1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Zamindawar

ZAMINDAWAR, a district of Afghanistan, situated on the right bank of the Helmund river to the N.W. of Kandahar, bordering the road which leads from Kandahar to Herat via Farah. Zamindawar is a district of hills, and of wide, well populated, and fertile valleys watered by important affluents of the Helmund. The principal town is Musa Kala, which stands on the banks of a river of the same name, about 60 m. N. of Girishk. The whole of this region is a well-known hotbed of fanaticism, the headquarters of the Achakzais, the most aggressive of all Durani tribes. It was from Zamindawar that much of the strength of the force which besieged Kandahar under Ayub Khan in 1880 was derived; and it was the Zamindawar contingent of tribesmen who so nearly defeated Sir Donald Stewart's force at Ahmad Khel previously. The control of Zamindawar may be regarded as the key to the position for safeguarding the route between Herat and Kandahar.