Farah, Afghanistan

Farah is a city in western Afghanistan and the capital of Farah Province, lying within Farah District on the Farah River about 125 kilometres from the border with Iran. The source gives an estimated population of 141,091 people and a land area of 29 square kilometres, at roughly 650 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the largest cities in the west of the country. The city has bazaars, parks, banks, hotels, mosques, hospitals and Farah University in its southeast, with Farah Airport just north of the university; the tomb and mausoleum of Muhammad Jaunpuri also stands here. Its citadel is thought to be one of the fortresses linked to Alexander the Great on the route between Alexandria Arachosia (modern Kandahar) and Herat, and in later centuries the place passed through Parthian, Sassanid, Ghaznavid, Ghurid, Timurid, Safavid, Hotaki and Durrani hands before Dost Mohammad Khan re-captured it from the ruler of Herat in 1862.