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Afghanistan is a mountainous landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. [1] [2] Some of the invaders in the history of Afghanistan include the Maurya Empire, the ancient Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, the Rashidun Caliphate, the Mongol Empire led by Genghis Khan, the Timurid Empire of Timur, the Mughal Empire, various Persian Empires, the Sikh Empire, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and most recently the United States with a number of allies in response to the September 11 attacks. A reduced number of NATO troops remained in the country in support of the government. Just prior to the American withdrawal in 2021, the Taliban regained control of the capital Kabul and most of the country. They changed Afghanistan's official name to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
From a geopolitical perspective, controlling Afghanistan is vital in acquiring a passage through Central Asia or controlling the rest of South Asia, reflecting its geographic position in the region. Afghanistan played an important part in the Great Game power struggles. Historically, the conquest of Afghanistan has also played an important role in the invasion of India from the west through the Khyber Pass.
While relatively little detail is known, parts of the region of modern day Afghanistan came under rule of the Medians for a short time.
Afghanistan fell to the Achaemenid Empire after it was conquered by Darius I of Persia. The area was divided into several provinces called satrapies, which were each ruled by a governor, or satrap. These ancient satrapies included: Aria (Herat); Arachosia (Kandahar, Lashkar Gah, Bamiyan and Quetta); Bactriana (Balkh); and Gandhara (Kabul and Peshawar).
Alexander the Great invaded what is today Afghanistan in 330 BC as part of war against Persia. Comprising the easternmost satrapies of Persia, Afghanistan provided some challenging battles in his conquest of the remaining lands of Persia. Renamed Bactria, and settled with his Ionian veterans, Alexander began his invasion of India from what is now Jalalabad, attacking the Indus River basin through the Khyber Pass. Several cities in Afghanistan are named for Alexander, including Alexandria Arachosia, now called Kandahar (a contraction of Iskandahar). Following the death of Alexander and the partition of his kingdom, the Province of Bactria was under the rule of Alexander's former general, Seleucus, who now formed the Seleucid dynasty, with its capital in Babylon. Seleucus was defeated by Mauryan king Chandragupta Maurya who annexed modern-day Kandhara and other parts of lower Afghanistan into his empire. Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta would patronize Buddhism all over the empire which would lead be the dominant religion in the region until the Islamic conquest of the region. The Greek soldiers in Bactria, based on the remoteness of their territory, declared independence, defeated Seleucid armies sent to reconquer them, and founded the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, which lasted for more than three centuries in Afghanistan. This Greek kingdom called Bactria carried on Greek culture while completely cut off from Europe for three centuries. One of the cities, Ai-Khanoum was excavated in 1970s, showing a complete Greek city with an acropolis, amphitheater, temples, and numerous statues. Greek art has been found in Bactria showing influence from Indian Buddhist art creating something of an hybrid artistic style. Bactrian King Menander I converted to Buddhism after staging multiple theological and philosophical debates between his Greek priests and Indian Buddhist monks. Menander I is remembered in Buddhist Sutras as "King Milinda of the Yunani". The Ionian origin of the Greek veterans who settled Bactria is remembered to this day by the Afghan word for Greeks, which is "Ionani". Bactrian Greeks left a legacy of coinage, architecture, and Buddhist art, which comprised the Gandhara culture, especially the Greco-Buddhist art affecting all of East Asia to this day. The last Greek kingdom in Afghanistan was conquered by the Kushan invaders in the first century AD, a full three centuries after Alexander. However, the Greek language continued to be used by the Kushans in their coinage for the next several centuries.
In the seventh to ninth centuries, following the disintegration of the Sasanian and Roman Empires, leaders in the world theater for the last four centuries and arch-rivals, the area was again invaded from the west, this time by Umar, second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, in the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan, eventually resulting in the willing conversion of most of its inhabitants to Islam. This occurred over many centuries by Afghans willingly converting or by Afghan leaders who pressured certain populations in the land to convert such as Abdul Rahman Khan forcing the Nuristanis to convert to Islam. This was one of many Muslim conquests following the establishment of a unified state in the Arabian Peninsula by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. At its height, Muslim control - during the period of the Umayyad Caliphate - extended from the borders of China to the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal), the Middle East, North Africa, parts of Southern Europe, parts of Southeast Europe, parts of Central Asia, and parts of South Asia.
In the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire (1219–1221), Genghis Khan invaded the region from the northeast in one of his many conquests to create the huge Mongol Empire. His armies slaughtered thousands in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, etc. After Genghis Khan returned to Mongolia, there was a rebellion in the region of Helmand which was brutally put down by his son and successor, Ogedei Khan, who killed all male residents of Ghazni and Helmand in 1222; the women were enslaved and sold. Thereafter, most parts of Afghanistan other than the extreme southeast remained under Mongol rule as part of the Ilkhanate and the Turko-Mongol Chagatai Khanate.
The Hazaras claim to be descendants of the Mongol (Turko-Mongol) and Turkic invaders mixed with the local indigenous Turkic and Iranic populations, though this is disputed because the first mention of Hazara people is made by Babur in the 16th century. [3] Additionally, many areas of Afghanistan are named after Mongol and Turkic leaders, including Band-e-Timur (meaning "Timur's block") in Maywand District in Kandahar Province, the only district never taken from the Taliban throughout the western invasion of the 21st century, Jaghatu District in Ghazni Province, and Jaghatu District in Maidan Wardak province (named in honor of the Turko-Mongol Chagatai Khanate) and the village of Wech Baghtu in Shah Wali Kot District in Kandahar province, named after Batu. [4]
From 1383 to 1385, the Afghanistan area was conquered from the north by Timur, leader of neighboring Transoxiana (roughly modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and adjacent areas), and became a part of the Timurid Empire. Timur was from a Turko-Mongol tribe and although a Muslim, saw himself more as an heir of Genghis Khan. Timur's armies caused great devastation and are estimated to have caused the deaths of 17 million people. He brought great destruction on Afghanistan's south, slaughtering thousands and enslaving an equal number of women. Allied with the Uzbeks, Hazaras, and other Turkic communities in the north his dominance over Afghanistan was long-lasting, allowing him for his future successful conquests in Central Anatolia against the Ottomans. [4]
In the next period,[ clarification needed ] no part of Afghanistan ever came under rule of various Delhi Sultanate. After the slow disintegration of the Timurid Empire in 1506, the Mughal Empire was later established in Afghanistan,[ non sequitur ] Pakistan, and India by Babur in 1526, who was a descendant of Timur through his father and possibly a descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother. By the 17th century, the Mughal Empire ruled most of India, but later declined during the 18th century.
In the beginning of 1837, the Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Sikhs under Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the Afghans under Emir Dost Muhammad Khan. Since the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh had tried a wave of invasions on Afghanistan. The Afghans had been losing their long held territories to Sikhs over the preceding years due to internal conflicts, and had seen their once mighty empire disintegrating.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh availed himself of anarchy in Kabul and attempted to invade Peshawar, the South-West-Eastern frontiers of Peshawar with Punjab which were governed by Sultan Mohammad Khan. The Sikhs under General Hari Singh Nalwa annexed the region after successfully routing the Afghans during the Battle of Peshawar (1834). The Maharajah appointed Jahan Dad Khan, ex-governor of Attock as the new governor of Peshawar in November 1838. Nalwa was killed at the Battle of Jamrud, From there the Sikhs in alliance with the British in 1839 invaded the Khyber and ruling it till 1849, and left a small garrison of 5,000 Sikhs in the city of Jalalabad, as well as this in 1842 a force of Sikhs sacked Kabul and looted the treasury of Dost Mohamad Khan. [5]
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Afghanistan was invaded three times from British India.
The First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–1842 was conducted with the intention of limiting Russian influence in the country and quelling raiding from across the border. Within four years the British were expelled. After the Indian Mutiny, the British launched a second invasion, the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878–1880, for much the same reasons but did not attempt to maintain a permanent presence. A third conflict broke out in 1919. It lasted for three months, from May to August, and ended in a compromise that saw Afghanistan reassert its independence and control over its relations with other countries while agreeing to a border with British India known as the Durand Line. This line is still the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan today.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1929 against the Saqqawists and again in 1930 to fight the Basmachi movement.
The Soviet Union, along with other countries, was a direct supporter of the new Afghan government after the Saur Revolution in April 1978. However, Soviet-style reforms introduced by the government such as changes in marriage customs and land reform were not received well by a population deeply immersed in tradition and Islam. [6] The oppressive nature of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, which executed political prisoners and purged the government of any opposition, was also seen unfavorably by the Afghan population. By 1979, fighting between the Afghan government and various other factions within the country, some of which were supported by the United States and other countries, led to a virtual civil war. In a phone call to the Kremlin in March 1979, Afghan Prime Minister Nur Muhammad Taraki requested military assistance. This was refused by Soviet prime minister Alexei Kosygin on behalf of the Politburo. [7]
After Taraki was murdered the new Afghan Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin repeated requests for Soviet military support, at least to protect his residence. Finally, in December, the Politburo decided to deal with the situation in Afghanistan, [8] and in early December sent special forces which attacked Amin's palace and killed him, putting the exiled Babrak Kamal in his place. These forces were subsequently reinforced by the 40th Army which entered Afghanistan on 24 December 1979. As the Kremlin foresaw, this intervention would cause problems around the world for the USSR, with the policy of détente and, not least, at the forthcoming Olympic Games due to take place in summer 1980 in Moscow. [9] The result was a far-reaching boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, supported not only by the United States but by many of the 65 other invited countries that did not take part.
At its greatest extent the Soviet military contingent in Afghanistan numbered 100,000 personnel. This presence remained for a decade and kick-started US and Saudi funding for Islamic mujahideen groups opposed to both the Afghan government and the Soviet military presence. The local mujahideen, along with fighters from several different Arab nations (Pathan tribes from across the border also participated in the war; they were supported by the Pakistani ISI), fought the Soviet forces to a standstill. On 24 January 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev's Politburo took the decision to withdraw most of the Soviet forces, [10] while continuing to provide military assistance to the Afghan government. [11] Eventually, in-fighting within the Mujahideen led to the rise of warlords in Afghanistan, and from them emerged the Taliban. [12] The Soviets left behind the only highway in the country as well as many concrete structures built in the major cities, and airfields that are still in use (e.g. at Bagram).
On 7 October 2001 the United States began an invasion of Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. The invasion was launched to capture Osama bin Laden, who was the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, and was being sheltered by the Taliban. The US military forces did not capture him, though they toppled the Taliban government and disrupted bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. On 2 May 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed by US forces in Pakistan. The Taliban leadership persisted by hiding throughout Afghanistan, largely in the southeast, and launched guerrilla attacks against forces of the United States, its allies, and the government of President Ashraf Ghani.
In 2006, the US forces turned over security of the country to NATO-deployed forces in the region, integrating 12,000 of their 20,000 soldiers with NATO's 20,000. The remainder of the US forces continued to search for Al-Qaeda militants. The Canadian military assumed leadership and almost immediately began an offensive against areas where the Taliban guerrillas had encroached. At the cost of a few dozen of their own soldiers, the British, American, and Canadian forces managed to kill over 1,000 alleged Taliban insurgents and sent thousands more into retreat. Many of the surviving insurgents, however, began to regroup and soon after began to engage both NATO and Afghan National Army forces, starting a protracted war that lasted until 2021, with the withdrawal of Western forces and the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. According to the World Population review, as of 2023, Afghanistan's population is 43 million. The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020.
The Durrani Empire, or the Afghan Empire, also known as the Sadozai Kingdom, was an Afghan empire founded by the Durrani tribe of Pashtuns under Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747, which spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. At its peak, it ruled over present-day Afghanistan, much of Pakistan, parts of northeastern and southeastern Iran, eastern Turkmenistan, and northwestern India. Next to the Ottoman Empire, the Durrani Empire is considered to be among the most significant Islamic empires of the second half of the 18th century.
The history of Afghanistan, preceding the establishment of the Emirate of Afghanistan in 1823 is shared with that of neighbouring Iran, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The Sadozai monarchy ruled the Afghan Durrani Empire( one of the strongest one in the world), considered the founding state of modern Afghanistan.
Herāt is an oasis city and the third-largest city in Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains in the fertile valley of the Hari River in the western part of the country. An ancient civilization on the Silk Road between West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia, it serves as a regional hub in the country's west.
Kabul is the capital city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into 22 municipal districts. In 2023 its population was estimated to be 4.95 million people. In contemporary times, Kabul has served as Afghanistan's political, cultural and economical center. Rapid urbanisation has made it the country's primate city and the 75th-largest city in the world.
Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of 1,010 m (3,310 ft). It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the capital of Kandahar Province and the centre of the larger cultural region called Loy Kandahar.
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Soviet-controlled Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) from 1979 to 1989. The war was a major conflict of the Cold War as it saw extensive fighting between Soviet Union, the DRA and allied paramilitary groups against the Afghan mujahideen and their allied foreign fighters. While the mujahideen were backed by various countries and organizations, the majority of their support came from Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The involvement of the foreign powers made the war a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Combat took place throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The war resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. Approximately 6.5% to 11.5% of Afghanistan's erstwhile population of 13.5 million people is estimated to have been killed over the course of the conflict. The Soviet–Afghan War caused grave destruction throughout Afghanistan and has also been cited by scholars as a significant factor that contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, formally ending the Cold War. It is also commonly referred to as "the Soviet Union's Vietnam".
Ghazni, historically known as Ghaznayn (غزنين) or Ghazna (غزنه), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana, is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategically located along Highway 1, which has served as the main road between Kabul and Kandahar for thousands of years. Situated on a plateau at 2,219 metres (7,280 ft) above sea level, the city is 150 kilometres (93 mi) south of Kabul and is the capital of Ghazni Province. The name Ghazni drives from the Persian word "ganj", meaning ‘treasure’.
Bamyan Province, also spelled Bamiyan, Bāmīān or Bāmyān, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan with the city of Bamyan as its center, located in central parts of Afghanistan.
Kabul, situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is over 5.5 million people as of 2022, of which over 85 percent live in urban areas. The current governor of the province is Qari Baryal.
Kandahār is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, located in the southern part of the country, sharing a border with Pakistan, to the south. It is surrounded by Helmand in the west, Uruzgan in the north and Zabul Province in the east. Its capital is the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second largest city, which is located on the Arghandab River. The greater region surrounding the province is called Loy Kandahar. The Emir of Afghanistan sends orders to Kabul from Kandahar making it the de facto capital of Afghanistan, although the main government body operates in Kabul. All meetings with the Emir take place in Kandahar, meetings excluding the Emir are in Kabul.
Zaman Shah Durrani, or Zaman Shah Abdali was the third King of the Durrani Empire from 1793 until 1801. An ethnic Pashtun of the Sadozai clan, Zaman Shah was the grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani and the fifth son of Timur Shah Durrani.
Islam in Afghanistan began to be practiced after the Arab Islamic conquest of Afghanistan from the 7th to the 10th centuries, with the last holdouts to conversion submitting in the late 19th century. It was generally accepted by local communities as a replacement of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, local tribes began converting to the new religion. Islam is the official state religion of Afghanistan, with approximately 99.7% of the Afghan population being Muslim. Roughly 85% practice Sunni Islam, while around 10% are Shias. Most Shias belong to the Twelver branch and only a smaller number follow Ismailism.
War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to:
The Turco-Mongol or Turko-Mongol tradition was an ethnocultural synthesis that arose in Asia during the 14th century among the ruling elites of the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate. The ruling Mongol elites of these khanates eventually assimilated into the Turkic populations that they conquered and ruled over, thus becoming known as Turco-Mongols. These elites gradually adopted Islam, as well as Turkic languages, while retaining Mongol political and legal institutions.
The history of Peshawar is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent. The region was known as Puruṣapura in Sanskrit, literally meaning "city of men". Being among the most ancient cities of the Indian subcontinent, Peshawar had for centuries been a center of trade between West Asia, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent.
The 1992–1996 Afghan Civil War, also known as the Second Afghan Civil War, took place between 28 April 1992—the date a new interim Afghan government was supposed to replace the Republic of Afghanistan of President Mohammad Najibullah—and the Taliban's occupation of Kabul establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 27 September 1996.
The History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa refers to the history of the modern-day Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The architecture of Afghanistan refers to a distinct style of architecture of the modern country and its predecessor states. As the connection between the three major cultural and geographic centers of Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and the Iranian plateau, the boundaries of the region prior to this time changed with the rapid advancement of armies, with the land belonging to a vast range of empires over the last two millennia.
The Duhamel plan was a proposed Russian invasion of British-ruled India during the Crimean War, a war in which Russia was fighting Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. The plan was drawn up by General Alexander Osipovich Duhamel and proposed to Tsar Nicholas I in 1854. Duhamel proposed five alternative routes but his preference was to march through Persia and Afghanistan and invade British India through the Khyber Pass. The plan would have required the support of the Afghans and Persians.