History of Afghanistan
Click Here For Types of History Of Afghanistan |
| History of Afghanistan |
|---|
| Timeline |
The Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up to large parts of Afghanistan in the north, with several sites being known.[5] Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army arrived to what is now Afghanistan in 330 BCE after conquering Persia during the Battle of Gaugamela.[6] Since then, many empires have established capitals inside Afghanistan, including the Greco-Bactrians, Mauryas, Kushans, Hindu Shahi, Saffarids, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Timurids, Mughals, Hotakis and Durranis.[7]
Afghanistan (meaning "land of the Afghans") has been a strategically important location throughout history.[8] The land served as "a gateway to India, impinging on the ancient Silk Road, which carried trade from the Mediterranean to China".[9] Sitting on many trade and migration routes, Afghanistan may be called the 'Central Asian roundabout'[10] since routes converge from the Middle East, from the Indus Valley through the passes over the Hindu Kush, from the Far East via the Tarim Basin, and from the adjacent Eurasian Steppe.
The Aryans arrived in Afghanistan from the north after the 20th century BCE,[2] who left their languages that survived in the form of Pashto and Dari. The Arab invasions influenced the culture of Afghanistan, as its pre-Islamic period of Zoroastrian, Hindu and Buddhist past had long vanished. Turkic empire-builders such as the Ghaznavids and Timurids made the region now called Afghanistan of major importance.
Mirwais Hotak followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani unified Afghan tribes and founded the last Afghan Empire in the early 18th century CE.[11][12][13][14][15] Afghanistan's sovereignty has been held during the Anglo-Afghan Wars, the 1980s Soviet war, and the 2001-present war by the country's many and diverse people: the Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Aimak, Baloch and others. The Pashtuns form the largest group, claiming to be descendants of ancient Israelites or Qais Abdur Rashid but scholars believe that they are a confederation of various peoples from the past who united under Pashtunwali.
Contents
Prehistory
Main article: Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan
Tents of Afghan nomads in the northern Badghis province of Afghanistan. Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan about 7,000 years ago.
Early inhabitants, around 3000 BCE were likely to have been connected through culture and trade to neighboring civilizations like Jiroft and Tappeh Sialk and the Indus Valley Civilization. Urban civilization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE and it is possible that the early city of Mundigak (near Kandahar) was a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization.[3] The first known people were Indo-Iranians,[4] but their date of arrival has been estimated widely from as early as about 3000 BCE[21] to 1500 BCE.[22] (For further detail see Indo-Aryan migration.)
Indus Valley Civilisation
Main article: Indus Valley Civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilisation (3300-1300 BCE; mature period 2600-1900 BCE) extending from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan.[5] An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan.[23] Apart from Shortughai is Mundigak another notable site. There are several other smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well.Bactria-Margiana
Main article: Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex
The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex became prominent in the southwest region between 2200 and 1700 BCE (approximately). The city of Balkh (Bactra) was founded about this time (c. 2000–1500 BCE). It is possible that the BMAC may have been an Indo-European culture, perhaps the Proto-Indo-Aryans.[21] But the standard model holds the arrival of Indo-Aryans to have been in the Late Harappan which gave rise to the Vedic civilization of the Early Iron Age.[24]Ancient history (700 BCE–565 CE)
Medes
Further information: Medes
There have been many different opinions about the extent of the Median kingdom. For instance, according to Ernst Herzfeld, it was a powerful empire, which stretched from central Anatolia to Bactria, to around the borders of nowadays India. On the other side, Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg
insists that there is no real evidence about the very existence of the
Median empire and that it was an unstable state formation. Nevertheless,
the region of nowadays Afghanistan came under Median rule for a short
time.[25]Achaemenid Empire
Main article: Achaemenid Empire
Alexander and the Seleucids
Main article: Wars of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great arrived in the area of Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier at the Battle of Gaugamela.[27]
His army faced very strong resistance in the Afghan tribal areas where
he is said to have commented that Afghanistan is "easy to march into,
hard to march out of."[28] Although his expedition through Afghanistan was brief, Alexander left behind a Hellenic
cultural influence that lasted several centuries. Several great cities
were built in the region named "Alexandria," including:
Alexandria-of-the-Arians (modern-day Herat); Alexandria-on-the-Tarnak (near Kandahar); Alexandria-ad-Caucasum (near Begram,
at Bordj-i-Abdullah); and finally, Alexandria-Eschate (near Kojend), in
the north. After Alexander's death, his loosely connected empire was
divided. Seleucus, a Macedonian officer during Alexander's campaign, declared himself ruler of his own Seleucid Empire, encompassing Persia and Afghanistan.[29]Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
 |
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main article: Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
One of Demetrius' successors, Menander I, brought the Indo-Greek Kingdom to its height between 165–130 BCE, expanding the kingdom in Afghanistan and Pakistan to even larger proportions than Demetrius. After Menander's death, the Indo-Greeks steadily declined and the last Indo-Greek king was defeated in c. 10 CE.
Mauryan Empire
Main article: Mauryan Empire
The territory fell to the Maurya Empire, which was led by Chandragupta Maurya. The Mauryas introduced Hinduism and Buddhism
to the region, and were planning to capture more territory of Central
Asia until they faced local Greco-Bactrian forces. Seleucus is said to
have reach a peace treaty
with Chandragupta by given control of the territory south of the Hindu
Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants.
Newly excavated Buddhist stupa at Mes Aynak in Logar Province of Afghanistan. Similar stupas have been discovered in neighboring Ghazni Province, including in the northern Samangan Province.
Alexander took these away from the Indo-Aryans and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.[30]
— Strabo, 64 BCE–24 CE
Some time after, as he was going to war with the generals of Alexander, a wild elephant of great bulk presented itself before him of its own accord, and, as if tamed down to gentleness, took him on its back, and became his guide in the war, and conspicuous in fields of battle. Sandrocottus, having thus acquired a throne, was in possession of India, when Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness; who, after making a league with him, and settling his affairs in the east, proceeded to join in the war against Antigonus. As soon as the forces, therefore, of all the confederates were united, a battle was fought, in which Antigonus was slain, and his son Demetrius put to flight.[31]Having consolidated power in the northwest, Chandragupta pushed east towards the Nanda Empire. Afghanistan's significant ancient tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage is recorded through wide-ranging archeological finds, including religious and artistic remnants. Buddhist doctrines are reported to have reached as far as Balkh even during the life of the Buddha (563 BCE to 483 BCE), as recorded by Husang Tsang.
In this context a legend recorded by Husang Tsang refers to the first two lay disciples of Buddha, Trapusa and Bhallika responsible for introducing Buddhism in that country. Originally these two were merchants of the kingdom of Balhika, as the name Bhalluka or Bhallika probably suggests the association of one with that country. They had gone to India for trade and had happened to be at Bodhgaya when the Buddha had just attained enlightenment.[32]
Indo-Scythians
The Bimaran casket, representing the Buddha surrounded by Brahma (left) and Śakra (right) was found inside a stupa with coins of Azes inside. British Museum.
Indo-Parthians
Main article: Indo-Parthians
Gandhara Buddhist reliquary with content, including Indo-Parthian coins. 1st century CE.
Kushans
Main article: Kushan Empire
Early Mahayana Buddhist triad. From left to right, a Kushan devotee, Maitreya, the Buddha, Avalokitesvara, and a Buddhist monk. 2nd–3rd century, Gandhara
They played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in India and its spread to Central Asia and China. Historian Vincent Smith said about Kanishka:
He played the part of a second Ashoka in the history of Buddhism.[40]The kingdom linked the Indian Ocean maritime trade with the commerce of the Silk Road through the Indus valley, encouraging long-distance trade, particularly between China and Rome. The Kushans brought new trends to the budding and blossoming Gandhara Art, which reached its peak during Kushan Rule. H.G. Rowlinson commented:
The Kushan period is a fitting prelude to the Age of the Guptas.[41]By the 3rd century, their empire in India was disintegrating and their last known great emperor was Vasudeva I[42][43]
Sassanids
Main article: Sasanian Empire
For a period, much of modern-day Afghanistan was part of the Sasanian Empire. Shapur I extended his authority eastwards into Afghanistan. The previously autonomous Kushans were obliged to accept his suzerainty.Kidarites
Main article: Kidarites
The Kidarites
were a nomadic clan. They are supposed to have originated in Western
China and arrived in Bactria with the great migrations of the second
half of the 4th century.The White Huns
Main article: Hephthalite Empire
Sardonyx seal representing Vishnu with a worshipper (probably Mihirakula), 4th-6th century CE. The inscription in cursive Bactrian reads: "Mihira, Vishnu and Shiva". British Museum.
Middle Ages (565–1504 CE)
Map of the region during the 7th century
Hindu Shahi
Main article: Kabul Shahi
The Kabul Shahi dynasties ruled the Kabul Valley and Gandhara from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century.[57] The Shahis are generally split up into two eras: the Buddhist Shahis and the Hindu
Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around
870. The kingdom was known as the Kabul Shahan or Ratbelshahan from
565-670, when the capitals were located in Kapisa and Kabul, and later Udabhandapura, also known as Hund[58] for its new capital.[59][60][61]The Hindu Shahis under Jayapala, is known for his struggles in defending his kingdom against the Ghaznavids in the modern-day eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan region. Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of Ghazni both in the reign of Sebuktigin and in that of his son Mahmud, which initiated the Muslim Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.[62] Sebuk Tigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.[62] Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.[62] Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the Kabul Valley and Indus River.[63]
Before his struggle began Jaipal had raised a large army of Punjabi Hindus. When Jaipal went to the Punjab region, his army was raised to 100,000 horsemen and an innumerable host of foot soldiers. According to Ferishta:
"The two armies having met on the confines of Lumghan, Subooktugeen ascended a hill to view the forces of Jeipal, which appeared in extent like the boundless ocean, and in number like the ants or the locusts of the wilderness. But Subooktugeen considered himself as a wolf about to attack a flock of sheep: calling, therefore, his chiefs together, he encouraged them to glory, and issued to each his commands. His soldiers, though few in number, were divided into squadrons of five hundred men each, which were directed to attack successively, one particular point of the Hindoo line, so that it might continually have to encounter fresh troops."[63]However, the army was hopeless in battle against the western forces, particularly against the young Mahmud of Ghazni.[63] In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the Qarakhanids north of the Hindu Kush, Jaipal attacked Ghazni once more and upon suffering yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day Peshawar. After the Battle of Peshawar, he committed suicide because his subjects thought he had brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.[62][63]
Jayapala was succeeded by his son Anandapala,[62] who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various unsuccessful campaigns against the advancing Ghaznvids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the Kashmir Siwalik Hills.[63]
Palas
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main article: Pala Empire
The Pālas were a Buddhist and Vaishnav Hindu Bengali dynasty of India, which lasted for four centuries (750-1120 CE). Dharmapala expanded the empire into the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This triggered once again the power struggle for the control of the subcontinent. Devapala, successor of Dharmapala, extended the empire even further, covering much of South Asia and several other territories. His empire stretched from Assam and Utkala in the east, and Afghanistan in the north-west and Deccan
in the south. According to a Pala copperplate inscription Devapala
exterminated the Utkalas, conquered the Pragjyotisha (Assam), shattered
the pride of the Huna, and humbled the lords of Pratiharas, Gurjara and the Dravidas. The Pala Empire eventually disintegrated in the 12th century CE under the attack of the Sena dynasty.Islamic conquest
Main article: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan
In 642 CE, Rashidun Arabs had conquered most of West Asia from the Sassanids and Byzantines, and from the western city of Herat
they introduced the religion of Islam as they entered new cities.
Afghanistan at that period had a number of different independent rulers,
depending on the area. Ancestors of Abū Ḥanīfa, including his father, were from the Kabul region.The early Arab forces did not fully explore Afghanistan due to attacks by the mountain tribes. Much of the eastern parts of the country remained independent, as part of the Hindu Shahi kingdoms of Kabul and Gandhara, which lasted that way until the forces of the Muslim Saffarid dynasty followed by the Ghaznavids conquered them.
Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the Sasanians in 642 CE and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the Afghan area the princes of Herat and Seistan gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the Caliphate became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the Saffarids of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the persian Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 CE and marched through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam. [64]The Shahi or Shahiya dynasties ruled portions of the Kabul Valley (in eastern Afghanistan) and the old province of Gandhara (northern Pakistan and Kashmir) from the decline of the Kushan Empire up to the early 9th century CE. The Shahis continued to rule eastern Afghanistan until the late 9th century until the Ghaznavid invasions.
— Nancy Hatch Dupree, 1971
During the eighth and ninth centuries CE the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan were still in the hands of non-muslim rulers. The Muslims tended to regard them as Indians, although many of the local rulers were apparently of Hunnish or Turkic descent. Yet, the Muslims were right in so far as the non Muslim population of Eastern Afghanistan was, culturally, strongly linked to the Indian sub-continent. Most of them were either Hindus or Buddhists.[65]
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main article: Ghaznavids
was ruled from the city of Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan.Mahmud of Ghazni consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned the city of Ghazni into a great cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into the Indian subcontinent. The Nasher Khans became princes of the Kharoti until the Soviet invasion.[66][67][68]
Ghorids
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main article: Ghurid Dynasty
The Ghaznavid dynasty was defeated in 1148 by the Ghurids from Ghor, but the Ghaznavid Sultans continued to live in Ghazni as the 'Nasher' until the early 20th century. They did not regain their once vast power until about 500 years later when the Ghilzai Hotakis rose to power. Various princes and Seljuk rulers attempted to rule parts of the country until the Shah Muhammad II of the Khwarezmid Empire conquered all of Persia in 1205 CE. By 1219, the empire had fallen to the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan.Mongol invasion
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Further information: Mongol invasion of Central Asia and Mongol conquest of Khwarezmia
The Mongols resulted in massive destruction of several cities, including Bamiyan, Herat, and Balkh,
and the despoliation of fertile agricultural areas. Large numbers of
the inhabitants were also slaughtered. Most major cities north of the
Hindu Kush became part of the Mongol Empire. The Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush were usually either allied with the Khilji dynasty of northern India or independent.Timurids
Main article: Timurid Empire
Timur (Tamerlane), incorporated much of the area into his own vast Timurid Empire. The city of Herat became one of the capitals of his empire, and his grandson Pir Muhammad held the seat of Kandahar.
Timur rebuilt most of Afghanistan's infrastructure which was destroyed
by his early ancestor. The area was progressing under his rule. Timurid
rule began declining in the early 16th century with the rise of a new
ruler in Kabul, Babur.
Taimur, a descendent of Genghis Khan, created a vast new empire across
Russia and Persia which he ruled from his capital in Samarkland in
present-day Uzbekistan. Taimur captured Herat in 1381 and his son, Shah
Rudkh moved the capital of the Timurid empire to Herat in 1405. The
Timurks, a Turkic people, brought the Turkic nomadic culture of Central
Asia within the orbit of Persian civilisation, establishing Herat as one
of the most cultured and refined cities in the world. This fusion of
Central Asian and Persian culture was a major legacy for the future
Afghanistan. A century later, the emperor Babur, a descendent of Taimur,
visited Herat and wrote, "the whole habitable world had not such a town
as Herat." For the next 300 years the eastern Afghan tribes
periodically invaded India creating vast Indo-Afghan empires. In 1500
CE, Taimur's descendent Babur was driven out of his home in the Ferghana
valley. By the 16th century western Afghanistan again reverted to
Persian rule under the Safavid dynasty.[69][70]Modern era (1504–1973)
Mughals, Uzbeks, and Safavids
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main articles: Mughal Empire and Khanate of Bukhara
A miniature from Padshahnama depicting the surrender of the Shia Safavid garrison of Kandahar in 1638 to the Mughal army of Shah Jahan commanded by Kilij Khan.
From the 16th century to the 17th century CE, Afghanistan was divided into three major areas. The north was ruled by the Khanate of Bukhara, the west was under the rule of the Iranian Shia Safavids, and the eastern section was under the Sunni Mughals of northern India. The Kandahar region in the south served as a buffer zone between the Mughals and the Safavids, with the native Afghans often switching support from one side to the other. Babur explored a number of cities in the region before his campaign into India. In the city of Kandahar his personal epigraphy can be found in the Chilzina rock mountain. Like in the rest of the territories that used to make part of the Indian Mughal Empire, Afghanistan holds tombs, palaces, and forts build by the Mughals.[71]
Hotaki dynasty
Main article: Hotaki dynasty
In 1704, the Safavid Shah Husayn appointed George XI (Gurgīn Khān), a ruthless Georgian
subject, to govern their easternmost territories in the Greater
Kandahar region. One of Gurgīn's main objectives was to crush the
rebellions started by native Afghans. Under his rule the revolts were
successfully suppressed and ruled Kandahar with uncomprising severity.
He began imprisoning and executing the native Afghans, especially those
suspected in having taken part in the rebellions. One of those arrested
and imprisoned was Mirwais Hotak who belonged to an influential family in Kandahar. Mirwais was sent as a prisoner to the Persian court in Isfahan but the charges against him were dismissed by the king, so he was sent back to his native land as a free man.[72]In April 1709, Mirwais along with his militia under Khan Nasher revolted.[73][74] The uprising began when Gurgīn and his escort were killed after a picnic and a banquet that were prepared by Mirwais at his farmhouse outside the city. "[75] Around four days later, an army of well-trained Georgian troops arrived in the town after hearing of Gurgīn's death but Mirwais and his Afghan forces successfully held off the town. From 1710 to 1713, the Afghan forces defeated several large Persian armies that were dispatched from Isfahan by the heavily declining Safavids, which included Qizilbash and Georgian/Circassian troops.[76]
Several half-hearted attempts to subdue the rebellious city having failed, the Persian Government despatched Khusraw Khán, nephew of the late Gurgín Khán, with an army of 30,000 men to effect its subjugation, but in spite of an initial success, which led the Afghans to offer to surrender on terms, his uncompromising attitude impelled them to make a fresh desperate effort, resulting in the complete defeat of the Persian army (of whom only some 700 escaped) and the death of their general. Two years later, in 1713, another Persian army commanded by Rustam Khán was also defeated by the rebels, who thus secured possession of the whole province of Qandahár.[77]
— Edward G. Browne, 1924
Modern-day sketch work of Mahmud Hotaki
Mahmud began a short-lived reign of terror against his Persian subjects who defied his rule from the very start, and he was eventually murdered in 1725 by his own cousin, Ashraf Hotaki. Some sources say he died of madness. Ashraf became the new Afghan Shah of Persia soon after Mahmud's death, while the home region of Afghanistan was ruled by Mahmud's younger brother Shah Hussain Hotaki. Ashraf was able to secure peace, at highly unfavourable terms, with the Ottoman Empire in 1727 winning against a superior Ottoman army, but the Russian Empire took advantage of the continuing political unrest, civil strife and utter disgust and disloyalty by the vast majority of people in the empire, to seize former Persian territories for themselves, limiting the amount of territory under Shah Mahmud's control.
The short lived Hotaki dynasty was a troubled and violent one from the very start as internecine conflict made it difficult to establish permanent control. The dynasty lived under great turmoil due to bloody succession feuds that made their hold on power tenuous, and after the massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan; including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family.[79] The vast majority of the Persians rejected the Afghan regime as usurping from the very start. Hotaki's rule continued in the region of Afghanistan until 1738 when Shah Hussain was defeated and banished by Nader Shah of Persia.[80]
The Hotakis were eventually removed from power by 1729, after a very short lived reign. They were defeated by the emerging Iranian military commander Nader Shah, head of the Afsharids, in the October 1729 Battle of Damghan, also banishing the Hotaki's to southern Afghanistan. The last ruler of the Hotaki dynasty, Shah Hussain, ruled southern Afghanistan until 1738 when the Afsharids and the Abdali Pashtuns crushed him at Kandahar.[80]
Durrani Empire
Main article: Durrani Empire
Nader Shah and his Afsharid Persian army arrived in the town of Kandahar in 1738 and defeated Hussain Hotaki, subsequently absorbing all of Afghanistan in his empire. Here, the young imprisoned teenager Ahmad Khan joined his service in his invasion of India.
The greatest extent of the Durrani Empire in 1747 A.D.
Shah Shuja, the last Durrani King, sitting at his court inside the Bala Hissar before it was destroyed by the British Army.
In October 1772, Ahmad Shah retired to his home in Kandahar where he died peacefully and was buried at a site that is now adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak. He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah Durrani, who transferred the capital of their Afghan Empire from Kandahar to Kabul. Timur died in 1793 and his son Zaman Shah Durrani took over the reign.
Zaman Shah and his brothers had a weak hold on the legacy left to them by their famous ancestor. They sorted out their differences through a "round robin of expulsions, blindings and executions," which resulted in the deterioration of the Afghan hold over far-flung territories, such as Attock and Kashmir. Durrani's other grandson, Shuja Shah Durrani, fled the wrath of his brother and sought refuge with the Sikhs. Not only had Durrani invaded the Punjab region many times, but had destroyed the holiest shrine of the Sikhs – the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, defiling its sarowar with the blood of cows and decapitating Baba Deep Singh in 1757. The Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, eventually wrested a large part of the Kingdom of Kabul (present day Pakistan, but not including Sindh) from the Afghans.[83] In 1837, the Afghan army descended through the Khyber Pass on Sikh forces at Jamrud.[84] The Sikhs were supported by the East India Company until they were defeated later by the British forces during the First and Second Anglo-Sikh Wars[citation needed].
Barakzai dynasty and British influence
Further information: European influence in Afghanistan and Barakzai dynasty
King Yaqub Khan with Britain's Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari on May 26, 1879, when the Treaty of Gandamak was signed.
Afghanistan remained neutral during World War I, despite German encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of British India. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however, and Habibullah, Abdur Rahman's son and successor, in 1919 was assassinated, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, Amanullah, regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the Third Anglo-Afghan War with an attack on India in the same year. During the ensuing conflict, the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the Treaty of Rawalpindi in August 1920. In commemoration of this event, Afghans celebrate August 20 as their Independence Day.
Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war
Main article: Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war
Reigns of Nadir Khan and Zahir Khan
|
This section does not cite any sources. (June 2012) |
Main article: Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah
Mohammad Zahir Shah in 1963
Mohammad Zahir Shah, Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan, who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Khan. In 1946, another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister and began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. In 1953, he was replaced as Prime Minister by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law. Daoud looked for a closer relationship with the Soviet Union and a more distant one towards Pakistan. However, disputes with Pakistan led to an economic crisis and he was asked to resign in 1963. From 1963 until 1973, Zahir Shah took a more active role.
In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a bicameral legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy" produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. This included the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the Soviet Union. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the Khalq (Masses) was headed by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin who were supported by elements within the military, and the Parcham (Banner) led by Babrak Karmal.
Contemporary era (1973–present)
1973 film about contemporary events in Afghanistan
Republic of Afghanistan and the end of monarchy
Main article: Republic of Afghanistan
Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family
and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971–72 drought,
former Prime Minister Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan
seized power in a non-violent coup on July 17, 1973, while Zahir Shah
was receiving treatment for eye problems and therapy for lumbago in
Italy.[87]
Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and
declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and
Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and
social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution
promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political
instability.As disillusionment set in, in 1978 a prominent member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), Mir Akbar Khyber (or "Kaibar"), was killed by the government. The leaders of PDPA apparently feared that Daoud was planning to exterminate them all, especially since most of them were arrested by the government shortly after. Nonetheless, Hafizullah Amin and a number of military wing officers of the PDPA's Khalq faction managed to remain at large and organize a military coup.
Democratic Republic and Soviet war
Main articles: History of Afghanistan (1978–1992), Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, Saur Revolution and Soviet war in Afghanistan
The day after the Marxist revolution on April 28, 1978.
In March 1979, Hafizullah Amin took over as prime minister, retaining the position of field marshal and becoming vice-president of the Supreme Defence Council. Taraki remained President and in control of the Army. On 14 September, Amin overthrew Taraki, who was killed. Amin stated that "the Afghans recognize only crude force."[88] Afghanistan expert Amin Saikal writes: "As his powers grew, so apparently did his craving for personal dictatorship ... and his vision of the revolutionary process based on terror."[88]
Once in power, the PDPA implemented a liberal and Marxist–Leninist agenda. It moved to replace religious and traditional laws with secular and Marxist–Leninist ones. Men were obliged to cut their beards, women could not wear a chador, and mosques were placed off limits. The PDPA made a number of reforms on women's rights, banning forced marriages, giving state recognition of women's right to vote, and introducing women to political life. A prominent example was Anahita Ratebzad, who was a major Marxist leader and a member of the Revolutionary Council. Ratebzad wrote the famous New Kabul Times editorial (May 28, 1978) which declared: "Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services, and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country ... Educating and enlightening women is now the subject of close government attention." The PDPA also carried out socialist land reforms and moved to promote state atheism.[89] They also prohibited usury.[90] The PDPA invited the Soviet Union to assist in modernizing its economic infrastructure (predominantly its exploration and mining of rare minerals and natural gas). The USSR also sent contractors to build roads, hospitals and schools and to drill water wells; they also trained and equipped the Afghan army. Upon the PDPA's ascension to power, and the establishment of the DRA, the Soviet Union promised monetary aid amounting to at least $1.262 billion.
At the same time, the PDPA imprisoned, tortured or murdered thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia.[citation needed] The government launched a campaign of violent repression, killing some 10,000 to 27,000 people and imprisoning 14,000 to 20,000 more, mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison.[91][92][93] In December 1978 the PDPA leadership signed an agreement with the Soviet Union which would allow military support for the PDPA in Afghanistan if needed. The majority of people in the cities including Kabul either welcomed or were ambivalent to these policies. However, the Marxist–Leninist and secular nature of the government as well as its heavy dependence on the Soviet Union made it unpopular with a majority of the Afghan population. Repressions plunged large parts of the country, especially the rural areas, into open revolt against the new Marxist–Leninist government. By spring 1979 unrests had reached 24 out of 28 Afghan provinces including major urban areas. Over half of the Afghan army would either desert or join the insurrection. Most of the government's new policies clashed directly with the traditional Afghan understanding of Islam, making religion one of the only forces capable of unifying the tribally and ethnically divided population against the unpopular new government, and ushering in the advent of Islamist participation in Afghan politics.[94]
Soviet troops (in right row) withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988. Afghan government BTR on the left.
To bolster the Parcham faction, the Soviet Union decided to intervene on December 24, 1979, when the Red Army invaded its southern neighbor. Over 100,000 Soviet troops took part in the invasion, which was backed by another 100,000 Afghan military men and supporters of the Parcham faction. In the meantime, Hafizullah Amin was killed and replaced by Babrak Karmal.
All remaining US assistance agreements were ended after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Following the Soviet invasion, the United States supported diplomatic efforts to achieve a Soviet withdrawal. In addition, generous U.S. contributions to the refugee program in Pakistan played a major part in efforts to assist Afghan refugees.
In response to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the Carter administration and Reagan administration in the U.S. began arming the Mujahideen, thanks in large part to the efforts of Charlie Wilson and CIA officer Gust Avrakotos. Early reports estimated that $6–20 billion had been spent by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia[96] but more recent reports state that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia provided as much as up to $40 billion[97][98][99] in cash and weapons, which included over two thousand FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles, for building up Islamic groups against the Soviet Union. The U.S. handled most of its support through Pakistan's ISI. Saudi Arabia was also providing financial support.
The 10-year Soviet occupation resulted in the deaths of between 850,000 and 1,500,000 Afghan civilians.[100][101] About 6 million fled as Afghan refugees to Pakistan and Iran, and from there over 38,000 made it to the United States[102] and many more to the European Union. Faced with mounting international pressure and great number of casualties on both sides, the Soviets withdrew in 1989. Their withdrawal from Afghanistan was seen as an ideological victory in the United States, which had backed some Mujahideen factions through three U.S. presidential administrations to counter Soviet influence in the vicinity of the oil-rich Persian Gulf. The USSR continued to support President Mohammad Najibullah (former head of the Afghan secret service, KHAD) until 1992.[103]
Foreign interference and civil war
Main articles: Civil war in Afghanistan (1989-1992) and Civil war in Afghanistan (1992-1996)
1992-1996After the fall of the communist Najibullah-regime in 1992, the Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement (the Peshawar Accords). The Peshawar Accords created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and appointed an interim government for a transitional period. According to Human Rights Watch:
The sovereignty of Afghanistan was vested formally in the Islamic State of Afghanistan, an government created in April 1992, after the fall of the Soviet-backed Najibullah government. [...] With the exception of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami, all of the parties [...] were ostensibly unified under this government in April 1992 headed by Subghatullah Mujadady. [...] Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami, for its part, refused to recognize the government for most of the period discussed in this report and launched attacks against government forces and Kabul generally. [...] Shells and rockets fell everywhere.[104]Subghatullah Mujadady was elected as Afghanistan's elected interim president for two months and then professor Burhanuddin Rabani a well known Kabul university professor and the leader of Jamiat - e - Islami party of Mujahiddin who fought against Russians during the occupation was chosen by all of the Jahadi leaders except Golbuddin Hikmat Yar. Professor Rabani reigned as the official and elected president of Afghanistan by Shurai Mujahiddin Peshawer (Peshawer Mujahiddin Council) from 1992 until 2001 when he officially handed over the presidency post to Hamid Karzai the next US appointed interim president. During Rabbani's presidency some parts of the country including a few provinces in the north such as Mazar e - Sharif, Jawzjan, Faryab, Shuburghan and some parts of Baghlan provinces were ruled by general Abdul Rashid Dostom. During Rabbani's first five years before the emergence of the Taliban, the eastern and western provinces and some of the northern provinces such as Badakhshan, Takhar, Kunduz, the main parts of Baghlan Province, and some parts of Kandahar and other southern provinces were under the control of the central government while the other parts of southern provinces did not obey him because of his Tajik ethnicity. During the 9 year presidency of Burhanuddin Rabani, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was directed, funded and supplied by the Pakistani army.[105] Afghanistan analyst Amin Saikal concludes in his book Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival:
Pakistan was keen to gear up for a breakthrough in Central Asia. [...] Islamabad could not possibly expect the new Islamic government leaders [...] to subordinate their own nationalist objectives in order to help Pakistan realize its regional ambitions. [...] Had it not been for the ISI's logistic support and supply of a large number of rockets, Hekmatyar's forces would not have been able to target and destroy half of Kabul.[106]There was no time for the interim government to create working government departments, police units or a system of justice and accountability. Saudi Arabia and Iran also armed and directed Afghan militias.[88] A publication by the George Washington University describes:
[O]utside forces saw instability in Afghanistan as an opportunity to press their own security and political agendas.[107]According to Human Rights Watch, numerous Iranian agents were assisting the Shia Hezb-i Wahdat forces of Abdul Ali Mazari, as Iran was attempting to maximize Wahdat's military power and influence.[88][104][108] Saudi Arabia was trying to strengthen the Wahhabite Abdul Rasul Sayyaf and his Ittihad-i Islami faction.[88][104] Atrocities were committed by individuals of the different factions while Kabul descended into lawlessness and chaos as described in reports by Human Rights Watch and the Afghanistan Justice Project.[104][109] Again, Human Rights Watch writes:
Rare ceasefires, usually negotiated by representatives of Ahmad Shah Massoud, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi or Burhanuddin Rabbani (the interim government), or officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), commonly collapsed within days.[104]The main forces involved during that period in Kabul, northern, central and eastern Afghanistan were the Hezb-i Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar directed by Pakistan, the Hezb-i Wahdat of Abdul Ali Mazari directed by Iran, the Ittehad-i Islami of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf supported by Saudi Arabia, the Junbish-i Milli of Abdul Rashid Dostum backed by Uzbekisten, the Harakat-i Islami of Hussain Anwari and the Shura-i Nazar operating as the regular Islamic State forces (as agreed upon in the Peshawar Accords) under the defense ministry of Ahmad Shah Massoud.
Meanwhile, southern Afghanistan was The city of Kandahar was a centre of lawlessness, crime and atrocities fuelled by complex Pashtun tribal rivalries.[110] In 1994, the Taliban (a movement originating from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-run religious schools for Afghan refugees in Pakistan) also developed in Afghanistan as a politico-religious force, reportedly in opposition to the tyranny of the local governor.[110] Mullah Omar started his movement with fewer than 50 armed madrassah students in his hometown of Kandahar.[110] As Gulbuddin Hekmatyar remained unsuccessful in conquering Kabul, Pakistan started its support to the Taliban.[88][111] Many analysts like Amin Saikal describe the Taliban as developing into a proxy force for Pakistan's regional interests which the Taliban decline.[88] In 1994 the Taliban took power in several provinces in southern and central Afghanistan.
In 1995 the Hezb-i Islami of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Iranian-backed Hezb-i Wahdat as well as Rashid Dostum's Junbish forces were defeated militarily in the capital Kabul by forces of the interim government under Massoud who subsequently tried to initiate a nationwide political process with the goal of national consolidation and democratic elections, also inviting the Taliban to join the process.[112] The Taliban declined.[112] Subghatullah Mujadady the first interim president after the fall of Dr najibbullah's government. despite the chaos and autonomy in different part of the country the agreed president after two months of subghatullah mujadady's interim presidency professor Burhanudin Rabani and in the country
Taliban and the United Front
1996-2001
Main articles: Taliban, Afghan Northern Alliance, Afghan training camp and Civil war in Afghanistan (1996-2001)
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf sent more troops against the United Front of Ahmad Shah Massoud than the Afghan Taliban.
Map of the situation in Afghanistan in August 2001 until October 2001
This is the first time in several months that Kabul civilians have become the targets of rocket attacks and shelling aimed at residential areas in the city.[113]On September 26, 1996, as the Taliban, with military support by Pakistan and financial support by Saudi Arabia, prepared for another major offensive, Massoud ordered a full retreat from Kabul.[114] The Taliban seized Kabul on September 27, 1996, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. They imposed on the parts of Afghanistan under their control their political and judicial interpretation of Islam, issuing edicts forbidding women from working outside the home, attending school or leaving their homes unless accompanied by a male relative.[115] Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said:
To PHR's knowledge, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half of its population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of physical punishment.[115]After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban on September 27, 1996,[116] Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum, two former nemesis, created the United Front (Northern Alliance) against the Taliban, who were preparing offensives against the remaining areas under the control of Massoud and Dostum.[117] The United Front included beside the dominantly Tajik forces of Massoud and the Uzbek forces of Dostum, Hazara factions and Pashtun forces under the leadership of commanders such as Abdul Haq, Haji Abdul Qadir, Qari Baba or diplomat Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai. From the Taliban conquest in 1996 until November 2001 the United Front controlled roughly 30% of Afghanistan's population in provinces such as Badakhshan, Kapisa, Takhar and parts of Parwan, Kunar, Nuristan, Laghman, Samangan, Kunduz, Ghōr and Bamyan.
According to a 55-page report by the United Nations, the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians.[118][119] UN officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001.[118][119] They also said, that "[t]hese have been highly systematic and they all lead back to the [Taliban] Ministry of Defense or to Mullah Omar himself."[118][119] The Taliban especially targeted people of Shia religious or Hazara ethnic background.[118][119] Upon taking Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, about 4,000 civilians were executed by the Taliban and many more reported tortured.[120][121] Among those killed in Mazari Sharif were several Iranian diplomats. Others were kidnapped by the Taliban, touching off a hostage crisis that nearly escalated to a full-scale war, with 150,000 Iranian soldiers massed on the Afghan border at one time.[122] It was later admitted that the diplomats were killed by the Taliban, and their bodies were returned to Iran.[123]
The documents also reveal the role of Arab and Pakistani support troops in these killings.[118][119] Bin Laden's so-called 055 Brigade was responsible for mass-killings of Afghan civilians.[124] The report by the United Nations quotes eyewitnesses in many villages describing Arab fighters carrying long knives used for slitting throats and skinning people.[118][119]
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf - then as Chief of Army Staff - was responsible for sending thousands of Pakistanis to fight alongside the Taliban and Bin Laden against the forces of Massoud.[111][112][125][126] In total there were believed to be 28,000 Pakistani nationals fighting inside Afghanistan.[112] 20,000 were regular Pakistani soldiers either from the Frontier Corps or army and an estimated 8,000 were militants recruited in madrassas filling regular Taliban ranks.[124] The estimated 25,000 Taliban regular force thus comprised more than 8,000 Pakistani nationals.[124] A 1998 document by the U.S. State Department confirms that "20-40 percent of [regular] Taliban soldiers are Pakistani."[111] The document further states that the parents of those Pakistani nationals "know nothing regarding their child's military involvement with the Taliban until their bodies are brought back to Pakistan."[111] A further 3,000 fighter of the regular Taliban army were Arab and Central Asian militants.[124] From 1996 to 2001 the Al Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri became a state within the Taliban state.[127] Bin Laden sent Arab recruits to join the fight against the United Front.[127][128] Of roughly 45,000 Pakistani, Taliban and Al Qaeda soldiers fighting against the forces of Massoud only 14,000 were Afghan.[112][124]
According to Human Rights Watch in 1997 Taliban soldiers were summarily executed in and around Mazar-i Sharif by Dostum's Junbish forces.[129] Dostum was defeated by the Taliban in 1998 with the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif. Massoud remained the only leader of the United Front in Afghanistan.
In the areas under his control Ahmad Shah Massoud set up democratic institutions and signed the Women's Rights Charter.[130] Human Rights Watch cites no human rights crimes for the forces under direct control of Massoud for the period from October 1996 until the assassination of Massoud in September 2001.[129] As a consequence many civilians fled to the area of Ahmad Shah Massoud.[125][131] National Geographic concluded in its documentary "Inside the Taliban":
The only thing standing in the way of future Taliban massacres is Ahmad Shah Massoud."[125]The Taliban repeatedly offered Massoud a position of power to make him stop his resistance. Massoud declined for he did not fight to obtain a position of power. He explained in one interview:
- "The Taliban say: "Come and accept the post of prime minister and be with us", and they would keep the highest office in the country, the presidentship. But for what price?! The difference between us concerns mainly our way of thinking about the very principles of the society and the state. We can not accept their conditions of compromise, or else we would have to give up the principles of modern democracy. We are fundamentally against the system called "the Emirate of Afghanistan"."[132]
- "There should be an Afghanistan where every Afghan finds himself or herself happy. And I think that can only be assured by democracy based on consensus."[133]
- "The Taliban are not a force to be considered invincible. They are distanced from the people now. They are weaker than in the past. There is only the assistance given by Pakistan, Osama bin Laden and other extremist groups that keep the Taliban on their feet. With a halt to that assistance, it is extremely difficult to survive."[133] In early 2001 Massoud employed a new strategy of local military pressure and global political appeals.[134] Resentment was increasingly gathering against Taliban rule from the bottom of Afghan society including the Pashtun areas.[134] Massoud publicized their cause "popular consensus, general elections and democracy" worldwide. At the same time he was very wary not to revive the failed Kabul government of the early 1990s.[134] Already in 1999 he started the training of police forces which he trained specifically to keep order and protect the civilian population in case the United Front would be successful.[112]
NATO presence and the Karzai administration
Further information: Presidency of Hamid Karzai, Taliban insurgency, Operation Enduring Freedom and War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Soldiers of the Afghan National Army in 2010, including the ANA Commando Battalion standing in the front.
In FY 2009, the United States resettled just 328 refugees from Afghanistan.[144] By contrast, the U.S. admitted more than 100,000 Vietnamese refugees for resettlement during the Vietnam War.[145] On the other hand, over five million Afghan refugees were repatriated in the last decade, including many who were forcefully deported from NATO countries.[146][147] This large return of Afghans may have helped the nation's economy but the country still remains one of the poorest in the world due to the decades of war, lack of foreign investment, ongoing government corruption and the Pakistani-backed Taliban insurgency.[148][149] The United States also accuses neighboring Iran of providing small level of support to the Taliban insurgents.[150][151][152] According to a report by the United Nations, the Taliban and other militants were responsible for 76% of civilian casualties in 2009,[153] 75% in 2010[154] and 80% in 2011.[155]
NATO's military terminal at Kabul International Airport
I should say that Taliban are not fighting in order to be accommodated. They are fighting in order to bring the state down. So it's a futile exercise, and it's just misleading. ... There are groups that will fight to the death. Whether we like to talk to them or we don't like to talk to them, they will continue to fight. So, for them, I don't think that we have a way forward with talks or negotiations or contacts or anything as such. Then we have to be prepared to tackle and deal with them militarily. In terms of the Taliban on the ground, there are lots of possibilities and opportunities that with the help of the people in different parts of the country, we can attract them to the peace process; provided, we create a favorable environment on this side of the line. At the moment, the people are leaving support for the government because of corruption. So that expectation is also not realistic at this stage.[161]
From left to right: Abdullah Abdullah, John Kerry and Ashraf Ghani during the 2014 Afghan presidential election
After the May 2011 death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, many prominent Afghan figures began being assassinated, including Mohammed Daud Daud, Ahmad Wali Karzai, Jan Mohammad Khan, Ghulam Haider Hamidi, Burhanuddin Rabbani and others.[167] Also in the same year, the Pakistani-Afghan border skirmishes intensified and many large scale attacks by the Pakistani-based Haqqani network took place across Afghanistan. This led to the United States warning Pakistan of a possible military action against the Haqqanis in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.[168] The U.S. blamed Pakistan's government, mainly Pakistani Army and its ISI spy network as the masterminds behind all of this.[169]
In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan, and most especially the Pakistani army and ISI, jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence. They may believe that by using these proxies, they are hedging their bets or redressing what they feel is an imbalance in regional power. But in reality, they have already lost that bet.[170]U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter, told Radio Pakistan that "The attack that took place in Kabul a few days ago, that was the work of the Haqqani network. There is evidence linking the Haqqani Network to the Pakistan government. This is something that must stop."[171] Other top U.S. officials such as Hillary Clinton and Leon Panetta made similar statements.[169][172] On October 16, 2011, "Operation Knife Edge" was launched by NATO and Afghan forces against the Haqqani network in south-eastern Afghanistan. Afghan Defense Minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak, explained that the operation will "help eliminate the insurgents before they struck in areas along the troubled frontier".[173] In November 2011, NATO forces killed 24 Pakistani Army soldiers around the border region with Pakistan.
See also
- Invasions of Afghanistan
- List of Pashtun empires and dynasties
- List of monarchs of Afghanistan
- List of presidents of Afghanistan
- Politics of Afghanistan
- Timeline of Kabul
- Timeline of Herat
References
Khorāsān, also spelled Khurasan, historical region and realm comprising a vast territory now lying in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan. The historical region extended, along the north, from the Amu Darya (Oxus River) westward to the Caspian Sea and, along the south, from the fringes of the central Iranian deserts eastward to the mountains of central Afghanistan.
The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...
... Jaypala of Waihind saw danger in the consolidation of the kingdom of Ghazna and decided to destroy it. He therefore invaded Ghazna, but was defeated ...
Ferishta was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Further reading
|
|
Primary sources
- Green, Nile, ed. Afghan History Through Afghan Eyes (Oxford University Press, 2016) online edition for libraries: DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190247782.001.0001
- Elliot, Henry Miers. The history of India, as told by its own historians: The Muhammadan period. Elibron.com, 1952. Volume 8. ISBN 0-543-94714-9
- Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1819. An account of the kingdom of Caubul, and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India: Comprising a view of the Afghaun nation, and a history of the Dooraunee monarchy. Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, and J. Murry, 1819.
- Hill, John E. 2004. The Peoples of the West from the Weilue 魏略 by Yu Huan 魚豢: A Third Century Chinese Account Composed between 239 and 265 CE. Draft annotated English translation."Weilue: The Peoples of the West". Depts.washington.edu. 2004-05-23. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- Levi, Peter. 1972. The light garden of the angel king: journeys in Afghanistan. Collins, 1972. ISBN 0-00-211042-3.
- Wood, John (1872). A Journey to the Source of the River Oxus. New Edition, edited by his son, with an essay on the "Geography of the Valley of the Oxus" by Henry Yule. John Murray, London. Gregg Division McGraw-Hill, 1971, ISBN 0-576-03322-7.
Post A Comment:
0 comments: