{{Short description|River in Afghanistan}} {{Infobox river | name = Arghandab River | name_native = {{native name|ps-Latn|Arghandaw rod}} | name_native_lang = | name_other = | etymology = | image = Aerial photograph of Kandahar Province in 2011.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = | image_alt = | map = | map_size = | map_caption = | map_alt = | pushpin_map = Afghanistan | pushpin_map_caption = Mouth of the Arghandar River in Afghanistan | pushpin_map_alt = Mouth of the Arghandar River in Afghanistan | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 6 | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Afghanistan | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = Cities | subdivision_name3 = Kandahar<br>Lashkargah <!---------------------- BASIN --> | source1_location = North of Sang-e-Masha{{sfn|Adamec, Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5|1980|p=39}} | source1_coordinates= {{coord|33.436630|N|67.516588|E}} | source1_elevation = | mouth_location = Lashkargah{{sfn|Adamec, Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5|1980|p=39}} | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|31.432381|N|64.383568|E}} | mouth_elevation = | altitude_difference= | progression = | basin_size = | basin_landmarks = | basin_population = <!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS --> | length = {{Convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = <!---------------------- FEATURES --> | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = | waterbodies = | waterfalls = | bridges = | ports = | custom_label = | custom_data = | extra = }}

The '''Arghandab''' is a river in Afghanistan, about {{convert|400|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}} in length. It rises in Ghazni Province, west of the city of Ghazni, and flows southwest, passing near the city of Kandahar, before joining the Helmand River {{convert|30|km|mi|abbr=on}} below the town of Grishk. In its lower course, it is much used for irrigation, under the control of the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority, and the valley is cultivated and populous; yet the water is said to be somewhat brackish. It is doubtful whether the ancient Arachotus is to be identified with the Arghandab or its chief confluent the Tarnak, which joins it on the left {{convert|50|km|mi|abbr=on}} southwest of Kandahar.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Arghandab|volume=2|page=475}}</ref> The Tarnak, which flows south of Kandahar, is much shorter (length about 320&nbsp;km or 200 miles) and less copious.

== Historical background == thumb|right|Arachosia in 500 BC

The river was known to the ancient Persians as the ''Haraxvaiti'' in Avestan and ''Harahuvati'' in Old Persian, which are cognate with Rigvedic ''Sarasvati'' (as described in its "family books"). Scholars such as Boyce and Parpola have identified Greek ''Arachosia'' as a Hellenization of the name, meaning the land of the ''Haraxvaiti''.{{sfn|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Ch.&nbsp;6, p.&nbsp;97}}<ref>{{cite book|last1 = Boyce| first1 = Mary| author-link1 = Mary Boyce| last2 = Grenet|first2 = Frantz| title = A history of Zoroastrianism. Vol. III, Zoroastrianism under Macedonian and Roman rule| year = 1991| publisher = Brill| place = Leiden| isbn = 9004092714|page = 125}}</ref> Rigveda's hymn VI.61.2 describes it with the words: {{quote|By means of her gushing and powerful waves, this (Sarasvatī) has crushed the ridge of the mountains, (breaking river banks) like a man who digs for lotus roots; with praises and prayers, we solicit Sarasvatī for her help, (Sarasvatī) who slays the foreigners.{{sfn|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Chapter 6}}}} Historian Asko Parpola states: "Arghandab [...] descends from a height of nearly four kilometers down to about 700 meters when it joins the Helmand River, which eventually forms shallow lakes." ''Sarasvatī-'' is interpreted to mean "full of lakes".{{sfn|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015|loc=Chapter 6}}

Some historians, however, assert that the Avestan ''Haraxvaiti'' as well as the Rigvedic ''Sarasvati'' refer to the Helmand River. The Rigvedic name of Arghandab is then believed to be Drishadvati.{{efn| * Ram Sharan Sharma: "In the Ṛg Veda, the Sarasvati is called the best of the rivers (''naditama''). It seems to have been a great river with perennial water... The earliest Sarasvati is considered identical with the Helmand in Afghanistan which is called Harakhwati in the Avesta. But the archaeology of the Helmand valley in the second millennium BC needs adequate attention."<ref> {{citation |last=Sharma |first=Ram Sharan |author-link=Ram Sharan Sharma |title=Advent of the Aryans in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSAwAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA35 |year=1999 |publisher=Manohar Publishers & Distributors |isbn=978-81-7304-263-8 |pages=35–36}} </ref> * Rajesh Kocchar: "The Avestan Harahvaiti, phonetically the same as Sarasvati, was known to the Greeks as Etymander and is now called Arghandab. The ''naditama'' Sarasvati, however, is to be equated not with the Arghandab but with the Helmand, of which the Arghandab is the main tributary. ... There is an uncanny similarity between the Rgvedic description of Sarasvati and Avestan description of the Helmand."<ref> {{citation |last=Kochhar |first=Rajesh |chapter=On the identity and chronology of the Ṛgvedic river Sarasvatī |title=Archaeology and Language III; Artefacts, languages and texts |editor1=Roger Blench |editor2=Matthew Spriggs |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=0-415-10054-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8jfBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA262 |pages=262–263}} </ref> }}

The ruins at Ulan Robat, supposed to represent the city of Arachosia, are in its basin; and the lake known as Ab-i Istada, the most probable representative of Lake Arachotus, is near the head of the Tarnak, though not communicating with it. The Tarnak is dammed for irrigation at intervals, and almost dries up in the summer.<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Upper course == thumb|right|Helmand–Arghandab basin terrain map {{expand section|date=April 2018}}

The upper course of the Arghandab river is relatively unexplored. The ''Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan'' cites the explorations of Major G. Lynch in 1841,{{efn|Possibly the British political agent Kalat-i-Ghilzai.<ref>{{citation |last=Buist |first=George |title=Outline of the Operations of the British Troops in Scinde and Afghanistan: Betwixt Nov. 1838 and Nov. 1841; with Remarks on the Policy of the War |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MVFAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA272 |year=1843 |publisher=Times Office |pages=272–}}</ref><ref>J. W. Fortescue, [https://archive.org/stream/AHistoryOfTheBritishArmy-VolumeXii/AHistoryOfTheBritishArmy-VolumeXii_djvu.txt History of the British Army, Volume XII: 1839–1852], Macmillan and Co, 1927</ref>}} according to whom the origin of the Arghandab is 20 to 30 miles north of Sang-e-Masha. This places the source in the mountains southwest of the Nawar basin. Lynch also described the upper course of the river as being a "mountain torrent, dashing over great granite rocks and about 3 feet deep where fordable".{{sfn|Adamec, Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5|1980|p=39}}

== Lower course == thumb|right|Helmand–Arghandab basin There is a good deal of cultivation along the river, but few villages. The Kabul-Kandahar Highway passes this way (another reason for supposing the Tarnak to be Arachotus), and the people live off the road to avoid the onerous duties of hospitality.<ref name="EB1911"/>

== Dahla dam == In 2008 a project was initiated to rehabilitate the Dahla Dam and associated irrigation system.<ref name=Aisa> {{cite news |url=http://www.aisa.org.af/Downloads/ProvincialProfiles/Kandahar.pdf |title=Provincial profile for Kandahar Province |publisher=Regional Rural Economic Regeneration Strategies |access-date=2008-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828075512/http://www.aisa.org.af/Downloads/ProvincialProfiles/Kandahar.pdf |archive-date=2008-08-28 }} </ref><ref> {{cite news | url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080717.wafghan-dam18/BNStory/Afghanistan | title=Dahla dam project is potential target: military | work=The Globe and Mail | author=Stephen Chase | date=2008-07-17 | access-date=2008-10-07 }} </ref><ref name=Canwest2008-06-11> {{cite news | url=http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=ba33ef21-b19c-4d60-8d45-6a69d0728843 | title=Cdn. military to safeguard Afghan dam project | publisher=Canwest News Service | author=Doug Schmidt | author-link=Doug Schmidt | date=2008-06-11 | access-date=2008-10-07 }} </ref><ref> {{cite news | url=http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/projects-projets/dam-barrage.aspx | title=Signature Project: Dahla Dam and Irrigation System | publisher=Government of Canada | access-date=2008-10-07 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101233324/http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/ | archive-date=2013-01-01 | url-status=dead }} </ref><ref> {{cite news |url=http://webcast.international.gc.ca/cpc/PCRA/podcasts/dahla/Dahla_Final_EN.mov |title=Dahla Dam -- Summer 2008 (video podcast) |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=2008-10-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192448/http://webcast.international.gc.ca/cpc/PCRA/podcasts/dahla/Dahla_Final_EN.mov |archive-date=2011-07-06 }} </ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/multimedia/trans_2008_09_09b.aspx | title=Dahla Dam -- Summer 2008 | publisher=Government of Canada | access-date=2008-10-07 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==See also== * List of rivers of Afghanistan

== Notes == {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{citation |editor-last=Adamec |editor-first=Ludwig W. |title=Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5 |publisher=Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt |isbn=978-3-201-01125-9 |year=1980 |url=http://afghandata.org:8080/jspui/bitstream/azu/7394/1/azu_afghan_ds351_a19_1972_v5_w.pdf |ref={{sfnref|Adamec, Historical and Political Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Vol. 5|1980}}}} * {{citation |first=Asko |last=Parpola |author-link=Asko Parpola |title=The Roots of Hinduism: The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization |publisher=Oxford University Press Incorporated |year=2015 |isbn=978-0190226923 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_eykCQAAQBAJ |ref={{sfnref|Parpola, The Roots of Hinduism|2015}}}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Arghandab River}}

* [https://www.unomaha.edu/international-studies-and-programs/center-for-afghanistan-studies/academics/transboundary-water-research/DLM3/DLM3.php Distance Learning Module 3 - Rivers of the Hindu Kush, Pamir, and Hindu Raj], the University of Nebraska, Center for Afghanistan Studies, Retrieved 15 April 2018.

{{Ghazni Province}} {{Kandahar Province}}

{{Authority control}} {{Coord|31|50|58|N|65|53|18|E|source:frwiki_region:AF|display=title}}

Category:Rivers of Afghanistan Category:Helmand River drainage basin Category:Helmand River Category:Landforms of Helmand Province Category:Landforms of Kandahar Province Category:Landforms of Ghazni Province