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{{History of Afghanistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
[[File:Location map of Afghanistan in Asia.png|thumb|Present-day location of Afghanistan in Asia]]
The '''history of Afghanistan''' covers the development of Afghanistan from ancient times to the establishment of the [[Emirate of Afghanistan]] in 1822 and Afghanistan in modern times. This history is largely shared with that of [[Central Asia]], [[Middle East]], and northern parts of the  [[Indian subcontinent]].

[[Ancient history of Afghanistan|Human habitation in Afghanistan]] dates back to the early [[Middle Paleolithic]] era, and the country's [[Geostrategy|strategic location]] along the historic [[Silk Road]] has led it to being described, picturesquely, as the ‘roundabout of the ancient world’.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hyman |first1=Anthony |title=Afghanistan Under Soviet Domination, 1964–83 |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-333-36353-9 |pages=3–22 |chapter=The Land and the People in History |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-17443-0_1 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-17443-0_1}}</ref> The land has historically been home to various different peoples and [[Invasions of Afghanistan|has witnessed numerous military campaigns]], including those by [[Persian Empire|the Persians]], [[Alexander the Great]], the [[Maurya Empire]], [[Muslim conquests of Afghanistan|Arab Muslims]], the [[Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire|Mongols]], The Mughal Empire, the [[European influence in Afghanistan#The Great Game|British]], the [[Soviet–Afghan War|Soviet Union]], and most recently by [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|a US-led coalition]].<ref name="Galvin-PreIslamic">{{cite web |last=Griffin |first=Luke |date=14 January 2002 |title=The Pre-Islamic Period |url=http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/PreIslamic.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20011103002246/http://www.gl.iit.edu/govdocs/afghanistan/PreIslamic.html |archivedate=3 November 2001 |access-date=14 October 2010 |work=Afghanistan Country Study |publisher=Illinois Institute of Technology}}</ref> The various conquests and periods in the [[Iranian diaspora|Iranian]] cultural spheres<ref>{{cite book |last=Denise Cush |first=Catherine Robinson, Michael York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |year=2012 |isbn=9781135189792 |page=200|publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=30 July 2021 |title=The remarkable rugs of war, Drill Hall Gallery |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Farts%2Freview%2Fthe-remarkable-rugs-of-war-drill-hall-gallery%2Fnews-story%2F49fb932f8be798b1641425be98e4e0db&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=GROUPB-Segment-2-NOSCORE&V21spcbehaviour=append&nk=c7056cdb0e6d7e3a15c72009daaa4cf9-1737437756 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211122182853/https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/the-remarkable-rugs-of-war-drill-hall-gallery/news-story/49fb932f8be798b1641425be98e4e0db |archive-date=22 November 2021 |access-date=22 November 2021 |publisher=The Australian}}</ref> made the area a center for [[Zoroastrianism]] and [[Buddhism in Afghanistan|Buddhism]], and a small community of [[Hinduism in Afghanistan|Hinduism]],  and later [[Islam in Afghanistan|Islam]] throughout history.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 September 2021 |title=Professing Faith: Religious traditions in Afghanistan are diverse |url=https://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/2021/09/15/professing-faith-religious-traditions-in-afghanistan-are-diverse/}}</ref>

The [[Durrani Empire]], established in 1747, is considered to be the foundational polity of the modern [[nation state]] of Afghanistan, with [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]] being credited as its [[Father of the Nation]].<ref>Rahimi, Mukiib Rahman. ''State Formation in Afghanistan: A Theoretical and Political History''. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=26 October 2001 |title=Afghanistan: the land that forgot time |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/26/afghanistan.terrorism11 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Following the Durrani Empire's decline and the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani (1772) and [[Timur Shah Durrani|Timur Shah]] (1793), it was divided into multiple smaller independent kingdoms, including but not limited to [[Herat (1793–1863)|Herat]], [[Principality of Kandahar|Kandahar]] and [[Emirate of Afghanistan|Kabul]]. Afghanistan would be reunited in the 19th century after seven decades of civil war from 1793 to 1863, with wars of unification led by [[Dost Mohammad Khan]] from 1823 to 1863, where he conquered the independent principalities of Afghanistan under the Emirate of Kabul. Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first [[Emirate of Afghanistan|modern Afghan state]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1995 |title=DŌST MOḤAMMAD KHAN |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dost-mohammad-khan |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref> Dost Mohammad died in 1863, days after [[Herat campaign of 1862–1863|his last campaign to unite Afghanistan]], and Afghanistan was consequently [[Afghan Civil War (1863–1869)|thrown back into civil war]] with fighting amongst his successors. During this time, Afghanistan became a [[buffer state]] in the [[Great Game]] between the [[British Raj]] in South Asia and the [[Russian Empire]]. The British Raj attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but was repelled in the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] (1838–1842). However, the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–1880) saw a British victory and the successful establishment of British political influence over Afghanistan. Following the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent [[Kingdom of Afghanistan]] in June 1926 under [[Amanullah Khan]]. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until [[Mohammad Zahir Shah|Zahir Shah]] was [[1973 Afghan coup d'état|overthrown in 1973]], following which the [[Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)|Republic of Afghanistan]] was established.

Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including [[Afghan conflict|coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars]]. The conflict began in 1978 when a [[Saur Revolution|communist revolution]] established a [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|socialist state]], and subsequent infighting prompted the [[Soviet invasion of Afghanistan|Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan]] in 1979. [[Mujahideen]] fought against the Soviets in the [[Soviet–Afghan War]] and [[Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)|continued]] [[Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)|fighting]] [[Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)|amongst themselves]] following the [[Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan|Soviets' withdrawal in 1989]]. The [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalist]] [[Taliban]] controlled most of the country by 1996, but their [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]] received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 [[United States invasion of Afghanistan|US invasion of Afghanistan]]. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|capturing Kabul]] and overthrowing the government of the [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan]], thus bringing an end to the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|2001–2021 war]].<ref name="CTC 2021">{{cite journal |date=November 2021 |editor1-last=Cruickshank |editor1-first=Paul |editor2-last=Hummel |editor2-first=Kristina |title=An Assessment of Taliban Rule at Three Months |url=https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CTC-SENTINEL-092021.pdf |url-status=live |journal=[[CTC Sentinel]] |location=West Point, New York |publisher=[[Combating Terrorism Center]] |volume=14 |issue=9 |pages=1–14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129104726/https://ctc.usma.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CTC-SENTINEL-092021.pdf |archive-date=29 November 2021 |access-date=29 November 2021 |author-last=Watkins |author-first=Andrew H.}}</ref> Although initially claiming it would form an inclusive government for the country, in September 2021 the Taliban re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with an [[interim government]] made up entirely of Taliban members.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 2021 |title=Who Will Run the Taliban Government? |url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/who-will-run-taliban-government |access-date=18 October 2022 |website=www.crisisgroup.org |language=en}}</ref> The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Taliban: Unrecognized and unrepentant |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/taliban-unrecognized-and-unrepentant |access-date=18 October 2022 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}</ref>

==Prehistory==
{{Main|Ancient history of Afghanistan}}
[[File:Nomads in Badghis Province.jpg|thumb|Tents of Afghan [[nomad]]s in the northern [[Badghis Province]] of Afghanistan. Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan about 7,000 years ago.]]
Excavations of prehistoric sites by [[Louis Dupree (professor)|Louis Dupree]] and others at [[Darra-e Kur]] in 1966 where 800 stone implements were recovered along with a fragment of Neanderthal right [[temporal bone]], suggest that early humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 52,000 years ago. A cave called Kara Kamar contained [[Upper Paleolithic]] blades [[Carbon-14]] dated at 34,000 years old.<ref name=Langer>{{cite book | title = An Encyclopedia of World History | editor-last = Langer | editor-first = William L. | edition = 5th | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Company | location = Boston, MA | year = 1972 | isbn = 0-395-13592-3 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 9] | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaworl00will/page/9 }}</ref> Farming communities in Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world.<ref name="Shroder">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Afghanistan |encyclopedia=Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Microsoft Corporation |url=http://encarta.msn.com/text_761569370___42/Afghanistan.html |access-date=31 October 2009 |last=Shroder |first=John Ford |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031052339/http://encarta.msn.com/text_761569370___42/Afghanistan.html |archive-date=31 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Artifacts indicate that the [[indigenous people]] were small farmers and herdsmen, very probably grouped into tribes, with small local kingdoms rising and falling through the ages. Urbanization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE.<ref>[[Baxter, Craig]] (1995) "Historical Setting" pp. 90–120, page 91, ''In'' Gladstone, Cary (2001) ''Afghanistan revisited'' Nova Science Publications, New York, {{ISBN|1-59033-421-3}}</ref> [[Gandhara]] is the name of an ancient kingdom from the Vedic period and its capital city located between the [[Hindu Kush]] and [[Sulaiman Mountains]] (mountains of [[Solomon]]),<ref>{{cite web|title = Gandara|url =https://www.livius.org/articles/place/gandara/ |website = Livius|date = 11 August 2020|first = Jona|last = Lendering}}</ref> although Kandahar in modern times and the ancient Gandhara are not geographically identical.<ref>[[Willem Vogelsang|W. Vogelsang]], ''"Gandahar"'', in ''The Circle Of Ancient Iranian Studies''</ref><ref>E. Herzfeld, ''"The Persian Empire: Studies on Geography and Ethnography of the Ancient Near East"'', ed. G. Walser, [[Wiesbaden]] 1968, pp. 279, 293–94, 336–38, 345</ref>

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 Civilisation]]. Urban civilization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE and it is possible that the early city of [[Mundigak]] (near [[Kandahar]]) was a part of the ancient [[Helmand culture]].<ref name="Dupree">{{cite book |last1=Dupree |first1=Nancy Hatch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T__DHAAACAAJ |title=An Historical Guide To Afghanistan (Chapter 3: Sites in Perspective) |publisher=Afghan Air Authority, Afghan Tourist Organization |year=1977 |edition=2 |location=United States |pages=492 |access-date=22 August 2010}}</ref> The first known people were the [[Indo-Iranians]],<ref name="Shroder"/> but their date of arrival in the region has been estimated widely from as early as about 3000 BCE<ref name="Mallory">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Mallory |first=J. P. |author-link=J. P. Mallory |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture]] |title=BMAC |year=1997 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |location=London |isbn=1-884964-98-2}}</ref> to 1500 BCE.<ref>{{cite book|author-first=Francfort|author-last=H.-P.|chapter=La civilisation de l'Oxus et les Indo-iraniens et les Indo-aryens en Asie centrale|title=Aryas, Aryens et Iraniens en Asie Centrale |editor-last=Fussman |editor-first=G. |year=2005 |publisher=de Boccard |location=Paris |isbn=2-86803-072-6 |pages= 276–285|display-authors=etal}}</ref> (For further detail see [[Indo-Iranians]].)

=== Indus Valley Civilisation (c. 3300 to 1300 BCE) ===
The [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] (IVC) spanned from parts of Afghanistan to modern-day Pakistan and north-western India.{{sfn|Wright|2009}} An Indus valley site has been found on the [[Oxus River]] at [[Shortugai]] in Afghanistan, which is the northernmost site of the Indus Valley Civilisation.{{sfn|Kenoyer|1998|p=96}}

=== Bactria–Margiana (c. 2200 – 1700 BCE) ===
{{Main|Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex|Indo-Iranians}}
The [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]], also known as the Oxus civilisation, became prominent between about 2200 and 1700 BCE. The city of [[Balkh]] (Bakhlo in [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]) in northern Afghanistan was founded around this time (c. 2000–1500 BCE).<ref name="Mallory"/>

== Ancient and Classical period (c. 1500 – 255 BCE) ==

[[File:India 500 BCE.jpg|thumb|The [[Mahajanapada]]s, including the [[Gandhara]] and [[Kambojas]] kingdoms and [[Achaemenid Empire]] in West, around c. 500 BCE]]

=== Gandhara Kingdom (c. 1500 – 535 BCE) ===
{{Main|Gandhāra (kingdom)}}

[[File:Early Vedic Culture (1700-1100 BCE).png|thumb|Gandhara Kingdom in [[Vedic Period|Early Vedic Period]], around 1500 BCE]]

The [[Gandhara|Gandhara region]] centered around the [[Peshawar Valley]] and [[Swat River|Swat]] river valley, though the cultural influence of "Greater Gandhara" extended across the Indus river to the [[Taxila]] region in [[Pothohar Plateau]] and westwards into the [[Kabul River|Kabul]] and [[Bamyan]] valleys in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the [[Karakoram]] range.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=19 November 2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5 |page=232  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eggermont |first1=Pierre Herman Leonard |title=Alexander's Campaigns in Sind and Baluchistan and the Siege of the Brahmin Town of Harmatelia |date=1975 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-6186-037-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG0_xoDS3hUC |language=en |pages=175–177}}</ref>

During the 6th century BCE, Gandhāra was an important imperial power in north-west South Asia, with the [[Kashmir Valley|valley of Kaśmīra]] being part of the kingdom, while the other states of the Punjab region, such as the [[Kekaya]]s, [[Madra]]kas, [[Uśīnara]]s, and [[Shivi]]s being under Gāndhārī suzerainty. The Gāndhārī king [[Pushkarasarin|Pukkusāti]], who reigned around 550 BCE, engaged in expansionist ventures which brought him into conflict with the king [[Pradyota]] of the rising power of [[Avanti (region)|Avanti]]. Pukkusāti was successful in this struggle with Pradyota.<ref name="Prakash">{{cite journal |last=Prakash |first=Buddha |date=1951 |title=Poros |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41784590 |journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=198–233 |doi= |jstor=41784590 |access-date=12 June 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jain |first=Kailash Chand |url= |title=Malwa Through the Ages |date=1972 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-8-120-80824-9 |location=[[Delhi]], [[India]] |pages=98–104 |author-link=}}</ref>

By the later 6th century BCE, the founder of the [[Persians|Persian]] [[Achaemenid Empire]], [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]], soon after his conquests of [[Medes|Media]], [[Lydia]], and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Babylonia]], marched into Gandhara and annexed it into his empire.<ref name="CAH">{{cite book |author-last=Young |author-first=T. Cuyler |url= |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |date=1988 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-22804-6 |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |volume=4 |location=[[Cambridge]] |pages=1–52 |chapter=The early history of the Medes and the Persians and the Achaemenid empire to the death of Cambyses |author-link= |editor2-last=Hammond |editor2-first=N. G. L. |editor2-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor3-last=Lewis |editor3-first=D. M. |editor3-link=David Malcolm Lewis |editor4-last=Ostwald |editor4-first=M. |editor4-link=Martin Ostwald}}</ref> The scholar [[K. D. Sethna|Kaikhosru Danjibuoy Sethna]] advanced that Cyrus had conquered only the trans-Indus borderlands around Peshawar which had belonged to Gandhāra while Pukkusāti remained a powerful king who maintained his rule over the rest of Gandhāra and the western Punjab.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sethna |first=Kaikhosru Danjibuoy |url= |title=Problems of Ancient India |date=2000 |publisher=Aditya Prakashan |isbn=978-8-177-42026-5 |location= |pages=121–172 |chapter=To Pāṇini's Time from Pāṇini's Place |author-link=K. D. Sethna}}</ref>

=== Kamboja Kingdom (c. 700 – 200 BCE) ===
{{Main|Kambojas}}

The Kambojas were an ancient southeastern [[Iranian peoples]] who lived in the southern region of modern Afghanistan. They were mentioned by a number of [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]] inscriptions and literature, being first attested during the later part of the [[Vedic period]]. The ancient Indian emperor [[Ashoka]] mentioned the Kambojas between 268 and 232 BCE in his Major Rock Edicts. The people known in Classical sources as Aspasioi, [[Aśvaka]] and Assakenoi, were likely tribes of the Kamboja people. The region south of the [[Hindu Kush]] that was inhabited by the Kambojas went under the rule of many different groups over the centuries, starting with the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persians]].

The descendants of the Kambojas have mostly been assimilated into various newer groups. However, some tribes possibly remain today that still retain the names of their ancestors. There are some theories and speculation about the possible descendants of the Kamboja people. The [[Yusufzai]] [[Pashtuns]] are said to be related to the Aspasioi or [[Aśvaka]] people from the Kamboja age. The [[Kom people (Afghanistan)|Kom]]/Kamoz people of [[Nuristan Province|Nuristan]] retain their Kamboj name. The [[Askunu language|Ashkun]] of Nuristan also retain the name of Aśvakas. The [[Yashkuns|Yashkun]] [[Shina people|Shina]] dards are another group that retain the name of the Kamboja Aśvakans. The [[Kamboj]] of [[Punjab]] are another group that still retain the name however have integrated into new identity. The country of [[Cambodia]] [[Names of Cambodia|derives its name]] from the Kamboja.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chad|first1=Raymond|title=Regional Geographic Influence on Two Khmer Polities|journal=Salve Regina University, Faculty and Staff: Articles and Papers|date=1 April 2005|page=137|url=http://digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=fac_staff_pub|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>

=== Achaemenid Empire ===
{{Main|Achaemenid Empire}}
{{see also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley}}

[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|Much of the area corresponding to modern-day Afghanistan was subordinated to the Achaemenid Empire]]
[[File:Afghanistan region during 500 BC.jpg|thumb|[[Arachosia]], [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]] and [[Bactria]] were the ancient [[satrap]]s of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] that made up most of what is now Afghanistan during 500 BCE.]]
The area of modern Afghanistan fell to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persians]] after it was conquered by [[Darius I of Persia]]. The land was divided into several provinces called [[satrapy|satrapies]], which were each ruled by a governor, or [[satrap]]. These ancient satrapies included: [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]]: The region of Aria was separated by mountain ranges from the [[Paropamisadae]] in the east, [[Parthia (satrapy)|Parthia]] in the west and [[Margiana]] and [[Hyrcania]] in the north, while a desert separated it from [[Carmania (satrapy)|Carmania]] and [[Drangiana]] in the south. It is described in a very detailed manner by [[Ptolemy]] and [[Strabo]]<ref>Prolemy, 6.17; [[Strabo]], 11.10.1</ref> and corresponds, according to that, almost to the [[Herat Province]] of today's Afghanistan; [[Arachosia]], corresponds to the modern-day [[Kandahar]], [[Lashkargah]], and [[Quetta]]. Arachosia bordered [[Drangiana]] to the west, [[Paropamisadae]] (i.e. [[Gandhara]]) to the north and to the east, and [[Gedrosia]] to the south. The inhabitants of Arachosia were [[Iranian peoples]], referred to as Arachosians or Arachoti.<ref name=Iranicaarticle>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitt|first=Rüdiger|title=Arachosia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|location=United States|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/arachosia |date=10 August 2011}}</ref> It is assumed that they were called ''Pactyans'' by ethnicity, and that name may have been in reference to the ethnic [[Pashtuns|''Paṣtun'']] (Pashtun) [[Pashtun tribes|tribes]].<ref name="Houtsma-150">{{Cite book|title=E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936|last1=Houtsma|first1=Martijn Theodoor|volume=2|year=1987|publisher=Brill|isbn=90-04-08265-4|page=150|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA150|access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref>

[[Bactria]] was the area north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Tian Shan, with the Amu Darya flowing west through the center ([[Balkh]]); [[Sattagydia]] was the easternmost regions of the Achaemenid Empire, part of its Seventh tax district according to Herodotus, along with Gandārae, Dadicae and Aparytae.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fleming |first1=David |title=Achaemenid Sattagydia and the geography of Vivana's campaigns (DB III, 54–75) |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland |date=April 1982 |volume=114 |issue=2 |page=105 |jstor=25211309 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00159155|s2cid=130771356 }}</ref> It is believed to have been situated east of the Sulaiman Mountains up to the Indus River in the basin around Bannu. ([[Ghazni]]); and [[Gandhara]] which corresponds to modern day [[Kabul]], [[Jalalabad]], and [[Peshawar]].<ref>[[Louis Dupree (professor)|Dupree, Louis]]: ''Afghanistan (1973)'', pg. 274.</ref>

=== Alexander the Great and the Seleucids ===
{{main|Indian campaign of Alexander the Great|Cophen campaign}}

[[File:AlexanderConquestsInIndia.jpg|thumb|Alexander the Great's Empire in South Asia.]]
[[File:Begram Alexander.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Bronze]] statuette of Alexander the Great from [[Alexandria in the Caucasus|Bagram]], Afghanistan.]]
[[Alexander the Great]] invaded the area of modern Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating [[Darius III of Persia]] a year earlier at the [[Battle of Gaugamela]].<ref name="Achaemenid">{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0003) |title=Achaemenid Rule, ca. 550-331 B.C |access-date=16 August 2010 |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan |location=United States|year=1997}}</ref> His army faced strong resistance in the region's ancient tribal areas where Alexander is supposedly said to have commented that the land is "easy to march into, but difficult to march out of".<ref name="Cal-history">{{cite web |date=30 June 2002 |title=The Afghans – Their History and Culture |url=http://www.cal.org/co/afghan/ahist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317123355/http://www.cal.org/CO/afghan/ahist.html |archive-date=17 March 2010 |access-date=16 August 2010 |work=Dr. Barbara Robson and Dr. Juliene G. Lipson. Dr. Robson |publisher=[[Center for Applied Linguistics]] (CAL) |location=United States}}</ref> He first conquered Bactria in northern Afghanistan between 329 and 327 BCE,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crabben |first=Jan van der |title=Bactria |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Bactria/ |access-date=5 December 2024 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> and married [[Roxana of Bactria]]. He then conducted the [[Cophen campaign]] to the south near the Kabul valley, where his army fought against the [[Aśvaka|Aspasioi]] and Assakenoi peoples.<ref>Panjab Past and Present, pp 9–10; also see: History of Porus, pp 12, 38, Buddha Parkash</ref><ref>Proceedings, 1965, p 39, by Punjabi University. Dept. of Punjab Historical Studies – History.</ref> Although his expedition through Afghanistan was brief, Alexander left behind a Greek cultural influence that lasted several centuries. He founded and built many cities in the region, all named "Alexandria", including: [[Alexandria Ariana]] (modern-day [[Herat]]); [[Alexandria Arachosia]] (modern [[Kandahar]]); [[Alexandria in the Caucasus]] (near [[Bagram]]); and finally, [[Alexandria Eschate]] (near [[Khujand]]), in the far north. After Alexander's death, his loosely connected Macedonian empire was divided. [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]], a [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian]] officer during Alexander's campaign, declared himself ruler of his own [[Seleucid Empire]], which also included present-day Afghanistan.<ref>Dupree, Louis: ''Afghanistan (1973)'', pp. 276–283</ref> The Hellenistic city of [[Ai-Khanoum]] was later founded in northern Afghanistan, likely by the Seleucid ruler [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochus]], the son of Seleucus in about 280 BCE.<ref>Martinez-Sève, Laurianne (2014). "The Spatial Organization of Ai Khanoum, a Greek City in Afghanistan". American Journal of Archaeology. 118 (2): 267–283.</ref>

=== Maurya Empire ===
{{Main|Maurya Empire}}
{{see also|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}
{{Location map+ |Afghanistan |float=right |width=250 |caption=Locations of two Ashokan inscription sites in present-day Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Raychaudhuri |first=Hemchandra |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalhistory0000rayc/page/630/mode/1up?view=theater |page=630}}</ref> |places= {{Location map~ |Afghanistan |lat=33.396556 |long=68.416056 |label=Dasht-e-Nawar inscription |position=top}}{{Location map~ |Afghanistan |lat=31.732 |long=65.8267 |label=Kandahar bilingual inscription |position=left}}
}}
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Aramaic inscription of Laghman.jpg|[[Aramaic inscription of Laghman]] is an inscription on a slab of natural rock in the area of [[Laghman Province|Laghmân]], Afghanistan, written in [[Aramaic]] by the Indian emperor [[Ashoka]] about 260 BCE, and often categorized as one of [[Minor Rock Edicts]] of Ashoka.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nakamura |first1=Hajime |title=Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes |date=1987 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120802728 |page=349 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w0A7y4TCeVQC&pg=PA349 |language=en}}</ref>
File:Kandahar Greek inscription.jpg|[[Kandahar Greek Edicts of Ashoka]] is among the [[Major Rock Edicts]] of the Indian Emperor [[Ashoka]] (reigned 269–233 BCE), which were written in the [[Greek language]] and [[Prakrit]] language.
</gallery>

The southern half of Afghanistan fell to the [[Maurya Empire]], which was led by [[Chandragupta Maurya]]. The Mauryas further entrenched [[Buddhism]], but also other religions such as [[Brahmanism]] to the region, and were planning to capture more territory of Central Asia until they faced Seleucid forces, who ruled in northern Afghanistan. Seleucus I is said to have reached a [[peace treaty]] with Chandragupta by giving control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants.

{{blockquote|Alexander took these away from the Hindus and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Chandragupta Maurya|Sandrocottus]] ([[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.<ref name="aisk">{{cite web|url=http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php |title=An Historical Guide to Kabul – The Name |author=Nancy Hatch Dupree / Aḥmad ʻAlī Kuhzād |publisher=American International School of Kabul |year=1972 |access-date=2010-09-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830031416/http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php |archive-date=2010-08-30 }}</ref>|[[Strabo]]|64 BCE–24 CE}}

The most famous Mauryan emperor was [[Ashoka]] who reigned around 268–232 BCE,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Upinder |title=A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. |publisher=New Delhi: Pearson Education |year=2008 |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 |pages=331}}</ref> and whose inscriptions such the [[Edicts of Ashoka|Major and Minor Rock Edicts]] have been found in eastern and southern Afghanistan (for example in Kandahar). Supposedly also referred to by the name Piyadasi, he encouraged the propagation of Buddhism throughout the ancient world. In one of his edicts Ashoka states that the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic kingdoms]] to the north and west received his envoys and followed Buddhism:

{{blockquote|Now it is conquest by Dhamma that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochus]] (''Aṃtiyoka'') rules, beyond there where the four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]] (''Turamaya''), [[Antigonus II Gonatas|Antigonus]] (''Aṃtekina''), [[Magas of Cyrene|Magas]] (''Maka'') and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] (''Alikasudara'') rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni.

Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamktis, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma.<ref>[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dhammika/wheel386.html#rock14 The Edicts of King Ashoka: an English rendering by Ven. S. Dhammika] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510060618/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dhammika/wheel386.html |date=10 May 2016 }}. Access to Insight: Readings in Theravāda Buddhism. Retrieved 9 December 2024.</ref>||source=}}

==Hellenistic and Later periods (c. 255 BCE – 565 CE)==

===Greco-Bactrian Kingdom===
{{Main|Greco-Bactrian Kingdom}}
[[File:Greco-BactrianKingdomMap.jpg|thumb|Approximate maximum extent of the [[Greco-Bactrian kingdom]] circa 180 BCE, including the regions of [[Tapuria]] and [[Greater Khorasan|Traxiane]] in the West, [[Sogdiana]] and [[Ferghana]] to the North, [[Bactria]] and [[Arachosia]] to the South.]]

The [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]] was a [[Hellenistic]] kingdom,<ref name="A History of Greece - pg.64">{{cite book |last1=Doumanis |first1=Door Nicholas |title=A History of Greece |date=2009 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=9781137013675 |pages=64}}</ref> founded when [[Diodotus I]], the [[satrap]] of [[Bactria]] (and probably the surrounding provinces) seceded from the [[Seleucid Empire]] around 255 to 250 BCE.<ref name="Atlas of Military History - Greco-Bactrian Kingdom">{{cite book |last1=Lomazoff |first1=Amanda |last2=Ralby |first2=Aaron |title=The Atlas of Military History |date=1 August 2013 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=9781607109853 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ilZDwAAQBAJ&q=Diodotus+I+seceded+from+the+Seleucid+Empire+around+250+BCE.&pg=PT730}}</ref> Diodotus' dynasty was soon overthrown by [[Euthydemus I]] sometime around 230–220 BCE. After successfully repelling a Seleucid invasion, Euthydemus' son, [[Demetrius I of Bactria]], started an invasion of the [[Indian subcontinent]] between 190 and 180 BCE.<ref name="Strabo XI.XI.I">{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1|title=Strabo XI.XI.I|access-date=4 December 2024|archive-date=19 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080419032744/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+11.11.1|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was known for its high level of Hellenistic sophistication and possessed many wealthy cities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte41.html|title=Justin XLI, paragraph 1|access-date=4 December 2024|archive-date=10 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110100422/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte41.html|url-status=usurped}}</ref> The main cities of the kingdom were [[Balkh|Bactra]] and [[Ai-Khanoum]] in northern Afghanistan. The Greco-Bactrians continued to dominate Central Asia until about 130 BCE, when the son of [[Eucratides I]], named [[Heliocles I]], was [[Heliocles I#Yuezhi invasion|defeated and driven out of Bactria]] by the [[Yuezhi|Yuezhi tribes]] from the east. After the collapse of Greek rule, the Yuezhi now had complete control of Bactria. It is thought that Eucratides' dynasty continued to rule in [[Kabul]] and [[Alexandria of the Caucasus]] until about 70 BCE when King [[King Hermaeus|Hermaeus]] was also defeated by the Yuezhi. It is possible that Hermaeus was the last Greek ruler in Afghanistan, or perhaps it was one of the later Indo-Greek rulers.

<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Diodotus I of Bactria wearing the diadem.jpg|Gold coin of the Greco-Bactrian king Diodotus I (reigned c. 255–235 BCE), wearing a [[Diadem|royal diadem]].
File:CapitalSharp.jpg|Hellenistic [[Corinthian order|Corinthian capital]] found in Ai-Khanoum, c. 2nd century BCE.
File:Ai-Khanoum mosaic.jpg|Hellenistic floor [[mosaic]] from Ai-Khanoum, c. 2nd century BCE.
</gallery>

===Indo-Greek Kingdom===
{{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom|History of the Indo-Greek Kingdom}}
The Indo-Greek kingdom was founded when the Greco-Bactrian king [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius I]] invaded north-western India in the early 2nd century BCE. One of Demetrius I's successors, [[Menander I|Menander I Soter]], brought the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]] (now isolated from the rest of the Hellenistic world after the fall of Bactria<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jakobsson|first=Jens|date=2009|title=Who Founded the Indo-Greek Era of 186/5 B.C.E.?|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20616702|journal=The Classical Quarterly|volume=59|issue=2|pages=505–510|doi=10.1017/S0009838809990140|jstor=20616702|s2cid=170794074|issn=0009-8388|url-access=subscription}}</ref>) to its height between 165 and 130 BCE. He expanded the kingdom from Afghanistan and [[Pakistan]] to even larger proportions than Demetrius. After Menander's death, the [[Indo-Greeks]] steadily declined and the last Indo-Greek kings, either [[Strato II]] or [[Strato III]], were defeated in c. 10 CE.<ref>Bernard (1994), p.  126.</ref> The Indo-Greek Kingdom was succeeded by the [[Indo-Scythians]].

===Indo-Scythians===
[[File:BimaranCasket2.JPG|thumb|180px|The [[Bimaran casket]], representing the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] surrounded by [[Brahma (Buddhism)|Brahma]] (left) and [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Śakra]] (right) was found inside a [[stupa]] with coins of [[Azes II]] inside. [[British Museum]].]]
The [[Indo-Scythians]] were descended from the [[Sakas|Saka]] ([[Scythians]]) who migrated from southern [[Siberia]] to [[Pakistan]] and [[Arachosia]] from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from [[Gandhara]] to [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]]. One of the most important Indo-Scythian rulers was [[Azes I]], who ruled between about 48–25 BCE. The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Scythians were defeated by the south Indian Emperor [[Gautamiputra Satakarni]] of the [[Satavahana dynasty]].<ref>World history from early times to A D 2000 by B .V. Rao: p.97</ref><ref>A Brief History of India by Alain Daniélou p.136</ref> Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by [[Chandragupta II]] of the [[Gupta Empire]] from eastern India in the 4th century.<ref>Ancient India by Ramesh Chandra Majumdar p. 234</ref>

===Indo-Parthian Kingdom===
{{Main|Indo-Parthian Kingdom}}
[[File:Abdagases Seistan Circa 1st c AD.jpg|alt=|thumb|290x290px|Coin of Indo-Parthian king [[Abdagases I]] (c. 46–60 CE), with [[Greek language|Greek]] legend on the obverse, and [[Kharosthi]] legend on the reverse.]]
The [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom]] was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its eponymous first ruler [[Gondophares]]. They ruled parts of present-day Afghanistan, [[Pakistan]],<ref name="earrings">{{cite web|url=http://www.marymount.k12.ny.us/marynet/stwbwk05/05vm/earrings/html/emanalysis.html|title=Parthian Pair of Earrings|publisher=Marymount School, New York|access-date=22 November 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024151850/http://www.marymount.k12.ny.us/marynet/stwbwk05/05vm/earrings/html/emanalysis.html|archive-date=24 October 2007}}</ref> and northwestern [[India]], during or slightly before the 1st century CE. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held [[Taxila]] (in the present [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] province of Pakistan) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted between [[Kabul]] and [[Peshawar]]. These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by the [[Arsacid dynasty of Parthia|Arsacid]] dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups of [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]] tribes who lived east of [[Parthia]] proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title ''Gondophares'', which means "Holder of Glory", were even related. Christian writings claim<!-- Ref. WP Article on St. Thomas --> that the Apostle [[Thomas the Apostle|Saint Thomas]] – an architect and skilled carpenter – had a long sojourn in the court of king [[Gondophares]], had built a palace for the king at Taxila and had also ordained leaders for the Church before leaving for the [[Indus Valley]] in a chariot, for sailing out to eventually reach [[Malabar Coast]].

===Kushan Empire===
{{Main|Kushan Empire}}
[[File:Map of the Kushan Empire.png|thumb|Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (dotted line), according to the [[Rabatak inscription]].]]
The [[Kushan Empire]] expanded out of Bactria (in Central Asia) into the northwest of the subcontinent under the leadership of their first emperor, [[Kujula Kadphises]], about the middle of the 1st century CE. They came from an Indo-European language-speaking Central Asian tribe called the [[Yuezhi]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/105520/Zhang-Qian |title=Zhang Qian |date=2015 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/654618/Yuezhi |title=Yuezhi |date=2015 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> a branch of which was known as the Kushans. By the time of his grandson, [[Kanishka the Great]], the empire spread to encompass much of Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm| title = and Si-Yu-Ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-S?ng, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 318–350| access-date = 8 December 2015| archive-date = 7 July 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150707162312/http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref> and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as [[Saketa]] and [[Sarnath]] near [[Varanasi]] (Benares).<ref>which began about 127 CE. "Falk 2001, pp. 121–136", Falk (2001), pp. 121–136, Falk, Harry (2004), pp. 167–176 and Hill (2009), pp. 29, 33, 368–371.</ref> The Kushans inherited the Hellenistic culture of Bactria and their [[Pantheon (religion)|pantheon]] included a diverse group of deities, some Greek and some native Iranian. Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, and as the Kushans expanded southward, the deities<ref>{{cite book|author=Rafi U. Samad|title=The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNUwBYGYgxsC&pg=PA93|year=2011|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=978-0-87586-859-2|page=93}}</ref> of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority.<ref>{{cite book|author=Grégoire Frumkin|title=Archaeology in Soviet Central Asia|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum|url-access=registration|year=1970|publisher=Brill Archive|page=[https://archive.org/details/archaeologyinsov0000frum/page/51 51]|id=GGKEY:4NPLATFACBB}}</ref> They played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its spread to Central Asia and China. Historian [[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent Smith]] said about Kanishka:

{{Blockquote|He played the part of a second Ashoka in the history of Buddhism.<ref name="ReferenceC">Oxford History of India – Vincent Smith</ref>}}

The empire 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 [[Roman Empire|Rome]]. The Kushans brought new trends to the budding and blossoming [[Gandhara art]], which reached its peak during Kushan Rule. By the 3rd century, their empire in India was disintegrating and their last known great emperor was [[Vasudeva I]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm|title=The History of Pakistan: The Kushans|website=www.kushan.org|access-date=8 December 2015|archive-date=7 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707162312/http://www.kushan.org/general/other/part1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Si-Yu-Ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World, (Tr. Samuel Beal: Travels of Fa-Hian, The Mission of Sung-Yun and Hwei-S?ng, Books 1–5), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd. London. 1906</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:BuddhistTriad.JPG|Early [[Mahayana Buddhist]] triad. From left to right, a Kushan devotee, [[Maitreya]], [[The Buddha]], [[Avalokiteśvara]], and a Buddhist monk. 2nd–3rd century, Gandhara.
File:Kumara, The Divine General LACMA M.85.279.3.jpg|Kumara or [[Kartikeya]] with a Kushan devotee, c. 2nd century CE.
File:Gandhara, omaggio di un re kushana al bodhisattva, II-III sec.JPG|Kushan prince, said to be [[Huvishka]], making a donation to a [[bodhisattva]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marshak |first1=Boris |last2=Grenet |first2=Frantz |title=Une peinture kouchane sur toile |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |date=2006 |volume=150 |issue=2 |pages=957|doi=10.3406/crai.2006.87101 }}</ref>
</gallery>

=== Sasanian Empire ===
{{Main|Sasanian Empire}}
[[File:Sasanian Empire 621 A.D.jpg|thumb|260px|The [[Sasanian Empire]] at its greatest extent c. 620 CE, under the king [[Khosrow II]].]]
The [[Sasanians]] ended the rule of the [[Kushan Empire|Kushans Empire]]. Officially known as the Empire of Iranians, the Sasanian Empire was the last Persian Empire before the rise of [[Islam]]. Named after the House of [[Sasan]], it ruled from about 224 to 651 CE. In the east around 325 CE, [[Shapur II]] regained the upper hand against the [[Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom]] and took control of large territories in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Much of modern-day [[Afghanistan]] became part of the Sasanian Empire, since [[Shapur I]] extended his authority eastwards into Afghanistan and the previously autonomous [[Kushans]] were obliged to accept his [[suzerainty]].

From around 370 CE, however, towards the end of the reign of [[Shapur II]], the Sasanians lost the control of [[Bactria]] and Afghanistan to invaders from the north. These were the [[Kidarites]], the [[Hephthalites]], the [[Alchon Huns]], and the [[Nezak Huns]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neelis |first1=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=2010 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-9004181595 |page=159 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC&pg=PA159 |language=en}}</ref> These invaders initially issued coins based on [[Sasanian]] designs.<ref name="Tandon2013">{{cite journal |title=Notes on the Evolution of Alchon Coins |journal=Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society |year=2013 |last=Tandon |first=Pankaj |issue=216 |pages=24–34 |url=http://coinindia.com/Alchon.pdf |access-date=8 July 2018 }}</ref>
===Huna people===
{{Main|Huna people}}
[[File:Bactrian language letter from Meyam, King of the people of Kadag, 461-462 CE.jpg|thumb|280x280px|A letter of the Alchon Hun ruler [[Mehama]], written in the [[Bactrian language]] using a cursive [[Greek alphabet|Greek script]]. It says: "Meyam, King of the people of Kadag"; dated to 461–462 CE.]]
The [[Hunas]] were nomadic peoples who were of Central Asian origin. Four of the Huna peoples conquered and ruled Afghanistan: the [[Kidarites]], [[Alchon Huns]], [[Hephthalites]], and the [[Nezak Huns]].

====Kidarites====
{{Main|Kidarites}}
The [[Kidarites]] were a nomadic clan, the first of the four [[Huna people]] to live in Afghanistan. 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.

====Alchon Huns====
{{Main|Alchon Huns}}
The Alchon Huns (''Alchono'' in [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]) were one of the four [[Huna people]] that ruled in Afghanistan. A group of Central Asian tribes, they rose to power around 400 CE. The first major ruler was [[Khingila I|Khingila]], who emerged and took control of the routes across the [[Hindu Kush]] from the Kidarites. Coins of the Alchons rulers Khingila and [[Mehama]] were found at the Buddhist monastery of [[Mes Aynak]], southeast of [[Kabul]], confirming the Alchon presence in this area around 450–500 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alram |first1=Michael |title=From the Sasanians to the Huns New Numismatic Evidence from the Hindu Kush |journal=The Numismatic Chronicle |date=2014 |volume=174 |page=274 |jstor=44710198 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44710198}}</ref> Alchon ruler [[Toramana]] later overran the northern region of Pakistan and Northern India, and successfully occupied areas as far as [[Eran]] and greatly weakened the [[Gupta Empire]].<ref>John Keay, ''India: A History'', p. 158</ref> [[Mihirakula]], the son of Toramana, a [[Saivite]] Hindu, then ruled from his capital of [[Sagala]] in modern [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6p2XCgAAQBAJ&q=sialkot+xuanzang&pg=PA113|title=The World of the Skandapurāṇa|last=Bakker|first=Hans|date=16 July 2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004277144|language=en}}</ref> Ancient Buddhist writers describe Mihirakula's merciless persecution of Buddhists and destruction of monasteries,<ref>{{Cite book|last=A. L. Basham|url=https://archive.org/details/wonderthatwasind00alba|title=The Wonder That Was India|date=1967|others=Public Resource}}</ref> though the description is disputed as far as the authenticity is concerned.<ref>Hiuen Tsiang, Si-Yu-Ki, ''Buddhist Records of the Western World'' (tr. Samuel Beal), London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. Ltd, 1906, pp. 167–168</ref> The Huns were finally defeated by the Indian kings [[Yashodharman]] of Malwa and Narasimhagupta in the 6th century. Some of them were driven out of India and others were assimilated in the Indian society.<ref>N. Jayapalan, ''History of India'', p. 134</ref>

====Hephthalites====
{{Main|Hephthalite Empire}}
{{Annotated image
| image=Hephthalites (map).jpg
|=right| annotations =
{{Annotation|75|80|[[Sasanian Empire|{{center|SASANIAN<br />EMPIRE}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|15|60|[[Byzantine Empire|{{center|BYZANTINE<br />EMPIRE}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|250|55|[[Northern Wei|{{center|NORTHERN<br />WEI}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|273|95|[[Liang dynasty|{{center|LIANG}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|155|90|[[Alchon Huns|{{center|Alchon<br />Huns}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=7|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|180|110|[[Gupta Empire|{{center|GUPTA<br />EMPIRE}}]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|230|27|[[Rouran Khaganate|JUAN-JUAN KHAGANATE]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
{{Annotation|190|13|[[Tiele people|Gaoju Turks]]|font-weight=bold|font-style=normal|font-size=8|color=#000000}}
|caption= {{center|The Imperial [[Hephthalites]] c. 500 CE}}
}}
The Hephthalites (''Ebodalo'' in [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]), also known as the White Huns and one of the four [[Huna people]] to live in Afghanistan, were a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the late antiquity period. The Hephthalites established themselves in modern-day Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century, and were of either [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]<ref>{{cite book |author=M.A. Shaban |chapter=Khurasan at the Time of the Arab Conquest |editor=C.E. Bosworth |title=Iran and Islam ''in memory of the late Vlademir Minorsky'' |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=1971 |page=481 |isbn=0-85224-200-X}}</ref> or [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]]{{sfn|Enoki|1959}} ethnic origins. As they rose to prominence, the Hephthalites displaced the [[Kidarites]] and the [[Alchon Huns]], and soon came into conflict with the Sasanian Empire, whom they defeated on a number of occasions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maas |first=Michael |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Attila |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-107-02175-4 |pages=287}}</ref> Buddhism was common in the region, and it is likely that the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan]] were constructed around this time. The Chinese Buddhist monk [[Xuanzang]] visited [[Bamyan|Bamiyan]] and [[Kingdom of Kapisa|ancient Kapisa]] (modern [[Parwan Province|Parwan province]]) between 629 and 645 CE, and described the Buddhas of Bamiyan.<ref name="Buddhism of Bamiyan">{{cite journal |first=Meiji |last=Yamada|url=http://www.shin-ibs.edu/documents/pwj3-4/07YM4.pdf |title=Buddhism of Bamiyan |journal=Pacific World, Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies |series=3rd |volume=4 |pages=109–122 |date=1 January 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707012445/http://www.shin-ibs.edu/documents/pwj3-4/07YM4.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2010}}</ref> However, during the time of [[Song Yun]], who visited the chief of the [[Hephthalite]] nomads at his summer residence in [[Badakhshan]] and later in [[Gandhara]], observed that they had no belief in the Buddhist law and served a large number of divinities."<ref>{{cite web |title=The White Huns – The Hephthalites |url=http://www.silk-road.com/artl/heph.shtml |access-date=11 January 2013 |publisher=Silkroad Foundation}}</ref> The 6th-century Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea (Book I. ch. 3) related the Huns of Europe with the Hephthalites or "White Huns" who subjugated the Sasanians and invaded northwestern India, stating that they were of the same stock, "in fact as well as in name", although he contrasted the Western Huns with the Hephthalites, in that the Hephthalites were sedentary and white-skinned, and possessed "not ugly" features.<ref>Anthony Kaldellis, ''Procopius of Caesarea: Tyranny, History, and Philosophy at the End of Antiquity'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ag0mUQiLb7kC&pg=PA70 p. 70]</ref><ref>Jonathan Conant, ''Staying Roman: Conquest and Identity in Africa and the Mediterranean'', 439–700, Cambridge University Press, 2012, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wJEgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA259 p. 259]</ref>

====Nezak Huns====
{{Main|Nezak Huns}}
The Nezaks were the last of the four [[Huna people]] that ruled in Afghanistan south of the [[Hindu Kush]] from about 484 to 665 CE. They rose to power and took control of the [[Zabulistan]] region after the defeat and death of the Sassanian Emperor [[Peroz I]] in 484 CE by the Hephthalites.{{Sfn|Ziad|2022|p=60}}{{sfn|Alram|2014|p=280}}

==Middle Ages (c. 565–1504 CE)==
[[File:Ancient Khorasan highlighted.jpg|thumb|Map of the region during the 7th century]]
From the [[Middle Ages]] to around 1750 the eastern regions of Afghanistan such as [[Kabulistan]] and [[Zabulistan]] (now [[Kabul]], [[Kandahar]] and [[Ghazni]]) were recognized as being part of [[Indian subcontinent]] (''Al-Hind'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&dq=zabul+kabul+al-Hind&pg=PA116 |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th–11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation
 | chapter = The Tāhirids and Ṣafārids
 | last = Bosworth
 | first = C. E.
 | year = 1975
 | title = The Cambridge History of Iran
 | editor-last = Frye
 | editor-first = R. N.
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | volume = 4
 | pages = 111–112
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC
 | isbn = 978-0-521-20093-6
 }}</ref> Its western parts were included in the regions called [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Khorasan-historical-region-Asia|title=Khorāsān &#124; historical region, Asia|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=3 April 2024 }}</ref><ref name="Khorasan">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/316850/Khorasan |title=Khorasan |quote=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.|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=21 October 2010}}</ref> [[Tokharistan]]<ref name="AA51">{{cite book |last1=Akasoy |first1=Anna |last2=Burnett |first2=Charles |last3=Yoeli-Tlalim |first3=Ronit |title=Islam and Tibet – Interactions along the Musk Routes |date=14 December 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-92605-8 |pages=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lu64DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT51 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Sistan]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/drangiana
|last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt (Indogermanist)
|title=DRANGIANA or Zarangiana; territory around Lake Hāmūn and the Helmand river in modern Sīstān |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |date=15 December 1995}}</ref> Two of the four main capitals of Khorasan (i.e. [[Balkh]] and [[Herat]]) are now located in Afghanistan. The countries of Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni formed the [[frontier]] region between Khorasan and the Indus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=91 |title=Events Of The Year 910 (p.4) |author=[[Babur|Zahir ud-Din Mohammad Babur]] |work=[[Baburnama|Memoirs of Babur]] |publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]] |year=1525 |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114042117/http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=91 |archive-date=14 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This land, inhabited by the [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan tribes]] (i.e. ancestors of [[Pashtuns]]), was called [[Name of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], which loosely covered a wide area between the [[Hindu Kush]] and the [[Indus River]], principally around the [[Sulaiman Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ibn Battuta |date=2004 |title=Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKqn_CWTxYEC&pg=PA180 |edition=reprint, illustrated |publisher=Routledge |page=416 |isbn=0-415-34473-5}}</ref><ref name="Firishta">{{cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |title=The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8) |access-date=22 August 2010 |author=[[Firishta|Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah]] |work=Sir H. M. Elliot |publisher=Packard Humanities Institute |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726121158/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |archive-date=26 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The earliest record of the name ''"[[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]]"'' (as ''"Abgân"'') being mentioned is by [[Shapur I]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]] during the 3rd century CE<ref name="Habibi">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|year=1969|access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref><ref name="Abgan">{{cite book|title=Afghanistan -a country without a state?|last1=Noelle-Karimi|first1=Christine|author2=Conrad J. Schetter |author3=Reinhard Schlagintweit |year=2002|publisher=IKO|location=University of Michigan, United States|isbn=3-88939-628-3|page=18|quote=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'...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360 |title=History of Afghanistan|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online Version|access-date=3 November 2010}}</ref> which is later recorded in the form of ''"Avagānā"'' by the Vedic astronomer [[Varāhamihira]] in his 6th century CE [[Bṛhat Saṃhitā|Brihat-samhita]].<ref name="Iranica">{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation |title=Afghan |work=Ch. M. Kieffer |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition |date=15 December 1983|access-date=27 September 2010}}</ref> It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as ''"Afghana"'', grandson of [[Saul|King Saul of Israel]].<ref>Niazi, Shaheer. "'The Origin of the Pathans'." Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 18.1 (1970): 23.</ref> Xuanzang, the Chinese pilgrim who visited the Afghanistan area several times between 630 and 644 CE also speaks about them.<ref name="Habibi"/> Ancestors of many of today's [[Turkic languages|Turkic-speaking]] Afghans settled in the [[Hindu Kush]] area and began to [[Pashtunization|assimilate]] much of the [[Afghan culture|culture]] and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0006) |title=Islamic conquest|publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] on [[Afghanistan]]|year=1997|access-date=10 September 2010}}</ref> Among these were the [[Khalaj people]] which are known today as [[Ghilzai]].<ref name="Khalaj">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |title=The Turkish dialect of the Khalaj |volume=10 |edition=2 |pages=417–437 |author=[[Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky|V. Minorsky]] |publisher=[[University of London]] |access-date=10 January 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |archive-date=13 June 2011 }}</ref>

===Kabul Shahi===
{{Main|Turk Shahis|Hindu Shahis}}

The Kabul Shahi dynasties (also called Turk Shahi) ruled the [[Kabul Valley]] and [[Gandhara]] from the decline of the [[Kushan Empire]] in the 3rd century to the early 9th century.<ref name="EB">[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067075 Shahi Family] ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006. 16 October 2006</ref>  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 to 670, when the capitals were located in [[Kapisa Province|Kapisa]] and Kabul, and later [[Hund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Udabhandapura]], also known as Hund<ref>Sehrai, Fidaullah (1979). Hund: ''The Forgotten City of Gandhara'', p. 2. Peshawar Museum Publications New Series, Peshawar.</ref> for its new capital.<ref>The Shahi Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, pp 1, 45–46, 48, 80, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians; Country, Culture and Political life in early and medieval India, 2004, p 34, Daud Ali.</ref><ref>''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 1954, pp 112 ff; "The Shahis of Afghanistan and Punjab", 1973, p 46, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians.</ref><ref>''India, A History'', 2001, p 203, John Keay.</ref>

The Hindu Shahis under ruler [[Jayapala]], is known for his struggles in defending his kingdom against the [[Ghaznavids]] in the modern-day eastern Afghanistan region. Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of [[Ghazni]] both in the reign of [[Sabuktigin]] and in that of his son [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud]], which initiated the Muslim Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.<ref name="Lewis">{{Citation | title=The Cambridge history of Islam |editor1=P. M. Holt |editor2=Ann K. S. Lambton |editor3=[[Bernard Lewis]] | year=1977 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-29137-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ccI0u5XDR0C | page=3 | quote=... 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 ...}}</ref> Sabuktigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.<ref name="Lewis"/> Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.<ref name="Lewis"/> Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]] and [[Indus River]].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite web |author=[[Firishta]]|title=History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India|volume=1: Section 15 |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=12 |editor=Ameer Nasir-ood-Deen Subooktugeen |publisher=Packard Humanities Institute |access-date=30 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194724/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=12 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

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 [[Firishta]]:

{{blockquote|The two armies having met on the confines of [[Laghman Province|Lumghan]], [[Sabuktigin|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.<ref name="Ferishta"/>}}

However, the army was hopeless in battle against the western forces, particularly against the young Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref name="Ferishta"/> In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the [[Qarakhanid]]s north of the [[Hindu Kush]], Jaipal [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|attacked Ghazni]] once more and suffered yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day [[Peshawar]].  After the [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], he committed suicide because his subjects thought he had brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="Ferishta"/>

Jayapala was succeeded by his son [[Anandapala]],<ref name="Lewis"/> who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various campaigns against the advancing Ghaznavids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the [[Kashmir]] [[Sivalik Hills]].<ref name="Ferishta"/>

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Gardesh Ganesha dedicated by Khingila, Kabul, 7-8th century CE.jpg|The ''[[Gardez Ganesha]]'', representing a [[Hindu deity]], [[Ganesha]], consecrated by the [[Turk Shahis|Shahis]] in [[Gardez]], Afghanistan, c. 7th-8th century CE.
File: Khair Khaneh sanctuary (devotee 1).jpg|[[Khair Khaneh]] donor, wearing a tunic, boots and a sword.
File:Turk Shahis. Sandan. After 688 CE.jpg|A Turk Shahi ruler named Sandan. Copy of an issue of [[Khusrau II]], combining [[Brahmi script]] around the ruler, [[Bactrian script]] along the two rims, where ςανδανο [[:wikt:βαγο|βαγο]] [[:wikt:χοαδηο|χοαδηο]],"Lord King Sandan" is mentioned, and [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi]] around the altar on the reverse, c. 7th century CE.<ref>{{cite web|title=Coin type IOC.2367 British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_IOC-2367|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Alram|first1=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5AcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|title="The numismatic legacy of the Sasanians in the East" in "Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford"|date=1 February 2021|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-46066-9|page=32|language=en}}</ref>
File:Coins of the Shahis 8th century.jpg|Coins of the Hindu Shahis, which later inspired [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] coins in the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Wink1991">{{cite book|author=André Wink|title=Al- Hind: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest. 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA127|date=June 1991|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|pages=127–}}</ref>
</gallery>
===Arab conquest===
{{Main|Muslim conquests of Afghanistan}}

In 642 CE, [[Rashidun]] Arabs had conquered most of West Asia from the Sasanians and Byzantines, and from the western city of [[Herat]] they introduced the religion of Islam as they entered new cities.{{cn|date=June 2025}} 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.

{{blockquote|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 (name)|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 [[Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari|Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari]], came forth from his capital at [[Zaranj]] in 870 CE and marched through [[Lashkargah|Bost]], [[Kandahar]], [[Ghazni]], [[Kabul]], [[Bamyan, Afghanistan|Bamyan]], [[Balkh]] and [[Herat]], conquering in the name of Islam.<ref>Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" ''An Historical Guide To Afghanistan'' Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, {{OCLC|241390}}</ref>|[[Nancy Hatch Dupree]]|1971}}

===Ghaznavid Empire===
{{Main|Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid campaigns in India}}
[[File:Ghaznavid Empire 975 - 1187 (AD).PNG|thumb|Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent in 1030 CE]]
The Ghaznavid dynasty ruled from the city of [[Ghazni]] in eastern [[Afghanistan]]. From 997 to his death in 1030, [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] turned the former provincial city of [[Ghazni]] into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's [[Afghanistan]], eastern and central [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], parts of India, [[Turkmenistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]]. [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] (Mahmude Ghaznavi in local pronunciation) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and the city of Ghazni became a great cultural centre as well as a base for frequent forays into the Indian subcontinent. The [[Nasher clan|Nasher]] Khans became princes of the [[Kharoti]] until the Soviet invasion.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="afghan-bios.info"/>

===Ghurids===
{{Main|Ghurid dynasty}}
[[File:Ghurid Empire according to Schwartzberg Atlas, p.147.png|thumb|right|Map of Ghurid territory, before the assassination of [[Muhammad of Ghor]].<ref name="JS">{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical Atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Digital South Asia Library|author-link=Joseph E. Schwartzberg |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=185|page=147, Map "g"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Richard M. |author-link=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |date=2019 |publisher=Allen Lane |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIF6DwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0713995824}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C.E. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |pages=432–433 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA432 |language=en}}</ref> In the west, Ghurid territory extended to [[Nishapur]] and [[Merv]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=David |page=26, Figure I:2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6h2_DwAAQBAJ |title=The Ebb and Flow of the Ghūrid Empire |date=2018 |publisher=Sydney University Press |isbn=978-1-74332-542-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="KS">{{cite book |last1=Schmidt |first1=Karl J. |title=An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=Routledge |page=37, Map 16.2|isbn=978-1-317-47681-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |language=en}}</ref> while Ghurid troops reached as far as [[Gorgan]] on the shores of the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref name="a">{{cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA185 |language=en|quote="In 1201 Ghurid troops entered Khurasan and captured Nishapur, Merv, Sarakhs and Tus, reaching as far as Gurgan and Bistam. Kuhistan, a stronghold of the Ismailis, was plundered and all Khurasan was brought temporarily under Ghurid control"}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ghurids |last=Bosworth |first=C. Edmund |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, Vol. X, Fasc. 6 |pages=586–590 |location=New York |year=2001b}}</ref> Eastward, the Ghurids invaded as far as [[Bengal]].<ref name="THC">{{cite book |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date=17 August 2020 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en|quote="In 1205, Bakhtīyar Khilji sacked Nudiya, the pre-eminent city of western Bengal and established an Islamic government at Laukhnauti, the capital of the predecessor Sena dynasty. On this occasion, commemorative coins were struck in gold and silver in the name of Muhammad b. Sām"}}</ref>]]
[[File:Great_Mosque_of_Herat._Brick_iwan_with_remains_of_Ghurid_inscriptions._1200-1201_CE_(corrected_for_perspective).jpg|left|thumb|upright|Built during the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurids]] in the 12th century, the [[Friday Mosque of Herat]] is one of the oldest mosques in [[Afghanistan]].]]
The [[Ghurids]] defeated the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1148, but the Ghaznavid [[Sultan]]s continued to live in Ghazni as the '[[Nasher (tribe)|Nasher]]' until the early 20th century.<ref name="ReferenceA">Meher, Jagmohan: {{Google books |title=Afghanistan: Dynamics of Survival |page=29 |id=aTP1-nG0Us4C }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">{{Google books |title=International Business Publication: Afghanistan. Country Study Guide, Volume 1, Strategic Information and Developments |page=66 |id=BXG8AAAAQBAJ }}</ref><ref name="afghan-bios.info">{{Cite web|url=http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=556&task=view&total=2916&start=857&Itemid=2|title=Database|website=www.afghan-bios.info}}</ref> The Ghurids were of [[Tajiks|Tajik]] origin<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Richard M. Eaton|Richard Eaton]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLXXAAAAMAAJ&q=Rajputs |title=Essays on Islam and Indian History |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=100|quote=The dynamics of north Indian politics changed dramatically, however, when the Ghurids, a dynasty of Tajik (eastern Iranian), origin arrived from central Afghanistan towards the end of twelfth century|isbn=978-0-19-565114-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, Online Edition, 2006: ''"... The Shansabānīs were, like the rest of the <u>Gh</u>ūrīs, of eastern Iranian Tājik stock ..."''</ref> and their empire was established by three brothers from the [[Ghor Province|Ghor province]] of Afghanistan, namely Qutb al-Din, Sayf al-Din, Baha al-Din, all of whom fought against the Ghaznavid emperor Bahram Shah of Ghazni but were not successful and killed in the process. Initially [[Ala al-Din Husayn]], the son of Baha al-Din defeated the Ghazanavid ruler [[Bahram-Shah of Ghazna|Bahram Shah]] and to take revenge of his father and uncle's death ordered the city to be sacked. The Ghorids or Ghurids lost the northern territory of Transoxiana and northern Great Korasan especially their capital Ghor province due to the invasion of Seljucks but Sultan Ala al-Din's successors consolidated their power in India by defeating the remainder of Ghaznavid rulers. At their largest extent they ruled east of [[Iran]], much of the [[Indian subcontinent]] like [[Pakistan]], and north and central part of modern [[India]].

===Mongol conquest===
{{Further|Mongol campaigns in Central Asia|Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire}}
[[File:Genghis Khan empire-en.svg|thumb|260px|[[Mongol invasions and conquests]] seriously depopulated large areas of Afghanistan]]

The Mongols invaded Afghanistan in 1221 having defeated the Khwarazmian armies. The Mongols invasion had long-term consequences with many parts of Afghanistan never recovering from the devastation. The towns and villages suffered much more than the nomads who were able to avoid attack. The destruction of irrigation systems maintained by the sedentary people led to the shift of the weight of the country towards the hills. The city of [[Balkh]] was destroyed and even 100 years later [[Ibn Battuta]] described it as a city still in ruins. While the Mongols were pursuing the forces of [[Jalal al-Din Mangburni]] they besieged the city of [[Siege of Bamyan|Bamyan]]. In the course of the siege a defender's arrow killed Genghis Khan's grandson [[Mutukan]]. The Mongols razed the city and massacred its inhabitants in revenge, with its former site known as the [[Shahr-e Gholghola|City of Screams]]. [[Herat]], located in a fertile valley, was destroyed as well but was rebuilt under the local [[Kart dynasty]]. After the Mongol Empire splintered, Herat eventually became part of the [[Ilkhanate]] while Balkh and the strip of land from Kabul through Ghazni to Kandahar went to the [[Chagatai Khanate]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Stephen |title=Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban |date=2003 |publisher=DA CAPO PRESS |isbn=9780585482132 |pages=81–82}}</ref> The Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush were usually either allied with the [[Khalji dynasty]] of northern India or independent.

===Timurid Empire===
{{Main|Timurid Empire}}
[[File:Timurid Dynasty 821 - 873 (AH).png|thumb|Timurid Empire at its greatest extent in about 1405 CE.]]
[[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 bin Jahangir Mirza|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]].
Timur, a descendant of Genghis Khan, created a vast new empire across Russia and Persia which he ruled from his capital in Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan. Timur captured Herat in 1381 and his son, [[Shah Rukh]] moved the capital of the Timurid empire to Herat in 1405. The Timurids, 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. Under the rule of Shah Rukh the city served as the focal point of the [[Timurid Renaissance]], whose glory matched [[Florence]] of the [[Italian Renaissance]] as the center of a cultural rebirth.<ref>Periods of World History: A Latin American Perspective – Page 129</ref><ref>The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia – Page 465</ref> A century later, the emperor Babur, a descendant of Timur, visited Herat and wrote, "the whole habitable world had not such a town as Herat." In 1500 CE, 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.<ref>Babur-Nama, translated by Nette Beverage, Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, 1979.</ref><ref>Taliban Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, 2nd ed. Rashid, Ahmed. Introduction, page 9. Yale University Press</ref>

==Modern era (1504–1973)==

=== Mughals, Uzbeks, and Safavids ===
{{Main|Mughal Empire|Khanate of Bukhara}}
[[File:The Surrender of Kandahar.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]] from [[Padshahnama]] depicting the surrender of the [[Shia Islam|Shia]] [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]] garrison of Kandahar in 1638 to the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] army of [[Shah Jahan]] commanded by Kilij Khan.]]
In 1504, [[Babur]], a descendant of [[Timur]], arrived from present-day Uzbekistan and moved to the city of Kabul. He began exploring new territories in the region, with Kabul serving as his military headquarters. Instead of looking towards the powerful Safavids towards the Persian west, Babur was more focused on the [[Indian subcontinent]]. In 1526, he left with his army to capture the seat of the [[Delhi Sultanate]], which at that point was possessed by the Afghan [[Lodi dynasty]] of India. After defeating [[Ibrahim Lodi]] and his army, Babur turned (Old) Delhi into the capital of his newly established [[Mughal Empire]].
[[File:Recueil Miniatures indiennes peinture btv1b55003372n 13.JPEG|thumb|[[Khan Jahan Lodi]], a high ranking noble of the Mughal empire, commissioned the first work covering the history of Afghan people, [[Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani]], which influenced later works on this topic]]
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 Islam|Shia]] [[Safavid dynasty|Safavid]]s, and the eastern section was under the [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] Mughals of northern India, who under Akbar established in Kabul one of the original twelve [[subah]]s (imperial top-level provinces), bordering Lahore, Multan and [[Kashmir Subah|Kashmir]] (added to Kabul in 1586, later split-off) and short-lived [[Balkh Subah]] and [[Badakhshan Subah]] (only 1646–47). Originally the Kabul Subah comprised the regions (''sarkars'') of [[Kabul]], [[Kashmir Subah|Kashmir]], [[Hazara region|Pakli]], [[Bhimber District|Bimbar]], Sawad ([[Swat District|Swat]]), [[Bajaur]], [[Dawar (Pashtun tribe)|Daur]]-[[Bannu District|Banu]]-[[Isakhel]] and [[Kandahar]].<ref>Abul Fazl-i-Allami (1949, reprint 1993). ''Ain-i-Akbari'' Vol. II (tr. H.S. Jarrett, rev. J.N. Sarkar), Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, pp.349-416</ref>   The Kandahar region in the south served as a [[buffer zone]] between the Mughals (who shortly established a Qandahar subah 1638–1648) and Persia's 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 [[Chil Zena]] 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 built by the Mughals.<ref>Ross Marlay, Clark D. Neher. 'Patriots and Tyrants: Ten Asian Leaders pp.269. {{ISBN|0-8476-8442-3}}</ref>

===Hotak dynasty===
{{Main|Hotak dynasty}}
[[File:Map of the Hotak Empire 1715, Mirwais Hotak.png|thumb|250px|Map of the Hotak Empire during the Reign of [[Mirwais Hotak]], 1715.]]
[[File:Mapofthehotaks1728.png|thumb|Hotak Empire, c. 1728.]]
In 1704, the Safavid Shah [[Sultan Husayn|Husayn]] appointed [[George XI of Kartli|George XI]] (''Gurgīn Khān''), a ruthless [[Georgians|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 he ruled Kandahar with uncompromising 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.<ref name="Otfinoski">{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan|last1=Otfinoski|first1=Steven Bruce|year=2004|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=0-8160-5056-2|page=130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbXmk-EauHIC&pg=PA8|access-date=27 September 2010}}</ref>

In April 1709, Mirwais along with his militia under Saydal Khan Naseri revolted.<ref name="afghanembassy.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.afghanembassy.com/viewtopic.asp?id=1331&t=Afghan%20Leaders%20Yearbook |title=Afghan Leaders Yearbook, Afghanistan main interactive web site, made by Afghans for Afghans |website=www.afghanembassy.com |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318233241/http://www.afghanembassy.com/viewtopic.asp?id=1331&t=Afghan%20Leaders%20Yearbook |archive-date=18 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Runion, Meredith L.: {{Google books |title=The History of Afghanistan |page=63 |id=aZk9XzqCFGUC }}</ref> The [[rebellion|uprising]] began when George XI and his escort were killed after a [[banquet]] that had been prepared by Mirwais at his house outside the city.<ref name="Malleson-227">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce|year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London|isbn=1-4021-7278-8|page=459|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&pg=PA227|access-date=3 November 2010}}</ref> Around four days later, an army of well-trained Georgian troops arrived in the city after hearing of Gurgīn's death, but Mirwais and his Afghan forces successfully held the city against the troops. Between 1710 and 1713, the Afghan forces defeated several large Persian armies that were dispatched from Isfahan by the Safavids, which included [[Qizilbash]] and Georgian/Circassian troops.<ref name="Malleson-231">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce |year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London|isbn=1-4021-7278-8|page=459|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&pg=PA231|access-date=3 November 2010}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|Several half-hearted attempts to subdue the rebellious city having failed, the Persian Government despatched [[Kaikhosro of Kartli|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.<ref name="Browne29">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001014&ct=29|title=An Outline Of The History Of Persia During The Last Two Centuries (A.D. 1722–1922)|page=29|author=[[Edward Granville Browne]]|publisher=Packard Humanities Institute|location=London|access-date=2010-09-24}}</ref> |[[Edward Granville Browne|Edward G. Browne]]|1924}}
[[File:SHAH-MAHMUD-HOTAK.jpg|thumb|upright|Modern-day sketch work of [[Mahmud Hotak]].]]

Southern Afghanistan was made into an independent local Pashtun kingdom.<ref name="Romano">{{Cite book|title=A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan|last1=Romano|first1=Amy|year=2003|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=0-8239-3863-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/historicalatlaso0000roma/page/64 64]|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalatlaso0000roma|url-access=registration|access-date=17 October 2010}}</ref> Refusing the title of king, Mirwais was called "Prince of Qandahár and general of the national troops" by his Afghan countrymen. He died of natural causes in November 1715 and was succeeded by his brother [[Abdul Aziz Hotak]]. Aziz was killed about two years later by Mirwais' son [[Mahmud Hotak]], allegedly for planning to give Kandahar's sovereignty back to Persia.<ref name="Malleson-234">{{Cite book|title=History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878|last1=Malleson|first1=George Bruce|year=1878|publisher=Elibron.com|location=London|isbn=1-4021-7278-8|page=459|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&pg=PA234|access-date=3 November 2010}}</ref> Mahmud led an Afghan army into Persia in 1722 and defeated the Safavids at the [[Battle of Gulnabad]]. The Afghans captured [[Isfahan]] (Safavid capital) and Mahmud briefly became the new Persian [[Shah]].  He was known after that as Shah Mahmud.

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, Shah [[Ashraf Hotak]]. 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 [[Name of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] was ruled by Mahmud's younger brother Shah [[Hussain Hotak]]. Ashraf was able to secure peace with the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1727 (''See'' ''[[Treaty of Hamedan]]''), winning against a superior Ottoman army during the [[Ottoman–Hotaki War (1722–1727)|Ottoman–Hotaki War]], but the [[Russian Empire]] took advantage of the continuing political unrest and civil strife to seize former Persian territories for themselves, limiting the amount of territory under Shah Mahmud's control.
[[File:Jahangusha-ye Naderi 01.jpg|thumb|Painting of [[Battle of Damghan (1729)|Battle of Damghan]], illustrating [[Safavid Iran|Persian]] decisive artillery fire against the Afghans in 1729]]
The short lived Hotaki dynasty was a troubled and violent one from the very start as internecine conflict made it difficult for them to establish permanent control. The dynasty lived under great turmoil due to bloody succession feuds that made their hold on power tenuous.  There was a massacre of thousands of civilians in Isfahan; including more than three thousand religious scholars, nobles, and members of the Safavid family.<ref name="Browne31">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001014&ct=31|title=An Outline Of The History Of Persia During The Last Two Centuries (A.D. 1722–1922)|page=31|work=Edward Granville Browne|publisher=Packard Humanities Institute|location=London|access-date=24 September 2010|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175004/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001014&ct=31|url-status=dead}}</ref> The vast majority of the Persians rejected the Afghan regime which they considered to have been usurping power from the very start. Hotaki rule continued in Afghanistan until 1738 when Shah Hussain was defeated and banished by [[Nader Shah]] of Persia.<ref name="Browne33">{{cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001014&ct=33|title=Until His Assassination In A.D. 1747|page=33|work=Edward Granville Browne|publisher=Packard Humanities Institute|location=London|access-date=24 September 2010|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304052417/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=90001014&ct=33|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Hotakis were eventually removed from power in 1729, after a very short lived reign. They were defeated in the October 1729 by the Iranian military commander [[Nader Shah]], head of the [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharids]], at the [[Battle of Damghan (1729)|Battle of Damghan]]. After several military campaigns against the Afghans, he effectively reduced the Hotakis' power to only southern Afghanistan. The last ruler of the Hotaki dynasty, Shah Hussain, ruled southern Afghanistan until 1738 when the Afsharids and the [[Durrani|Abdali]] Pashtuns defeated him at the long [[Siege of Kandahar]].<ref name="Browne33" />

===Durrani Empire===
{{Main|Durrani Empire|Siege of Kandahar}}
[[File:Portrait of Ahmad-Shah Durrani. Mughal miniature. ca. 1757, Bibliothèque nationale de France.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], c. 1757.]]
[[Nader Shah]] and his [[Afsharid dynasty|Afsharid]] army arrived in the town of Kandahar in 1738 and defeated [[Hussain Hotak]] subsequently absorbing all of Afghanistan in his empire and renaming Kandahar as [[Naderabad, Kandahar|Naderabad]]. Around this time, a young teenager [[Ahmad Shah Durrani|Ahmad Shah]] joined Nader Shah's army for his [[Nader Shah's invasion of India|invasion of India]].

Nadir Shah was assassinated on 19 June 1747 by several of his Persian officers, and the Afsharid empire fell to pieces. At the same time the 25-year-old Ahmad Khan was busy in Afghanistan calling for a [[loya jirga]] ("grand assembly") to select a leader among his people. The Afghans gathered near Kandahar in October 1747 and chose Ahmad Shah from among the challengers, making him their new [[head of state]]. After the inauguration or [[coronation]], he became known as [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]]. He adopted the title ''padshah durr-i dawran'' ('King, "pearl of the age") and the Abdali tribe became known as the [[Durrani]] tribe after this.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/10162/Ahmad-Shah-Durrani |title=Afghanistan|access-date=16 August 2010 |encyclopedia=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA)|publisher=[[The World Factbook]]|location=United States}}</ref> Ahmad Shah not only represented the Durranis but he also united all the [[Pashtun tribes]]. By 1751, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his Afghan army conquered the entire present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and for a short time, subjugated large swathes of the Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, along with [[Delhi]] in India.<ref name="Engels">{{cite web |url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/afghanistan/index.htm |title=Afghanistan |access-date=25 August 2010 |author=[[Friedrich Engels]] |work=[[Andy Blunden]] |publisher=The New American Cyclopaedia, Vol. I |year=1857}}</ref> He defeated the [[Maratha Confederacy|Maratha Empire]] in 1761 at the [[Third Battle of Panipat]].

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 [[Durrani Empire|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. Durrani invaded the region of Punjab three times, during his invasions he destroyed a holy shrine of the Sikhs – the [[Harmandir Sahib]] in [[Amritsar]] in 1757.

The Sikhs, under [[Ranjit Singh]], eventually wrested a large part of the [[Durrani Empire|Durrani Kingdom]] (present-day Pakistan, but not including [[Sindh]]) from the Afghans while they were in civil war.<ref>Nalwa, V. (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa – Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar, p. 18, {{ISBN|81-7304-785-5}}.</ref>

===Barakzai dynasty and British influence===
{{Further|European influence in Afghanistan|Barakzai dynasty}}
[[File:Afghanistan 1860.png|thumb|Map of Afghanistan ([[Emirate of Afghanistan|Emirate]]) and surrounding nations, dated 1860.]]
[[File:History of Afghanistan 1839-1863 Gif.gif|thumb|Map of Afghanistan 1839–1863, showing the First Anglo-Afghan war, and unification of Afghanistan by Dost Mohammad Khan]]
[[File:Mohammad Yaqub Khan with British officers in May of 1879.jpg|thumb|[[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|King]] [[Mohammad Yaqub Khan|Yaqub Khan]] with Britain's Sir [[Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari]], 26 May 1879, on the occasion of the signing of the [[Treaty of Gandamak]]]]
The Emir [[Dost Mohammad Khan]] (1793–1863) gained control in Kabul in 1826 after toppling his brother, [[Sultan Mohammad Khan]], and founded ({{circa|1837}}) the [[Barakzai dynasty]]. In 1837, the Afghan army descended through the [[Khyber Pass]] on Sikh forces at [[Jamrud]] killed the Sikh general [[Hari Singh Nalwa]] but could not capture the fort.<ref>Nalwa, V. (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa – Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar, p. 198, {{ISBN|81-7304-785-5}}.</ref> Rivalry between the expanding [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire]]s in what became known as the "[[Great Game]]" significantly influenced Afghanistan during the 19th century. British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and over Russia's growing influence in West Asia and in Persia in particular culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars and in the [[Siege of Herat (1837–1838)|Siege of Herat]] (1837–1838), in which the Persians, trying to retake Afghanistan and throw out the British, sent armies into the country and fought the British mostly around and in the city of [[Herat]]. The [[first Anglo-Afghan War]] (1839–1842) resulted in the [[1842 retreat from Kabul|destruction of a British army]]; causing great panic throughout [[Company rule in India|British India]] and the dispatch of a second British invasion army.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/salesbrigadeinaf00glei archive.org: "Sale's brigade in Afghanistan, with an account of the seizure and defence of Jellalabad"], by Gleig, G. R. (George Robert), 1796–1888.  London: John Murray, 1846</ref> Following the British defeat in the First Anglo-Afghan War, where they tried to re-establish the [[Durrani Empire|Durrani Kingdom]] as a de facto vassal, Dost Mohammad could focus on reuniting Afghanistan, which was divided following the Durrani-Barakzai civil wars. Dost Mohammad began his conquest while only ruling the major cities of [[Kabul]], [[Ghazni]], [[Jalalabad]], and [[Bamyan]]. By the time of his death in 1863, Dost Mohammad had reunited most of Afghanistan. Following Dost Mohammad's death, [[Afghan Civil War (1863–1869)|a civil war broke out]] amongst his sons, leading to [[Sher Ali Khan|Sher Ali]] succeeding and beginning his rule. The [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–1880) resulted from the refusal by Emir Sher Ali (reigned 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 to 1879) to accept a British diplomatic mission in Kabul. In the wake of this conflict Shir Ali's nephew, Emir [[Abdur Rahman Khan|Abdur Rahman]], known as the "Iron Emir",<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Tanner
 | first1 = Stephen
 | author-link1 = Stephen Tanner
 | title = Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban
 | year = 2002
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gJLtAAAAMAAJ
 | edition = reprint
 | publisher = Da Capo Press
 | publication-date = 2003
 | page = 218
 | isbn = 9780306812330
 | access-date = 14 December 2020
| quote = Abdur Rahman had meanwhile become known as the 'Iron Emir' for his ruthless measures to break the tribal, or feudal, system in Afghanistan as well as the power of the mullahs. 
}}
</ref>
came to the Afghan throne. During his reign (1880–1901), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan. The British retained effective control over [[Kabul]]'s foreign affairs. Abdur Rahman's reforms of the army, legal system and structure of government gave Afghanistan a degree of unity and stability which it had not before known. This, however, came at the cost of strong centralisation, of harsh punishments for crime and corruption, and of a certain degree of international isolation.<ref name="bijanomrani.com">"[http://www.bijanomrani.com/?p=afgan_search_unit Afghanistan and the Search for Unity] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225034836/http://www.bijanomrani.com/?p=afgan_search_unit |date=2021-02-25 }}" [[Bijan Omrani|Omrani, Bijan]], published in ''Asian Affairs'', Volume 38, Issue 2, 2007, pp. 145–57.</ref>

[[Habibullah Khan]], Abdur Rahman's son, came to the throne in 1901 and kept Afghanistan neutral during World War I, despite [[Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition|encouragement by Central Powers]] of anti-British feelings and of Afghan rebellion along the borders of India. His policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, and Habibullah was assassinated in 1919, possibly by family members opposed to British influence. His third son, [[Amanullah Khan|Amanullah]] ({{reign | 1919 | 1929}}), regained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy after launching the [[Third Anglo-Afghan War]] (May to August 1919) with an attack on India. During the ensuing conflict the war-weary British relinquished their control over Afghan foreign affairs by signing the [[Treaty of Rawalpindi]] in August 1919. In commemoration of this event Afghans celebrate 19 August as their [[Afghan Independence Day|Independence Day]].

===Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war===
{{Main|Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)}}
{{multiple image
 | width = 120
 | align = left
 | image1 = King Amanullah Khan.jpg
 | image2 = Habibullāh Kalakāni (Bacha-i-Saqao) with his followers.jpg
 | footer = King [[Amanullah Khan]], and a photo of [[Habibullah Kalakani]] and his followers, who rose against the King
}}
King [[Amanullah Khan]] moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. After quelling the [[Khost rebellion (1924–1925)|Khost rebellion]] in 1925, he established diplomatic relations with most major countries and, following a 1927 tour of Europe and Turkey (during which he noted the modernization and secularization advanced by [[Atatürk]]), introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. A key force behind these reforms was [[Mahmud Tarzi]], Amanullah Khan's Foreign Minister and father-in-law&nbsp;— and an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's first constitution (declared through a [[Loya Jirga]]), which made elementary education compulsory.<ref>"[http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/people/Shorish-Education_in_Afghanistan.htm Education in Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227135100/http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/people/Shorish-Education_in_Afghanistan.htm |date=2007-02-27 }}", published in ''Encyclopædia Iranica, volume VIII'' – pp. 237–241</ref> Some of the reforms that were actually put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a number of co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious leaders, which led to the revolt of the [[Shinwari]] in November 1928, marking the beginning of the [[Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)]]. Although the Shinwari revolt was quelled, a concurrent [[Saqqawists|Saqqawist]] uprising in the north eventually managed to depose Amanullah, leading to [[Habibullāh Kalakāni]] taking control of Kabul.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJpXJXOno9IC|title=Kabul Under Siege: Fayz Muhammad's Account of the 1929 Uprising|last1=Muḥammad|first1=Fayz̤|last2=Hazārah|first2=Fayz̤ Muḥammad Kātib|date=1999|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=9781558761551|language=en}}</ref>

===Reigns of Nadir Khan and Zahir Khan===
{{Main|Kingdom of Afghanistan}}
[[File:King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan in 1963.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mohammad Zahir Shah]] in 1963|alt=]]

[[Mohammed Nadir Khan]] became King of Afghanistan on 15 October 1929 after he took control of Afghanistan by defeating the [[Kalakani|Habibullah Kalakani]]. He then executed him on 1 November of same year.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Muḥammad|first1=Fayz̤|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJpXJXOno9IC|title=Kabul Under Siege: Fayz Muhammad's Account of the 1929 Uprising|last2=Hazārah|first2=Fayz̤ Muḥammad Kātib|last3=Muḥammad|first3=Faiḍ|date=1999|publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers|isbn=978-1-55876-155-1|language=en}}</ref> He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He abandoned the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation. In 1933, however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a student from Kabul.

[[Mohammad Zahir Shah]], Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. The [[Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947]] saw Zahir Shah's reign being challenged by Zadran, Safi and Mangal tribesmen led by [[Mazrak Zadran]] and [[Salemai]] among others. Until 1946 Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle [[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, [[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 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)==
[[File:Afghanistan.ogv|thumb|1973 film about contemporary events in Afghanistan]]

===Republic of Afghanistan and the end of the monarchy===
{{Main|Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)}}

Amid corruption charges and malfeasance against the royal family and the poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971–72 drought, former prime minister [[Mohammad Daoud Khan]] seized power in a non-violent coup on 17 July 1973, while Zahir Shah was receiving treatment for eye problems and therapy for [[lumbago]] in Italy.<ref name=NYTobit>Barry Bearak, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/world/asia/23cnd-shah.html Former King of Afghanistan Dies at 92] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419120222/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/23/world/asia/23cnd-shah.html |date=19 April 2020 }}, ''The New York Times'', 23 July 2007.</ref> 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 were 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 (1978–1989)===
{{Main|Afghan conflict|History of Afghanistan (1978–1992)|Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|Saur Revolution|Soviet–Afghan War}}
[[File:Day after Saur revolution in Kabul (773).jpg|thumb|Outside the [[Presidential Palace]] in [[Kabul]], a day after the [[Saur Revolution|Marxist revolution]] on 28 April 1978.]]
[[File:Day after Saur revolution.JPG|thumb|The day after the Marxist revolution on 28 April 1978]]

On 28 April 1978, the PDPA, led by [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]], Babrak Karmal and Amin Taha overthrew the government of Mohammad Daoud, who was assassinated along with all his family members in a bloody military coup. The coup became known as the [[Saur Revolution]]. On 1 May, Taraki became [[head of state]], [[head of government]] and [[General Secretary of the Communist Party|General Secretary]] of the PDPA. The country was then renamed the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]] (DRA), and the PDPA regime lasted, in some form or another, until April 1992.

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 General Secretary, Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and in control of the Army. On 14 September, Amin overthrew Taraki, who was killed. Amin stated that "the Afghans recognize only crude force."<ref name="Amin Saikal">{{cite book |last=Amin Saikal |author-link=Amin Saikal |title=Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival|date=13 November 2004 |edition=2006 1st |page=352|publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd., London New York |isbn=1-85043-437-9}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Amin Saikal" />

Once it was in power, the PDPA implemented a [[Marxism–Leninism|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 [[chador]]s, and mosques were declared off limits. The PDPA made a number of reforms on [[women's rights]], banning forced marriages and giving state recognition of women's right to vote. 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 (28 May 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 reform]]s and moved to promote [[state atheism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.vfw.org/resources/levelxmagazine/0203_Soviet-Afghan%20War.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617192449/http://www.vfw.org/resources/levelxmagazine/0203_Soviet-Afghan%20War.pdf|url-status=dead|title=The Soviet-Afghan War:Breaking the Hammer & Sickle|archive-date=17 June 2010}}</ref> They also prohibited [[usury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0028) |title=Afghanistan |publisher=Lcweb2.loc.gov |access-date=14 November 2010}}</ref> 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 [[Soviet Union]] also sent contractors to build roads, hospitals and schools and to drill water wells; they also trained and equipped the [[Afghan Armed Forces]]. 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.

[[File:Afghanistan Ethnolinguistic Groups 1982.jpg|thumb|Ethnolinguistic groups in Afghanistan in 1982]]

At the same time, the PDPA imprisoned, tortured or murdered thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2AFGHAN|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1991/afghanistan/2AFGHAN.htm|access-date=24 January 2022|website=www.hrw.org}}</ref> 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]].<ref>Benjamin A. Valentino. ''Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century'' Cornell University Press, 2004. p. 219. {{ISBN|0-8014-3965-5}}</ref><ref>Kaplan, Robert D., ''Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan,'' New York, Vintage Departures, (2001), p.115</ref><ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4756480.stm Kabul's prison of death]  [[BBC]], 27 February 2006</ref> 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 [[Islam in Afghanistan|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.<ref name="georgetown1">{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/afghanistan |title=Afghanistan |publisher=[[Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs]] |access-date=1 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205200053/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/countries/afghanistan |archive-date=5 February 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

To bolster the [[Parcham]] faction, the Soviet Union decided to intervene on 27 December 1979, when the [[Soviet Army]] invaded its southern neighbor. Over 100,000 Soviet troops took part in the invasion, which was backed by another 100,000 [[Military of Afghanistan|Afghan military]] men and supporters of the Parcham faction. In the meantime, Hafizullah Amin was killed and replaced by Babrak Karmal.

The [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|Carter administration]] started providing limited [[Operation Cyclone|assistance to rebels]] before the Soviet invasion. After the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, the U.S. began arming the [[Afghan mujahideen]], thanks in large part to the efforts of [[Charlie Wilson (Texas politician)|Charlie Wilson]] and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer [[Gust Avrakotos]]. Early reports estimated that $6–20 billion had been spent by the U.S. and [[Saudi Arabia]]<ref name="greenleft">{{cite web|year=2001 |url=http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/24198 |title=How the CIA created Osama bin Laden|publisher=[[greenleft]]}}</ref> but more recent reports state that the U.S. and Saudi Arabia provided as much as up to $40 billion<ref name="Al-Ahram Democracy">{{cite web|year=2010 |url=http://democracy.ahram.org.eg/eng/Index.asp?CurFN=selt2.htm&DID=9995 |title=Putting Empires at Rest |publisher=[[Al-Ahram Democracy]] }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="The Brunei Times">{{cite web|year=2009 |url=http://www.bt.com.bn/analysis/2008/12/17/story_of_us_cia_and_taliban |title=Story of US, CIA and Taliban |work=[[The Brunei Times]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205090713/http://www.bt.com.bn/analysis/2008/12/17/story_of_us_cia_and_taliban |archive-date=5 December 2013 }}</ref><ref name="The Nation">{{cite web |year=1999 |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/cost-afghan-victory?page=0,1 |title=The Cost of an Afghan 'Victory' |work=[[The Nation]] |access-date=23 November 2010 |archive-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302090727/http://www.thenation.com/article/cost-afghan-victory?page=0%2C1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> in cash and weapons, which included over two thousand [[FIM-92 Stinger]] [[surface-to-air missile]]s, for building up Islamic groups against the Soviet Union. The U.S. handled most of its support through Pakistan's [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]].

Scholars such as W. Michael Reisman,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|title=Genocide and the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan|last1=Reisman|first1=W. Michael|last2=Norchi|first2=Charles H.|access-date=7 January 2017|quote=W. Michael Reisman is Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale Law School and a member of the Independent Counsel on International Human Rights.|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182528/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Charles Norchi<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|title=Genocide and the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan|last1=Reisman|first1=W. Michael|last2=Norchi|first2=Charles|access-date=7 January 2017|quote=Charles Norchi, a Visiting Scholar at Yale Law School, directed the Independent Counsel on International Human Rights (with the Committee for a Free Afghanistan).|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182528/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Mohammed Kakar, believe that the Afghans were victims of a [[genocide]] which was committed against them by the Soviet Union.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7b69p12h;brand=ucpress|title=The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982|last=Kakar|first=Mohammed|date=3 March 1997|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520208933|quote=The Afghans are among the latest victims of genocide by a superpower. Large numbers of Afghans were killed to suppress resistance to the army of the Soviet Union, which wished to vindicate its client regime and realize its goal in Afghanistan.}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{Cite web|url=http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|title=Genocide and the Soviet Occupation of Afghanistan|last1=Reisman|first1=W. Michael|last2=Norchi|first2=Charles H.|access-date=7 January 2017|quote=According to widely reported accounts, substantial programmes of depopulation have been conducted in these Afghan provinces: Ghazni, Nagarhar, Lagham, Qandahar, Zabul, Badakhshan, Lowgar, Paktia, Paktika and Kunar...There is considerable evidence that genocide has been committed against the Afghan people by the combined forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.|archive-date=26 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026182528/http://www.paulbogdanor.com/left/afghan/genocide.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Soviet forces and their proxies killed between 562,000<ref name="562k">{{cite journal|last1=Lacina|first1=Bethany|last2=Gleditsch|first2=Nils Petter|url=http://www.bethanylacina.com/LacinaGleditsch_newdata.pdf|title=Monitoring Trends in Global Combat: A New Dataset of Battle Deaths|journal=European Journal of Population|volume=21|year=2005|issue=2–3|doi=10.1007/s10680-005-6851-6|page=154|s2cid=14344770|access-date=1 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006175909/http://www.bethanylacina.com/LacinaGleditsch_newdata.pdf|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=usurped}}</ref> and 2 million Afghans<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2chrSJCW54C&q=2+million+afghans+killed+soviet&pg=PA129|title=The Widening Circle of Genocide|last=Klass|first=Rosanne|publisher=Transaction Publishers|year=1994|isbn=9781412839655|pages=129|quote=During the intervening fourteen years of Communist rule, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Afghan civilians were killed by Soviet forces and their proxies- the four Communist regimes in Kabul, and the East Germans, Bulgarians, Czechs, Cubans, Palestinians, Indians and others who assisted them. These were not battle casualties or the unavoidable civilian victims of warfare. Soviet and local Communist forces seldom attacked the scattered guerilla bands of the Afghan Resistance except, in a few strategic locales like the Panjsher valley. Instead they deliberately targeted the civilian population, primarily in the rural areas.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistansendl0000good|url-access=registration|quote=2 million afghans killed soviet.|title=Afghanistan's Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban|last=Goodson|first=Larry P.|publisher=University of Washington Press|year=2001|isbn=9780295980508|pages=[https://archive.org/details/afghanistansendl0000good/page/5 5]}}</ref> and Russian soldiers also engaged in abductions and rapes of Afghan women.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The War Chronicles: From Flintlocks to Machine Guns|year=2009|publisher=Fair Winds|isbn=9781616734046|pages=393|quote=A final weapon of terror the Soviets used against the mujahideen was the abduction of Afghan women. Soldiers flying in helicopters would scan for women working in the fields in the absence of their men, land, and take the women captive. Russian soldiers in the city of Kabul would also steal young women. The object was rape, although sometimes the women were killed, as well. The women who returned home were often considered dishonored for life.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7b69p12h&brand=ucpress|title=The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982|last=Kakar|first=M. Hassan|publisher=University of California Press|year=1995|isbn=9780520208933|quote=While military operations in the country were going on, women were abducted. While flying in the country in search of mujahideen, helicopters would land in fields where women were spotted. While Afghan women do mainly domestic chores, they also work in fields assisting their husbands or performing tasks by themselves. The women were now exposed to the Russians, who kidnapped them with helicopters. By November 1980 a number of such incidents had taken place in various parts of the country, including Laghman and Kama. In the city of Kabul, too, the Russians kidnapped women, taking them away in tanks and other vehicles, especially after dark. Such incidents happened mainly in the areas of Darul Aman and Khair Khana, near the Soviet garrisons. At times such acts were committed even during the day. KhAD agents also did the same. Small groups of them would pick up young women in the streets, apparently to question them but in reality to satisfy their lust: in the name of security, they had the power to commit excesses.}}</ref> About 6 million fled as [[Afghan refugees]] to [[Afghans in Pakistan|Pakistan]] and [[Afghans in Iran|Iran]], and from there over 38,000 made it to the [[Afghan Americans|United States]]<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20090228232732/http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/117283.htm Refugee Admissions Program for Near East and South Asia] ". Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.</ref> and many more to Europe. The Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan brought with them verifiable stories of murder, collective rape, torture and depopulation of civilians by the Soviet forces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brathwaite |first1=Rodric |title=Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979–89 |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=232 |isbn=9780199322480 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13cTDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA232}}</ref> 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 Afghan leader [[Mohammad Najibullah]] (former head of the Afghan secret service, ''[[KHAD]]'') until 1992.<ref name="Columbia:Afghanistan:History">[https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/places/asia/afghanistan/afghanistan/history] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817161329/https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/places/asia/afghanistan/afghanistan/history|date=17 August 2021}}, ''Columbia Encyclopedia'': Afghanistan – History.</ref>

===Foreign interference and civil war (1989–1996)===
{{Main|Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)|Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)}}
[[File:Kabul during civil war of fundamentalists 1993-2.jpg|thumb|Kabul during civil war in 1993]]
[[Pakistan]]'s spy agency [[Inter-Services Intelligence]] (ISI), headed by [[Hamid Gul]] at the advice of the US and its allies, was interested in a trans-national Islamic revolution which would cover Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. For this purpose the ISI masterminded an attack on [[Jalalabad]] in March 1989, for the Mujahideen to establish their own government in Afghanistan, but this failed in three months.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/08/legacy-pakistan-loved-loathed-hamid-gul-150817114006616.html|title=The legacy of Pakistan's loved and loathed Hamid Gul|last=Nasir|first=Abbas|date=18 August 2015|work=Al-Jazeera|quote=His commitment to jihad – to an Islamic revolution transcending national boundaries, was such that he dreamed one day the 'green Islamic flag' would flutter not just over Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also over territories represented by the (former Soviet Union) Central Asian republics. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the director-general of the Pakistan's intelligence organisation, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, an impatient Gul and West wanted to establish a government of the so-called Mujahideen on Afghan soil in order to recognise it. He then ordered an assault using mujahideen leaders on Jalalabad, the first major urban centre across the Khyber Pass from Pakistan, with the aim capturing it and declaring it as the seat of the new administration.|access-date=4 January 2017}}</ref>

With the crumbling of the Najibullah regime early in 1992, Afghanistan fell into further disarray and civil war. A U.N.-supported attempt to have the [[mujahideen]] parties and armies form a coalition government shattered. Mujahideen did not abide by the mutual pledges and Ahmad Shah Masoud's forces, because of his proximity to Kabul, captured the capital before a mujahideen government was established. So the elected prime minister and warlord [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]] started war on the president and Massoud's forces entrenched in Kabul. This ignited another civil war, because the other mujahideen parties would not settle for Hekmatyar ruling alone or sharing actual power with him. Within weeks, the still frail unity of the other mujahideen forces also evaporated, and six militias were fighting each other in and around Kabul.

[[Sibghatullah Mojaddedi|Sibghatuallah Mojaddedi]] was elected as Afghanistan's interim president for two months; then, professor [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]], 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 [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]]. Rabbani 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 Dostum]].
During the first five years of Rabbani's disputed term, 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. The central government could not assert control over other parts of the southern provinces, however, in large measure because of Rabbani's Tajik ethnicity. During the 9 year presidency of Burhanuddin Rabani, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar was directed, funded and supplied by the Pakistani army.<ref name="Neamatollah Nojumi">{{Cite book| last =Neamatollah Nojumi | author-link = Neamatollah Nojumi| title =The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region|edition=2002 1st | publisher = Palgrave, New York }}</ref> Afghanistan analyst [[Amin Saikal]] concludes in his book ''Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival'':

{{blockquote|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.<ref name=autogenerated3>{{Cite book| last =Amin Saikal | author-link = Amin Saikal| title =Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival| date = 13 November 2004|edition=2006 1st |page=352| publisher = I.B. Tauris|location= London New York | isbn=1-85043-437-9 }}</ref>}}

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.<ref name="Amin Saikal"/> A publication by the [[George Washington University]] describes:

{{blockquote|[O]utside forces saw instability in Afghanistan as an opportunity to press their own security and political agendas.<ref name="The National Security Archive">{{cite web|year=2003|url =http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB97/ |title =The September 11 Sourcebooks Volume VII: The Taliban File| publisher = [[gwu.edu]]}}</ref>}} 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.<ref name="Amin Saikal"/><ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)">{{cite web|url =https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/07/06/blood-stained-hands|title =Blood-Stained Hands, Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity|publisher =[[Human Rights Watch]]|access-date =4 December 2016|archive-date =13 January 2015|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20150113150933/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/07/06/blood-stained-hands|url-status =dead}}</ref><ref name="Roy Gutman">{{cite book |last=Gutman |first=Roy |year=2008 |title=How We Missed the Story: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban and the Hijacking of Afghanistan, Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace (1st ed.) |place=Washington D.C.}}</ref> Saudi Arabia was trying to strengthen the [[Wahhabite]] [[Abdul Rasul Sayyaf]] and his [[Ittihad-i Islami]] faction.<ref name="Amin Saikal"/><ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)"/> 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.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)"/><ref name="Afghanistan Justice Project">{{cite web|year=2005 |url=http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |title=Casting Shadows: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity: 1978–2001 |publisher=Afghanistan Justice Project |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004221455/http://www.afghanistanjusticeproject.org/warcrimesandcrimesagainsthumanity19782001.pdf |archive-date=4 October 2013 }}</ref> Again, Human Rights Watch writes:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)"/>}} 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 Defence Ministry of [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]].

Meanwhile, the southern city of [[Kandahar]] was a centre of lawlessness, crime and atrocities fuelled by complex Pashtun tribal rivalries.<ref name="Matinuddin, Kamal 1999 pp.25">Matinuddin, Kamal, ''The Taliban Phenomenon, Afghanistan 1994–1997'', Oxford University Press, (1999), pp.25–6</ref> 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.<ref name="Matinuddin, Kamal 1999 pp.25"/> [[Mullah Omar]] started his movement with fewer than 50 armed [[madrasa]] students in his hometown of Kandahar.<ref name="Matinuddin, Kamal 1999 pp.25"/> As Gulbuddin Hekmatyar remained unsuccessful in conquering Kabul, Pakistan started supporting the Taliban.<ref name="Amin Saikal"/><ref name="George Washington University">{{cite web|year=2007 |url =http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB227/index.htm#17 |title =Documents Detail Years of Pakistani Support for Taliban, Extremists | publisher = [[George Washington University]]}}</ref> Many analysts like [[Amin Saikal]] describe the Taliban as developing into a proxy force for Pakistan's regional interests.<ref name="Amin Saikal"/> 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.<ref name="Webster University Press Book">{{cite book | last = Marcela Grad| title = Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|edition=1 March 2009 |pages=310 | publisher = Webster University Press}}</ref> The Taliban declined.<ref name="Webster University Press Book"/>

===Taliban and the Northern Alliance (1996–2001)===
{{Main|Taliban|History of the Taliban|Northern Alliance|Afghan training camp|Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)}}
[[File:Ahmad Shah Masoud.jpg|thumb|280x280px|Ahmad Shah Massoud, fought against the Taliban until his assassination in 2001.]]
[[File:1996afghan (1).png|thumb|Map of the situation in Afghanistan in late 1996; [[Ahmad Shah Massoud|Massoud]] (red), [[Abdul Rashid Dostum|Dostum]] (green) and [[Taliban]] (yellow) territories.]]
[[File:Ethno-linguistic map of Afghanistan 1997.jpg|thumb|Ethno-linguistic map of Afghanistan 1997]]
[[File:Guerre en Afghanistan (octobre 2001).PNG|thumb|Map of the situation in Afghanistan in August 2001 until October 2001]]

The Taliban started shelling Kabul in early 1995 but were defeated by forces of the Islamic State government under [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]].<ref name="amnesty.org">Amnesty International. "Document – Afghanistan: Further Information on Fear for Safety and New Concern: Deliberate and Arbitrary Killings: Civilians in Kabul". 16 November 1995 Accessed at* {{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa11/015/1995/en/ |title=Afghanistan: Further information on fear for safety and new concern: Deliberate and arbitrary killings: Civilians in Kabul |date=16 November 1995 |access-date=18 October 2014 }}</ref> Amnesty International, referring to the Taliban offensive, wrote in a 1995 report:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="amnesty.org"/>}}

On 26 September 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.<ref>Coll, ''Ghost Wars'' (New York: Penguin, 2005), 14.</ref> The Taliban seized Kabul on 27 September 1996, and established the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|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.<ref name="Physicians for Human Rights">{{cite web |year=1998 |url=http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/talibans-war-on-women.pdf |title=The Taliban's War on Women. A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan |website=[[Physicians for Human Rights]] |access-date=23 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702234326/http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/documents/reports/talibans-war-on-women.pdf |archive-date=2 July 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Physicians for Human Rights"/>}}

After [[Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)|the fall of Kabul]] to the Taliban on 27 September 1996,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Afghan rebels seize capital, hang former president |date=27 July 1996 |website=CNN News |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9609/27/afghan.rebels/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008185655/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9609/27/afghan.rebels/index.html |archive-date=8 October 2008 }}</ref> [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]] and [[Abdul Rashid Dostum]], two former enemies, created the [[Northern Alliance]] (United Front) against the Taliban, who were preparing offensives against the remaining areas under the control of Massoud and Dostum.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvYglyjbHkI Massoud's last stand against the Taliban] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927165003/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvYglyjbHkI |date=27 September 2009 }} on [[YouTube]]</ref> The Northern Alliance included beside the dominantly [[Tajik people|Tajik]] forces of Massoud and the [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] forces of Dostum, [[Hazara people|Hazara]] factions and [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] forces under the leadership of commanders such as [[Abdul Haq (Afghan leader)|Abdul Haq]], Haji [[Abdul Qadir (Afghan leader)|Abdul Qadir]], Qari Baba or diplomat [[Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai]]. From the Taliban conquest in 1996 until November 2001 the Northern Alliance controlled roughly 30% of Afghanistan's population in provinces such as [[Badakhshan Province|Badakhshan]], [[Kapisa Province|Kapisa]], [[Takhar Province|Takhar]] and parts of [[Parwan Province|Parwan]], [[Kunar Province|Kunar]], [[Nuristan Province|Nuristan]], [[Laghman Province|Laghman]], [[Samangan Province|Samangan]], [[Kunduz Province|Kunduz]], [[Ghōr Province|Ghōr]] and [[Bamyan Province|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.<ref name="Newsday 2001">{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/10/12/taliban-massacres-outlined-for-un/|title=Taliban massacres outlined for UN |author= Newsday|date=October 2001 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm |title=Confidential UN report details mass killings of civilian villagers |access-date=12 October 2001 |author=Newsday |year=2001 |work= newsday.org |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021118162327/http://www.papillonsartpalace.com/massacre.htm |archive-date=18 November 2002 }}</ref> UN officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001.<ref name="Newsday 2001"/><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com"/> 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."<ref name="Newsday 2001"/><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com"/> The Taliban especially targeted people of Shia religious or Hazara ethnic background.<ref name="Newsday 2001"/><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com"/> Upon taking Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998, about 4,000 [[civilian]]s were executed by the Taliban and many more reported [[torture]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,AFG,,3ae6aab050,0.html|title=Afghanistan: Situation in, or around, Aqcha (Jawzjan province) including predominant tribal/ethnic group and who is currently in control|date=February 1999|publisher=[[UNHCR]]|access-date=15 December 2010|archive-date=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120032353/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,AFG,,3ae6aab050,0.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-03.htm#P186_38364 |title=Incitement of Violence Against Hazaras by Governor Niazi |access-date=27 December 2007 |author= Human Rights Watch|author-link= Human Rights Watch|date=November 1998|work=Afghanistan: The Massacre in Mazar-I Sharif}}</ref> Among those killed in Mazari Sharif [[1998 killing of Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan|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.<ref>{{cite news|title=Iranian military exercises draw warning from Afghanistan |date=31 August 1997 |website=CNN News |url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9808/31/iran.games/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211123252/http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9808/31/iran.games/ |archive-date=11 December 2008 }}</ref> It was later admitted that the diplomats were killed by the Taliban, and their bodies were returned to Iran.<ref>{{cite news|title=Taliban threatens retaliation if Iran strikes|date=15 September 1997|website=CNN News|url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9809/15/iran.afghan.tensions.02/index.html}}</ref>

The documents also reveal the role of Arab and Pakistani support troops in these killings.<ref name="Newsday 2001"/><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com"/> [[Osama bin Laden]]'s so-called [[055 Brigade]] was responsible for mass-killings of Afghan civilians.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph">{{cite news |last=Rashid |first=Ahmed |date=11 September 2001 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/1340244/Afghanistan-resistance-leader-feared-dead-in-blast.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Afghanistan resistance leader feared dead in blast |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The report by the United Nations quotes eyewitnesses in many villages describing Arab fighters carrying long knives used for slitting throats and skinning people.<ref name="Newsday 2001"/><ref name="papillonsartpalace.com"/>

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.<ref name="George Washington University"/><ref name="Webster University Press Book"/><ref name="National Geographic"/><ref name="History Commons">{{cite web |year=2010 |url=http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=ahmed_shah_massoud |title=Profile: Ahmed Shah Massoud |publisher=[[History Commons]] |access-date=23 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125130822/http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=ahmed_shah_massoud |archive-date=25 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In total there were believed to be 28,000 Pakistani nationals fighting inside Afghanistan.<ref name="Webster University Press Book"/> 20,000 were regular Pakistani soldiers either from the [[Frontier Corps]] or army and an estimated 8,000 were militants recruited in [[madrasa]]s filling regular Taliban ranks.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" /> The estimated 25,000 Taliban regular force thus comprised more than 8,000 Pakistani nationals.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" /> A 1998 document by the [[U.S. State Department]] confirms that "20–40 percent of [regular] Taliban soldiers are Pakistani."<ref name="George Washington University"/> 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."<ref name="George Washington University"/> A further 3,000 fighter of the regular Taliban army were Arab and Central Asian militants.<ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" /> From 1996 to 2001 the [[Al-Qaeda]] of Osama bin Laden and [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] became a state within the Taliban state.<ref name="Daily Times">{{cite web|year=2008|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\08\31\story_31-8-2008_pg3_4|title=Book Review: The inside track on Afghan wars by Khaled Ahmed|newspaper=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080913183649/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C08%5C31%5Cstory_31-8-2008_pg3_4|archive-date=13 September 2008}}</ref> Bin Laden sent Arab recruits to join the fight against the Northern Alliance.<ref name="Daily Times"/><ref name="CNN">{{cite web|url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grugy2txSvc&feature=search |title = Brigade 055| website= CNN}}</ref> Of roughly 45,000 Pakistani, Taliban and Al-Qaeda soldiers fighting against the forces of Massoud only 14,000 were Afghan.<ref name="Webster University Press Book"/><ref name="Ahmed Rashid/The Telegraph" />

According to Human Rights Watch in 1997 Taliban soldiers were summarily executed in and around Mazar-i Sharif by Dostum's Junbish forces.<ref name="Human Rights Watch">{{cite web |year=2001|url =https://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/afghan-bck1005.htm#uf  |title = Human Rights Watch Backgrounder, October 2001| website= [[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref> Dostum was defeated by the Taliban in 1998 with the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif. Massoud remained the only leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan.

In the areas under his control Ahmad Shah Massoud set up democratic institutions and signed the Women's Rights Charter.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{Cite book| last = Marcela Grad| author-link = Marcela Grad| title = Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader|edition=1 March 2009 |page=310  | publisher =  Webster University Press}}</ref> 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 Ahmad Shah Massoud|assassination of Massoud]] in September 2001.<ref name="Human Rights Watch"/> As a consequence many civilians fled to the area of [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]].<ref name="National Geographic">{{cite web|year=2007|url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpQI6HKV-ZY |title = Inside the Taliban| publisher = [[National Geographic Society]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=2007 |url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/inside-the-taliban-3274/Overview |title=Inside the Taliban |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080929130330/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/inside-the-taliban-3274/Overview |archive-date=29 September 2008 }}</ref> [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] concluded in its documentary ''Inside the Taliban'':

{{blockquote|The only thing standing in the way of future Taliban massacres is [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]].<ref name="National Geographic"/>}}

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 said in one interview:

{{blockquote|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".<ref name="Interview">{{cite web |year =2001 |url =http://www.orient.uw.edu.pl/balcerowicz/texts/Ahmad_Shah_Masood_en.htm |title =The Last Interview with Ahmad Shah Massoud |publisher =[[Piotr Balcerowicz]] |url-status =dead |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060925043421/http://www.orient.uw.edu.pl/balcerowicz/texts/Ahmad_Shah_Masood_en.htm |archive-date =2006-09-25 }}</ref>}}

and

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="St. Petersburg Times" />}}

Massoud wanted to convince the Taliban to join a political process leading towards democratic elections in a foreseeable future.<ref name="Interview"/> Massoud stated that:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="St. Petersburg Times">{{cite web |year=2002|url =http://www.sptimes.com/2002/09/09/911/The_man_who_would_hav.shtml |title =The man who would have led Afghanistan| newspaper= [[St. Petersburg Times]]}}</ref>}}

In early 2001 Massoud employed a new strategy of local military pressure and global political appeals.<ref name="Steve Coll: Ghost Wars">{{cite book | last = Steve Coll| author-link = Steve Coll| title =Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 |edition=23 February 2004 |page=720| publisher =Penguin Press HC }}</ref> Resentment was increasingly gathering against Taliban rule from the bottom of Afghan society including the Pashtun areas.<ref name="Steve Coll: Ghost Wars" /> 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.<ref name="Steve Coll: Ghost Wars" /> 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 Northern Alliance would be successful.<ref name="Webster University Press Book" />

In early 2001 Massoud addressed the [[European Parliament]] in [[Brussels]] asking the international community to provide humanitarian help to the people of Afghanistan.<ref name="EU Parliament">{{cite web |year=2001|url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78N6Q5VD60 |title = Massoud in the European Parliament 2001| publisher = [[EU media]]}}</ref> He stated that the Taliban and Al-Qaeda had introduced "a very wrong perception of Islam" and that without the support of Pakistan the Taliban would not be able to sustain their military campaign for up to a year.<ref name="EU Parliament"/>

=== NATO's presence, the Emergency Loya Jirga, the Taliban's takeover and the Panjshir uprising===
{{Further|Presidency of Hamid Karzai|Taliban insurgency|Operation Enduring Freedom|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Panjshir conflict|Aftermath of the Afghanistan War (2001–2021)}}
[[File:Hamid Karzai at the US Congress on Capitol Hill.jpg|thumb|upright|[[President of Afghanistan|Afghan President]] [[Hamid Karzai]] speaking before [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] in June 2004]]

On 9 September 2001, [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]] was assassinated by two Arab [[suicide attack]]ers inside Afghanistan. Two days later about 3,000 people became victims of the [[September 11 attacks]] in the United States, when Afghan-based Al-Qaeda suicide bombers hijacked planes and flew them into four targets in the [[Northeastern United States]]. Then US President [[George W. Bush]] accused Osama bin Laden and [[Khalid Sheikh Mohammed]] as the faces behind the attacks. When the Taliban refused to hand over bin Laden to US authorities and to disband al-Qaeda bases in Afghanistan, [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] was launched in which teams of American and British special forces worked with commanders of the  Northern Alliance against the Taliban.<ref name="NYTOct8">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/08/world/nation-challenged-attack-us-britain-strike-afghanistan-aiming-bases-terrorist.html?scp=2&sq=Afghanistan+&st=nyt|title=A Nation challenged: The attack; U.S. and Britain strike Afghanistan, aiming at bases and terrorist camps; Bush warns 'Taliban will pay a price'|last=Tyler|first=Patrick |date=8 October 2001|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=28 February 2010}}</ref> At the same time the US-led forces were bombing Taliban and al-Qaeda targets everywhere inside Afghanistan with [[cruise missile]]s. These actions led to the [[fall of Mazar-i-Sharif]] in the north followed by all the other cities, as the Taliban and al-Qaeda crossed over the [[porosity|porous]] [[Durand Line]] border into Pakistan. In December 2001, after the Taliban government was toppled and the new [[Presidency of Hamid Karzai|Afghan government under Hamid Karzai]] was formed, the [[International Security Assistance Force]] (ISAF) was established by the [[UN Security Council]] to help assist the [[Presidency of Hamid Karzai|Karzai administration]] and provide basic security to the [[Demography of Afghanistan|Afghan people]].<ref>{{UN document |docid=S-RES-1386(2001) |type=Resolution |body=Security Council |year=2001 |resolution_number=1386 |access-date=21 September 2007|date=31 May 2001}} – ([[wikisource:United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386|UNSCR 1386]])</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://nato.usmission.gov/ |title=United States Mission to Afghanistan |publisher=Nato.usmission.gov |access-date=14 November 2010}}</ref> The majority of Afghans supported the American invasion of their country.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/10127/Afghanistan_Jan06_art2.pdf;jsessionid=51A568EB80A658471A265A1D06EF8ADB?sequence=3|title=WPO Poll: Afghan Public Overwhelmingly Rejects al-Qaeda, Taliban|date=30 January 2006|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Equally large percentages endorse the US military presence in Afghanistan. Eighty-three percent said they have a favorable view of "the US military forces in our country" (39% very favorable). Just 17% have an unfavorable view.}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|url=http://acsor-surveys.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Afghan-Futures-Wave-6-Analysis_FINAL-v2.pdf|title=Afghan Futures: A National Public Opinion Survey|date=29 January 2015|page=4|access-date=2 January 2017|quote=Seventy-seven percent support the presence of U.S. forces; 67 percent say the same of NATO/ISAF forces more generally. Despite the country's travails, eight in 10 say it was a good thing for the United States to oust the Taliban in 2001. And many more blame either the Taliban or al-Qaeda for the country's violence, 53 percent, than blame the United States, 12 percent. The latter is about half what it was in 2012, coinciding with a sharp reduction in the U.S. deployment.}}</ref>
[[File:Afghan soldiers.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[Afghan National Army]] in 2010, including the [[ANA Commando Battalion]] standing in the front.|alt=]]

While the Taliban began regrouping inside Pakistan, the rebuilding of war-torn Afghanistan kicked off in 2002 (see also [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)]]).<ref>{{cite web |author=Julie Fossler |url=http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/index.aspx |title=USAID Afghanistan |publisher=[[USAID]] |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017104214/http://afghanistan.usaid.gov/en/Index.aspx |archive-date=17 October 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/news-nouvelles/2010/2010_07_09.aspx?lang=eng |title=Canada's Engagement in Afghanistan: Backgrounder |publisher=Afghanistan.gc.ca |date=9 July 2010 |access-date=14 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514211620/http://www.afghanistan.gc.ca/canada-afghanistan/news-nouvelles/2010/2010_07_09.aspx?lang=eng |archive-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> The Afghan nation was able to build democratic structures over the years by the creation of an [[2002 loya jirga|emergency loya jirga]] to set up the modern Afghan government, and some progress was made in key areas such as governance, economy, health, education, transport, and agriculture. NATO had been training the [[Military of Afghanistan|Afghan armed forces]] as well its [[Afghan National Police|national police]]. ISAF and [[Afghan National Army|Afghan troops]] led many offensives against the Taliban but failed to fully defeat them. By 2009, a Taliban-led shadow government began to form in many parts of the country complete with their own version of mediation court.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/07/AR2009120704127.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=30 March 2010 |title=Taliban shadow officials offer concrete alternative |first=Griff |last=Witte |date=8 December 2009}}</ref> After U.S. President [[Barack Obama]] announced the deployment of another 30,000 soldiers in 2010 for a period of two years, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' published images of the [[Maywand District murders|US soldiers who killed unarmed Afghan civilians]].<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-65981.html |title=Photo Gallery: The 'Kill Team' in Afghanistan |magazine=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=21 March 2010 |access-date=17 October 2011}}</ref>

In 2009, the United States resettled 328 refugees from Afghanistan.<ref>"[http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/data/fy2009RA.htm Fiscal Year 2009 Refugee Arrivals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320085639/http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/data/fy2009RA.htm |date=2012-03-20 }}". U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.</ref> Over five million [[Afghan diaspora|Afghan refugees]] were [[repatriation|repatriated]] in the last decade, including many who were forcefully [[deportation|deported]] from [[NATO]] countries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Germany begins deportations of Afghan refugees |url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jun2005/afgh-j25.shtml |publisher=wsws.org|date=25 June 2005|access-date=2 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Living in Fear of Deportation |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,1862149,00.html |publisher=DW-World.De |date=22 January 2006|access-date=2 October 2011}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Video/video?id=5484891&tab=9482931&section=8865284&page=1| publisher=ABC News|location=United States|access-date=28 September 2010 |title=Pakistan Accused of Helping Taliban |date=31 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7910687/Wikileaks-Pakistan-accused-of-helping-Taliban-in-Afghanistan-attacks.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/7910687/Wikileaks-Pakistan-accused-of-helping-Taliban-in-Afghanistan-attacks.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| publisher=U.K. Telegraph|access-date=28 September 2010 |title=Wikileaks: Pakistan accused of helping Taliban in Afghanistan attacks |date=26 July 2010|location=London|first1=Rob|last1=Crilly|first2=Alex|last2=Spillius}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The United States also accuses neighboring [[Iran]] of providing small level of support to the Taliban insurgents.<ref name="Eagle World News">{{cite news |url=http://www.eagleworldnews.com/2010/05/31/us-general-accuses-iran-of-helping-taliban/ |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |access-date=28 September 2010 |title=US General Accuses Iran Of Helping Taliban |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607013315/http://www.eagleworldnews.com/2010/05/31/us-general-accuses-iran-of-helping-taliban/ |archive-date=7 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aru5H2YB1Tv8&refer=india| publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|access-date=28 September 2010|title=Iran Is Helping Taliban in Afghanistan, Petraeus Says (Update1) |date=14 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/13/AR2007061300333.html| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=28 September 2010 |title=Gates: Taliban Getting Weapons From Iran |first=Lolita C.|last=Baldor|date=13 June 2007}}</ref> According to a report by the United Nations, the Taliban and other militants were responsible for 76% of civilian casualties in 2009,<ref name="The Weekly Standard">{{cite news| url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un| work=The Weekly Standard| title=UN: Taliban Responsible for 76% of Deaths in Afghanistan| date=10 August 2010| access-date=23 November 2010| archive-date=2 January 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102054938/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/taliban-responsible-76-deaths-afghanistan-un| url-status=dead}}</ref> 75% in 2010<ref name="UNAMA">{{cite news|url=http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602 |work=United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan |title=Citing rising death toll, UN urges better protection of Afghan civilians |date=9 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726085402/http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1783&ctl=Details&mid=1882&ItemID=12602 |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref> and 80% in 2011.<ref name="Haddon">{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-marks-10-years-since-war-started-211711851.html |first=Katherine |last=Haddon |title=Afghanistan marks 10 years since war started |publisher=AFP |date=6 October 2011 |access-date=6 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010055026/http://news.yahoo.com/afghanistan-marks-10-years-since-war-started-211711851.html |archive-date=10 October 2011 }}</ref> A report titled ''Body Count'' concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians had been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict.<ref>
* [http://www.ippnw.de/commonFiles/pdfs/Frieden/Body_Count_first_international_edition_2015_final.pdf "Body Count – Casualty Figures after 10 Years of the 'War on Terror' – Iraq Afghanistan Pakistan"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150430175027/http://www.ippnw.de/commonFiles/pdfs/Frieden/Body_Count_first_international_edition_2015_final.pdf |date=30 April 2015 }} (PDF), by [[IPPNW]], [[Physicians for Global Survival|PGS]] and [[Physicians for Social Responsibility|PSR]], First international edition (March 2015)
* {{cite news |author=Gabriela Motroc |url=http://www.australiannationalreview.com/war-terror-reportedly-killed-13-million-people-decade/ |title=U.S. War on Terror has reportedly killed 1.3&nbsp;million people in a decade |work=Australian National Review |date=7 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505004045/http://www.australiannationalreview.com/war-terror-reportedly-killed-13-million-people-decade/ |archive-date=5 May 2015 }}
* {{cite news |url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/30-Mar-2015/220-000-killed-in-us-war-in-afghanistan-80-000-in-pakistan-report |title=220,000 killed in US war in Afghanistan 80,000 in Pakistan: report |work=[[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]] |date=30 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505055409/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/national/30-Mar-2015/220-000-killed-in-us-war-in-afghanistan-80-000-in-pakistan-report |archive-date=5 May 2015 }}
</ref>

[[File:Military terminal at Kabul International Airport.jpg|thumb|[[NATO]]'s military terminal at [[Kabul International Airport]]]]

In October 2008 U.S. Defense Secretary Gates had asserted that a political settlement with the Taliban was the endgame for the Afghanistan war. "There has to be ultimately&nbsp;– and I'll underscore ultimately&nbsp;– reconciliation as part of a political outcome to this," Gates stated.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shah |first=Saeed |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/30/afghanistan.ministry.blast/index.html |title=Suicide bombers target Afghan ministry |publisher=CNN |date= 30 October 2008|access-date=30 October 2008}}</ref> By 2010 peace efforts began. In early January, Taliban commanders held secret exploratory talks with a United Nations special envoy to discuss peace terms. Regional commanders on the Taliban's leadership council, the [[Quetta Shura]], sought a meeting with the UN special representative in Afghanistan, [[Kai Eide]], and it took place in [[Dubai]] on 8 January. It was the first such meeting between the UN and senior members of the Taliban.<ref name="Borger">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jan/28/taliban-united-nations-afghanistan |title= UN in secret peace talks with Taliban|work=The Guardian |location=London  |access-date=9 February 2010|first=Julian|last=Borger|date=28 January 2010}}</ref> On 26 January 2010, at [[International Conference on Afghanistan, London (2010)|a major conference in London]] which brought together some 70 countries and organizations,<ref name="google1">{{cite web|last=Aziakou |first=Gerard |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hkz2Pd47Op5hxZ6dlohtOAUtyxyw |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100129030916/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hkz2Pd47Op5hxZ6dlohtOAUtyxyw |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 January 2010 |title=AFP: UN chief names new envoy to Afghanistan |date=27 January 2010 |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> [[President of Afghanistan|Afghan President]] Hamid Karzai said he intends to reach out to the Taliban leadership (including [[Mullah Omar]], [[Sirajuddin Haqqani]] and [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]]). Supported by NATO, Karzai called on the group's leadership to take part in a [[loya jirga]] meeting to initiate peace talks. These steps have resulted in an intensification of bombings, assassinations and ambushes.<ref name="online.wsj.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703720004575476913015061570 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=11 September 2010 |title=Karzai Divides Afghanistan in Reaching Out to Taliban |first=Yaroslav|last=Trofimov|date=11 September 2010}}</ref> Some Afghan groups (including the former intelligence chief [[Amrullah Saleh]] and opposition leader Dr. [[Abdullah Abdullah]]) believe that Karzai plans to appease the insurgents' senior leadership at the cost of the democratic constitution, the democratic process and progress in the field of human rights especially women's rights.<ref name="The Scotsman">{{cite news| url=http://news.scotsman.com/world/Karzai39s-Taleban-talks-raise-spectre.6557817.jp| work=The Scotsman|title=Karzai's Taleban talks raise spectre of civil war warns former spy chief |first=Jerome|last=Starkey|date=30 September 2010| location=Edinburgh}}</ref> Dr. Abdullah stated:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="National Public Radio (NPR)">{{cite news| url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130757482| work=National Public Radio (NPR)| title=Abdullah Abdullah: Talks With Taliban Futile |date=October 22, 2010}}</ref>}}

[[File:Secretary Kerry meets Abdullah and Ghani 2014.jpg|thumb|From left to right: [[Abdullah Abdullah]], [[John Kerry]] and [[Ashraf Ghani]] during the [[2014 Afghan presidential election]]]]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai told world leaders during the London conference that he intends to reach out to the top echelons of the Taliban within a few weeks with a peace initiative.<ref name="latimes1">{{cite news|last=Richter |first=Paul |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-fg-afghan-meeting-29-2010jan29,0,7474629.story |title=U.S. cool to Karzai plan on Taliban |work=Los Angeles Times  |date=29 January 2010 |access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the group's leadership to take part in a "loya [[jirga]]" – or large assembly of elders – to initiate peace talks.<ref name="reuters1">{{cite news|author=Hamid Shalizi and Abdul Malek |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q3IW20100129 |title=Taliban say no decision yet on Karzai offer of talks |work=Reuters |date= 29 January 2010|access-date=9 February 2010}}</ref> Karzai also asked for creation of a new peacemaking organization, to be called the National Council for Peace, Reconciliation and Reintegration.<ref name="latimes1"/> Karzai's top adviser on the reconciliation process with the insurgents said that the country must learn to forgive the Taliban.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shah |first=Saeed |url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/AP/story/1457586.html |title=Afghan government pursues talks with Taliban leaders&nbsp;– World AP |publisher=MiamiHerald.com |access-date=9 February 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In March 2010, the Karzai government held preliminary talks with Hezb-i-Islami, who presented a plan which included the withdrawal of all foreign troops by the end of 2010. The Taliban declined to participate, saying "The Islamic Emirate has a clear position. We have said this many, many times. There will be no talks when there are foreign troops on Afghanistan's soil killing innocent Afghans on daily basis."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L0PT20100323 |title=Taliban say not involved in Kabul peace talks |work=Reuters |date=23 March 2010 |access-date=25 March 2010}}</ref> [[Afghan Peace Jirga 2010|In June 2010 the Afghan Peace Jirga 2010 took place.]] In September 2010 General [[David Petraeus]] commented on the progress of peace talks to date, stating, "The prospect for reconciliation with senior Taliban leaders certainly looms out there...and there have been approaches at (a) very senior level that hold some promise."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/gates-says-u-s-forces-in-afghanistan-for-years-to-come |title=Gates Says U.S. Forces in Afghanistan for 'Years' to Come |publisher=Fox News |date=2 September 2010 |access-date=4 September 2010}}</ref>

After the May 2011 [[death of Osama bin Laden]] in Pakistan, many prominent Afghan figures began being assassinated, including [[Mohammed Daud Daud]], [[Ahmed Wali Karzai]], [[Jan Mohammad Khan]], [[Ghulam Haider Hamidi]], [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]] and others.<ref name=AfghamEmbassy>{{cite web|url=http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org/PresidentKarzaiAddresstotheNationonPeaceEfforts.htm |title=President Karzai Address to the Nation on Afghanistan's Peace Efforts |publisher=The Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC |access-date=10 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012070131/http://www.embassyofafghanistan.org/PresidentKarzaiAddresstotheNationonPeaceEfforts.htm |archive-date=12 October 2011 }}</ref> Also in the same year, the [[Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes|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]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-15/panetta-pakistan/50410770/1?csp=34news |title=Panetta: U.S. will pursue Pakistan-based militants |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=September 2011 |access-date=21 September 2011 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305092328/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-15/panetta-pakistan/50410770/1?csp=34news |url-status=dead }}</ref> The U.S. blamed Pakistan's government, mainly [[Pakistani Army]] and its [[Inter-Services Intelligence|ISI]] spy network as the masterminds behind all of this.<ref name=US-blames-Pakistan/>

{{blockquote|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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-condemns-us-comments-spy-agency-044440789.html;_ylt=A2KJ3vVYX3xOdRkA9EZXNyoA?rnd=005681253004174930714413 |title=Pakistan condemns US comments about spy agency |publisher=Associated Press |date=September 23, 2011 |access-date=2011-09-23}}</ref>|[[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Michael Mullen|Mike Mullen]]|[[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff]]}}

[[File:2021 Taliban Offensive.png|thumb|A map of Afghanistan showing the [[2021 Taliban offensive]]]]
The [[United States Ambassador to Pakistan|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."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-usa-haqqani-idUSTRE78G1RM20110917 |title=U.S. links Pakistan to group it blames for Kabul attack |date=17 September 2011 |work=Reuters |access-date=21 September 2011 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924155251/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/17/us-pakistan-usa-haqqani-idUSTRE78G1RM20110917 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other top U.S. officials such as [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Leon Panetta]] made similar statements.<ref name=US-blames-Pakistan>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-isi-urged-attacks-u-targets-officials-002201562.html |title=U.S. blames Pakistan agency in Kabul attack |agency=Reuters |date=22 September 2011 |access-date=22 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925075845/http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-isi-urged-attacks-u-targets-officials-002201562.html |archive-date=25 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/clinton-presses-pakistan-to-help-fight-haqqani-insurgent-group/ |title=Clinton Presses Pakistan to Help Fight Haqqani Insurgent Group |publisher=Fox News |date=18 September 2011 |access-date=21 September 2011}}</ref> On 16 October 2011, "Operation Knife Edge" was launched by NATO and Afghan forces against the Haqqani network in south-eastern Afghanistan. [[Ministry of Defense (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".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/10/18/push-launched-against-haqqanis-border-areas |title=Push launched against Haqqanis in border areas |website=Pajhwok Afghan News |first=Jawad |last=Sharifzada |date=18 October 2011}}</ref> In November 2011, [[2011 NATO attack in Pakistan|NATO forces attacked Pakistani soldiers]] in the Pakistan border region. In 2014, [[Ashraf Ghani]] was [[Afghan presidential election, 2014|elected]] to be the president of Afghanistan.  
[[File:Taliban Humvee in Kabul, August 2021 (cropped).png|thumb|Taliban fighters patrolling Kabul in a [[Humvee]], 17 August 2021]]
In 2021, the [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2021)|United States forces and allies withdrew]] from Afghanistan, which allowed the [[2021 Taliban offensive|Taliban to intensify their insurgency]]. On 15 August 2021, as the [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|Taliban entered Kabul]], [[Ashraf Ghani|President Ghani]] fled to [[Tajikistan]], and the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gall|first1=Carlotta|last2=Khapalwak|first2=Ruhullah|date=15 August 2021|title=Afghanistan Live Updates: Government Collapses as President Flees, and Taliban Enter Kabul|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/08/15/world/taliban-afghanistan-news|access-date=15 August 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Anti-Taliban forces formed the [[National Resistance Front of Afghanistan]] and launched an [[Republican insurgency in Afghanistan|uprising]] from the [[Panjshir Valley]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=23 August 2021|title=Anti-Taliban resistance group says it has thousands of fighters|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58239156|access-date=29 August 2021}}</ref>

On 7 September 2021 Taliban announced an interim government headed by [[Mohammad Hassan Akhund]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58479750|title = Taliban announce new government for Afghanistan|work = BBC News|date = 7 September 2021}}</ref> although the government remained unrecognized internationally.

Western countries have suspended most humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's takeover of the country in August 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Afghanistan: Can the Taliban avert a food crisis without foreign aid? |url=https://www.dw.com/en/afghanistan-can-the-taliban-avert-a-food-crisis-without-foreign-aid/a-59790464 |work=Deutsche Welle |date=11 November 2021}}</ref> The United States has [[Afghan frozen assets|frozen about $9 billion]] in assets belonging to the [[Da Afghanistan Bank|Afghan central bank]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Taliban blames U.S. as 1 million Afghan kids face death by starvation |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-taliban-blames-us-as-1-million-kids-face-starvation/ |work=CBS News |date=20 October 2021}}</ref> blocking the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars held in U.S. bank accounts.<ref>{{cite news |title=Is the United States Driving Afghanistan Toward Famine? |url=https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=30&emc=edit_int_20211029&instance_id=44044&nl=the-interpreter&productCode=INT&regi_id=57806557&segment_id=72971&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Fde4d3c8a-f805-5843-bf23-d2fd9a6bcf70&user_id=9aa4b6ac6a6bfa9626d966e353fed48b |work=The New York Times |date=29 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Afghanistan's hunger crisis is a problem the U.S. can fix |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/afghanistan-s-hunger-crisis-problem-u-s-can-fix-n1283618 |work=MSNBC |date=10 November 2021}}</ref> In October 2021, more than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage.<ref>{{cite news |title='Countdown to catastrophe': half of Afghans face hunger this winter – UN |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/oct/25/countdown-to-catastrophe-half-of-afghans-face-hunger-this-winter-un |work=The Guardian |date=25 October 2021}}</ref> On 11 November 2021, the ''Human Rights Watch'' reported that Afghanistan is facing widespread [[famine]] due to collapsed economy and broken banking system. The [[World Food Programme|UN World Food Program]] has also issued multiple warnings of worsening food insecurity.<ref>{{cite news |title=Afghanistan Facing Famine: UN, World Bank, US Should Adjust Sanctions, Economic Policies |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/11/afghanistan-facing-famine# |work=Human Rights Watch |date=11 November 2021}}</ref>

In October 2023, the Pakistani government ordered the [[expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan]].<ref>{{cite news |title='What's wrong?': The silence of Pakistanis on expulsion of Afghan refugees |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/22/whats-wrong-the-silence-of-pakistanis-on-expulsion-of-afghan-refugees |work=Al Jazeera |date=22 November 2023}}</ref> Iran also decided to deport [[Afghan refugees]] back to Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |title=Afghans Banned From 16 Provinces In Iran As Forced Exodus Continues |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-afghans-banned-provinces/32713320.html |work=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=4 December 2023}}</ref> Taliban authorities condemned the deportations of Afghans as an "inhuman act."<ref>{{cite news |title=Taliban: Iran Deports Almost 350,000 Afghans Within 3 Months |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-iran-deports-almost-350-000-afghans-within-3-months/7392705.html |work=VOA News |date=11 December 2023}}</ref> In December 2023, speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, [[World Health Organization|WHO]] Director-General [[Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus]] said that 30% of the [[Demographics of Afghanistan|Afghan population]] was facing acute food insecurity, adding that "Close to 1 million children are severely malnourished and 2.3 million are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition."<ref>{{cite news |title=Over 1 mn Afghan children facing severe malnutrition, says WHO chief |url=https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/over-1-mn-afghan-children-facing-severe-malnutrition-says-who-chief-123122200080_1.html |work=Business Standard |date=22 December 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Fall of Kabul (2021)]]
* [[Invasions of Afghanistan]]
* [[List of Pashtun empires and dynasties]]
* [[List of heads of state of Afghanistan]]
* [[Politics of Afghanistan]]
* [[Timeline of Kabul]]
* [[Timeline of Herat]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last=Enoki |first=K. |date=1959 |chapter=On the Nationality of Ephthalites |title=Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko |volume=18 |place=Tokyo |pages=1–58 |url=http://www.azargoshnasp.net/history/Hephtalites/enokihephtalites.pdf |access-date=1 April 2017 }} [https://archive.org/details/OnTheNationalityOfTheEphthalites Internet Archive copy]
* {{cite book |last=Kenoyer|first=Jonathan Mark|author-link=Jonathan Mark Kenoyer|year=1998|title=Ancient cities of the Indus Valley Civilisation|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-577940-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Rita P. |author-link=Rita P. Wright |title=The Ancient Indus: Urbanism, Economy, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAgFPQAACAAJ |access-date=29 September 2013 |year=2009 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press & Assessment|Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-57219-4 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Ziad |first1=Waleed |chapter=The Nezak Shahis of Kapisa-Gandhāra |title=In the Treasure Room of the Sakra King : Votive Coinage from Gandhāran Shrines |isbn=9780897227377 |year=2022|publisher=American Numismatic Society }}

==Further reading==
{{Main|Bibliography of Afghanistan}}
{{Further|Bibliography of the history of Central Asia}}
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Adamec, Ludwig W. ''Historical dictionary of Afghanistan'' (Scarecrow Press, 2011).
* Adamec, Ludwig W. ''Historical dictionary of Afghan wars, revolutions, and insurgencies'' (Scarecrow Press, 2005).
* Adamec, Ludwig W. ''Afghanistan's foreign affairs to the mid-twentieth century: relations with the USSR, Germany, and Britain'' (University of Arizona Press, 1974).
* Banting, Erinn. ''[https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00bant Afghanistan the People]''. Crabtree Publishing Company, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7787-9336-2}}.
* Barfield, Thomas. ''Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History'' (Princeton U.P. 2010) [https://www.amazon.com/Afghanistan-Cultural-Political-Princeton-Politics/dp/0691154414/  excerpt and text search] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205014411/https://www.amazon.com/Afghanistan-Cultural-Political-Princeton-Politics/dp/0691154414 |date=5 February 2017 }}
* Bleaney, C. H; María Ángeles Gallego. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qCh41lAvg8oC Afghanistan: a bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073224/https://books.google.com/books?id=qCh41lAvg8oC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Brill, 2006. {{ISBN|90-04-14532-X}}.
* [[Olaf Caroe|Caroe, Olaf]] (1958). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rZ0tAQAAIAAJ The Pathans: 500 B.C.–A.D. 1957] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073224/https://books.google.com/books?id=rZ0tAQAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints. Oxford University Press, 1983. {{ISBN|0-19-577221-0}}.
* Clements, Frank. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C Conflict in Afghanistan: a historical encyclopedia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073224/https://books.google.com/books?id=bv4hzxpo424C&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. ABC-CLIO, 2003. {{ISBN|1-85109-402-4}}.
* [[Louis Dupree (professor)|Dupree, Louis]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gMzRQgAACAAJ Afghanistan]''. Princeton University Press, 1973. {{ISBN|0-691-03006-5}}.
* [[Nancy Hatch Dupree|Dupree, Nancy Hatch]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=T__DHAAACAAJ An Historical Guide to Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073225/https://books.google.com/books?id=T__DHAAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. 2nd Edition. Revised and Enlarged. Afghan Air Authority, Afghan Tourist Organization, 1977.
* Ewans, Martin. ''Afghanistan – a new history'' (Routledge, 2013).
* Fowler, Corinne. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=o4IrhX7n66YC Chasing tales: travel writing, journalism and the history of British ideas about Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073225/https://books.google.com/books?id=o4IrhX7n66YC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Rodopi, 2007. Amsterdam and New York. {{ISBN|90-420-2262-0}}.
* Griffiths, John C. (1981). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=M7nMtaXdAS8C Afghanistan: a history of conflict] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073225/https://books.google.com/books?id=M7nMtaXdAS8C&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Carlton Books, 2001. {{ISBN|1-84222-597-9}}.
* [[Jos Gommans|Gommans, Jos J. L.]] ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=-2TH8UYeAaoC The rise of the Indo-Afghan empire, c. 1710–1780]''. Brill, 1995. {{ISBN|90-04-10109-8}}.
* Gregorian, Vartan. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=gphzQgAACAAJ The emergence of modern Afghanistan: politics of reform and modernization, 1880–1946]''. Stanford University Press, 1969. {{ISBN|0-8047-0706-5}}
* [[Abdul Hai Habibi|Habibi, Abdul Hai]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jskHAAAACAAJ Afghanistan: An Abridged History]''. Fenestra Books, 2003. {{ISBN|1-58736-169-8}}.
* [[János Harmatta|Harmatta, János]]. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations, 700 B.C. to A.D. 250]''. Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1999. {{ISBN|81-208-1408-8}}.
* Hiebert, Fredrik Talmage. ''[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781426202957 Afghanistan: hidden treasures from the National Museum, Kabul]''. National Geographic Society, 2008. {{ISBN|1-4262-0295-4}}.
* Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the ''Hou Hanshu''." 2nd Draft Edition.{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html |title=The Han Histories |publisher=Depts.washington.edu |access-date=31 January 2010 |archive-date=26 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426032835/http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html |url-status=dead }}
* Holt, Frank. ''[https://archive.org/details/intolandofbones00fran Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan]''. University of California Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-520-24993-3}}.
* Hopkins, B. D. 2008. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=FOMUAQAAIAAJ The Making of Modern Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073224/https://books.google.com/books?id=FOMUAQAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. {{ISBN|0-230-55421-0}}.
* Jabeen, Mussarat, Prof Dr Muhammad Saleem Mazhar, and Naheed S. Goraya. "US Afghan Relations: A Historical Perspective of Events of 9/11." ''South Asian Studies'' 25.1 (2020). 
* Kakar, M. Hassan. ''A Political and Diplomatic History of Afghanistan, 1863–1901'' (Brill, 2006)[http://journals.pu.edu.pk/journals/index.php/IJSAS/article/view/2781/1039 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909021747/http://journals.pu.edu.pk/journals/index.php/IJSAS/article/view/2781/1039 |date=9 September 2021 }}
* Leake, Elisabeth. ''Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan'' (Oxford University Press. 2022) [https://issforum.org/to/jrt15-29  online book review]
* [[George Bruce Malleson|Malleson, George Bruce]] (1878). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C History of Afghanistan, from the Earliest Period to the Outbreak of the War of 1878] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073225/https://books.google.com/books?id=pqNGBEmHUd4C&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Elibron Classic Replica Edition. Adamant Media Corporation, 2005. {{ISBN|1-4021-7278-8}}.
* Olson, Gillia M. ''[https://archive.org/details/afghanistan0000olso Afghanistan]''. Capstone Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7368-2685-8}}.
* Omrani, Bijan & Leeming, Matthew ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=VVu_NwAACAAJ&q=editions:MLexHQAACAAJ Afghanistan: A Companion and Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073226/https://books.google.com/books?id=VVu_NwAACAAJ&dq=editions:MLexHQAACAAJ&hl=en&ei=Bbk3TrLMF5K7hAfqwPibAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Odyssey Publications, 2nd Edition, 2011. {{ISBN|962-217-816-2}}.
* Reddy, L. R. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NubtDf2T3cAC Inside Afghanistan: end of the Taliban era?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073226/https://books.google.com/books?id=NubtDf2T3cAC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. APH Publishing, 2002. {{ISBN|81-7648-319-2}}.
* Romano, Amy. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=TKUxyVCrYn0C A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073226/https://books.google.com/books?id=TKUxyVCrYn0C&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003. {{ISBN|0-8239-3863-8}}.
* Runion, Meredith L. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC The history of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073226/https://books.google.com/books?id=aZk9XzqCFGUC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. {{ISBN|0-313-33798-5}}.
* Saikal, Amin, A.G. Ravan Farhadi, and Kirill Nourzhanov. ''Modern Afghanistan: a history of struggle and survival'' (IB Tauris, 2012).
* Shahrani, M Nazif, ed. ''Modern Afghanistan: The Impact of 40 Years of War'' (Indiana UP, 2018)
* Siddique, Abubakar. ''The Pashtun Question The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan'' (Hurst, 2014)
* Tanner, Stephen. ''Afghanistan: a military history from Alexander the Great to the war against the Taliban'' (Da Capo Press, 2009).
* Wahab, Shaista; Barry Youngerman. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=y20MTE0C9kwC A brief history of Afghanistan]''. Infobase Publishing, 2007. {{ISBN|0-8160-5761-3}}
* Vogelsang, Willem. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC The Afghans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228073727/https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s |date=28 December 2022 }}''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2002. Oxford, UK & Massachusetts, US. {{ISBN|0-631-19841-5}}.
* Ahmad, M. M. "[https://bible-quran.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/The-Lost-Tribes-of-Israel-_-Islam-Ahmadiyya-MM-Ahmad.pdf The Lost Tribes of Israel."] The Muslim Sunrise (1991).
{{refend}}

===Primary sources===
* "Durand's Curse: A Line Across the Pathan Heart" by Rajiv Dogra, Publisher: Rupa Publications India
* 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. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4QeZTTYLoVgC The history of India, as told by its own historians: The Muhammadan period]''. Elibron.com, 1952. Volume 8. {{ISBN|0-543-94714-9}}
* [[Mountstuart Elphinstone|Elphinstone, Mountstuart]]. 1819. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=RSEPAAAAYAAJ 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.{{cite web |url=http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |title=Weilue: The Peoples of the West |publisher=Depts.washington.edu |date=23 May 2004 |access-date=31 January 2010 |archive-date=15 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050315032618/http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html |url-status=dead }}
* Levi, Peter. 1972. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=KakcAAAAMAAJ The light garden of the angel king: journeys in Afghanistan]''. Collins, 1972. {{ISBN|0-00-211042-3}}.
* Wood, John (1872). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ml0BAAAAQAAJ 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}}.

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{EI3|last=Nölle-Karimi|first=Christine|title=Afghanistan until 1747|year=2020|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/afghanistan-until-1747-COM_24776?s.num=6&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=baluch}}
* [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/aftoc.html A Country Study: Afghanistan] – [[Library of Congress Country Studies]]
* [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360 Encyclopædia Britannica – History of Afghanistan]
* [https://travelngears.com/unesco-sites-in-afghanistan/ UNESCO Sites in Afghanistan – Travel and Gears] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230126115025/https://travelngears.com/unesco-sites-in-afghanistan/ |date=26 January 2023 }}
* [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternAfghans.htm Afghanistan (Southern Khorasan / Arachosia)]
* [http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghanistan_Importance_from_the_Perspective_of_the_History.htm Afghanistan's Importance From the Perspective of the History] by [[Abdul Hai Habibi]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100830031416/http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php An Historical Guide to Kabul] by [[Nancy Hatch Dupree]]
* [http://www.afghan-web.com/history/ Afghanistan Online – History of Afghanistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060514050705/http://www.afghan-web.com/history/ |date=14 May 2006 }}
* {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20120218073852/http://www.afghanan.net/afghanistan/prehistory.htm Afghanistan History: Prehistory]}}
* [https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar/recorded_events/afghanistan_history_of_a_land.aspx British Museum Lecture: An Introduction to the History of Afghanistan by Bijan Omrani] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102001654/https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar/recorded_events/afghanistan_history_of_a_land.aspx |date=2 November 2019 }}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/27/10-myths-about-afghanistan Ten Myths about Afghanistan] ''[[The Guardian]]''

{{Chronological chart for the historical periods of Afghanistan}}
{{Afghanistan topics}}
{{History of Asia}}

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:History of Afghanistan| ]]
[[Category:History of Central Asia]]
[[Category:Kabul Shahi]]