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. The
outline of the Afghanistan History In modern times, as well as in
antiquity, will focus on vast armies of the world passing through
Afghanistan, temporarily establishing local control.
50,000 BC - 20,000
BC Stone Age
- Archaeologists have identified evidence of stone age
technology in Aq Kupruk (balkh), and Hazar Sum.
- Plant remains at the foothill
of the Hindu Kush
mountains indicate, that North Afghanistan was one of the earliest
places to domestic plants and animals.
3000 BC - 2000
BC Bronze Age
- It has been indicated the Bronze have been invented
in ancient Afghanistan around this time.
- Urbanization and trade grows, making it an important
point between Mesopotamian and other civilizations to emerge as the
present day’s “Crossroads of Asia”.
- First true urban centers rise in two main sites in
Afghanistan--Mundigak, and Deh Morasi Ghundai.
- Mundigak (near modern day Kandahar)--had an economic
base of wheat, barley, sheep and goats. Also, evidence
indicates that Mudigak could have been a provincial capital of the
Indus valley civilization.
- Ancient Afghanistan--crossroads between Mesopotamia,
and other Civilizations.
2000 BC - 1500 BC
Aryan Tribes
in Aryana Emperor Yama (Ancient
Afghanistan)
- The City of Kabul is thought to have been
established during this time.
- Rig Veda
may have been created in Afghanistan around this time.
- Evidence of early nomadic iron age in Aq Kapruk
IV.
728 BC - 550
BC Medes Empire
- Deioces, 728BC -
675BC
- Phraortes (Kashtariti), 675BC - 653BC
- Cyaxares, 625BC -
585BC
-
Astyages,
585BC - 550BC
628 BC - Zoroaster
introduces a new religion
in its capital Bactria (Balkh)
in N.Afghanistan.---(Zoroastrianism--Monotheistic religion)
6 BC- 330 BC
Achaemenids Empire
-
Teispes
-
Cyrus I
- Cambyses I (Kambiz) 600 B.C
-
Cyrus the Great, Start of Achaemenid
Empire, 559BC - 530BC
-
Kambiz II,
530BC - 522BC
-
Darius I the Great, 522BC - 486BC
-
Xerxes I(Khashyar), 486BC - 465BC
-
Artaxerxes I , 465BC - 425BC
-
Xerxes II, 425BC - 424BC (45 days)
-
Darius II, 423BC - 404BC
-
Artaxerxes II, 404BC - 359BC
-
Artaxerxes III, 359BC - 339BC
-
Arses, 338BC - 336BC
-
Darius III, 336BC - 330BC
- Dariusthe Great
expands the Achaemenid
empire to its peak, when it takes most of
Afghanistan., including Aria (Herat), Bactriana(Balk, and present-day
Mazar-i-Shariff), Margiana (Merv), Gandhara (Kabul, Jalalabad
and Peshawar), Sattagydia (Ghazni to the Indus river), Arachosia
(Kandahar, and Quetta), and Drangiana (Sistan).
- The Persianempire
was plagued by constant bitter and bloody tribal revolts
from Afghans living in Arachosia (Kandahar, and Quetta)
329 BC - 326 BC
Hellenistic period
- Alexander the Great
conquering Persia, Afghanistan. 330BC - 323BC
- Alexander conquers Afghanistan, but fails to really
subdue its people, but unrest and bloody revolts become the regime’s
hallmarks.
-
Philip III(Arrhidaeus), 323BC - 317BC
-
Alexander IV,317BC - 312BC
323 BC - After
Alexander's death
the region at first was part of the Seleucid empire. In the
north, Bactria became independent, and the south was acquired
by the Maurya dynasty.
-
Bactria expanded southward but fell (mid-2d
cent. B.C.) to the Parthians and rebellious
tribes (notably the Saka).
-
Buddhismwas introduced from the east by the
Yüechi, who founded the Kushan dynasty (early 2d cent. B.C.).
Their capital was Peshawar.
- The city, once called Purushapura, was the
capital of the ancient Greco-Buddhist center of Gandhara.
- The Kushans declined (3d cent. A.D.)
and were supplanted by the Sassanids, the Ephthalites, and the Turkish
Tu-Kuie.
312 BC - 260 BC
Seleucids Empire
-
Seleucus I, 312BC - 281BC
-
Antiochus I
Soter, 281BC - 261BC
-
Seleucus,
280BC - 267BC
256 BC - 130 BC -
Graeco-Bactrian
state established in
northern Afghanistan Arsacids Empire and Parthian Empire
-
Arsaces, 238BC - 217BC (or 211BC?)
-
Artabanus(Ardawan) or Arsaces II, 211BC -
191BC
-
Priapatius I, 191BC - 176BC
-
Phraates I, 176BC - 171BC
Phil-Hellenistic period
-
Mithradates I, 171BC - 138BC
- Phraates II,
138BC - 128BC
- Artabanus I,
128BC - 123BC
-
Mithradates II(the Great), 123BC - 87BC
-
Gotarzes, 90BC - 80BC
-
Orodes I, 80BC - 77BC
-
Sanatruces, 77BC - 70BC
-
Phraates III,
70BC - 57BC
-
Mithradtes III, 57BC - 55BC
- Orodes II,
57BC - 37BC
-
Phraates IV, 37BC - 2BC
-
Phraates V,
2BC - AD 4
-
Orodes III, AD
4 - AD 7
-
Vonones, AD 7
- AD 11
Anti-Hellenistic Period
-
Artabanus II, 12 - 38
-
Gotarzes II,
38 - 51
-
Vardanes I, 39 - 45
-
Vonones II, 51
-
Vologases I,
51 - 78
-
Vardanes II,
55 - 58
-
Vologases II,
77 - 80
-
Artabanus III,
80 - 81
-
Pacorus, 78 -
105
120
Kushan Empire, under King Kanishka
- Graeco-Buddhist Gandharan culture reach its
height.
- Under the Kushan King,
Kanishka, Buddha was first given a human face and the world's
largest Buddhas (175 feet and 120 feet tall) were carved into the
cliff at Bamiyan. But many gods and goddesses from Greek, Persian,
Central Asian and Hindu cultures were also worshipped.
225 -
650 Sassanians
-
Ardashir I, 224 - 241
-
Shapur I, 241 - 272
-
Hormizd I, 272
- 273
-
Bahram I, 273
- 276
-
Bahram II, 276
- 293
-
Bahram III,
293
-
Narses, 293 -
302
-
Hormizd II,
302 - 309
-
Shapur II, 309 - 379
-
Ardashir II,
379 - 383
-
Shapur III, 383 - 388
-
Bahram IV, 388
- 399
-
Yazdegerd I,
399 - 420
-
Bahram V Gur,
420 - 438
-
Yazdegerd II,
438 - 457
-
Hormizd III,
457 - 459
-
Piruz, 457 -
484
-
Balash, 484 -
488
-
Kavadh (Qobad)
I, 488 - 496
-
Tamasb, 496 -
499
-
Kavadh I, 499
- 531
- Khosrow I
(Anushirvan), 531 - 579
-
Hormizd IV,
579 - 590
-
Khosrow IIParviz, 590
-
Bahram VI, 590
- 591
-
Khosrow II
Parviz, 591 - 628
-
Bestam (in
Media), 591 - 596
-
Kavadh (Qobad)
II Shiruye (Siroes), 628 - 630
-
Ardashir III,
628 - 630
-
Shahrbaraz,
630
-
Purandokht,
629 - 631
-
Azarmedukht,
631 - 632
-
Hormizd V, 631
- 632
-
Khosrow III,
632 - 633
- Yazdegird III,
632 - 651
400
Invasion
of the White Huns. They destroy the Buddhist
culture, and leave most of the country in ruins
425 - 550
Independent Yaftalee rule in
Afghanistan .Yaftalee Dynasty
-Established in northern Hindu Kush region of Takhar, this dynasty
gains control over the majority of present day Afghanistan by
425.
530
Persians reassert control over all of what is now
Afghanistan.
531 - 579
Khosrow I (Khosrow Anüshirvan), king of
Persia
590 -
628 Khosrow II (Khosrow Parviz),
king of Persia of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty
652
Arabs introduce Islam
that was to influence the course of
Afghanistan’s history
650 -
661 Arabs - Orthodox Caliphates
-
Uthman
(Osman), 650 - 656
- Ali, 656 - 661
661 -
750 Arabs - Umayyad Caliphate
-
Mu'awiya I,
661 - 680
-
Yazid I, 680 -
683
-
Mu'awiya II,
683 - 684
-
Marwan I, 684
- 685
-
Abd-al-Malik, 685 - 705
-
Al-Walid I,
705 - 715
-
Suleyman, 715
- 717
-
Umar II, 717 -
720
-
Yazid II, 720
- 724
-
Hisham, 724 -
743
-
Al-Walid II,
743 - 744
-
Yazid III, 744
-
Ibrahim, 744
-
Marwan II, 744
- 750
750 - 821
Arabs - Abbasid Caliphate
-
Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah, 750 - 754
-
Al-Mansur, 754 - 775
-
Al-Mahdi, 775
- 785
-
Al-Hadi, 785 -
786
-
Harun al-Rashid, 786 - 809
-
Al-Amin, 809 -
813
-
Al-Mamun, 813
- 833
860 - 960
Samanid (Turkestan)
-
Nasr I, 864 -
892
-
Ismail, 892 -
907
-
Ahmad, 907 -
914
-
Nasr II, 914 -
942
-
Nuh I, 942 -
954
-
Abd al-Malik
I, 954 - 961
-
Mansur I, 961
- 976
962 - 1030
Ghaznavid Dynasty - (Khurasan)
- Mahmud, 970 - 1030 The Islamic era
begins with Mohammed Ghazni and Afghanistan becomes the centre of
Islamic power and civilisation. Several short-lived Muslim dynasties
were founded, the most powerful of them having its capital at Ghazna
(see Ghazni). Mahmud of Ghazna, who conquered the
lands from Khorasanin Iran to the Punjab
in India early in the 11th cent., was the greatest of Afghanistan's
rulers
-
Masoud I, 1030
- 1040
1140 - 1215
Ghorid leaders from central Afghanistan
capture and burn Ghazni, then move on to conquer India.
Ghurid Empire Shansabani Dynasty (Afghanistan)
-
Izz Al-Din
Husayn I, 1117 - 1146
-
Sayf al_Din
Suri, 1146 - 1149
-
Baha al-Din
Sam I, 1149
-
Ala al-Din
Husayn II, 1149 - 1161
-
Say al-Din
Muhammad I, 1161 - 1163
-
Ghiyath
al_Din Muhammad II, 1163 - 1203
-
Mu'izz
al-Din Muhammad III, 1203 - 1206
-
Ghiyath
al-Din Mahmud, 1206 - 1210
-
Baha al-Din
Sam II, 1210
-
Ala al-Din
Atsiz, 1210 - 1214
-
Ala al-Din
Muhammad IV, 1215 - 1215
1219 - 1221
Mongol Invasion of Afghanistan by Genghis
Khan Empire
Khans (Mongol)
-
Hülagü Khan,
1256 - 1265
-
Abagha, 1265
- 1282
-
Tegüder,
1282 - 1284
-
Arghun, 1284
- 1291
-
Gaykhatu,
1291 - 1295
-
Baydu, 1295
-
Mahmud
Ghazan, 1295 - 1304
-
Uljaytü,
1304 - 1316
-
Abu Said,
1317 - 1335
-
Arpa, 1335 -
1336
-
Musa, 1336 -
1337
-
Muhammad,
1336 - 1338
-
Sati Beg,
1338 - 1339
-
Jahan Temür,
1339 - 1340
-
Sulayman,
1339 - 1343
1273 Marco
Polo
crosses Afghanistan on his voyage
from Italy to China to discover the “Silk Route”. Revolts and battles
between smaller kingdoms mark the next two centurie
1370 - 1404
Timurids and Turkmen Empire
Timurids
-
Timur, 1393 - 1405
-
Miranshah
(Western Persia), 1405 - 1408
-
Khalil
(Western Persia 1409 - 1411), 1405 - 1409
-
Shah Rokh
Shah, 1409 - 1447
-
Ulugh Beg,
1447 - 1449
-
Soltan Abu
Said, 1451 - 1469
1414 - 1421
The Sayyids
1451
Lodi dynasty An Afghan
by the named Buhlul Khan invades Delhi, and seizes
the throne.
1504-1519
Moghul dynasty Babur shah, takes control of Kabul, Babar
begins to take control of Afghanistan. Babur, a descendant of
Timur
, used Kabul as the base for his conquest
of India and the establishment of the Mughal empire in the
16th cent.
1520-1579 Bayazid
Roshan (Afghan intellectual) revolts against the power of
the Moghul government. Roshan was killed in a battle with the
Moghuls in 1579--but his struggle for independence continued.
1613-1689 Khushhal Khan
Khattak (Afghan warrior-poet) initiates a national uprising
against the foreign Moghul government.
1708 Mir
Wais Neka (forerunner of Afghan independence)
makes Kandahar independent of Safavid Persia that had ruled it since
1622. Mir Wais, considered by some to be the father of Afghan
independence, takes over Kandahar. His son, Mir Mahmud, invades Persia
and liberates Herat.
- 1715-- Mir Wais dies peacefully, and lies
in a mausoleum outside of Kandahar.
- 1722-- Mir Wais' son, Mir Mahmud, invades
Persia and occupies Isfahan. At the same time, the Durranis
revolt, and terminate the Persian occupation of Herat. The Durranis
revolt to throw out Persians from Herat.
- 1725 (April 25)--Mir Mahmud is mysteriously killed after
going mad. Afghans start to lose control of
Persia.
1736 Persian King Nadir Shah occupies the
south-west and later Kandahar; assassinated in 1747.
-
the Persian Nadir Shah extended his
rule to N of the Hindu Kush. After his death (1747) his lieutenant,
Ahmad Shah, an Afghan tribal leader, established a united state
covering most of present-day Afghanistan. His dynasty, the Durrani,
gave the Afghans the name (Durrani) that they themselves frequently
use.
- 1747 Nadir Shah is assassinated, and
the Afghans rise once again. Afghans, under the
leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali retake Kandahar, and establish modern
Afghanistan.
1747 - 1773
Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali and (Ahmad
Shah Baba) is the founder of today's Afghanistan. Pir Sabir Shah, the
spiritual guide of the time, showered his praise for the young Ahmad
Shah by declaring him Dar-e-Durran (pearl of the pearls) not because
that he was a military giant but for his humanity a definite quality of
a statesman. The start of the Durrani's Empire.
1773 - 1793
Timur Shah
- Relocated the capital of
Afghanistan from Kandahar to Kabul.
1793 - 1800
Zaman
Shah
- He began to remove
prominent Muhammadzai leaders from positions of power and replacing
them with men of his own lineage, the Sadozai. This upset the
delicate balance of Durrani tribal politics that Ahmad Shah had
established and may have prompted Painda Khan and other Durrani
chiefs to plot against the shah. Painda Khan and the chiefs of the
Nurzai and the Alizai Durrani clans were executed, as was the chief
of the Qizilbash clan. Painda Khan's son fled to Iran and pledged
the substantial support of his Muhammadzai followers to a rival
claimant to the throne, Zeman's older brother, Mahmood Shah. The
clans who's chiefs Zeman had executed joined forces with the rebels,
and they took Kandahar without bloodshed.
1800 - 1803
Shah Mahmood
- King of Afghanistan (1800 - 03; second time 1810 -
26)
1803 - 1810
Shah Shujah
- King of Afghanistan (1803 -10; second time
1839 - 42) whose alliance with the British led to his
death.
1810 - 1826 Shah Mahmood and his brother
Zaman Shah struggle for the throne.
-
1819-1826 Shaw Mahmood but the reign of the
Sadozai line ended in 1818, and no predominant ruler emerged until
Dost Muhammad became
emir in 1826.
1826 - 1839
Dost Mohammad Khan takes Kabul, and establishes control. During
his rule the status of Afghanistan became an international problem, as
Britain and Russia contested for influence in central Asia. Aiming to
control access to the northern approaches to India, the British tried to
replace Dost Muhammad with a former emir, subordinate to them. This
policy caused the first Afghan War (1838–42) between the British and the
Afghans. Dost Muhammad was at first deposed but, after an Afghan revolt
in Kabul, was restored. In 1857, Dost Muhammad signed an alliance with
the British. He died in 1863 and was succeeded, after family fighting,
by his third son, Sher Ali.
- King of Afghanistan (1826 - 39; second time
1843 - 63)
- 1832--1833 Persia moves into Khurasan (province), and threatens
Herat. Afghans defend Herat successfully.
-
1834-- (May) Afghans lose Peshawar to the
Sikhs; later they crushed the Sikhs under the leadership
of Akbar Khan who defeated the Sikhs near Jamrud, and killed the
great Sikh general Hari Singh. However, they
failed to retake Peshawar due to disunity and bad
judgment on the part of Dost Mohammad Khan.
- 1836 Dost Mohammad Khan is proclaimed
as Amir al-mu' minin (commander of the faithful). He was well
on the road toward reunifying the whole of Afghanistan when the
British, in collaboration with an ex-king (Shah Shuja), invade Afghanistan to curtail the growing
Russian and Persian influence.
1839 - 1842
Shah Shuja
is installed as a
"puppet king" by the British
.
- First Anglo-Afghan War
- After some resistance, Amir Dost Mohammad
Khan surrenders to the British and is deported to India.
(1839-1842)
- April 1842--Shah Shuja killed by Afghans.
- 1842-1844 Akbar
Khan (Afghan
hero)
is victorious against the British. The ferocity
was such that the 16,500- B British garrison with 12,000
support staff and dependents were wiped out. Only one survived,
of mixed British-Indian garrison, reaches the fort in Jalalabad, on a
stumbling pony.
- Mohammad Akbar Khan was a major player in the defeat of the British
army in the first Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1842). He outsmarted and
killed Sir William MacNaughten, a top British official who highly
advocated the invasion and subjugation of Afghanistan by the British
army. Mohammad Akbar was very ambitous and wanted to regain all the
land that was lost by the Afghans, and rebuild another great empire,
similar to Ahmad Shah Abdali's. However, his father, Dost Mohammad
Khan, who wanted to work with the British, feared his son's rise to
power. Many believed that Amir Dost Mohammad poisoned his own son at
the age of 29. Mohammad Akbar Khan is highly revered by Afghans today,
and is seen as a major historical hero. A residential area of Kabul is
named after him.
-
By
1843 the nation declares independence, Dost Khan returns to occupy
the throne.
-
In 1844, Akbar Khan
dies.
1843 - 1863
Dost Mohammad Khan comes back and occupies the royal throne.
After the annihilation of British troops, Afghanistan once again
becomes independent.
- 1859-- British take Baluchistan , and
Afghanistan becomes completely landlocked.
1863 - 1866
Sher Ali
Dost Mohammad Khan's son , succeeds to the throne.
- King of Afghanistan (1863 - 66; second time 1868 -
79)
- (1865)--Russia takes Bukhara, Tashkent,
and Samerkand.
1866 - 1867 Mohamad Afzal
- Mohammad Afzal occupies Kabul and proclaims himself
Amir.
- October, 1867--Mohammad Afzal dies.
1867 - 1868
Mohammad Azam
- Mohammad Azam succeeds to the throne
- 1868--Mohammad Azam flees to Persia
1868 - 1879
Sher Ali reasserts control
- 1873 Russia
establishes a fixed boundary with Afghanistan and promises to respect
its territorial integrity.
- 1878-British launch their second war. For the second time, the Afghans’ spirited
resistance forces them to withdraw. Sher Ali dies. Mohammad Yaqub Khan
takes over but concedes to the British such key territories as Khyber
and Pischin. The Afghans will never get back these regions.
1879 - Amir
Muhammad Yaqub Khan
takes over until October 1879.
-
Amir Muhammad Yaqub Khan gives up the following Afghan
territories to the British: Kurram, Khyber, Michni, Pishin, and
Sibi. Afghans lose these territories permanently.
- Kabul occupied
by British forces
1880 - 1901
Abdur Rahman takes throne of
Afghanistan. He was, however, recognized by the British as emir in 1880,
and he supported British interests against Russia..
- July 1880, Afghan woman named
Malalai carries the Afghan flag forward after the
soldiers carrying the flag were killed by the British. She
becomes a hero for her show of courage and valour.
- The British, shortly after the accession of the new
Amir, withdraw from Afghanistan, although they retain the right to
handle Afghanistan's foreign relations.
- Abdur Rahman establishes fixed borders and he loses
a lot of Afghan land.
- Nuristan converted to Islam.
-
1885-
Russian forces seize the Panjdeh Oasis,
a piece of Afghan territory north
of the Oxus River. Afghans tried to retake it, but was
finally forced to allow the Russians to keep Panjdeh, and the Russians
promised to honor Afghan territorial integrity in the
future.
-
1893-
The Durand line
fixes borders of Afghanistan with British
India, splitting Afghan tribal areas, leaving half of Afghans
in what is now Pakistan.
-
1895
Afghanistan's northern border is
fixed and guaranteed by Russia
- 1901-- Abdur Rahman dies, his son
Habibullah succeeds him.
1907- 1919
Habibullah Khan’s regime.Russia and Great Britain sign the convention of St.
Petersburg, Agreement reached between
British and Russian governments over the territorial integrity of
Afghanistan
1919 - 1929
Amanullah Khan (The reform
King)
1929 - 1930
Habibullah Kalakani (Bachae Saqaw)