It seems like the nation known today as Afghanistan makes the news all the time. They made news because Osama bin Laden and his network are said to have been headquartered in the country, which led to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. They made news because of the war those attacks inspired, which led to the invasion of the country by the United States and other Coalition troops. They made the news because of Al-Qaeda, Taliban insurgents, and border fighting between them and their neighbor, Pakistan. But, the region known today as Afghanistan has had a long history. Why? Because it is in a place where there has been a confluence of different powers for most of its history.
Archeological evidence suggests that there were settlements here that were part of the Indus Valley Civilization that began India’s long history, as far back as 5,000 years ago (3000 BC). The religion of Zoroastrianism is said to have started in this region about 1,000 years before Jesus Christ showed up on the scene. The Medes, associated with the Persians and King Darius, had a controlling influence here, as well as well as the Archaemenids who overthrew them, all about 700 BC. Alexander the Great and his forces conquered this area around 330 BC. After his death a few years later, it became part of the Seleucid Empire, and got a heavy dose of Greek (Hellenistic) culture.
It doesn’t end there, though. A couple decades later, it became controlled by the Mauryan Empire, getting a heavy dose of Indian and Hindu culture. This lasted until 185 BC, when they became part of the Hellenistic kingdom of Bactria. The Bactrians were defeated by the Scythians about half a century later, but then the Scythians were defeated by the Parthian Empire about half a century after that. You may have heard of the Parthians – they were a major opponent to the up-and-coming Roman Empire out west. Later, this region became part of the Kushan Empire, which is where they were influenced by Buddhism. But, that influence only lasted about 300-400 years until that empire was overthrown by the Sassanids, which was the successor state to the Parthians, and also a formidable opponent to the Roman Empire. That was about the Third Century AD.
A few other kingdoms kept replacing each other until the time that Islam showed up on the scene about 642 AD. By the 1200’s, a Muslim King effectively Muslimized the region, destroying the influence of Zoroastrianism and Buddhism, and kicking out the Jews who had settled there, thereby bringing in what became known as the Islamic Golden Age.
In the 13th century, Genghis Khan and his Mongol armies invaded the area and controlled it. In the 14th century, Timur and his forces overran the area, incorporating it into his Timurid Empire. In the 1500’s, Babur invaded, making what today is Afghanistan part of the Mughal Empire.
It wasn’t until 1709 that a local tribal leader named Mirwais Hotak made Afghanistan “independent” for the first time in its long history. By the middle of that century, under the leadership of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who is considered the Father of the Afghani Nation, that kingdom grew to become an empire that included what is present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, northwestern Iran and western India. This was known as the Afghan Empire.
By the 19th century, western powers started to have an influence in Afghanistan. In 1842, Afghanistan defeated soldiers representing the British, during the Anglo-Afghan War. But this victory was short lived – about 30 years later the British returned to fight the Second Anglo-Afghan War, and this time the results were different. Afghanistan became a British protectorate as an arm of British-controlled India. It was about this time that the British used a “divide-and-conquer” technique and created a political divide right down the middle of two major tribes in the region, the Pashton and Baloch territories – this dividing line, known as the Durand Line, installed in the 1890’s, still serves as the present-day boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Third Anglo-Afghan War, which took place in 1919, effectively led to the Independence of the nation, and to the creation of a kingdom. Mohammed Zahir Shah became the king in 1933, in a role that would last until 1973. His reign is seen as one that brought stability and economic growth to the nation. His reign ended when a bloodless coup deposed him in favor of a president and a republic form of government.
Now, you would think that their history ends there, but it doesn’t. The last 35 or so years have been quite painful for the Afghani people. In 1978, the Communist Party seized control of the country, leading to a 20-year period of civil war as Communists and those opposed to them, such as the Mujahedeen fought each other. The Soviet Union supported Communist forces, while the United States and Pakistan supported opposition forces. This all came to an end as the Soviet Union collapsed, leading to the creation of a new constitution in 1992, and the creation of the Islamic State of Afghanistan.
Now, this would all be well and good, except for the fact that Saudi Arabia and Iran were supporting separate militias inside the country, and given the fact that the new government had not had enough time to develop itself, this led to full-scale civil war and infighting…again. Ugh! Fortunately, the Taliban, having been started by some of the millions of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan, started to take power and destroy all opposition, leading to another period of relative stability in the nation, by the late 1990’s, all with the financial support of both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The negative of the Taliban being in charge was that they were very strict, almost totalitarianistic, and instituted their harsher form of Shari’a law.
This would have been the end of it, except for the fact that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks took place, and the U.S. government traced the attacks to Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network, which they believed were being harbored inside of Afghanistan, and this led to the American invasion of the country, along with its allied Coalition forces.
The U.S.-led War in Afghanistan finally ended officially in 2014, leaving some troops behind to help with stability, and during the war, a new more democratic government was created in the country. Also, in 2015, Taliban leaders agreed to back peace talks. It would be nice if Afghanistan could begin to have a new period of stability and peace and economic growth now – they really do need it. Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse during the sloppy U.S. withdrawal a few years ago.
Doesn’t this history of Afghanistan, particularly their more recent history, make you feel for the Afghan people?
