Pashto Times

 Citadel of Herat Or Qala Ikhtyaruddin, Herat, Afghanistan, 1933 (c). Herat, in the fertile valley of Hari-Rud, was settled as early as the sixth century B.C.E. A mound located to the north of the Old City, known as Kuhandazh (or Kohandez) may have been the site of the fort that Alexander the Great built in 330 B.C.E. following his conquest of the Achaemenid city known as Artacoana or Aria. Herat was ruled by the Seleucids, Parthians, Kushans, Sasanians, Hephthalites, Umayyads, Taherids, Saffarids and Samanids until the tenth century, by which time the square fortified city was already established.  Located half a kilometer to the south of Kuhandaz and aligned with the cardinal axes, the walled city described by early Arab geographers had four gates leading into crossing commercial avenues and a square citadel (qal'a) adjoining the northern city wall. This citadel, which has been suggested as another possible site for Alexander's fort, is known today as the Citadel of Herat or