alexander,  ca 300BC. I haven't yet learned the age of the present ruins.

 

	(what we now call) Afghanistan under Achaemenid rule, ca. 550-331 B.C.
	The area that is present-day Afghanistan comprised several satrapies (provinces) of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia when it was at its most extensive, under Darius the Great (ca. 500 BCE). Bactriana, with its capital at Bactria (which later became Balkh, and more recently Mazar-i-Sharif), was reputedly the home of Zoroaster, who founded the religion that bears his name (ca. 500 BCE).
	By the fourth century B.C., Achaemenid control of outlying areas and the internal cohesion of the empire had become tenuous. Although outlying areas like Bactriana had always been restless under Achaemenid rule, Bactrian troops nevertheless fought on the Iranian side in the decisive Battle of Gaugamela (330 B.C.). They were defeated by Alexander the Great.
	- from Country Study & Country Guide for Afghanistan

    Posted 2 Dec 2001. Last updated 29 Dec 2002.

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