Islamization and Mongol invasion

Main articles: Islamic conquest of Afghanistan and Mongol invasion of Central Asia

The Friday Mosque of Herat is one of the oldest mosques in Afghanistan

The Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif was built in the 15th century

Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of
the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before Islam was
introduced, people of the region were mostly Buddhists and Zoroastrians, but there were
also Surya and Nana worshipers, Jews, and others. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first
conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids extended their Islamic
influence south of the Hindu Kush. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side
in Kabul before the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century.[27][28][29]
By the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and
effectively Islamized the wider region,[30] with the exception of Kafiristan.[31] Mahmud
made Ghazni into an important city and patronized intellectuals such as the historian Al-Biruni and
the poet Ferdowsi.[32] The Ghaznavid dynasty was overthrown by the Ghurids, whose architectural
achievements included the remote Minaret of Jam. The Ghurids controlled Afghanistan for less than
a century before being conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in 1215.[33]
In 1219 AD, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region. His troops are said to have
annihilated the Khorasanian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan.[34] The destruction caused
by the Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society.[35] Mongol rule continued
with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khalji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas
south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of Timur, who established the Timurid Empire in 1370.
In the early 16th century, Babur arrived from Fergana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty.
In 1526, he invaded Delhi in India to replace the Lodi dynasty with the Mughal Empire.[36] Between
the 16th and 18th century, the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara, Iranian Safavids, and Indian Mughals
ruled parts of the territory.[37] Before the 19th century, the northwestern area of Afghanistan was
referred to by the regional name Khorasan. Two of the four capitals of Khorasan (Herat and Balkh)
are now located in Afghanistan, while the regions of Kandahar, Zabulistan, Ghazni, Kabulistan,
and Afghanistan formed the frontier between Khorasan and Hindustan.[38][39][40]

Hotak dynasty and Durrani Empire

Main articles: Hotak dynasty and Durrani Empire
In 1709, Mirwais Hotak, a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids. He
defeated Gurgin Khan and made Afghanistan independent.[41] Mirwais died of natural causes in 1715
and was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz, who was soon killed by Mirwais'
son Mahmud for treason. Mahmud led the Afghan army in 1722 to the Persian capital of Isfahan,
captured the city after the Battle of Gulnabad and proclaimed himself King of Persia.[41] The Afghan
dynasty was ousted from Persia by Nader Shah after the 1729 Battle of Damghan.
In 1738, Nader Shah and his forces captured Kandahar, the last Hotak stronghold, from
Shah Hussain Hotak, at which point the incarcerated 16-year-old Ahmad Shah Durrani was freed
and made the commander of an Afghan regiment. Soon after, the Persian and Afghan
forces invaded India. By 1747, the Afghans chose Durrani as their head of state.[42] Durrani and his
Afghan army conquered much of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan,
the Khorasan and Kohistan provinces of Iran, and Delhi in India.[43] He defeated the Indian Maratha
Empire, and one of his biggest victories was the 1761 Battle of Panipat.
In October 1772, Durrani died of natural causes and was buried at a site now adjacent to the Shrine
of the Cloak in Kandahar. He was succeeded by his son, Timur Shah, who transferred the capital of
Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul in 1776. After Timur's death in 1793, the Durrani throne passed
down to his son Zaman Shah, followed by Mahmud Shah, Shuja Shah and others.[44]

Afghan tribesmen in 1841, painted by British officer James Rattray

By the early 19th century, the Afghan empire was under threat from the Persians in the west and
the Sikh Empire in the east. Fateh Khan, leader of the Barakzai tribe, had installed 21 of his brothers
in positions of power throughout the empire. After his death, they rebelled and divided up the
provinces of the empire between themselves. During this turbulent period, Afghanistan had many
temporary rulers until Dost Mohammad Khan declared himself emir in 1826.[45] The Punjab
region was lost to Ranjit Singh, who invaded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and in 1834 captured the city
of Peshawar.[46] In 1837, during the Battle of Jamrud near the Khyber Pass, Akbar Khan and the
Afghan army failed to capture the Jamrud fort from the Sikh Khalsa Army, but killed Sikh
Commander Hari Singh Nalwa, thus ending the Afghan-Sikh Wars. By this time the British were
advancing from the east and the first major conflict during "The Great Game" was initiated.[47]

British influence and independent kingdom

Further information: European influence in Afghanistan and Afghan Civil War (1928–1929)
British and allied forces at Kandahar after the 1880 Battle of Kandahar, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
The large defensive wall around the city was removed in the early 1930s by order of King Nadir.

In 1838, the British marched into Afghanistan and arrested Dost Mohammad, sent him into exile in
India and replaced him with the previous ruler, Shah Shuja.[48][49] Following an uprising, the 1842
retreat from Kabul of British-Indian forces and the annihilation of Elphinstone's army, and the Battle
of Kabul that led to its recapture, the British placed Dost Mohammad Khan back into power and
withdrew their military forces from Afghanistan. In 1878, the Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought
over perceived Russian influence, Abdur Rahman Khan replaced Ayub Khan, and Britain gained
control of Afghanistan's foreign relations as part of the Treaty of Gandamak of 1879. In
1893, Mortimer Durand made Amir Abdur Rahman Khan sign a controversial agreement in which the
ethnic Pashtun and Baloch territories were divided by the Durand Line. This was a standard divide
and rule policy of the British and would lead to strained relations, especially with the later new state
of Pakistan. Shia-dominated Hazarajat and pagan Kafiristan remained politically independent until
being conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1891–1896.

Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan, who reigned from 1933 to 1973.

After the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi on 19 August 1919,
King Amanullah Khan declared Afghanistan a sovereign and fully independent state. He moved to
end his country's traditional isolation by establishing diplomatic relations with the international
community and, following a 1927–28 tour of Europe and Turkey, introduced several reforms
intended to modernize his nation. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi, an ardent
supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's 1923 constitution,
which made elementary education compulsory. The institution of slavery was abolished in 1923.[50]
King Amanullah Khan and Queen Soraya Tarzi on a visit to Berlin in 1928

Some of the reforms that were put in place, such as the abolition of the traditional burqa for women
and the opening of several co-educational schools, quickly alienated many tribal and religious
leaders, and this led to the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929). Faced with the overwhelming armed
opposition, Amanullah Khan abdicated in January 1929, and soon after Kabul fell
to Saqqawist forces led by Habibullah Kalakani.[51] Prince Mohammed Nadir Shah, Amanullah's
cousin, in turn defeated and killed Kalakani in October 1929, and was declared King Nadir
Shah.[52] He abandoned the reforms of Amanullah Khan in favor of a more gradual approach to
modernization but was assassinated in 1933 by Abdul Khaliq, a fifteen-year-old Hazara student.[53]
Mohammed Zahir Shah, Nadir Shah's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from
1933 to 1973. Until 1946, Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle, who held the post
of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. Another of Zahir Shah's uncles, Shah
Mahmud Khan, became Prime Minister in 1946 and began an experiment allowing greater political
freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. He was replaced in 1953
by Mohammed Daoud Khan, the king's cousin and brother-in-law, and a Pashtun nationalist who
sought the creation of a Pashtunistan, leading to highly tense relations with Pakistan.[54] During his
ten years at the post until 1963, Daoud Khan pressed for social modernization reforms and sought a
closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Afterward, the 1964 constitution was formed, and the first
non-royal Prime Minister was sworn in.[55]
King Zahir Shah, like his father Nadir Shah, had a policy of maintaining national independence while
pursuing gradual modernization, creating nationalist feeling, and improving relations with the United
Kingdom. Close relations with the Muslim states Turkey, the Kingdom of Iraq and Iran/Persia were
also pursued, while further international relations were sought by joining the League of Nations in
1934. The 1930s saw the development of roads, infrastructure, the founding of a national bank, and
increased education. Road links in the north played a large part in a
growing cotton and textile industry.[55] The country built close relationships with the Axis powers,
with Germany having the largest share in Afghan development at the time.[56] However, Afghanistan
remained neutral and was neither a participant in World War II nor aligned with either power bloc in
the Cold War thereafter. However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union
and the United States vied for influence by building Afghanistan's main highways, airports, and other
vital infrastructure. On a per capita basis, Afghanistan received more Soviet development aid than
any other country. Afghanistan had, therefore, good relations with both Cold War enemies. In 1973,
while the King was on an official overseas visit, Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup and became
the first President of Afghanistan, abolishing the monarchy.
PDPA coup d'état and Soviet war
Main articles: Saur Revolution, Soviet–Afghan War, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, and History
of Afghanistan (1978–92)

Soviet troops in Gardez, Afghanistan in 1987

Hezb-i Islami Khalis fighters in the Sultan Valley of Kunar Province, 1987

In April 1978, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in the Saur
Revolution, a coup d'état against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan. The PDPA declared the
establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, with its first President named as Nur
Muhammad Taraki.[57]
Opposition to PDPA reforms, such as its land redistribution policy and modernization of civil and
marriage laws, led to unrest which became an open revolt by October 1978, first in eastern
Afghanistan. That uprising quickly expanded into a civil war waged by guerrilla mujahideen against
regime forces countrywide. The Pakistani government provided these rebels with covert training
centers, while the Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisers to support the PDPA
regime.[58] The United States supported Afghan mujahideen fighters through Pakistan's Inter-
Services Intelligence (ISI).[59]
Meanwhile, increasing friction between the competing factions of the PDPA — the
dominant Khalq and the more moderate Parcham — resulted (in July–August 1979) in the dismissal
of Parchami cabinet members and the arrest of Parchami military officers under the pretext of a
Parchami coup.[60]
In September 1979, President Taraki was assassinated in a coup within the PDPA orchestrated by
fellow Khalq member Hafizullah Amin, who assumed the presidency. The situation in the country
deteriorated under Amin and thousands of people went missing.[61] The Soviet Union was displeased
with Amin's government and decided to intervene and invade the country on 27 December 1979,
killing Amin that same day.[62]
A Soviet-organized regime, led by Parcham's Babrak Karmal but inclusive of both factions (Parcham
and Khalq), filled the vacuum. Soviet troops in more substantial numbers were deployed to stabilize
Afghanistan under Karmal, marking the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War.[63] The United States
continued to support the mujahideen through Pakistan's ISI[59] and Saudi Arabia, delivering billions of
dollars in cash and weapons including two thousand FIM-92 Stinger surface-to-air missiles.[64][65]
The war lasted until 1989. Soviet forces, their Afghan proxies and rebels killed between
562,000[66] and 2 million Afghans,[67][68][69][70][71][72][73] and displaced about 6 million people who
subsequently fled Afghanistan, mainly to Pakistan and Iran.[74] Many countryside villages were
bombed and some cities such as Herat and Kandahar were also damaged from air bombardment.
Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province functioned as an organisational and networking base for the
anti-Soviet Afghan resistance, with the province's influential Deobandi ulama playing a major
supporting role in promoting the 'jihad'.[75]
Faced with mounting international pressure and numerous casualties, the Soviets withdrew from
Afghanistan in 1989, but continued to support Afghan President Mohammad Najibullah until 1992.[76]

Proxy and civil war and Islamic jihad 1989–96

Main articles: Afghan Civil War (1989–92) and Afghan Civil War (1992–96)

Development of the civil war from 1992 to late 2001

After the Soviet withdrawal, the conflict between the mujahideen and the PDPA
continued.[77] President Najibullah, who had become president in 1987, tried to build support for his
government by moving away from socialism to pan-Afghan nationalism and portraying his
government as Islamic.[78]
Nevertheless, Najibullah did not win any significant support. In March 1989, mujahideen groups
launched an attack on Jalalabad, instigated by the Pakistani ISI, but the attack failed.[79] With
the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and the ending of Russian support, President
Najibullah was left without foreign aid. In March 1991, mujahideen forces attacked and conquered
the city of Khost.
In March 1992, President Najibullah agreed to step aside and make way for a mujahideen coalition
government. At this time there were seven main mujahideen groups: Hezb-e Islami (Gulbuddin
faction), Hezb-e Islami (Khalis faction), Jamiat-e Islami, Islamic Dawah Organisation of Afghanistan,
the National Islamic Front for Afghanistan, the National Liberation Front, and the Islamic Revolution
Movement . Their leaders came together in Peshawar, Pakistan, to negotiate a coalition
government, but Hezbi Islami's leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar refused to confer and instead invaded
Kabul. This kicked off a civil war, starting 25 April 1992, between initially three, but within weeks five
or six mujahideen groups.[80][81][82] Kabul was heavily bombarded and partially destroyed by the
fighting.[83]
A section of Kabul during the civil war in 1993, which caused significant damage to the capital

As the war continued in 1993–95, the mujahideen committed widespread rape, murder and
extortion.[81][84][83] In January–June 1994, 25,000 people died in Kabul due to fighting between an
alliance of Abdul Rashid Dostum's Junbish with Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami against Ahmad Shah
Massoud's Jamiat forces.[85] The Taliban emerged in September 1994 as a movement and militia
of Pashtun students (talib) from Islamic madrassas (schools) in Pakistan,[83][86] pledged to rid
Afghanistan of 'warlords and criminals',[87] and soon had military support from Pakistan.[88] In
November 1994 the Taliban took control of Kandahar city after forcing out local Pashtun
leaders.[83] The Taliban in early 1995 attempted to capture Kabul but were repelled by forces under
Massoud. The Taliban grew stronger and in September 1996 attacked and occupied Kabul after
Massoud and Hekmatyar had withdrawn their troops from the city.[89][90]

Taliban Emirate and Northern Alliance

Main articles: Afghan Civil War (1996–2001), Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Taliban, and Northern
Alliance
In late September 1996, the Taliban, in control of Kabul and most of Afghanistan,[91] proclaimed
the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Taliban were condemned internationally for the harsh
enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which resulted in the brutal treatment of
many Afghans, especially women.[92][93] During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed
massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to 160,000 starving civilians and
conducted a policy of scorched earth, burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of
thousands of homes.[94][95][96][97][98][99]
After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Massoud and Dostum formed the Northern Alliance. The
Taliban defeated Dostum's forces during the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif (1997–98). Pakistan's Chief of
Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf, began sending thousands of Pakistanis to help the Taliban defeat the
Northern Alliance.[100][88][101][102][103] From 1996 to 2001, the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin
Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri was also operating inside Afghanistan.[104] Around 400,000 Afghans
died in internal conflicts between 1990 and 2001.[105]
On 9 September 2001, Massoud was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers in Panjshir
province. Two days later, the 11 September attacks were carried out in the United States. The US
government suspected Osama bin Laden as the perpetrator of the attacks, and demanded that the
Taliban hand him over.[106] The Taliban offered to hand over Bin Laden to a third country for trial, but
not directly to the US. Washington refused that offer.[107] Instead, the US launched the October
2001 Operation Enduring Freedom. The majority of Afghans supported the American invasion of
their country.[108][109] During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps.
Working with the Northern Alliance, the US removed the Taliban from power.[110]