History of Afghanistan

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Afghanistan’s history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia. Over the centuries, waves of migrating peoples passed through the region described by historian Arnold Toynbee as a “roundabout of the ancient world”–leaving behind a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. The outline of the Afghanistan History In modern times, as well as in antiquity, will focus on vast armies of the world passing through Afghanistan, temporarily establishing local control.

History in Brief:

Once part of the Persian Empire , the area now know as Afghanistan was invaded and conquered by Alexander in the 3rd Century B.C it was later taken over by Mahmud of Ghazni (11th Century) Changis Khan (13th Century) Tamor-e-lang (14th Century) and Babur founder of the Mogul Empire 16th Century.

In 1747 the territory was claimed by Ahmad Shah Durani who established Afghanistan as a United Emirate. In the 1800s Britain and Russia sought to expand their influence in the area which eventually led to a series British-Afghan war , Britain’s first invasion in 1893 but a second more successful attempt in 1878 resulted in the installation of a British-backed ruler.
Afghanistan did not gain full independence until a third war against Britain in 1919 , After which Amanullah Khan proclaimed himself king.
His successors ruled until 1973 , when Muhammad Daud Khan overthrew the monarchy in a military coup.

In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded setting off a full-scale war that lasted until 1989. The long debilitating left Afghanistan’s infrastructure in shambles.

The Soviet installed leadership of President Najibullah finally crumble under rebel opposition (Mujahideen) in 1992. Various Muslim factious battled for control the most powerful of which was the Taliban the group that has controlled most of the country since 1996 up to 2001.

History in Details

50,000 BC – 20,000 BC Stone Age

Archaeologists have identified evidence of stone age technology in Aq Kupruk (balkh), and Hazar Sum.
Plant remains at the foothill of the Hindu Kush mountains indicate, that North Afghanistan was one of the earliest places to domestic plants and animals.

3000 BC – 2000 BC Bronze Age

It has been indicated the Bronze have been invented in ancient Afghanistan around this time.
Urbanization and trade grows, making it an important point between Mesopotamian and other civilizations to emerge as the present day’s “Crossroads of Asia”.
First true urban centers rise in two main sites in Afghanistan–Mundigak, and Deh Morasi Ghundai.
Mundigak (near modern day Kandahar)–had an economic base of wheat, barley, sheep and goats. Also, evidence indicates that Mudigak could have been a provincial capital of the Indus valley civilization.
Ancient Afghanistan–crossroads between Mesopotamia, and other Civilizations.

2000 BC – 1500 BC Aryan Tribes in Aryana Emperor Yama (Ancient Afghanistan)

The City of Kabul is thought to have been established during this time.
Rig Veda may have been created in Afghanistan around this time.
Evidence of early nomadic iron age in Aq Kapruk IV.

728 BC – 550 BC Medes Empire

Deioces, 728BC – 675BC
Phraortes (Kashtariti), 675BC – 653BC
Cyaxares, 625BC – 585BC
Astyages, 585BC – 550BC

628 BC – Zoroaster introduces a new religion in its capital Bactria (Balkh) in N. Afghanistan.—(Zoroastrianism–Monotheistic religion)

6 BC- 330 BC Achaemenids Empire

Teispes
Cyrus I
Cambyses I (Kambiz) 600 B.C
Cyrus the Great, Start of Achaemenid Empire, 559BC – 530BC
Kambiz II, 530BC – 522BC
Darius I the Great, 522BC – 486BC
Xerxes I(Khashyar), 486BC – 465BC
Artaxerxes I , 465BC – 425BC
Xerxes II, 425BC – 424BC (45 days)
Darius II, 423BC – 404BC
Artaxerxes II, 404BC – 359BC
Artaxerxes III, 359BC – 339BC
Arses, 338BC – 336BC
Darius III, 336BC – 330BC
Dariusthe Great expands the Achaemenid empire to its peak, when it takes most of Afghanistan., including Aria (Herat), Bactriana(Balk, and present-day Mazar-i-Shariff), Margiana (Merv), Gandhara (Kabul, Jalalabad and Peshawar), Sattagydia (Ghazni to the Indus river), Arachosia (Kandahar, and Quetta), and Drangiana (Sistan).
The Persianempire was plagued by constant bitter and bloody tribal revolts from Afghans living in Arachosia (Kandahar, and Quetta)

329 BC – 326 BC Hellenistic period

Alexander the Great conquering Persia, Afghanistan. 330BC – 323BC
Alexander conquers Afghanistan, but fails to really subdue its people, but unrest and bloody revolts become the regime’s hallmarks.
Philip III(Arrhidaeus), 323BC – 317BC
Alexander IV,317BC – 312BC

323 BC – After Alexander’s death the region at first was part of the Seleucid empire. In the north, Bactria became independent, and the south was acquired by the Maurya dynasty.

Bactria expanded southward but fell (mid-2d cent. B.C.) to the Parthians and rebellious tribes (notably the Saka).
Buddhismwas introduced from the east by the Yüechi, who founded the Kushan dynasty (early 2d cent. B.C.). Their capital was Peshawar.
The city, once called Purushapura, was the capital of the ancient Greco-Buddhist center of Gandhara.
The Kushans declined (3d cent. A.D.) and were supplanted by the Sassanids, the Ephthalites, and the Turkish Tu-Kuie.

312 BC – 260 BC Seleucids Empire

Seleucus I, 312BC – 281BC
Antiochus I Soter, 281BC – 261BC
Seleucus, 280BC – 267BC

256 BC – 130 BC – Graeco-Bactrian state established in northern Afghanistan Arsacids Empire and Parthian Empire

Arsaces, 238BC – 217BC (or 211BC?)
Artabanus(Ardawan) or Arsaces II, 211BC – 191BC
Priapatius I, 191BC – 176BC
Phraates I, 176BC – 171BC

Phil-Hellenistic period

Mithradates I, 171BC – 138BC
Phraates II, 138BC – 128BC
Artabanus I, 128BC – 123BC
Mithradates II(the Great), 123BC – 87BC
Gotarzes, 90BC – 80BC
Orodes I, 80BC – 77BC
Sanatruces, 77BC – 70BC
Phraates III, 70BC – 57BC
Mithradtes III, 57BC – 55BC
Orodes II, 57BC – 37BC
Phraates IV, 37BC – 2BC
Phraates V, 2BC – AD 4
Orodes III, AD 4 – AD 7
Vonones, AD 7 – AD 11

Anti-Hellenistic Period

Artabanus II, 12 – 38
Gotarzes II, 38 – 51
Vardanes I, 39 – 45
Vonones II, 51
Vologases I, 51 – 78
Vardanes II, 55 – 58
Vologases II, 77 – 80
Artabanus III, 80 – 81
Pacorus, 78 – 105

120 Kushan Empire, under King Kanishka

Graeco-Buddhist Gandharan culture reach its height.
Under the Kushan King, Kanishka, Buddha was first given a human face and the world’s largest Buddhas (175 feet and 120 feet tall) were carved into the cliff at Bamiyan. But many gods and goddesses from Greek, Persian, Central Asian and Hindu cultures were also worshipped.

225 – 650 Sassanians

Ardashir I, 224 – 241
Shapur I, 241 – 272
Hormizd I, 272 – 273
Bahram I, 273 – 276
Bahram II, 276 – 293
Bahram III, 293
Narses, 293 – 302
Hormizd II, 302 – 309
Shapur II, 309 – 379
Ardashir II, 379 – 383
Shapur III, 383 – 388
Bahram IV, 388 – 399
Yazdegerd I, 399 – 420
Bahram V Gur, 420 – 438
Yazdegerd II, 438 – 457
Hormizd III, 457 – 459
Piruz, 457 – 484
Balash, 484 – 488
Kavadh (Qobad) I, 488 – 496
Tamasb, 496 – 499
Kavadh I, 499 – 531
Khosrow I (Anushirvan), 531 – 579
Hormizd IV, 579 – 590
Khosrow IIParviz, 590
Bahram VI, 590 – 591
Khosrow II Parviz, 591 – 628
Bestam (in Media), 591 – 596
Kavadh (Qobad) II Shiruye (Siroes), 628 – 630
Ardashir III, 628 – 630
Shahrbaraz, 630
Purandokht, 629 – 631
Azarmedukht, 631 – 632
Hormizd V, 631 – 632
Khosrow III, 632 – 633
Yazdegird III, 632 – 651

400 Invasion of the White Huns. They destroy the Buddhist culture, and leave most of the country in ruins

425 – 550 Independent Yaftalee rule in Afghanistan .Yaftalee Dynasty -Established in northern Hindu Kush region of Takhar, this dynasty gains control over the majority of present day Afghanistan by 425.

530 Persians reassert control over all of what is now Afghanistan.

531 – 579 Khosrow I (Khosrow Anüshirvan), king of Persia

590 – 628 Khosrow II (Khosrow Parviz), king of Persia of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty

652 Arabs introduce Islam that was to influence the course of Afghanistan’s history

650 – 661 Arabs – Orthodox Caliphates

Uthman (Osman), 650 – 656
Ali, 656 – 661

661 – 750 Arabs – Umayyad Caliphate

Mu’awiya I, 661 – 680
Yazid I, 680 – 683
Mu’awiya II, 683 – 684
Marwan I, 684 – 685
Abd-al-Malik, 685 – 705
Al-Walid I, 705 – 715
Suleyman, 715 – 717
Umar II, 717 – 720
Yazid II, 720 – 724
Hisham, 724 – 743
Al-Walid II, 743 – 744
Yazid III, 744
Ibrahim, 744
Marwan II, 744 – 750

750 – 821 Arabs – Abbasid Caliphate

Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah, 750 – 754
Al-Mansur, 754 – 775
Al-Mahdi, 775 – 785
Al-Hadi, 785 – 786
Harun al-Rashid, 786 – 809
Al-Amin, 809 – 813
Al-Mamun, 813 – 833

860 – 960 Samanid (Turkestan)

Nasr I, 864 – 892
Ismail, 892 – 907
Ahmad, 907 – 914
Nasr II, 914 – 942
Nuh I, 942 – 954
Abd al-Malik I, 954 – 961
Mansur I, 961 – 976

962 – 1030 Ghaznavid Dynasty – (Khurasan)

Mahmud, 970 – 1030 The Islamic era begins with Mohammed Ghazni and Afghanistan becomes the centre of Islamic power and civilisation. Several short-lived Muslim dynasties were founded, the most powerful of them having its capital at Ghazna (see Ghazni). Mahmud of Ghazna, who conquered the lands from Khorasanin Iran to the Punjab in India early in the 11th cent., was the greatest of Afghanistan’s rulers
Masoud I, 1030 – 1040

1140 – 1215 Ghorid leaders from central Afghanistan capture and burn Ghazni, then move on to conquer India.
Ghurid Empire Shansabani Dynasty (Afghanistan)

Izz Al-Din Husayn I, 1117 – 1146
Sayf al_Din Suri, 1146 – 1149
Baha al-Din Sam I, 1149
Ala al-Din Husayn II, 1149 – 1161
Say al-Din Muhammad I, 1161 – 1163
Ghiyath al_Din Muhammad II, 1163 – 1203
Mu’izz al-Din Muhammad III, 1203 – 1206
Ghiyath al-Din Mahmud, 1206 – 1210
Baha al-Din Sam II, 1210
Ala al-Din Atsiz, 1210 – 1214
Ala al-Din Muhammad IV, 1215 – 1215

1219 – 1221 Mongol Invasion of Afghanistan by Genghis Khan Empire
Khans (Mongol)

Hülagü Khan, 1256 – 1265
Abagha, 1265 – 1282
Tegüder, 1282 – 1284
Arghun, 1284 – 1291
Gaykhatu, 1291 – 1295
Baydu, 1295
Mahmud Ghazan, 1295 – 1304
Uljaytü, 1304 – 1316
Abu Said, 1317 – 1335
Arpa, 1335 – 1336
Musa, 1336 – 1337
Muhammad, 1336 – 1338
Sati Beg, 1338 – 1339
Jahan Temür, 1339 – 1340
Sulayman, 1339 – 1343

1273 Marco Polo crosses Afghanistan on his voyage from Italy to China to discover the “Silk Route”. Revolts and battles between smaller kingdoms mark the next two centurie

1370 – 1404 Timurids and Turkmen Empire
Timurids

Timur, 1393 – 1405
Miranshah (Western Persia), 1405 – 1408
Khalil (Western Persia 1409 – 1411), 1405 – 1409
Shah Rokh Shah, 1409 – 1447
Ulugh Beg, 1447 – 1449
Soltan Abu Said, 1451 – 1469

1414 – 1421 The Sayyids

Khizr Khan (1414-1421)

1451 Lodi dynasty An Afghan by the named Buhlul Khan invades Delhi, and seizes the throne.

1451-1489: Buhlul Khan Lodi
1489-1517: Sikandar Lodi
1517-1526: Ibrahim

1504-1519 Moghul dynasty Babur shah, takes control of Kabul, Babar begins to take control of Afghanistan. Babur, a descendant of Timur , used Kabul as the base for his conquest of India and the establishment of the Mughal empire in the 16th cent.

1520-1579 Bayazid Roshan (Afghan intellectual) revolts against the power of the Moghul government. Roshan was killed in a battle with the Moghuls in 1579–but his struggle for independence continued.

1613-1689 Khushhal Khan Khattak (Afghan warrior-poet) initiates a national uprising against the foreign Moghul government.

1708 Mir Wais Neka (forerunner of Afghan independence) makes Kandahar independent of Safavid Persia that had ruled it since 1622. Mir Wais, considered by some to be the father of Afghan independence, takes over Kandahar. His son, Mir Mahmud, invades Persia and liberates Herat.

1715– Mir Wais dies peacefully, and lies in a mausoleum outside of Kandahar.
1722– Mir Wais’ son, Mir Mahmud, invades Persia and occupies Isfahan. At the same time, the Durranis revolt, and terminate the Persian occupation of Herat. The Durranis revolt to throw out Persians from Herat.
1725 (April 25)–Mir Mahmud is mysteriously killed after going mad. Afghans start to lose control of Persia.

1736 Persian King Nadir Shah occupies the south-west and later Kandahar; assassinated in 1747.

the Persian Nadir Shah extended his rule to N of the Hindu Kush. After his death (1747) his lieutenant, Ahmad Shah, an Afghan tribal leader, established a united state covering most of present-day Afghanistan. His dynasty, the Durrani, gave the Afghans the name (Durrani) that they themselves frequently use.
1747 Nadir Shah is assassinated, and the Afghans rise once again. Afghans, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali retake Kandahar, and establish modern Afghanistan.

1747 – 1773 Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali and (Ahmad Shah Baba) is the founder of today’s Afghanistan. Pir Sabir Shah, the spiritual guide of the time, showered his praise for the young Ahmad Shah by declaring him Dar-e-Durran (pearl of the pearls) not because that he was a military giant but for his humanity a definite quality of a statesman. The start of the Durrani’s Empire.
1773 – 1793 Timur Shah

Relocated the capital of Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul.

1793 – 1800 Zaman Shah

He began to remove prominent Muhammadzai leaders from positions of power and replacing them with men of his own lineage, the Sadozai. This upset the delicate balance of Durrani tribal politics that Ahmad Shah had established and may have prompted Painda Khan and other Durrani chiefs to plot against the shah. Painda Khan and the chiefs of the Nurzai and the Alizai Durrani clans were executed, as was the chief of the Qizilbash clan. Painda Khan’s son fled to Iran and pledged the substantial support of his Muhammadzai followers to a rival claimant to the throne, Zeman’s older brother, Mahmood Shah. The clans who’s chiefs Zeman had executed joined forces with the rebels, and they took Kandahar without bloodshed.

1800 – 1803 Shah Mahmood

King of Afghanistan (1800 – 03; second time 1810 – 26)

1803 – 1810 Shah Shujah

King of Afghanistan (1803 -10; second time 1839 – 42) whose alliance with the British led to his death.

1810 – 1826 Shah Mahmood and his brother Zaman Shah struggle for the throne.

1819-1826 Shaw Mahmood but the reign of the Sadozai line ended in 1818, and no predominant ruler emerged until Dost Muhammad became emir in 1826.

1826 – 1839 Dost Mohammad Khan takes Kabul, and establishes control. During his rule the status of Afghanistan became an international problem, as Britain and Russia contested for influence in central Asia. Aiming to control access to the northern approaches to India, the British tried to replace Dost Muhammad with a former emir, subordinate to them. This policy caused the first Afghan War (1838–42) between the British and the Afghans. Dost Muhammad was at first deposed but, after an Afghan revolt in Kabul, was restored. In 1857, Dost Muhammad signed an alliance with the British. He died in 1863 and was succeeded, after family fighting, by his third son, Sher Ali.

King of Afghanistan (1826 – 39; second time 1843 – 63)
1832–1833 Persia moves into Khurasan (province), and threatens Herat. Afghans defend Herat successfully.

1834– (May) Afghans lose Peshawar to the Sikhs; later they crushed the Sikhs under the leadership of Akbar Khan who defeated the Sikhs near Jamrud, and killed the great Sikh general Hari Singh. However, they failed to retake Peshawar due to disunity and bad judgment on the part of Dost Mohammad Khan.

1836 Dost Mohammad Khan is proclaimed as Amir al-mu’ minin (commander of the faithful). He was well on the road toward reunifying the whole of Afghanistan when the British, in collaboration with an ex-king (Shah Shuja), invade Afghanistan to curtail the growing Russian and Persian influence.

1839 – 1842 Shah Shuja is installed as a “puppet king” by the British .

First Anglo-Afghan War
- After some resistance, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan surrenders to the British and is deported to India. (1839-1842)
- April 1842–Shah Shuja killed by Afghans.

1842-1844 Akbar Khan (Afghan hero) is victorious against the British. The ferocity was such that the 16,500- B British garrison with 12,000 support staff and dependents were wiped out. Only one survived, of mixed British-Indian garrison, reaches the fort in Jalalabad, on a stumbling pony.
Mohammad Akbar Khan was a major player in the defeat of the British army in the first Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842). He outsmarted and killed Sir William MacNaughten, a top British official who highly advocated the invasion and subjugation of Afghanistan by the British army. Mohammad Akbar was very ambitous and wanted to regain all the land that was lost by the Afghans, and rebuild another great empire, similar to Ahmad Shah Abdali’s. However, his father, Dost Mohammad Khan, who wanted to work with the British, feared his son’s rise to power. Many believed that Amir Dost Mohammad poisoned his own son at the age of 29. Mohammad Akbar Khan is highly revered by Afghans today, and is seen as a major historical hero. A residential area of Kabul is named after him.

1843 – 1863 Dost Mohammad Khan comes back and occupies the royal throne. After the annihilation of British troops, Afghanistan once again becomes independent.

1859– British take Baluchistan , and Afghanistan becomes completely landlocked.

1863 – 1866 Sher Ali Dost Mohammad Khan’s son , succeeds to the throne.

King of Afghanistan (1863 – 66; second time 1868 – 79)

(1865)–Russia takes Bukhara, Tashkent, and Samerkand.

1866 – 1867 Mohamad Afzal

Mohammad Afzal occupies Kabul and proclaims himself Amir.
October, 1867–Mohammad Afzal dies.

1867 – 1868 Mohammad Azam

Mohammad Azam succeeds to the throne
1868–Mohammad Azam flees to Persia

1868 – 1879 Sher Ali reasserts control

1873 Russia establishes a fixed boundary with Afghanistan and promises to respect its territorial integrity.

1878-British launch their second war. For the second time, the Afghans’ spirited resistance forces them to withdraw. Sher Ali dies. Mohammad Yaqub Khan takes over but concedes to the British such key territories as Khyber and Pischin. The Afghans will never get back these regions.

1879 – Amir Muhammad Yaqub Khan takes over until October 1879.

Amir Muhammad Yaqub Khan gives up the following Afghan territories to the British: Kurram, Khyber, Michni, Pishin, and Sibi. Afghans lose these territories permanently.
Kabul occupied by British forces

1880 – 1901 Abdur Rahman takes throne of Afghanistan. He was, however, recognized by the British as emir in 1880, and he supported British interests against Russia..

Battle of Maiwand

July 1880, Afghan woman named Malalai carries the Afghan flag forward after the soldiers carrying the flag were killed by the British. She becomes a hero for her show of courage and valour.

1907- 1919 Habibullah Khan’s regime.Russia and Great Britain sign the convention of St. Petersburg, Agreement reached between British and Russian governments over the territorial integrity of Afghanistan

1919 – 1929 Amanullah Khan (The reform King)

1921–Third Anglo-Afghan war.

1929 – 1930 Habibullah Kalakani (Bachae Saqaw)

1930 – 1933 Nadir Khan takes the throne; his tribal army loots government buildings and houses of wealthy citizens because the treasury was empty. Habibullah Kalakani, along with his supporters, and a few supporters of Amanullah Khan are killed by Nadir Khan. Now Nadir Khan establishes full control.

1933– Nadir Khan was assassinated by a High School student whos father served Amanullah Khan and was killed by Nadir Khan.
Zahir Shaw, at the age of 19 inherits the throne, even though he did not want to take the throne. He rules until 1973. Zahir Shah’s uncles serve as prime ministers and advisors until 1953.
Mahmud Tarzi dies in Turkey at the age of 68 with a heart full of sorrow and despair toward his country.

1940 – 1973 Zahir Shah proclaims Afghanistan as neutral during WW2

1949– Afghanistan’s Parliament denounces the Durand Treaty and refuses to recognize the Durand lineas a legal boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pashtuns in Pashtunistan (Occupied Afghan Land) proclaim an independent Pashtunistan, but their proclamation goes unacknowledged by the world community.

1973– July 17th: Zahir Shah is in Europe, when his government is overthrown in a military coup headed by Daoud Khan his cousin.

1973 – 1978 Daoud Khan abolishes the monarchy, declares himself President. The Republic of Afghanistan is established.

1978– Bloody Communist coup: Daoud is killed

1978 – 1979 Taraki is named President,

June–Afghan guerrilla (Mujahideen) movement is born.
1979–Taraki is killed

1979 – Hafizullah Amin takes the Presidency.

Mass killings of Afghans
US ambassador killed
1979 –Amin is executed

1979 – 1986 Babrak Karmal replaceing Amin

1979 Soviet Union (Russia) invade in December.
Babrak Karmal is replaced by Dr. Najibullah.

1986 – 1992 Dr. Najibullah replaceing Karmal

1987– Najibullah proposes ceasefire, but the Mujahideen refuse to deal with a “puppet government”.

1988–1989 Peace accords signed in Geneva . Soviet Union defeated by Afghanistan, total withdrawal by the Soviets occurred on Feb. 15, 1989.

1992 April 15 The Mujahideen take Kabul and liberate Afghanistan, Najibullah is protected by UN.

The Mujahideen form an Islamic State–Islamic Jihad Council–elections.
Professor Burhannudin Rabbani takes power.
Through 1993, Hekmatyar’s Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi’a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Masood’s Jamiat forces. Dostam switched sides, precipitating largescale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces.
1994-The Talibanmilitia are born, and advance rapidly against the Islamic government. Dostum and Hekmatyar continued to clash against Rabbani and Masood’s government, and as a result Kabul is reduced to rubble.

1996 – 2001 Mullah Omar Taliban militia force President Rabbani and his government out of Kabul. After the capture of Kabul, the Taliban executed Najibullah.

2001 – Dec. 5 Hamid Karzai interim Afghan government