Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan

Between 2000-1200 BCE, a branch of Indo-European-speaking tribes known as the Aryans or Indo-Iranians began migrating into the region. They appear to have split into Iranian, Nuristani, and Indo-Aryan groups at an early stage, possibly between 1500 and 1000 BCE in what is today Afghanistan or much earlier as eastern remnants of the Indo-Aryans drifted much further west as with the Mitanni. The Iranians and Nuristanis dominated the Iranian plateau, while the Indo-Aryans ultimately headed towards the Indian subcontinent, but probably not befor ...

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Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Prehistory, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Ancient Afghanistan: From the Aryans to the Medes. 1500 BCE - 551 BCE, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Early Indo-Aryans prior to their move to India, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Achaemenid Rule and rise of Zoroastrianism ca. 550 BCE - 331 BCE, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Alexander the Great Seleucid-Mauryan rivalry and Greco-Bactrian Rule 330 BCE - ca. 150 BCE, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - The Kushan Empire ca. 150 BCE - 300 CE, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Sassanian Rule ca. 300 - 650, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - The Shahi Kings ca. 650 - 1013, Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan - Archaeological remnants from Afghanistan's pre-Islamic period

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The Kushan Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries) was a state that at its height, about 105–250, stretched from Tajikistan to the Caspian Sea to Afghanistan and down into the Ganges river valley in northern India. The empire was created by the Kushan tribe of the Yuezhi, a people from modern Xinjiang, China, possibly related to the Tocharians. They had diplomatic contacts with Rome, Sassanian Persia and China, and for several centuries were at the center of exchange between the East and the West. Kushan Empire - Origins. < ...

Including:

• Kushan Empire - Origins
• Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire
• Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE
• Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE
• Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE
• Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE
• Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE
• Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism
• Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara
• Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome
• Kushan Empire - Contacts with China
• Kushan Empire - Decline
• Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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In the following century, the Yuezhi tribe of the Guishuang (Ch: 貴霜) gained prominence over the others, and welded them into a tight confederation. The name Guishuang was adopted in the West and modified into Kushan to designate the confederation, although the Chinese continued to call them Yuezhi. Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scythian tribes, the Kushans expanded south into the region traditionally known as Gandhara (An area lying primarily in Pakistan's Pothowar, and NWFP region but ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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From the 3rd century the Kushan empire began to fragment. Around 225 Vasudeva I died and the Kushan empire was divided into western and eastern halves. Around 224–240, the Sasanians invaded Bactria and Northern India, where they are known as the Indo-Sassanians. Around 270, the Kushans lost their territories on the Gangetic plain, where the Gupta Empire was established around 320. During the middle of the 4th century CE a Kushan vassal in Pakistan, named Kidara, rose to power and overthrew the old Kushan dynasty. He cr ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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Cultural exchanges also flourished, encouraging the development of Greco-Buddhism, a fusion of Hellenistic and Buddhist cultural elements, that was to expand into central and northern Asia as Mahayana Buddhism. Kanishka is renowned in Buddhist tradition for having convened a great Buddhist council in Kashmir. This council is attributed with having marked the official beginning of the pantheistic Mahayana Buddhism and its schism with Nikaya Buddhism. Kanishka also had the original Gandhari vernacular, or Prakrit, Mahayana Buddhist text ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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Several Roman sources describe the visit of ambassadors from the Kings of Bactria and India during the 2nd century CE, probably referring to the Kushans: Historia Augusta, speaking of Emperor Hadrian (117–138 CE) tells: "Reges Bactrianorum legatos ad eum, amicitiae petendae causa, supplices miserunt" "The kings of the Bactrians sent supplicant ambassadors to him, to seek his friendship." Also in 138, according to Aurelius Victor (Epitome‚ XV, 4), and Appian (Praef., 7), Antoninus Pius, successor to Hadrian, received some ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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Chinese sources describe the Guishuang (Ch:貴霜), i.e. the "Kushans" as one of the five tribes of the Yuezhi (Ch:月氏), a loose confederation of Indo-European peoples, possibly speaking versions of the Tocharian language. They were the easternmost Indo-Europeans, who had been living in the arid grasslands of the Tarim Basin in modern-day Xinjiang, until they were driven west by the Xiongnu in 176–160 BCE. The five Yuezhi tribes are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì (Ch:休密), Guishuang (Ch:貴霜), Shuangmi (Ch:雙靡), X ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

Read more here: » Kushan Empire: Encyclopedia II - Kushan Empire - Origins

During the 1st and 2nd century, the Kushan Empire expanded militarily to the north and occupied parts of the Tarim Basin, their original grounds, putting them at the center of the profitable Central Asian commerce with the Roman Empire. They are related to have collaborated militarily with the Chinese against nomadic incursion, particularly when they collaborated with the Chinese general Ban Chao against the Sogdians in 84 CE, when the latter were trying to support a revolt by the king of Kashgar. Around 85 CE, they also assisted the Chinese gen ...

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Kushan Empire, Kushan Empire - Origins, Kushan Empire - A multi-cultural Empire, Kushan Empire - Heraios 1-30 CE, Kushan Empire - Kujula Kadphises 30-80 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Taktu 80-105 CE, Kushan Empire - Vima Kadphises 105-127 CE, Kushan Empire - Kanishka I 127-147 CE, Kushan Empire - The Kushans and Buddhism, Kushan Empire - Depiction of Kushan devotees in the art of Gandhara, Kushan Empire - Contacts with Rome, Kushan Empire - Contacts with China, Kushan Empire - Decline, Kushan Empire - Main Kushan rulers

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Afghanistan's history, internal political development, foreign relations, and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia. Over the centuries, waves of migrating peoples passed through the region--described by historian Arnold Toynbee as a "roundabout of the ancient world"--leaving behind a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. In modern times, as well as in antiquity, vast armies of the world passed through this region of Asia, temporarily est ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Shahi, Shahi - Shahi rulers, Shahi - Also see

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Main article: Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country eventually finding refuge in Italy. 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 e ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Main article: Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The PDPA, as a pro-communist socialist party, implemented a socialist agenda which included decrees abolishing usury, banning forced marriages, state recognition of women’s rights to vote, replacing religious and traditional laws with secular and Marxist ones, banning tribal courts, and land reform. Men were obliged to cut their beards, women couldn't wear a burqa, and mosque visiting was forbidden. The PDPA invited the Soviet Union to assist in modernising its economic infrast ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Main article: Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah Prince Mohammed Nadir Khan, a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He reversed the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favour of a more gradual approach to moder ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Main article: History of Afghanistan since 1992 When the victorious mujahidin entered Kabul to assume control over the city and the central government, internecine fighting began between the various militias, which had coexisted only uneasily during the Soviet occupation. With the demise of their common enemy, the militias' ethnic, clan, religious, and personality differences surfaced, and the civil war continued. An interim Islamic Jihad Council was put in place, first led by Sibghatullah Mojadeddi for tw ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Main article: Durrani Empire In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of what is known today as Afghanistan, established his rule. A Pashtun, Durrani was elected king in the first Loya Jirga after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

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Main article: Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war King Amanullah (1919-1929) moved to end his country's traditional isolation in the years following the Third Anglo-Afghan war. 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 Ataturk--introduced several reforms intended to modernize Afghanistan. Some of these, such as the abolition of the traditional Muslim veil for women and the opening of a ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

Read more here: » History of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929

Main article: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan In 642 CE, Arabs invaded the entire region and introduced Islam. Afghanistan, like all others conquered by the Arabs had local rulers including the empire of Tang China, which had extended its influence all the way to Kabul. The Khorasani Persian-Arabs controlled the area until they were conquered by the Ghaznavid Empire in 998. Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned Ghazna (Ghazni) into a great cultural center as well as a base for fre ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

Read more here: » History of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747

Main article: Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan Afghanistan's known pre-Islamic past began with Aryan invasions around 2000 BCE and continued with Persian, Median, Greek, Mauryan, Bactrian, and other phases in its history. Following the defeat of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, in 328 BC, Alexander the Great entered the territory of present-day Afghanistan to capture Bactria (present-day Balkh). ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

Read more here: » History of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651

Main article: European influence in Afghanistan Dost Mohammed Khan gained control in Kabul. Collision between the expanding British and Russian Empires significantly influenced Afghanistan during the 19th century in what was termed "The Great Game." British concern over Russian advances in Central Asia and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars. The first (1839-1842) resulted in the destruction of a British army; it's remembered as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The sec ...

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History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan, History of Afghanistan - Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan before 651, History of Afghanistan - Islamic conquest of Afghanistan 642-1747, History of Afghanistan - The Durrani Empire 1747-1826, History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919, History of Afghanistan - Reforms of Amanullah Khan and civil war 1919-1929, History of Afghanistan - Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah 1929-1973, History of Afghanistan - Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan 1973-1978, History of Afghanistan - Soviet intervention in Afghanistan 1978-1992, History of Afghanistan - History of Afghanistan 1992 to present

Read more here: » History of Afghanistan: Encyclopedia II - History of Afghanistan - European influence in Afghanistan 1826-1919