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History of Afghanistan
The palace of the emir in 1839
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Ancient Indus Valley civilisation 2200–1800 BC Oxus civilization 2100–1800 BC Gandhara kingdom 1500–535 BC Median Empire 728–550 BC Achaemenid Empire 550–330 BC Macedonian Empire 330–312 BC Seleucid Empire 312–150 BC Maurya Empire 305–180 BC Greco-Bactrian kingdom 256–125 BC Parthian Empire 247 BC–224 AD Indo-Greek kingdom 180–90 BC Indo-Scythian kingdom 155–80? BC Kushan Empire 135 BC – 248 AD Indo-Parthian kingdom 20 BC – 50? AD Sasanian Empire 230–651 Kidarite kingdom 320–465 Rob Alchon Huns 380–560 Hephthalite Empire 410–557 Nezak Huns 484–711
Medieval Kabul Shahi 565–879 Principality of Chaghaniyan 7th–8th centuries Rashidun Caliphate 652–661 Tang China 660–669 Tibetan Empire 660–842 Umayyads 661–750 Zunbils 680–870 Lawik 750-977 Abbasids 750–821 Tahirids 821–873 Saffarids 863–900 Samanids 875–999 Ghaznavids 963–1187 Ghurids before 879–1215 Seljuks 1037–1194 Khwarezmids 1215–1231 Mongol Invasion 1219–1226 Chagatai Khanate 1226–1245 Qarlughids 1224–1266 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids 1245–1381 Timurids 1370–1507 Arghuns 1520–1591
Modern Mughals 1501–1738 Safavids 1510–1709 Kunduz Khanate  ?–1859 Hotak dynasty 1709–1738 Sadozai Sultanate 1716–1732 Afsharid Iran 1738–1747 Durrani Empire 1747–1823 Maimana Khanate 1747–1892 Herat 1793–1863 Principality of Qandahar 1818–1855 Emirate 1823–1926 Saqqawist Emirate 1929 Kingdom 1926–1973 Daoud coup 1973 Republic 1973–1978 Saur Revolution 1978 Democratic Republic 1978–1992 Tanai coup attempt 1990 Islamic State 1992–1996 Islamic Emirate 1996–2001 US invasion 2001 Islamic State (reinstated) 2001 Interim/Transitional Administration 2001–2004 Islamic Republic (politics) 2004–2021 Islamic Emirate (reinstated) since 2021
Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan
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Communities of various religious and ethnic backgrounds have lived in the land of what is now Afghanistan. Before the Islamic conquest, the south of the Hindu Kush was ruled by the Zunbil and Kabul Shahi rulers. When the Chinese travellers (Faxian, Song Yun, Xuanzang, Wang-hiuon-tso, Huan-Tchao, and Wou-Kong) visited Afghanistan between 399 and 751 AD, they mentioned that Hinduism and Buddhism were practiced in different areas between the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in the north and the Indus River in the south. The land was ruled by the Kushans followed by the Hephthalites during these visits. It is reported that the Hephthalites were fervent followers of the Hindu god Surya.

The invading Muslim Arabs introduced Islam to a Zunbil king of Zamindawar (Helmand Province) in 653-4 AD. They took the same message to Kabul before returning to their already Islamized city of Zaranj in the west. It is unknown how many accepted the new religion, but the Shahi rulers remained non-Muslim until they lost Kabul in 870 AD to the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids from Bukhara in the north extended their Islamic influence into the area. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side in Kabul before the arrival of Ghaznavids from Ghazni.

"Kábul has a castle celebrated for its strength, accessible only by one road. In it there are Musulmáns, and it has a town, in which are infidels from Hind."

— Istakhri, 921 AD

The first mention of a Hindu in Afghanistan appears in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where it speaks of a king in "Ninhar" (Nangarhar), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he had over 30 wives, which are described as "Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu" wives. These names were often used as geographical terms by the Arabs. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani) has been historically used as a geographical term to describe someone who was native to the region known as India, and Afghan as someone who was native to a region called Bactria.

Archeology

Table of pre-Islamic dynasties of Afghanistan

Islamic conquest of Afghanistan

The region around Herat Province became Islamized in 642 AD, during the end of Muslim conquest of Persia. In 653-4 AD, General Abdur Rahman bin Samara arrived from Zaranj to the Zunbil capital Zamindawar with an army of around 6,000 Arab Muslims. The General "broke off a hand of the idol and plucked out the rubies which were its eyes to persuade the Marzbān of Sīstān of the god's worthlessness." He explained to the worshippers of the solar deity, "My intention was to show you that this idol can do neither any harm nor good." The people of southern Afghanistan began accepting Islam from this date onward. The Arabs then proceeded to Ghazni and Kabul to convert or conquer the Buddhist Shahi rulers. However, most historians claim that the rulers of Ghazni and Kabul remained non-Muslim. There is no information on the number of converts, although the Arabs unsuccessfully continued their missions of invading the land to spread Islam for the next 200 or so years. It was in 870 AD when Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar finally conquered Afghanistan by establishing Muslim governors throughout the provinces.

"Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the Sasanians in 642 AD and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the 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 coppersmith's apprentice Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari, came forth from his capital at Zaranj in 870 AD and marched through Bost, Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul, Bamyan, Balkh and Herat, conquering in the name of Islam.".

— Nancy Dupree, 1971

By the 11th century, when the Ghaznavids were in power, the entire population of Afghanistan was practicing Islam, except the Kafiristan region (Nuristan Province) which became Muslim in the late 1800s.

See also

• Gandharan Buddhism
• Gandhāran Buddhist texts
• Ancient history of Afghanistan
• Pre-Islamic scripts in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Hinduism in Afghanistan
• Buddhas of Bamiyan
• Kandahar Greek Edicts of Ashoka
• Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription
• Gandhara Kingdom
• Nava Vihara
• Zabulistan
• Decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent

References

1. "Chinese Travelers in Afghanistan". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. 1969. Archived from the original on December 24, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
2. ^ "Amir Kror and His pAncestry". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
3. "A.—The Hindu Kings of Kábul (p.3)". Sir H. M. Elliot. London: Packard Humanities Institute. 1867–1877. Archived from the original on July 26, 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
4. Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0-631-19841-5. Archived from the original on 2023-02-04. Retrieved 2012-08-16.
5. ^ The Afghans By Willem Vogelsang Page 184
6. History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 3 By Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ Page 427
7. ^ History of civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 3 By Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ Page 399
8. "South Asian archaeology 1975: papers from the third International Conference Edited by Johanna Engelberta Lohuizen-De Leeuw Page 121 to 126". Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
9. ^ History of Buddhism in Afghanistan By Sī. Esa Upāsaka, Kendrīya-Tibbatī-Ucca-Śikṣā-Saṃsthānam page XX
10. History of Buddhism in Afghanistan By Sī. Esa Upāsaka, Kendrīya-Tibbatī-Ucca-Śikṣā-Saṃsthānam page 187
11. ^ Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation By R.S. Sharma page 130
12. Early medieval Indian society: a study in feudalisation By R.S. Sharma Page 130
13. Encyclopedia Iranica
14. Leeuw, Johanna Engelberta Lohuizen-De (1979). South Asian Archaeology 1975: Papers from the Third International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologists in Western Europe Held in Paris. BRILL. p. 119. ISBN 978-90-04-05996-2. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
15. ^ The races of Afghanistan Being a brief account of the principal nations inhabiting that country, by Henry Walter Bellow Asian Educational services, Page 73
16. Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan By Rizwan Hussain page 17
17. Encyclopaedia of Historiography By M.M. Rahman
18. Medieval India Part 1 by Satish Chandra Page 17
19. ^ Excavations at Kandahar 1974 & 1975 (Society for South Asian Studies Monograph) by Anthony McNicoll
20. André Wink, "Al-Hind: The Making of the Indo-Islamic World", Brill 1990. p 120
21. Dupree, Nancy (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" An Historical Guide To Afghanistan Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, OCLC 241390 Archived 2009-09-05 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Professor Abdul Hai Habibi See article The Cultural, Social And Intellectual State Of The People Of Afghanistan In The Era Just Before The Advent Of Islam by eminent Afghan historian Abdul Hai Habibi
• Shahi Coins in the Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000 By Colin R. Bruce, Thomas Michael Page 35
• Afghan caves contain world's first oil paintings
• Buddhist Sites in Afghanistan and Central Asia

• Ancient history of Afghanistan
• Archaeological sites in Afghanistan
• Hinduism in Afghanistan
• Buddhism in Afghanistan
• Hinduism in South Asia
• History of religion in Afghanistan