29 more historic objects found in Kandahar

KANDAHAR CITY (Pajhwok): Twenty-nine historic objects have been found during an exploration process at Naraj Palace in southern Kandahar province by the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC).

Naraj Palace has a history spanning over 2,300 years and is being explored for finding historical objects by MoIC.

Hekmatullah Afghan, head of information and culture department of Kandahar, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the exploration process in Naraj Palace was ongoing for the last one year.

He said 53 objects were found in the palace last year while 29 objects were found this year.

He said needed measures were in place for protection of the palace against any threats and vulnerabilities.

However, Afghan said some parts of the palace had been destroyed as result of wars and illegal extractions in the past.

Eng. Faridon, in charge of the archeology section at MoIC who also leads exploration of the palace, said that exploration of historical sites required years.

He said different types of dishes, rocks and other historical objects have so far found in Naranj Palace and most of the relics belonged to the era of Hotaki dynasty.

Exploration of the palace was started 55 years ago for the first time but the process had to be suspended due to conflicts and violence in the country.

However, the exploration of the palace has been started again by MoIC and the process would take about three years to complete.

Naraj Palace is built 2,340 years ago during the Empire of Alexander the Great and is located in old Kandahar city.

According to history, Alexander the Great built 12 such palaces in this region but only Naraj Palace remains intact while the others had vanished.

Naraj Palace is also mostly damaged and only a hill of the palace could be seen as its sign.

There are still historical objects buried under the palace and some of them have been trafficked to foreign countries during the war.

mds/ma