ARACHOSIA
The
ancient province of Arachosia lay largely within central areas of
modern Afghanistan, and perhaps edging into western Pakistan. Prior
to its late sixth century BC domination by the Achaemenid Persians,
Arachosia seems to have formed part of a much larger and more poorly-defined
region known as Ariana, of which the later province of Aria was
the heartland. Barely recorded by written history, its precise boundaries
are impossible to pin down. It may have encompassed much or all
of Transoxiana, the region around the River Oxus (the Amu Darya),
and could have reached as far south as the coastline of the Arabian
Sea.
Arachosia
formed part of the crossroads between ancient Transoxiana, Persia
and India. During the Persian and Greek periods, it was bordered
by Aria and Bactria to the north, Gandhar and Paropamisadae to the
east, Northern Indus and Southern Indus to the south-east, and Drangiana
to the south-west. The region of which Arachosia was part came to
be known as Southern Khorasan following the Islamic invasion of
the seventh and eighth centuries AD. Southern Khorasan (generally
within modern Afghanistan) comprised the highlands to the west and
north-west of the River Indus. It also included the ancient regions
of Gandhar (now largely within northern Pakistan) and Arachosia
itself.
Arachosia's people have always been fiercely independent, but they
have also contributed strongly to various empires over the centuries,
before a single state began to emerge in the modern age. The region
was named for its Arachoti tribe (Strabo's version of the
name - Pliny's Angutturi). Their tribal capital may have borne the
same name, but was more likely known by a variation of that name
which, unfortunately, has been lost to history. The great Hindu
Kush mountain range climbs in the east of the country and onto the
border with Pakistan. The Bolan Pass near Quetta forms one of the
most important routes into the Indus region of India, and it was
this which was used by Alexander the Great, plus the Mongols, the
Mughals, and many other adventurers and explorers.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), and
from The Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996).)
c.4000
BC :
From around this date, proto-Indo-Europeans emerge in Central Asia
to form a homogenous people who all speak the same general language.
In the third millennium BC, groups begin to migrate west and south,
beginning a fragmentation that sees them occupy large swathes of
Europe, the Near East, and South Asia.
1000
- 800 BC :
The
Sakas make in-roads into the region.
![Map of Central Asia & India c.700 BC](Map_Bactria-&-India-700BC_full.jpg)
Following
the climate-change-induced collapse of indigenous civilisations
and cultures in Iran and Central Asia between about 2200-1700 BC,
Indo-Iranian groups gradually migrated southwards to form two regions
- Tūr (yellow) and Ariana (white), with westward migrants forming
the early Parsua kingdom (lime green), and Indo-Aryans entering
India (green)
c.546
- 540 BC :
The
defeat of the Medes opens the floodgates for Cyrus the Great with
a wave of conquests, beginning in the west from 549 BC but focussing
towards the east of the Persians from about 546 BC. Eastern Iran
falls during a more drawn-out campaign between about 546-540 BC,
which may be when Maka is taken (presumed to be the southern coastal
strip of the Arabian Sea). Further eastern regions now fall, namely
Arachosia, Aria, Bactria, Carmania, Chorasmia, Drangiana, Gandhar,
Gedrosia, Hyrcania, Margiana, Parthia, Saka (at least part of the
broad tribal lands of the Sakas), Sogdiana (with Ferghana), and
Thatagush - all added to the empire, although records for these
campaigns are characteristically sparse.
Persian
Satraps of Harahuwatish (Arachosia) :
Conquered in the mid-sixth century BC by Cyrus the Great, the region
of Arachosia was added to the Persian empire. Before that it was
populated by Indo-Iranian tribal groups, and especially by the region's
largest Indo-Iranian tribe, known by Strabo as the Arachoti or by
Pliny as the Angutturi. Under the Persians the region was formed
into an official satrapy or province which, according to the Behistun
inscription of Darius the Great, was called Harahuwatish or Harauvati
(Arachosia is a Greek mangling of the name). Its capital was Arachoti,
seemingly using the same name as the tribe itself, although more
likely it was a variation. In the Greek period this was renamed
and refounded as Alexandria in Arachosia and today is better known
as Kandahar (a little to the east of the ancient capital). Elsewhere
within the region, Kapisa, the site of a fortress in the Persian
period (the Greek city of Alexandria on the Caucasus, modern Bagram),
may be the same location as the fortress of Kapia-kani which was
the scene of a battle in 522 BC.
These eastern regions of the new-found empire were ancestral homelands
for the Persians. They formed the Indo-Iranian melting pot from
which the Parsua had migrated west in the first place to reach Persis.
There would have been no language barriers for Cyrus' forces and
few cultural differences. Although details of his conquests are
relatively poor, he seemingly experienced few problems in uniting
the various tribes under his governance. He was the first to exert
any form of imperial control here, although his campaign may have
been driven partially by a desire to recreate the semi-mythical
kingdom of Turan in the land of Tūr, but now under Persian
control. Curiously the Persians had little knowledge of what lay
to the north of their eastern empire, with the result that Alexander
the Great was less well-informed about the region than earlier Ionian
settlers on the Black Sea coast had been.
When viewing the Persian satrapies, there is a notable decrease
of information as one travels from west to east. This dearth of
detail is particularly noticeable in the case of Harahuwatish. Accounts
of pre-Achaemenid conditions are scanty, and even in Achaemenid
times little seems to have been recorded about the region. What
is known is that the rivers Kabul and Indus formed the border with
Gedrosia and Thatagush. Only Alexander the Great's presence over
two hundred years later allows any more light to be glimpsed in
the darkness. The assumption that Achaemenid administration in Sistān,
Makrān, and Baluchestān could have been based upon older
administrative structures has to rely on the tradition about the
Old Iranian Sāma dynasty of which the best-known representatives
are Kərəsāspa-/Karāsp (a participant in the
defeat of the kingdom of Turan) and his grandson, Rostam. The etymological
relationship of the dynasty's name with the ethnic term Thamanaioi
(a tribe generally ascribed here to the Drangiana region but which
may also have occupied areas of Harahuwatish) has been noted by
Josef Marquart.
At this time, what is now northern Afghanistan formed part of the
provinces of Bakhtrish and Gadara, while the south formed part of
Harahuwatish. One of the most informative sources when attempting
to reconstruct the satrapal administration of Harahuwatish and Gedrosia
is that of Alexander's appointments. Drangiana too belonged to Harahuwatish/Arachosia,
thanks to Strabo's description of Arachosia being situated south
of the mountains that enclose Haraiva. This geographical reference
is only comprehensible if Arachosia is understood as a unit which
included Drangiana. Hindush is another province which may have belonged
to Arachosia following its conquest by Darius, and neighbouring
Thatagush - names as Sattagydia - certainly was at the time of Darius'
accession.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from
The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), from The Histories,
Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from Anabasis Alexandri, Arrian
of Nicomedia, from Farāmarz, the Sistāni Hero: Texts
and Traditions of the Farāmarznāme and the Persian
Epic Cycle, Marjolijn van Zutphen, from Ctesias' Persica
in its Near Eastern Context, Matt Waters, from Alexander
The Great: In the Realm of Evergetǽs, Reza Mehrafarin,
and from External Links: The Geography of Strabo (Loeb Classical
Library Edition, 1932), and The Natural History, Pliny the Elder
(John Bostock, Ed), and Livius.org, and Encyclopaedia Iranica, and
Old Kandahar: An Archaeological Reappraisal (Harvard University).)
c.546
- 540 BC :
During his campaigns in the east, Cyrus the Great initially takes
the northern route from Persis towards Bakhtrish to reassure or
subdue the provinces. This route probably involves the 'militaris
via' by Rhagai to Parthawa. At some point he takes the more difficult
southern route, destroying Capisa along the way (possibly Kapisa
on the Koh Daman plain to the north of Kabul - which is possibly
also the Kapishakanish named by the Behistun inscription as a fortress
in Harahuwatish).
![Cyrus the Great](Persia_CyrusGreat_01_full.jpg)
Cyrus
the Great freed the Indo-Iranian Parsua people from Median domination
to establish a nation that is recognisable to this day, and an empire
that provided the basis for the vast territories that were later
ruled by Alexander the Great
On
a fresh leg of the campaign, Cyrus enters the Dasht-i-Lut desert
(the modern Dasht-e Loot) on the eastern route out of Karmana towards
Harahuwatish. His army faces crippling loses but for the assistance
provided by the Ariaspae on the River Helmand. They are named 'the
Benefactors' (Greek 'Euergetai') by Cyrus in thanks. This route
appears to have been poorly reconnoitred, hinting at a lack of Persian
knowledge of this region (and therefore a lack of preceding Median
occupation if the existence of its eastern empire is to be believed).
fl
522/521 BC :
Vivāna
: Satrap, with Thatagush. Raised by Cambyses. Loyal to
Darius.
522
- 521 BC :
Immediately after Darius I secures the throne he faces several rebellions,
stretching from Babirush to Media and Armina to Parthawa, and Verkāna.
The responses to all of these are handled well by Darius and all
are crushed in turn. Another major rebellion in Mergu happens towards
the end of 522 or 521 BC and that too is put down.
Darius
mentions that the the 'false' king he had replaced on the Achaemenid
throne, Smerdis (otherwise known as Vahyazdāta), had sent his own
satrap to govern Harahuwatish with orders to put down the present
incumbent. The two sides meet (or have met) in battle at a fortress
called Kapia-kani (probably Kapisa). Quite possibly Vivāna is
besieged for several weeks before assembling for battle in December
522 BC. Vivāna's forces are victorious, but the rebels are able
to regroup and offer battle again at Gandutava. This time they are
crushed, although the 'false' satrap is able to flee to a fortress
called Arādā, still within Harahuwatish and possibly Vivāna's personal
headquarters in the province. Vivāna and his army march after them
on foot and at the fortress they are seized and killed (in February
521 BC).
?
: Unnamed rival. Loyal to Smerdis. Killed.
522
- 521 BC :
The emergency in Harahuwatish is over. The 'false' satrap seems
not to be mentioned by name, a good way of ensuring that history
forgets him. However, there may still be rebel elements in Thatagush,
as Darius conducts a campaign there, during which he also seems
to secure a new satrapy by the name of Hindush. Some of this territory
is already likely to have been part of the conquests of Cyrus the
Great, but it is possible that Darius now extends and completes
the conquest.
![Old Kandahar / Alexandria in Arachosia](Afghan_Kandahar_Citadel01_full.jpg)
The
ruins of Old Kandahar were initially founded as the tribal capital
of the Arachoti tribe before being commanded as Harauvati by the
Persians and Alexandria in Arachosia by Alexander the Great, and
then abandoned in the eighteenth century AD in favour of the replacement
city a little way to the east
516
- 515 BC :
Achaemenid
ruler Darius embarks on a military campaign into the lands east
of the empire. He marches through Haraiva and Bakhtrish, and then
to Gadara and Taxila. By 515 BC he is conquering lands around the
Indus Valley to incorporate into the new satrapy of Hindush before
returning via Harahuwatish and Zranka. Along the way Saka elements
are largely defeated and conquered, but probably only along the
borders.
fl
c.510s BC :
Bagabadush / Megabazus : First cousin of Darius I. Satrap.
With Gadara & Thatagush?
513
BC :
The
unreliable Ctesias claims that Darius orders Ariaramnes, satrap
of Katpatuka, to cross the Black Sea to conduct a preliminary reconnaissance
of the Scythian territories there. Ariaramnes brings back prisoners
which include the brother of the Scythian king, and the resultant
protests give Darius his excuse to go to war in Scythia. Following
the failure of the campaign, Darius leaves Megabazus in command
of the troops.
This could be the Bagabadush who is named in a Persepolis tablet
as the later satrap of Harahuwatish (the latter is usually taken
as the Old Persian form of the former). It could also be the same
Megabazus who commands the Persian forces in the west and later
becomes satrap of Daskyleion.
fl
c.500s BC :
Megabates : Son. Satrap, with Gadara & Paricania.
c.500s BC :
Megabates, son of Megabazus, is father to another Megabazus who
in 480 BC is one of the Persian fleet commanders during the campaign
against the Greek states. While Herodotus appears not to know where
to place Paricania (attributing it to 'Asiatic Ethiopians'), Arrian
links it with the Ichthyophagi and Oritans of Gedrosia.
440s
- 420s BC :
The placement in Zranka of four satraps, father-and-son duo Hydarnes
and Teritoukhames and their two replacements, is highly uncertain
but is made possible because a city of Zaris is mentioned in their
story. Hydarnes is believed to be a descendant of another Hydarnes,
one of the seven who had defeated the Magi and elevated Darius I
to the throne in 522 BC. His family becomes important to the Achaemenid
succession, with a great deal of intermarriage into the royal line.
fl
c.440s? BC :
Hydarnes
/ Idernes : Satrap, with Hindush & Zranka? Died.
fl
c.420s? BC :
Teritoukhames
/ Teritoukhmes : Son. Satrap, with Hindush & Zranka?
Killed.
420s
- 410s BC :
The marriage alliance between Hydarnes and the descendants of Darius
I has been important in supporting Darius II in his acquisition
of the throne. Upon the death of Hydarnes, his son Teritoukhames
has been appointed satrap in his stead (although the name of the
satrapy is not given by Photius). Ctesias reports the plot by Teritoukhames
to rid himself of his unwanted royal wife so that he can marry his
own sister, Rhoxane. Darius has Teritoukhames attacked and killed
and Darius' queen, Parysatis, takes violent action against the rest
of Teritoukhames' family. There appear to be no survivors other
than Stateira, wife of Arsakes (eventually to be Artaxerxes II).
Many years later, Parysatis also arranges her death.
![Darius II](Persia_DariusII_01_full.jpg)
Two
sides of a drachm showing Darius II that was actually issued much
later - in the first century BC by the Parthian kings of Iran -
and which shows Darius in a Parthian-style tiara adorned with a
crescent
fl
c.410s? BC :
Oudiastes : Replacement. Satrap, with Hindush & Zranka?
Mitradates : Son. Satrap, with Hindush & Zranka?
fl
c.390s? BC :
Mitradates opposes the royal court and also his own father and attempts
to establish the independent rule of the city of Zaris (Zarin).
Again this is assumed to be within the satrapy of Zranka. The prevailing
chaos in the Persian court and the great distance between it and
Zaris allows the rebellion to establish itself for a short time,
forming an independent Achaemenid state.
360s/350s
BC :
Artaxerxes II is occupied fighting the 'revolt of the satraps' in
the western part of the empire. Nothing is known of events in the
eastern half of the Persian empire at this time, but no word of
unrest is mentioned by Greek writers, however briefly. Given the
newsworthiness for Greeks of any rebellion against the Persian king,
this should be enough to show that the east remains solidly behind
the king. It seems that all of the empire's troubles hinge on the
Greeks during this period.
?
- 330 BC :
Barsaentes
: Satrap of Harahuwatish, Hindush, Thatagush & Zranka.
330
- 328 BC :
Barsaentes is one of the three most senior satraps of the east,
the others being Bessus in Bakhtrish and Satibarzanes of Haraiva.
In 330-329 BC, despite the best efforts of Bessus to rally supporters
to his defence of the empire, the Persian provinces of the east
are conquered by the Greek empire under Alexander the Great. He
takes the capital of Harahuwatish in 330 BC.
Barsaentes turns tail when Alexander appears at the border of Zranka
and does not wait for him to reach Harahuwatish. Instead he takes
refuge in the region of the 'Mountain Indians', a contingent of
whom he had commanded at Gaugamela. These facts (probably) indicate
that Barsaentes is also responsible for the province of Hindush,
the home of the Mountain Indians, and therefore that it is a main
satrapy of Harahuwatish.
Argead
Dynasty in Arachosia :
The Argead were the ruling family and founders of Macedonia who
reached their greatest extent under Alexander the Great and his
two successors before the kingdom broke up into several Hellenic
sections. Following Alexander's conquest of central and eastern
Persia in 331-328 BC, the Greek empire ruled the region until Alexander's
death in 323 BC and the subsequent regency period which ended in
310 BC. Alexander's successors held no real power, being mere figureheads
for the generals who really held control of Alexander's empire.
Following that latter period and during the course of several wars,
Arachosia was left in the hands of the Seleucid empire from 312
BC.
One of the most informative sources when attempting to reconstruct
the satrapal administration of Arachosia and Gedrosia is that of
Alexander's appointments. In northern Arachosia, when he first
encountered its large administrative complex, Alexander made important
decisions about Drangiana, Gedrosia, Northern Indus, and Southern
Indus. These regions were therefore subsumed in the Arachosian
administrative complex (and may already have been so during the
Persian period, although this is contested). The capital was Arachoti,
the later Alexandria Arachosia, otherwise known as Alexandropolis,
and now better known as Kandahar.
During subsequent years Alexander's many adjustments in this province
are not easy to interpret, partly because some of the appointed
officers lost their lives during disturbances and through illness.
However, the fact that Sibyrtius was satrap of Arachosia and Gedrosia
is very good evidence that the two provinces were ruled from Arachosia.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from
Anabasis Alexandri, Arrian of Nicomedia, from Historiae
Alexandri Magni, Quintus Curtius Rufus, from Who's Who in
the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire,
Waldemar Heckel (Ed), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia
Iranica, and Bibliotheca Historica, Diodorus Siculus (Perseus Project
Texts Loaded under PhiloLogic).)
330
- 323 BC :
Alexander
III the Great : King of Macedonia. Conquered Persia.
323
- 317 BC :
Philip III Arrhidaeus : Feeble-minded half-brother of Alexander
the Great.
317
- 310 BC :
Alexander
IV of Macedonia : Infant son of Alexander the Great and
Roxana.
330
- 323 BC :
Menon
: Satrap of Arachosia (& Gedrosia until 325 BC?). Died.
330
- ? BC :
Tiridates?
: Minor satrap of Arachosia and/or Gedrosia?
330
BC :
Arrian reports that the tribes of the Arachoti and Gedrosii are
left independent under Alexander. Diodorus states that both receive
Alexander with kindness and that the administration of both peoples
is given to one Tiridates. Menon becomes the official satrap of
Arachosia and Gedrosia (according to Arrian) or of Arachosia alone
(according to Curtius), so Tiridates may be a native of the country
who handles more direct administrative duties.
![Map of Central Asia & Eastern Mediterranean 334-323 BC](Map_Bactria-&-India-334-324BC_full.jpg)
The
route of Alexander's ongoing campaigns are shown in this map, with
them leading him from Europe to Egypt, into Persia, and across the
vastness of eastern Iran as far as the Pamir mountain range
325
BC :
Returning towards Persis from India, Alexander enters Gedrosia from
the east. A lightning campaign is conducted against the native Oritans
who have probably been independent until now. Quickly surrendering,
their capital of Rhambaceia (Rhambacia) is converted into a city
and may well be renamed Alexandria. Its precise location is yet
to be pinpointed.
It
is here that the position of satrap in Gedrosia becomes more complicated
to relate. Menon's death in 323 BC sees his post being filled by
the promoted Sibyrtius. Under this satrap, Arachosia and Gedrosia
certainly are governed as one joint territory, but Gedrosia apparently
gains a satrap of its own in 325 BC - Apollophanes - with Leonnatus
as commander of the satrapy's garrison.
Tiridates seems not to be mentioned, lending support to the theory
that he is a native minor satrap. Apollophanes is killed in 325
BC and is succeeded by one Thoas until he dies of natural causes
in 323 BC. This is probably the point at which the administration
of Gedrosia is handed to that of Arachosia, and Sibyrtius becomes
satrap of both.
323
- 303 BC :
Sibyrtius
: Greek satrap of Arachosia & Gedrosia. (Was in Carmania.)
323
- c.130 BC :
Following the death of Alexander the Great and the subsequent Greek
in-fighting, Bactria is part of the Seleucid empire until 256 BC,
when an independent Bactrian kingdom is declared, followed by an
Indo-Greek expansion eastwards. Arachosia is still a Seleucid territory
in 206-205 BC, when Antiochus III proceeds through it on his way
back to the west. Bactria falls around 130 BC to the Kushans.
Macedonian
& Mauryan Arachosia :
General
Seleucus of the fragmenting Greek empire fought a number of wars
in order to secure his own hold on power. By 305 BC he was fully
in charge of the empire's eastern provinces from his capital at
Babylon, having expanded his holdings with some ruthlessness, building
up his stock of Alexander's far eastern regions as far as the borders
of India and the River Indus (Sindh). Appian's work, The
Syrian Wars, provides a detailed list of these regions, which
included Arabia, Arachosia, Aria, Armenia, Bactria, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia
(as it was known) by 301 BC, Carmania, Cilicia (eventually), Drangiana,
Gedrosia, Hyrcania, Media, Mesopotamia, Paropamisadae, Parthia,
Persia, Sogdiana, and Tapouria (a small satrapy beyond Hyrcania),
plus eastern areas of Phrygia.
In
305 BC he launched a campaign to reconquer India which lasted for
two years but which came up against the might of the Mauryan empire
and failed to achieve its objectives. Strabo records that Seleucus
conceded the Indo-Greek provinces to the Mauryans as part of an
alliance agreement. This included the regions of Paropamisadae,
Arachosia, Gandhar, the northern Indus and the southern Indus. Subsequent
relations between the Greeks and the Mauryans were generally cordial,
with a Seleucid ambassador appointed to Chandragupta's court.
(Additional information by David Kelleher, from Life of Apollonius
Tyana, Philostratus, from King of the Seven Climes: A History
of the Ancient Iranian World (3000 BCE - 651 CE), Khodadad Rezakhani
(Touraj Daryaee, Ed, Ancient Iran Series Vol IV, 2017), from
The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire,
R C Blockley (Francis Cairns, Oxford, 1983), from Epitome of
the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus: Books 11-12, Volume
1, Marcus Junianus Justinus, John Yardley, & Waldemar Heckel,
and from External Links: Ancient History Encyclopaedia (dead
link), and Appian's History of Rome: The Syrian Wars at Livius.org.
Where information conflicts regarding the Indo-Greek territories,
Osmund Bopearachchi's Monnaies Gréco-Bactriennes et Indo-Grecques,
Catalogue Raisonné (1991) has been followed.)
305
- 303 BC :
Following
two years of war on the far eastern border of his empire while he
attempts a Greek reconquest of India, Strabo records that Seleucus
concedes the Indo-Greek provinces to the ruling Mauryans as part
of an alliance agreement. This includes the regions of Paropamisadae,
Arachosia, the northern Indus and the southern Indus. Subsequent
relations between the Greeks and the Mauryans appear to be cordial.
Seleucus even appoints Megasthenes as the Seleucid ambassador to
Chandragupta's court.
206
- 205 BC :
Seleucid ruler Antiochus III returns from his expedition into the
eastern regions by passing through the provinces of Arachosia, Drangiana,
and Carmania. He arrives in Persis in 205 BC and receives tribute
of five hundred talents of silver from the citizens of Gerrha, a
mercantile state on the east coast of the Persian Gulf. Having re-established
a strong Seleucid presence in the east which includes an array of
vassal states, Antiochus now adopts the ancient Achaemenid title
of 'great king', which the Greeks copy by referring to him as 'Basileus
Megas'.
![Map of Bactria and India 200 BC](Map_Bactria-&-India-200BC_full.jpg)
The
kingdom of Bactria (shown in white) was at the height of its power
around 200-180 BC, with fresh conquests being made in the south-east,
encroaching into India just as the Mauryan empire was on the verge
of collapse, while around the northern and eastern borders dwelt
various tribes that would eventually contribute to the downfall
of the Greeks - the Sakas and Greater Yuezhi
c.180
BC :
Placing
the death of Demetrius of Bactria (of unknown causes) on this date
is generally accepted but far from certain. It is used in an attempt
to fit in his death with the subsequent appearance of many successors
in several regions of the enlargened kingdom. Some of Demetrius'
successors may be co-regents, but civil wars and territorial divisions
are very likely. Pantaleon, Antimachus I, Agathocles, and possibly
Euthydemus II are all theoretically linked as relatives to Demetrius.
In Bactria, Euthydemus II rules, while in the Indo-Greek territories,
Agathocles rules in Paropamisadae while Pantaleon rules in Arachosia.
c.185
- 175 BC :
Pantaleon
: Bactrian. In Arachosia.
180?
- 165? BC :
Antimachus
I Theos : Brother? In Bactria, Paropamisadae and Arachosia.
c.180
- 160 BC :
Apollodotus I : In Paropamisadae, Arachosia, & Western
Indus.
175
- 170/165 BC :
Demetrius
II : Son of Antimachus I. In Paropamisadae & Arachosia.
c.175
BC :
Demetrius
II rules in Paropamisadae and Arachosia as a sub-king or joint ruler
with his father, the Bactrian king, Antimachus I. While he is campaigning
in the east, a usurper arises in the west in about 170 BC.
170?
BC :
Antimachus
of Bactria is apparently defeated by the able newcomer and former
general, Eucratides (an alternative is that his territory is absorbed
by Eucratides upon his death). Eucratides is opposed by Demetrius
II from the Indo-Greek territories. who apparently returns to
Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper, but he is defeated
and killed in the encounter. Antimachus I also fights against Eucratides,
but ultimately is defeated around 160 BC and Eucratides seems to
occupy territory as far as the Indus. The Euthydemids are pushed
out of Bactria, retaining only the Indo-Greek territories.
171
- c.145 BC :
Eucratides
I / Eukratides I : Bactrian. In Paropamisadae, Arachosia,
& W Indus.
160
- 155 BC :
Antimachus
II Nikephoros : In Paropamisadae, Arachosia, & Western
Indus.
c.160
BC :
Antimachus
II is either the son of Demetrius II or Antimachus I, and serves
as co-regent until the deaths of both rulers. It is possible that
Apollodotus I becomes the senior ruler until he too dies in 160
BC, at which point Antimachus II heads the kingdom.
c.155
BC :
In
the east, the Indo-Greek king, Menander, seems to repel the invasion
by Eucratides, and pushes him back as far as Paropamisadae, thereby
consolidating the rule of the Indo-Greek kings in northern India.
After this, the Indo-Greek kingdom is permanently divided from Bactria.
c.145
BC :
Under
pressure in their established homeland thanks to the migration of
the Greater Yuezhi, the Sakas enter the territory of Bactria around
this time. They burn to the ground the city of Alexandria on
the Oxus, an event which seemingly coincides with the death of Eucratides
I himself. Generally presumed to be the modern ruins known as Ay
Khanum (or Ai Khanum, literally 'Lady Moon' in Uzbek), the city
is possibly also known as Eucratidia during its last days - almost
certainly thanks to Eucratides I. The city goes into unrecoverable
decline and today is entirely uninhabited.
![A silver tetradrachm of Eucratides I of Bactria](Indo-Greeks_Coins04_full.jpg)
The
successor to Antimachus I of Bactria was Eucratides I, with this
silver tetradrachm being minted in his image at some point during
the twenty-six years or so of his reign
c.130
BC :
At
around the time of Menander's death, the Greater Yuezhi overrun
Bactria and end Greek rule there, isolating the remaining Greeks
east of the Hindu Kush. Heliocles (I) of Bactria may possibly invade
the western part of the Indo-Greek kingdom, as there are strong
suggestions that the Eucratids continue to rule there, especially
in Heliocles' presumed son, Lysias.
There
are no historical records of events in the Indo-Greek kingdom after
Menander's death, since the Indo-Greeks have by now become very
isolated from the rest of the Greco-Roman world. Events from this
point are reconstructed almost entirely from archaeological and
numismatic analyses.
c.130
BC :
Thrason : In Paropamisadae, Arachosia, & W Indus (Punjab).
c.150?
- 125? BC :
Zoilus
/ Zoilos I : Euthydemid? In Paropamisadae & Arachosia.
According
to numismatic evidence, Zolius rules during the reign of Menander,
as the latter king overstrikes two of his coins. Upon Menender's
death his queen, Agathokleia, apparently manages to flee east with
her child (the future Strato I) in the face of Zoilus' appropriation
of much of her husband's realm, and establishes a realm of her own
there. Alternatively, Menander himself may previously have relocated
east to the Indus (Punjab), where the mint marks on his coins had
changed, and this territory is then handed onto his wife and son
upon his death.
c.130
- 120 BC :
Lysias
Aniketos (the Invincible) : In Paropamisadae & Arachosia
(& W Indus?).
Probably the son of Heliocles I of Bactria, coins for Lysias have
been found in the Punjab and it seems likely that he extends his
control to both halves of the Indo-Greek kingdom for a period, placing
his son as regent in Taxila. This makes understandable the fact
that Lysias imitates Demetrius before him, claiming that he is also
a conqueror of 'India' - which to the Greeks means Paropamisadae
and Indus (Punjab).
c.115
- 100 BC :
Antialcidas
: In Paropamisadae & Arachosia.
110
BC :
The
Heliodorus pillar in Vidisha in central India records that the Indo-Greek
king Antialcidas sends an ambassador to the court of the Sunga king,
Bhagabhadra, at or before this date.
c.100
BC :
Polyxenios
: In Paropamisadae & Arachosia.
100
- 95 BC :
Philoxenus : In Paropamisadae, Arachosia, W & E Indus
(Punjab).
c.100
- 70 BC :
Philoxenus
briefly rules the whole of the remaining Indo-Greek territory. He
may even extend his rule as far as the city of Mathura (in modern
Uttar Pradesh), according to an inscription there. From 95 BC the
territories fragment again, with the western kings regaining their
territory as far west as Arachosia. Some time after 70 BC, Mathura
is lost to Indian kings, as is south-eastern Indus (Punjab).
c.95
- 90 BC :
Amyntas
: In Arachosia & Paropamisadae.
c.90
BC :
Peukolaos
: In Arachosia & Paropamisadae.
c.90
- 85 BC :
Menander
II : In Arachosia & Paropamisadae.
c.90
- 70 BC :
Archebios : In Arachosia, Paropamisadae, & W Indus
(Punjab).
c.90
- 60 BC :
The
Sakas under Maues take control of Indo-Greek Paropamisadae, creating
a capital at Taxila in northern Indus. Just forty or so years later
(perhaps even less), the Indo-Parthians and then the Kushans capture
the same territory from the Sakas in what is now Afghanistan.
c.AD
20 :
With
the Parthian empire gradually fracturing and collapsing, Gondophares
ventures east and establishes an independent Indo-Parthian kingdom
in what is now Afghanistan. His kingdom stretches from Arachosia
and Gedrosia to northern India. Despite various efforts, Parthian
King Artabanus is unable to restore these Indo-Parthians to Parthian
control.
Shortly
afterwards, Kujula Kadphises founds the Kushan empire in Bactria-Tokharistan
and seizes a long corridor of territory which stretches to the middle
Amu Darya. This has the deliberate effect of creating a barrier
around Sogdiana, which is then isolated for almost three hundred
years. It would seem to be during this period that Gondophares
briefly holds power over the diminished Sakas, counting Kshatrap
Sodasa of Mathura as a vassal.
c.70
:
Sarpedones
succeeds as ruler of the Indo-Parthian kingdom and adopts the name
Gondophares. His rule is not nearly so certain as that of his more
illustrious predecessor, however. Issues of his coinage are somewhat
fragmented, appearing in Arachosia, eastern Punjab (a region which
could be included in the former satrapy of northern Indus), and
Sindh.
![Sarpedones coin](Pahlava_Coins02_full.jpg)
Shown
here are both sides of a coin issued during the rule of Sarpedones
(Gondophares II), with him diademed and draped on the left and the
goddess Nike standing on the right
c.100
:
The
Kushans capture Arachosia (now south-eastern Afghanistan) from the
Indo-Parthians, although the dating is very uncertain. The Kushan
borders now extend right up to the edge of the Parthian empire.
With pretenders to the Parthian throne regularly basing themselves
in eastern Parthia, King Pacorus is unable to do anything about
it.
c.135
:
Pacores
is the last Indo-Parthian king with any real power, and even that
does not extend into former core territories in Arachosia and Sindh.
One more Indo-Parthian king follows him but in diminished circumstances,
and virtually unknown to history.
c.230
- c.250 :
The
end of Kushan King Vasudeva's reign in AD 207 apparently coincides
with the beginning of the Sassanid invasion of north-western India,
although the dating for the main invasion fits with Vashiska and
his successor around 230-250. Perhaps there is a first, preliminary
invasion followed by a much greater second.
The
Kushans are toppled in former Arachosia, Aria, and Bactria (more
recently better known as Tokharistan) and are forced to accept Sassanid
suzerainty, being replaced by Sassanid vassals known as the Kushanshahs
or Indo-Sassanids. There is a split in Kushan rule, so that a separate,
eastern section rules independent of the Sassanids, while some of
the nobility remain in the west as Sassanid vassals. Even so, Kushan
power still gradually wanes in India.
Kushanshahs
(Indo-Sassanids) :
c.AD 230 - c.410 :
The
Iranian Sassanids toppled a large part of the Kushan empire between
around AD 230-250, conquering swathes of territory in the process.
Included in this was the ancient region of Arachosia, which was
centred on the south-east of modern Afghanistan but which at times
stretched much further east, into modern Pakistan and perhaps as
far as the River Indus. To counter the threat of reconquest posed
by the growing northern Indian empire of the Guptas, and well as
by Central Asian tribes, the Sassanids created a buffer state which
was governed by the Kushanshahs. This title literally means the
'kings of the Kushans', otherwise known as Indo-Sassanids or even
Kushano-Sassanids.
The
Kushanshahs appear to have been a cadet branch of the Sassanid imperial
family. Established primarily under the rule of Shapur I around
AD 245, they seem to have been too powerful to have been simply
Sassanid governors and may instead reflect an early Sassanid continuation
of Arsacid imperial procedure, acting as an allied but autonomous
junior branch of the Sassanid royal house. The Kushanshah rulers
bore names that closely resemble the type used by the Sassanid main
house itself, but dating for the Kushanshahs is very approximate
and little is known of the region under their rule. That territory
- eastern Iran - certainly informed the senior Sassanids via cultural
production from at least the reign of Shapur II (309-379). The title
of kay is adopted from the east, although it already had
firmly established origins as kai in what had once been the
eastern Indo-Iranian domain of Turan and amongst the early Persians
in Iran.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from
King of the Seven Climes: A History of the Ancient Iranian World
(3000 BCE - 651 CE), Khodadad Rezakhani (Touraj Daryaee, Ed,
Ancient Iran Series Vol IV, 2017), from Farāmarz,
the Sistāni Hero: Texts and Traditions of the Farāmarznāme
and the Persian Epic Cycle, Marjolijn van Zutphen, from Kushan,
Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins, D Jongeward & J Cribb
(American Numismatic Society, 2015), and from External Links:
Encyclopaedia Iranica, and Iranians & Turanians in the Avesta.)
c.230
- 241 :
Ardashir
I : Governor of Persis. Founded Sassanid empire.
c.230
:
The
end of Kushan King Vasudeva's reign in AD 207 apparently coincides
with the beginning of the Sassanid invasion of north-western India,
although the dating for the main invasion fits with Vashiska and
his successor around 230-250. The Kushans are toppled in former
Arachosia, Aria, and Bactria (more recently better known as Tokharistan).
The remaining Kushan nobility is forced to accept Sassanid suzerainty.
The first Kushanshah coin-issuing authority is a certain Ardasharo
Koshano, who may be Ardashir I. This Ardasharo is most likely a
contemporary of Kanishka II of the Kushans. Both silver and copper
issues of Ardasharo are minted in Marw and are then transported
to Tokharistan for circulation. The coins show clear Kushan, or
at least Bactrian, influence since they carry Bactrian legends as
well as Pahlavi ones. The obverse Bactrian legends read as 'Ardashir,
the Kushan Shah' and the reverse depicts the god Mithra (Bactrian
Miiro, who is also depicted on Kushan coins).
c.245
:
Around
this year, Shapur devolves direct rule in what is now Afghanistan
by creating a buffer state which is governed by the Kushanshahs.
They replace the Kushan nobility as the holders of power in the
east. Kushanshah coins, initially issued mainly to the north of
the Hindu Kush, are also soon to be found to the south in the Begram/Kapiśa
area alongside issues by Kushan King Vasishka, suggesting a period
of competition between the two sides in this region. With the
next Kushanshah, Pēroz I, the Kushanshahs start to displace
the later Kushans from Gandhar, confining them to Mathura in northern
India, where they are reduced to local princes.
c.245
- c.270 :
Pēroz
I : First of cadet branch of Sassanids called Kushanshahs.
c.270
- c.295 :
Hormazd
/ Hormizd I : Possibly Sassanid ruler (272-273), but unlikely.
c.270
:
In
Gandhar, Hormazd issues coins, possibly in the names of his governors
'Kavad' and 'Meze' (if these are indeed the names of governors and
not titles or something else which remains unknown). It may be that
the governor of Gandhara at this time is Vasudeva IV, one of the
last of the Kushan nobility.
In
fact a great shift occurs in Kushanshah authority under the rule
of Hormazd I. While his early gold issues from Balkh refer to him
as 'Hormazd, the Great Kushan King', later issues of gold denars
from the same mint switch the king's title to 'Hormazd, the Great
Kushan King of Kings'. The change in title is a significant change
in Kushanshah political ideology, and perhaps a direct affront to
the 'imperial' Sassanid line. It is safe to assume that during the
time of Hormazd I, the Kushanshahs assume a new level of independence
from the main Sassanid line. Hormazd's successor is someone who
may later be a Sassanid king himself, signifying - perhaps - a re-imposition
of more direct Sassanid control over the east.
c.295
- c.300 :
Hormazd
/ Hormizd II : Probably the later Sassanid ruler (302-309).
c.300
- c.325 :
Pēroz
II : Began to assert independent control.
325
:
With Peroz II beginning to pull away from Sassanid control, the
Persian ruler Shapur II divides the realm, assuming direct control
of the southern areas of what is now Afghanistan (and also Merv
in modern Turkmenistan, Herat in Aria, and then Gandhar), while
the Kushanshahs continue to rule in the north. With events in the
east frequently being poorly documented, there is some doubt about
the identity of the Shapur who carries this out. It is probably
Shapur II, but it may instead be a governor, or even Shapur's older
brother, who bears the same name.
![Kushanshah letter addressed to Varhran](Kushanshahs_Texts01_full.jpg)
A
Kushanshah letter addressed to their mid-fourth century AD ruler,
Varhran, from the daughter of a princess named Dukht-anosh, a Middle
Persian name
c.325
- c.350 :
Varhran
/ Wahram / Warahran I : In the north only.
Varhran is the last Kushanshah in Tokharistan and is also a contemporary
of Sassanid ruler Shapur II. Varhran's grip over the Kushanshah
territories on both sides of the Hindu Kush is greatly threatened,
and it is not long before his realm and power falls to the incoming
Kidarites and the expanding reach of Sassanid central power. The
control of Gandhar by Shapur II - known through the issue of his
copper denomination there - appears to be a side effect of the increased
Sassanid interest in the east.
c.350
- c.400 :
Varhran
/ Wahram / Warahran II : Vassal of the Sassanids.
c.350
- c.400 :
Peroz
III : In Gandhar. A rival claimant or opponent to Sassanid
rule?
c.375
:
There
is no evidence of any Kushans after Kipunada. Having been subjugated
by the Gupta kings, the rump eastern Kushan state is soon conquered
by the invading Kidarites. They, in turn, claim to be the rightful
successors of the Kushans and Kushanshahs. Any possible survivors
in the west are probably displaced by the Hephthalites. This is
the next wave of barbarians to invade the territory of the Kushanshahs,
where they conquer former Bactria and Gandhar to form their own
kingdom.
c.390
:
Bactrian legends on the Kidarite coins issued around this period
declare them to represent the 'King of the Kushan'. The Kidarites
consider themselves to be the continuation of rule by Kushans and
Kushanshahs. A coin type which shows the king in frontal view and
wearing a crown with ram's horn has a legend in Brahmi declaring
the authority to be 'Sa Piroysa', meaning 'King Peroz'. This
is most likely the Peroz III of Gandhar, the potential rival to
Sassanid rule, but possibly only a puppet of the Kidarites.
c.400
- c.410 :
Varhran
/ Wahram / Warahran III : Vassal of the Sassanids.
c.410
- 565 :
Despite
being bordered by the powerful Guptas to the east and the Sassanids
to the west. Kushanshah vassal rule of the region is displaced from
the north, as the Hephthalites invade and conquer Bactria and Gandhar.
565
- 652 :
The
Hephthalites are in turn defeated by an alliance of Göktürks and
the Sassanids, and a level of Indo-Sassanid authority is re-established
in the region for the next century. The Western Göktürks set up
rival states in Bamiyan, Kabul, and Kapisa under the authority of
the viceroy in Tokharistan, strengthening their hold on the Silk
Road.
![Marco Polo on the Silk Road](Tajikistan_SilkRoad01_full.jpg)
Marco
Polo's journey into China along the Silk Road made use of a network
of east-west trade routes that had been developed since the time
of Greek control of Bactria
During
this period, any notion of the territory which later goes into forming
modern Afghanistan as a single state, or even a coherent regional
entity, is entirely impossible. It is not until the tenth century
that something approaching an 'Afghanistan' begins to be created
with the emergence of the Turkic Samanids.
Southern
Khorasan :
Various factions were agitating for dominance in former Islamic
Greater Khorasan. The Samanid ruler faced internal uprisings in
the tenth century, and the Ghaznavid ruler, Sebuktigin, went to
his assistance, defeating the rebels at Balkh and then Nishapur.
Sebuktigin was granted the title 'Nasir ud-Din' ('Hero of the Faith')
while his son, Mahmud, was made governor of a northern Khorasan
which was removed from Samanid authority. This meant a permanent
division of Khorasan, with the southern section being cut up into
several regional power bases.
It is this southern region which largely formed later eastern Persia
and a good deal of modern Afghanistan.
Afghan
(Turkic) Samanid Subject Kings (Southern Khorasan) :
AD 962 - 977 :
The Yamanids claimed descent from the last of the Sassanid kings,
Yazdagird, whose family had fled the Islamic invasion following
his death. They resettled in Turkestan, where they intermarried
with the locals until one of their number, a twelve year-old named
Sebuktigin, was captured by a neighbouring tribe and ended up being
purchased by Alptigin, the governor of Samanid Khurasan. However,
he backed the losing side in a dynastic squabble amongst his masters,
so he crossed the Hindu Kush and seized Zabulistan, together with
Ghazni in the south-east of modern Afghanistan, from its governor,
Abu Bakr Lawik and established an independent Khorasanian Sunni
Muslim kingdom. Sebuktigin was made a general and continued in that
role until his own accession.
(Information by Peter Kessler.)
962
- 963 :
Alptigin
: Seized the eastern Afghan region from the Samanid governor.
962
:
Alptigin, Turkic for 'brave prince', seizes Ghazni and expels the
Samanid governor of Zabulistan, Abu Bakr Lawik. Although he establishes
independent rule of Ghazni, coins from the era show that he nominally
acknowledges Samanid overlordship, always a useful ruse for avoiding
an attack by former masters.
![Alptigin, founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty in Afghanistan](Ghaznavid_Alptigin01_full.jpg)
A
monument to Alptigin, founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty in Afghanistan,
located in the town of Söğüt in western Turkey
963
- c.963? :
Abu
Ishaq Alptegin : Son.
c.963?
- c.965? :
Abu Bakr Lawik briefly manages to wrest back control of his emirate
before he is expelled and the independent kings of Ghazni re-establish
their rule.
c.963?
- c.965? :
Abu
Bakr Lawik : Restored.
c.965
- 966 :
Abu
Ishaq Alptegin : Restored.
966
:
Abu Ishaq Alptegin dies childless, so the commanders of his army
select one of their number, Bilgetigin, as his successor.
966
- 975 :
Bilgetigin
: Former army commander.
975
- 977 :
Piri
/ Pirai : A former slave of Alptigin.
977
:
During his reign, the cruel Piri is threatened by Abu Ali Lawik,
the son of Abu Bakr Lawik. He is rescued by General Sebuktigin,
who surprises the enemy army near Charkh, on the east bank of the
River Lohgar, killing many of them and taking ten elephants along
with his prisoners. Following Piri's death, Sebuktigin succeeds
to the throne, creating a Yamanid dynasty of kings.
Afghan
(Turkic) Ghaznavid Dynasty (Southern Khorasan) :
AD 977 - 1186 :
In 977, Sebuktigin succeeded to the throne of Ghazni, situated south
of Transoxiana (and 120 kilometres (eighty miles) to the south-west
of Kabul, both in modern Afghanistan, of which Ghazni is now an
eastern province). He immediately began strengthening his domains
and increasing his territory. This was at a time at which both the
Samanids and the Persians were fading in power, but although the
kingdom was independent it perhaps still showed nominal allegiance
to the Samanids. For the most part, Lahore was the easternmost bastion
of Ghazni power, although they frequently raided further east.
Bist (otherwise known as Bost or Bust) became the winter capital
of the Ghaznavids, perhaps especially because its climate was entirely
suitable for war elephants. Located on the junction between the
River Argandab and the Helmand, the city had served as an early
outpost of Islam in the region. Before that it was within the area
dominated by the 'Benefactors' of Cyrus the Great, the Ariaspae
people of Indo-Iranian Central Asia.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from
The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), and from External
Link: Encyclopaedia Iranica.)
977
- 997 :
Sebuktigin
/ Sebuk-Tigin : Son-in-law of Alptegin. First Yamanid king
of Ghazni.
994
:
The
Samanid ruler faces internal uprisings, and Sebuktigin goes to his
assistance. The rebels are defeated at Balkh and then Nishapur,
and Sebuktigin is granted the title 'Nasir ud-Din' ('Hero of the
Faith'), while his son, Mahmud, is made governor of Khwarazm.
997
:
Mahmud of Khwarazm campaigns against the Qara-Khitaļ in Central
Asia, but is ultimately defeated. His failure is a harbinger of
problems to come where the Qara-Khitaļ are concerned.
997
- 998 :
Ismail
: Son. Captured and imprisoned for life.
998
:
Although Ismail is Sebuktigin's chosen heir, his elder half-brother
Mahmud of Khwarazm contests his claim to the throne. Initially in
command of Nishapur, Mahmud hands it over to his uncle, Borghuz,
and younger brother, Nur-ud-Din Yusuf, and marches upon Ghazni.
The capital city is captured and Mahmud claims the throne, imprisoning
his brother in a fort in Joorjan.
999
- 1005 :
The
Turkic Karakhanids depose the Samanid emir, Mansur II, allied with
the Buwayids who are supreme in south-western Persia and Mesopotamia.
The Karakhanids briefly take possession of areas of what is now
Afghanistan before being ousted by the Ghaznavids in 1005.
998
- 1030 :
Yamin-ud-Dawlah
Mahmud : Brother. Former governor of Khwarazm. First sultan.
1003
:
Khalaf I of Saffarid Seistan has long been exhibiting irrational
behaviour, including the act of putting to death his own son, Tāher.
He has largely alienated popular support within Seistan in favour
of the Ghaznavids. Yamin-ud-Dawlah Mahmud is now able to march into
Seistan, defeat the emir, and carry him off into captivity where
he later dies. Seistan now becomes a province of the Ghaznavid empire
(as does the province of Carmania), and the once-mighty Saffarid
house is extinguished. A Nasrid malik is soon put in place
to govern Seistan.
1008
:
Mahmud
is responsible for turning the small kingdom into a large empire,
and transforming Ghazni from a small regional capital into a large
and wealthy city. Turning his attentions eastwards, he defeats the
Rajput confederacy, conquering Gwalior, Kannauj, Nagarkot, Thanesar,
and Ujjain and leaving them in the hands of native client kings,
as well as regularly raiding further into India. Soon afterwards,
Balkh is brought under direct control after the death of its friendly
emir, Abu Nasr Mohammad.
![Ghaznavid soldiers](Ghaznavid_Soldiers01_full.jpg)
A
computer-generated image of Ghaznavid regular troops
1017
- 1019 :
Making
good the loss of 995, Mahmud conquers the emirate of Khwarazm after
the emir (his relative) is killed in a rebellion. He apparently
regains Greater Khorasan in its entirety which also includes territory
to the south of the present emirate. Within two years, Mahmud
also begins his invasion of India, notably sacking Kannauj, the
capital of the kingdom of the Pratiharas of Kannauj. However, he
is repulsed by the Rajput Chandelas.
1023
:
Mahmud
conquers the Punjab of the Pallavas.
1030
:
The
death of Mahmud ends the dominance of the Ghaznavids. Conflicts
between various Ghaznavid claimants and lesser rulers arise and
as a result the empire started to crumble. In Seistan, the Ghaznavid
governor, Nasr, soon declares his independence and founds a Nasrid
emirate there, based around the Nimruz Province of modern Afghanistan
(the country's south-western corner, abutting Iran to the west and
what is now Pakistan to the south).
1030
- 1031 :
Jalal-ud-Dawlah
Mohammed : Son. Overthrown.
1031
:
Mohammed
is the younger of twins, and his accession leads to strife between
him and his brother, Masud. Masud wins, overthrowing Mohammed and
claiming the throne. Mohammed is blinded and imprisoned.
1031
- 1041 :
Shihab-ud-Dawlah
Masud I : Twin brother.
1040
:
Masud
is unable to preserve his father's empire. Disastrously defeated
by Seljuq Turks at the Battle of Dandanqan, he loses the western
Ghaznavid territories, including Khwarazm and Seistan. His successors
continue to rule much of the territory which later becomes Afghanistan
and also areas of northern India in reduced circumstances. He
is deposed by a rebellion of his own troops, and his brother is
restored. Masud is assassinated while in prison.
1041
:
Jalal-ud-Dawlah Mohammed : Restored, but killed by Mawdud.
1041Responding
to the death of his father and the seizure of the throne, Mawdud
gathers together his forces from his governor's base in Balkh and
marches on Ghazni. Mohammed is overthrown and executed by him. Mawdud's
brother in Lahore does not recognise his rule, but soon dies, leaving
Lahore to be ruled directly from Ghazni. Some of the empire's extreme
eastern territories are lost to rebellion, however, and the empire
continues its slow decline with a series of short-lived rulers and
internal disputes.
1041
- 1049 :
Shihab-ud-Dawlah
Mawdud : Son of Masud.
1049
:
Masud
II
1049
- 1050 :
Baha-ud-Dalwah
Ali
1050
- 1053 :
Izz-ud-Dawlah
Abd al-Rashid
1053
:
Qiwam-ud-Dawlah
Tughril : Usurper.
1053
- 1059 :
Jamal-ud-Dawlah
Farrukhzad
1059
- 1099 :
Zahir-ud-Dawlah
Ibrahim
1059
:
Ibrahim
re-establishes a truncated empire after the unstable two decades
preceding his rule. He agrees peace terms with the Seljuqs and restores
cultural and political links, although apparently is not able to
restore Ghaznavid dominance of Seistan. However, the empire is increasingly
sustained by riches gained in raids across northern India, and the
Rajput rulers there offer stiff resistance.
1099
- 1115 :
Ala-ud-Dawlah
Masud III
1115
:
Masud's
death begins a period of instability and the decline of the empire.
His sons fight amongst themselves for the throne, with Bahram Shah
eventually winning out, but only as a vassal of the Seljuqs.
1115
:
Kamal-ud-Dawlah
Shirzad
1115
- 1118 :
Sultan-ud-Dawlah
Arslan Shah
1118
- 1152 :
Yamin-ud-Dawlah
Bahram Shah : Seljuq vassal. Forced to Lahore in 1150.
1146
:
The
Ghurids begin to assert their control in the region in the face
of weakening Ghaznavid control.
1150
:
The
Ghaznavid emirate is effectively brought to an end when Ghazni is
captured by the Ghurid Moslems. Ghaznavid power continues in northern
India alone, with them ruling from Lahore.
1152
- 1160 :
Muizz-ud-Dawlah
Khusrau Shah : In Lahore.
1160
- 1186 :
Taj-ud-Dawlah
Khusrau Malik : In Lahore.
1186
:
Lahore
is conquered by the Ghurids who also inherit Pallava Punjab.
Ghurid
Sultanate / Shansabani :
AD 1149 - 1215 :
The Ghurids, from Bamiyan in the Afghan mountains, were initially
conquered by the Ghaznavids and converted from paganism (probably
Zoroastrianism) to Islam in the eleventh century. In 1149 Aladdin
Hussein turned the tables and sacked the city of Ghazni in 1150,
ending Ghaznavid rule in what later becomes Afghanistan. Ghurid
rulers from the Shansabani clan took over and formed a short-lived
sultanate. Some scholars relate the Shansabani name to that of the
Sassanids, many of who had fled east during the Arab invasion of
Persia in 651.
(Information
by Peter Kessler.)
1146
- 1149 :
Sayf
ud-Din Suri
1149
:
Baha'
ud-Din Sam I
1149
- 1161 :
Aladdin
Jahan-Suz Husain II : Founder of the Ghurid sultanate.
1150
:
The
Ghaznavid emirate is brought to an end when Ghazni is captured by
the Ghurid Moslems. Ghaznavid power continues in northern India
alone, with them ruling from Lahore.
1161
- 1163 :
Sa'if
ud-Din Muhammad
1162
- 1163 :
A
year after recapturing Seistan from the Seljuqs, the death of Sa'if
ud-Din Muhammad appears to cause fractures within the sultanate,
with two rulers appearing, one each in Firuzkuh and Ghazni.
1163
- 1203 :
Abu'l-Fath
Muhammad Shams ad-Din : In Firuzkuh.
1173
- 1206 :
Shihab
ud-Din Muhammad (III) : In Ghazni.
1186
:
The
Ghaznavids in Lahore are conquered by the Ghurids, who also gain
the Punjab of the Pallavas.
1194
:
Muhammad
sacks and destroys the Rajput kingdoms of the Gahadavalas and Chauhans.
Unfortunately, in the same year, the Khwarazm emirate gains independence
from the Persian Seljuq Turks by overthrowing them and occupying
much of the rest of Greater Khorasan, including Ghurid Seistan and
the heartland of Persia itself.
1206
:
Muhammad
Ghori dies without an heir. After a battle of succession, the Turkic
ex-slave general, Qutub uddin Aibak, takes possession of Muhammad
Ghori's Indian empire. He establishes his capital first at Lahore,
and later at Delhi. Ghiyathuddin Mahmud gains the western section
of the empire, focused on territory which largely forms modern Afghanistan.
1206
- 1212 :
Ghiyathuddin
Mahmud (III)
1206
- 1215 :
Taj
ud-Din Yļldļz Mu'izzi : In Ghazni.
1212
- 1213 :
Baha'
ud-Din Sam II
1213
:
The
Ghurids are displaced in what is now Afghanistan by the Khwarazm
shahs.
1213
- 1214 :
Alauddin
Atsiz : Vassal or governor of Khwarazm.
1214
- 1215 :
Alauddin
Mohammed IV : Vassal or governor of Khwarazm.
1215
:
The
remaining Ghurid territories in northern India are taken over by
the Delhi sultanate which also gains the Punjab of the former Pallavas.
1221
:
After
the shah of Khwarazm decapitates the Mongol ambassador from Chingiz
Khan, the emirate is attacked twice by the Golden Horde. Khwarazm
is reduced to its western section covering northern Mesopotamia
and western Persia. Shamsuddin Bahram Shah of Seistan is killed,
and Bukhara and then Samarkand are captured by the Mongols.
Chaos results, with thousands being massacred or sold into slavery.
The rest of Ghurid Southern Khorasan does not escape unscathed.
The Mongols raze the city of Bamiyan and exterminate its inhabitants.
Areas of central Khwarazm (Khorasan) around Herat (and Bamiyan)
are soon seized by the Ghurids and then governed by their subjects,
the Kartids.
1243
:
Almost
immediately after he has succeeded his father as malik, Shams-uddin
seizes Herat during an unstable period of Mongol domination. Doing
so as a Ghurid subject, he submits to the Mongols and is accepted
as their Kartid governor of the city and its surroundings.
1266
- 1332 :
When the defeated Great Khan Ariq-Boke dies just two years after
losing his struggle for the great khanship, his side of the struggle
against Kublai Khan is continued by Kaidu of Mughulistan. This is
the point at which Mughulistan becomes entirely independent of the
suzerainty of the great khans and becomes a kingdom in its own right.
Its territories include northern Afghanistan as far south as Kabul.
1332
- 1369 :
Descendants of the earlier Ghurid rulers reassert control over Southern
Khorasan.
1369
:
Much
of Southern Khorasan is conquered by Timur and becomes part of Timurid
Persia.
1382
- 1383 :
Having secured his conquests around Transoxiana, Timur has begun
the expansion of his territory into Southern Khorasan and Persia.
He forces the Kartids of Herat into submission and demands a hostage
from Seistan to symbolise the subservience of the Mihrabanids. Malik
Qutbuddin sends a relative named Tajuddin.
However,
in 1383, despite agreeing a hostage, Timur still turns up at Seistan
with his army. The two sides fail to come to agreement so Timur
defeats the Mihrabanids in open battle. Qutbuddin is soon captured,
imprisoned, and deported to Samarkand. He is executed three years
later. Timur appoints Shah-i Shahan as governor of Seistan and proceeds
to ravage the province.
1405
:
The
Timurid empire splits in two following the death of Timur. Queen
Goharshad, wife of the western ruler, Shah Rukh, moves the capital
from Samarkand to Herat (which still exists as a city and a province
in the west of modern Afghanistan), part of their domains in Greater
Khorasan and Persia. The eastern portion is governed from Samarkand.
Kandahar falls within the western half.
1405
- 1409 :
Shah
Rukh / Shahrukh : Son of Timur. In Khorasan initially,
and in Persia (1409-1447).
1409
- 1447 :
Herat remains the heart of the Timurid empire which still covers
Persia and Greater Khorasan, until Ulugh Beg's weak rule allows
a rival to take control of the city.
![The tomb of Shah Rukh in Multan](Timurids_ShahRukh01_full.jpg)
The
tomb of Shah Rukh in Multan (in modern Pakistan)
1467
- 1469 :
Uzun
Hassan of the White Sheep emirate is responsible for the death of
the powerful Black Sheep emir, Jahan Shah. He threatens to overwhelm
the entire Black Sheep emirate, despite it receiving assistance
from Abu Sa'id of Transoxiana, and he achieves his aim in 1468.
Abu Sa'id is captured in the Azerbaijan mountains in 1469 while
on campaign against the White Sheep emirate. He is subsequently
handed over to Yadigar Muhammad in southern Khorasan, which is focussed
around Herat, where he is executed.
Subsequently,
Uzun Hassan is able to capture Baghdad, along with territories around
the Persian Gulf. He expands his emirate into Iran as far east as
the later province of Khorasan, replacing the Black Sheep emirs
as the main regional power. The emirate is not a single entity,
though, having been formed through uniting several clans and tribes
in the form of a confederation. Unfortunately, around this time,
the Ottomans are also seeking an eastwards expansion. This poses
a serious threat to the White Sheep, and Uzun is forced to seek
an alliance with the Karamanids of central Anatolia.
1529
:
Ubayd
Allah Sultan Khan of Bukhara is at war against Tahmasp I of Persia,
and the Uzbeks of Khwarazm support Bukharan attacks by advancing
to Pil Kupruki. The border cities of Khodjend (in Khorasan) and
Asferain (near Astarabad) are also stormed. As Tahmasp also has
to face the Ottomans, he negotiates with the Khwarizmi and effectively
hands them Khorasan.
1585
:
Kabul
is formally annexed to the Moghul empire after the death of Mirza
Muhammed Hakim.
1623
- 1638 :
Prince
Khurram (Shah Jehan) resents the influence of Nur Jahan, wife of
Moghul emperor, Jahangir, over the royal court and rebels against
his father. One of Jahangir's generals, Mahabat Khan, humiliated
by Nur Jahan and her brother, Asaf Khan, joins that rebellion. Taking
advantage of Shah Jahan's revolt, the Persians capture Kandahar.
1638
- 1648 :
Buoyed
by his successes in the Deccan against Golconda and Bijapur, Moghul
emperor Shah Jahan retakes Kandahar. However, the Persians manage
to take it back just ten years later, and it is permanently lost
to the Moghuls. It becomes a Persian province until 1709.
1678
:
Rajput
king Jaswant Singh of Marwar is fighting in Southern Khorasan when
he dies, allowing his overlord, Moghul emperor, Aurangzeb, to put
into action a plot to reduce the Rajputs' special status within
the empire.
Hotaki
Dynasty (Ghilzai Afghans) :
AD 1709 - 1738 :
Mirwais Khan Hotak, the leader of the Pashtun Ghilzai Afghans and
mayor of Kandahar, killed the Persian-appointed governor, Gurgin
Khan (King Giorgi XI of the Georgian kingdom of Kartli), in 1709,
declaring Kandahar to be independent. In 1722, the successful new
dynasty also conquered the Safavid shahs of Persia, ruling a large
empire for seven years before being defeated by Nadil Kuli and forced
back towards what is now Afghanistan itself, where what remained
of it fragmented. Mirwais Khan may not have realised it at the time,
but his independent dynasty created the basis for the modern state
of Afghanistan.
(Information
by Abhijit Rajadhyaksha.)
1709
- 1715 :
Mirwais
Khan Hotak : Leader of the Ghilzai Afghans. Died peacefully.
1715
- 1717 :
Abd
al-Aziz : Brother. Overthrown by his nephew.
1715
- 1717 :
Upon
his death, Mirwais is succeeded by his brother, Adb al-Aziz, but
the Ghilzai Afghans persuade the son of Mirwais, Mahmud, to seize
power for himself and in 1717 he overthrows and killed his uncle.
1717
- 1725 :
Mir
Mahmud Hotaki : Son of Mirwais. Controlled Safavid Iran
(1722). Killed?
1722
- 1729 :
The
Safavid ruler Shah Hosayn surrenders the Iranian capital of Isfahan
to Afghan rebels after a seven month siege. The Ghilzai Afghans
of Kandahar's new Hotaki dynasty occupy much of Iran, including
the capital at Estfahan. However, they are seen as usurpers by much
of the population, and hold effective power only in the east. In
1725, they order the massacre of all captured Safavid princes except
for Hosayn himself, although Hosayn manages to have the lives of
his two sons spared as well.
![Mahmud Shah Hotaki coin](Afghan_MahmudShahHotaki01_full.jpg)
Two
sides of a coin issued under Mahmud Shah of the Hotaki dynasty of
early Afghanistan, the ruler of a new, centrist Afghan ruling elite
who managed to defeat the Safavids and occupy large areas of Iran
for seven years
Sensing
the weakness of the Safavid empire, Czar Peter the Great of Russia
launches the Russo-Persian War of 1722-1723. Otherwise known
as the 'Persian Expedition of Peter the Great', the war is
designed to increase Russian influence in the Caucuses and prevent
the Ottoman empire from increasing its own regional authority. Astrabad,
Baku, Derbent, Gilan, Mazandaran, and Shirvan are all successfully
won (only to be subsequently leased back to Persia between 1732-1735
now that the two states are allies).
1725
- 1729 :
Ashraf
Khan : Grandson of Mirwais. Controlled Safavid Iran.
1725
- 1729 :
Under
Ashraf Khan, the dynasty and its newfound empire undergoes a short
and sudden decline. Although he is able to beat off incursions by
the Ottomans (1727) and Russians, Ashraf Khan is defeated and expelled
from Persia in 1729 by the Afsharid general, Nadir Kuli. Ashraf
is murdered on the return home by Baloch tribesmen, quite possibly
on the order of his cousin, who is holding Kandahar at the time.
Afghanistan fragments, with Kandahar being ruled by Mir Husayn.
1729
- 1738 :
Mir
Husayn : Cousin. In Kandahar only, but independent of Persia.
1738
- 1747 :
The
Afsharid shah of Iran, Nadir Shah, enters Afghanistan with a large
army and conquers Ghazni, Kandahar, Kabul and Lahore in the same
year. Alongside him is his vassal, the future King Erekle II of
Kakhetia, and a contingent of Georgian troops. Persian rule of the
region is assured for the next nine years, until the effective coup
which creates the Duranni dynasty.
Durrani
Dynasty (Afghan Empire) :
AD 1747 - 1823 :
It was the Hotakis in 1709 who created the foundations for an independent
nation state called Afghanistan. Mirwais Khan Hotak, the leader
of the Pashtun Ghilzai Afghans and mayor of Kandahar, killed the
Persian-appointed governor and declared Kandahar to be independent.
Between 1722-1729, the successful new dynasty also controlled Safavid
Persia before being pushed back and fragmenting. The new Afsharid
shah of Iran, Nadir Shah, was able to enter the region with a large
army to conquer Ghazni, Kandahar, Kabul, and Lahore in 1738 and
the status quo was restored as far as the Persians were concerned.
However, in 1747 Nadir Shah was assassinated. While the finger of
blame was pointed firmly at his former general, Ahmad Shah Abdali,
by Persia, as someone who was very close to Nadir Shah, they were
unable to prove it. Even so, Ahmad Shah Abdali was very quickly
appointed king by loya jirga (grand council), and established
the Durrani empire in Afghanistan by capturing Kandahar and carving
out a vast territory of conquests within a very short space of time.
However, his successors governed so ineptly that the empire was
effectively at an end within half a century of his death.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from Indian Frontier Policy, John Ayde (2010),
from The First Afghan War 1838-1842, John A Norris (Cambridge
University Press, 1967), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia
Iranica, and Encyclopaedia Britannica.)
1747
- 1772 :
Ahmad
Shah Abdali : Former general. Established the dynasty.
1747
:
Following his accession as shah, Ahmad Shah Abdali immediately sets
out to consolidate and enlarge Afghanistan. He captures Ghazni from
the Ghilzai, takes Kabul from a provincial warlord, defeats the
Moghuls in the west of the Indus to gain Punjab and Kashmir, and
takes Herat from the Persians. The new empire quickly extends from
Central Asia to Delhi, and from Kashmir to the Arabian Sea.
![Nadir Shah](Persia_NadirShah01_full.jpg)
Nadir
Shah rose spectacularly from his early life as the son of a maker
of sheepskin coats to the leading general and then ruler of the
Persian empire, although he showed little compassion towards the
poor people who formed part of his origins
1750
:
Southern
Khorasan is officially renamed Afghanistan, while the north is now
within the khanate of Khiva and the emirate of Bukhara. The
westernmost section is another Khorasan, a fragment of former Greater
Khorasan which is now a region of Persia and is being occupied by
the Afsharids after their expulsion from central Persia by the Zand
regent, Karim Khan. The name of Afghanistan sticks, and is used
to refer to the region from this point onwards.
1756
- 1757 :
Ahmad
Shah Abdali invades the India of the declining Moghul emperors (for
a fifth time in his reign) and plunders Mathura. However, he
fails to spot a future threat to Afghanistan when, in 1758, British
East India Company defeat the nawab of Bengal, an ally of the French,
which signals the end of any serious French ambitions in India.
1761
:
The Peshwa sends an army to challenge the Afghans under Ahmad Shah
Abdali, and the Maratha army is decisively defeated on 13 January
1761 at the Third Battle of Panipat. However, the Sikhs soon gain
power over areas of Punjab at Ahmad's expense, while Ahmad also
has to agree a border with the Uzbek emir of Bukhara at the River
Amu Darya.
![The Third Battle of Panipat](Marathas_ThirdPanipat01_full.jpg)
The
Third Battle of Panipat saw the Marathas defeated by Ahmad Shah
Abdali's army, confirming the greatness of the empire he had created
1773
- 1793 :
Timur
Shah Durrani : Son.
1773
:
The capital of Afghanistan is transferred from Kandahar to Kabul
due to tribal opposition, mainly to Timur himself. Constant internal
revolts occur in the state, especially in its eastern provinces.
This refusal to fully unite will cost the new nation state its independence
more than once.
1788
:
The Marathas have recently evacuated Delhi, so the opportunistic
Afghan Rohillas march on the city, but financially, Delhi is already
bankrupt. Finding nothing to loot, the Afghans blind Moghul emperor
Shah Alam II just before the Marathas return to save him and drive
away the Rohillas.
1793
:
Humayun
Shah : Son. Governor of Kandahar. Seized throne and blinded.
1793
:
Upon the death of Timur, his son Humayun by his fourth wife declares
himself king, along with another of Timur's many sons. Humayun is
blinded and imprisoned by his brother, Zaman, who holds the strongest
position as governor of the capital. Many of his half brothers are
also imprisoned when they arrive in Kabul to confirm the election
of a new shah, not knowing that Zaman has already seized power.
1793
- 1801 :
Zaman
Shah Durrani : Brother. Governor of Kabul. Overthrown.
1795
:
The Qajar shahs of Iran invade their 'lost' province of Khorasan
and annexe it back to Persia proper (the Zands having let it go
after 1750). Afghanistan itself is under constant threat of internal
revolt and is in no shape to fight back.
1801
- 1803 :
Shoja
al-Mulk Muhammad Shah : Brother. Overthrown.
1801
:
Shoja al-Mulk Muhammad Shah, or Mahmud Shah, overthrows his brother,
but just two years later he is in turn overthrown by yet another
of Timur's sons, as Afghanistan slides towards complete dissolution
as a coherent state.
![Mullahs meet the shah](Persia_QajariMullahs01_full.jpg)
In
a painting that exhibits a markedly Qajari style, visiting mullahs
are entertained by the Iranian shah himself (on the far right)
1803
- 1809 :
Shah
Shuja : Brother. Overthrown.
1805
:
The Persians have been attempting to intrude small units of troops
into Afghanistan in a bid to conquer the city of Herat while the
Afghans are fighting one another for domination of their kingdom.
Unfortunately for the Persian forces, that very instability undermines
their own efforts and forces the plan's abandonment.
1809
:
Shah Shuja signs a treaty with the British which includes a clause
stating that he will oppose the passage of foreign troops through
his territories. This agreement is the first Afghan pact with a
European power, and it stipulates the undertaking of joint action
if there is any Franco- Persian aggression against Afghan or British
dominions. Only a few weeks after signing the agreement, Shuja is
deposed by his predecessor, Muhammad Shah.
1809
- 1819 :
Shoja
al-Mulk Muhammad Shah : Restored. Overthrown. Restored
in 1839.
1809
- 1819 :
In a tumultuous Afghanistan, war with Persia is inconclusive following
another attack on Herat. Mohamman Vali Mirza, son of the Persian
shah, is defeated at the Battle of Kafir Qala in 1818. However,
internal fighting continues, and Shoja al-Mulk Muhammad Shah's second
reign is ended by yet another brother. He finds that he controls
very little of the country outside Kabul, perhaps just a 160-kilometre
radius of territory and that his dynasty has alienated not only
the outlying tribes but other Durrani Pashtun tribes as well. Instead
the Barakzais have taken control of large swathes of countryside,
and it is they who form the country's next major power.
1818
- 1819 :
Sultan
Ali Shah : Brother. Overthrown.
1819
- 1823 :
Ayub
Shah : Brother. Deposed and probably killed.
1823
:
The Afghans lose Sindh permanently to the British in India as the
Durrani dynasty is overthrown. It is briefly returned to power in
1839 but it is now the Barakzais who control Afghanistan.
Emirate
of Afghanistan (Barakzai Dynasty) :
AD 1823 - 1839 :
The Persian ruler, Nadir Shah, had been assassinated in 1747. While
the finger of blame was pointed firmly at his former general, Ahmad
Shah Abdali, as someone who was very close to Nadir Shah, the Persian
royal court was unable to prove it. Even so, Ahmad Shah Abdali was
very quickly appointed king by loya jirga (grand council),
and established the Durrani-controlled Afghan empire in what quickly
became Afghanistan by capturing Kandahar and taking a vast swathe
of territory within a very short space of time.
Ahmad Shah Abdali's successors, however, were almost entirely unable
to match his levels of success. In fact, they governed so ineptly
that the empire was effectively at an end within half a century
of his death. In their defence, Afghanistan was far from being a
united state. In 1773 the empire's capital had to be transferred
from Kandahar to Kabul due to tribal opposition, mainly due to the
then-ruler, Timur Shah Durrani. Constant internal revolts occurred,
especially in the empire's eastern provinces, but Timur's successors
largely concentrated on squabbling amongst themselves for power.
In 1823 the last ruler of the weakened dynasty was overthrown by
Habibollah Shah and the Barakzais, who adopted the position of regents
for the empire until 1836. The country continued to remain fragmented,
sometimes held together almost entirely by the regent's will, sometimes
ruled by several regional warlords who usually were allied to various
factions of the Barakzai clan.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from Indian Frontier Policy, John Ayde (2010),
from The First Afghan War 1838-1842, John A Norris (Cambridge
University Press, 1967), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia
Iranica, and Encyclopaedia Britannica.)
1823
:
Habibollah
Shah : Instrumental in removing the Durrani from power.
1823
- 1826 :
Soltan
Dost Mohammad Khan : Regent (1823-1836), then emir. Deposed.
Deported to India.
1824
- 1825 :
William
Moorecroft of the East India Company arrives in Peshawar in Afghanistan,
while en route to Bukhara, east of Khiva (now in Uzbekistan),
to trade for horses. The country is experiencing one of its
most lawless periods in a long tradition of such periods and Moorecroft
is killed in Balkh in 1825 while returning to India. The British
in India turn an eye towards Afghan affairs and the lack of authority
there.
![William Moorecroft of the East India Company](British_EEC_WilliamMoorcroft01_full.jpg)
William
Moorecroft of the British East India Company is seen here on the
road to Lake Mansarowar in Tibet, dressed in native style
1832
- 1834 :
The Iranian Qajar shahs move into the province of Khorasan, and
then threaten Herat yet again. The Afghans are forced to defend
the city but manage to repel the invaders by 1833. The following
year they lose Peshawar to the Sikhs. Later the Afghans defeat the
Sikhs under the leadership of Akbar Khan, son of Dost Mohammed,
near Jamrud, and kill the great Sikh general, Hari Singh. However,
they fail to retake Peshawar due to their own lack of unity and
bad judgment on the part of Dost Mohammad Khan regarding the people
of Peshawar.
1836
- 1839 :
Dost Mohammad Khan is proclaimed as Amir al-mu' Minin, commander
of the faithful. He is still trying to reunify the whole of the
emirate when the British, in collaboration with the deposed Durrani
king of 1809, Shah Shoja, invade and depose him. The First Anglo-Afghan
War is comparatively brief, although technically it does not
end until the start of the Barakzai restoration period in 1842.
Emirate
of Afghanistan (Durrani Dynasty Restored) :
AD 1839 - 1842 :
In 1823 the last of the weakened Durrani dynasty had been overthrown
by Habibollah Shah and his followers. However, the country remained
fragmented into several warring clan-based factions which tended
either to side with the ruling dynasty or the East India Company
- or both! By 1839, Britain had decided that Persian and Russian
intrigues posed a threat to their control of India and so, to counter
that perceived threat, it was decided that Afghanistan would be
used as a buffer state.
A British army marched to Kabul, triggering the First Anglo-Afghan
War which saw the self-proclaimed Barakzai Emir Dost Mohammad replaced
with a Durrani restoration ruler as the British figurehead in the
country. Between 1839-1842, Britain controlled much of Afghanistan,
at least in theory. In fact, although they were stronger and therefore
less open to influence by the various factions and clans, the areas
outside the majors cities were still highly dangerous and pretty
lawless. The British also meddled across Afghan borders - in
the khanate of Khiva to ensure that Russia could not find a valid
reason to invade and further its own designs on India. In the
end, all this foreign influence proved too much even for the fractured
Afghans and they united to expel the invaders.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from Indian Frontier Policy, John Ayde (2010),
from The First Afghan War 1838-1842, John A Norris (Cambridge
University Press, 1967), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia
Iranica, and Encyclopaedia Britannica.)
1839
- 1842 :
Shoja
al-Mulk Muhammad Shah : Durrani. Restored for a second
time. Puppet ruler. Killed.
1839
- 1840 :
Russia
under Czar Nicholas I pursues a renewed policy of pressuring the
Ottoman empire and Britain for control of southern Central Asia.
He sends an expedition to Khiva, purportedly to free slaves who
had been captured from areas of the Russian frontier and sold by
Turkmen raiders. Britain is already involved in the First
Anglo-Afghan War in Afghanistan but, despite sending over five
thousand infantry, the Russian force stumbles into one of harshest
winters in living memory. It is driven back by the weather and by
its losses in early 1840.
![First Afghan War (1839-1842)](Afghan_FirstAfghanWar01_full.jpg)
The
First Afghan War (1839-1842) pitted British forces in India against
the multiple clans and factions of Afghanistan - elements of the
British forces are shown here at Urghundee
Britain
decides that Russian (and also Persian) intrigues pose a threat
to their control of India. To counter that perceived threat, it
is decided that Afghanistan will be used as a buffer state and the
slave situation in Khiva will be solved without military intervention.
The khan is convinced to free all Russian subjects under his control
and to outlaw any further slavery of Russians.
1842
:
Fath
Jang Khan : Durrani and British ally. Would-be king.
1842
:
Shahpur
Khan : Brother. Durrani and British ally.
1842
:
Unwilling
to endure foreign occupation the Afghans have managed to unify for
long enough to oppose the British forces. With outbreaks of resistance
having broken out at various points across the territory the British
find their position is becoming untenable. They retreat from the
country in January, under constant attack by a swarm of skirmishing
bands. Casualties are high, while Shoja al-Mulk Muhammad Shah is
killed as soon as they leave. Dost Mohammad is released from captivity
to lead a restored Barakzai emirate.
Emirate
of Afghanistan (Barakzai Dynasty Restored) :
AD 1842 - 1926 :
Dost Mohammad Khan began his career in terms of leading what would
become Afghanistan by acting as regent in 1826-1836. During that
time he failed to take Peshawar but successfully defended Herat
during ongoing border wars with the emirate's neighbours. He was
proclaimed Amir al-mu' Minin, commander of the faithful in 1836
and was still attempting the seemingly never-to-be-completed task
of reunifying the entire emirate when the British, in collaboration
with the deposed Durrani king of 1809, Shah Shoja, invaded and deposed
him. For three years the British were largely in command while restored
Duranni emirs supposedly ruled.
In 1842 the situation changed. The Afghans were able to unify for
long enough to drive out British forces in the January. When he
was subsequently released from captivity in British India (very
soon afterwards), Dost Mohammad Khan was able to regain the throne
that he had effectively stolen in the first place and govern an
independent emirate that was not quite modern Afghanistan but was
not far from it. He renewed his hostility towards British interests
in the region and allied himself with the Sikhs who were themselves
fighting to retain their empire. Their defeat in 1849 forced him
to retreat back into Afghanistan.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from Indian Frontier Policy, John Ayde (2010),
and from External Link: Encyclopaedia Iranica.)
1842
- 1863 :
Dost
Mohammad Khan : Restored Barakzai ruler of the Afghans.
1842
- 1843 :
In the Afghan emirate's immediate north, Emir Nasr-Allah of Bukhara
achieves an unwanted level of notoriety in early Victorian England
after he has imprisoned and now executes the British envoys, Charles
Stoddart and Arthur Conolly. He also imprisons Joseph Wolff, who
enters Bukhara in 1843 in search of the missing envoys. Amused by
Wolff openly wearing his full ecclesiastical garb, the emir
performs a rare act of leniency by allowing Wolff to leave safely.
1855
- 1859 :
Dost Mohammad Khan signs a peace treaty with British India. Four
years later Britain takes Baluchistan, and the Afghan emirate becomes
completely landlocked.
![Dost Muhammad Khan](Afghan_DostMohammad01_full.jpg)
Emir
Dost Muhammad Khan played an important role in shaping the Afghanistan
emirate in the nineteenth century so that it attained the form that
would see it become modern Afghanistan
1856
- 1857 :
The AngloPersian War is triggered on 1 November 1856 during
a further - and this time largely successful - attempt by Persia
to capture the Afghan city of Herat, a long-standing ambition to
compensate them for the loss of the South Caucuses. However, they
have taken too long, and now the Afghan emirate is generally within
the British sphere of operations from their base in India. Herat
has already declared independence as a city state with its own emir,
in alliance with the emirate of Kabul, and has accepted British
protection. A two-pronged British attack on Iran's southern coast
and also in southern Mesopotamia drives Naser al-Din to sign the
Treaty of Paris in 1857, in which he relinquishes control over and
any claim to Herat.
1863
- 1866 :
Sher
Ali Khan : Son. Deposed by elder brother.
1865
- 1866 :
Russia takes Bukhara, Tashkent, and Samarkand in 1865 (all of which
go into forming Uzbekistan in 1924). The following year, Sher Ali
Khan is dethroned when Mohammad Afzal Khan captures Kabul and the
throne.
1866
- 1867 :
Mohammad
Afzal Khan : Brother. Lost the internecine war against
Sher Ali. Died.
1867
- 1868 :
Mohammad
A'zam Khan : Brother. Died 4 months later.
1868
:
Mohammad
A'zam Khan flees to Iran in the face of advances made by his deposed
brother, Sher Ali Khan. Sher Ali is left free to re-impose his own
control over the emirate, although he is greatly hampered in that
role by pressure being placed on him by Russia and British.
1868
- 1879 :
Sher
Ali Khan : Restored. Attempted to retain neutrality. Self-exiled.
Died.
1873
:
Russia
establishes a fixed boundary between the Afghan emirate and its
own new territories to the immediate north, promising to respect
the emirate's territorial integrity. This it does for the time being.
1879
- 1880 :
Sher
Ali refuses a British commission in Kabul, resulting in the Second
Anglo-Afghan War. Sher Ali seeks political asylum with the Russians,
leaving his son in command of the emirate. British troops occupy
Kabul for a brief period when British General Frederick 'Little
Bobs' Roberts is sent with an army to force the Afghan emirate into
a treaty which cedes its foreign policy to the British. The treaty
is concluded, but the British envoy is murdered.
![Battle of Kabul 1879](Afghan_BattleKabul1879_01_full.jpg)
The
Battle of Kabul in 1879 (pictured here) was a hard-fought encounter
around the Sherpur Cantonment outside Kabul, which led on 23 December
1879 to the defeat of the Afghan tribesmen who were being led by
Mohammed Jan
General
Roberts returns to Kabul to hang the envoy's murderers and is himself
ambushed with the result that another British force in the southern
areas of the Afghan emirate is almost annihilated. Roberts retreats
under continual guerrilla gunfire in a march from Kabul to Kandahar.
Shortly afterwards, Sher Ali dies in Mazar-i-Shariff, and Emir Mohammad
Yaqub Khan takes over until October 1879. He gives up several Afghan
territories to the British which include Kurram, Khyber, Michni,
Pishin, and Sibi.
1879
:
Mohammad
Yaqub Khan : Son. Interim ruler until October. Abdicated.
1879
- 1880 :
Mohammad
Ayub Khan : Brother. Regent. Fled to Iran.
1880
- 1901 :
Abdur
Rahman Khan 'Iron Emir' : Grandson of Dost Mohammad. Crushed
several rebellions.
1880
:
Abdur Rahman Khan gains the throne, and during his reign he comes
to be known as the 'iron emir'. British troops leave Kabul shortly
after his accession, but Britain retains effective control over
Kabul's foreign affairs. Over the next few years, Britain and Russia
officially establish the borders of what will become modern Afghanistan.
1893
- 1895 :
In 1893 the Durand Line fixes the borders of the Afghan emirate
with British India for a century, splitting Afghan tribal areas,
and leaving half of these divided Afghans in what is now Pakistan.
Two years later, the emirate's northern border is fixed and guaranteed
by Russia.
1901
- 1919 :
Habibullah
Ghazi Khan : Son. Assassinated by his family.
1907
:
Russia
and Great Britain sign a treaty at the convention of St Petersburg,
in which the Afghan emirate is declared to be outside of Russia's
purview.
1914
- 1918 :
The
Afghan emirate remains neutral during the First World War,
despite German encouragement of anti-British feeling and an Afghan
rebellion along the borders of British India.
1918
- 1920 :
Immediately to the north of the territories of the Afghan emirate,
a reorganisation of Central Asian Soviet-controlled states along
ethnic lines means the end of the khanate of Khiva, the Turkestan
Krai, and the emirate of Bukhara (the latter being ousted by the
Tashkent Soviet in 1920). All of these formerly independent territories
are merged into the newly-formed 'Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist
Republic', which is formed as a self-governing entity of the early
Soviet Union. However, in the same year, the Islamic Council and
the Council of Intelligentsia declare the rival 'Turkestan Autonomous
Republic', and set about fighting against the Bolshevik forces who
start closing down mosques and persecuting Muslim clergy as part
of their secularisation campaign.
![Emir Muhammad Alim Khan bin Abdul-Ahad](Uzbekistan_Bukhara01_full.jpg)
Although
initially a reformer in his own right, Emir Muhammad Alim Khan bin
Abdul-Ahad of Bukhara eventually realised that this path would lead
to the termination of his own position, so he became increasingly
reactionary, not that it helped him remain emir in 1920
1919
:
Nasrullah
Khan : Brother. Deposed and then murdered.
1919
:
Shortly
after Nasrullah Khan ascends the throne, his nephew deposes and
imprisons him. Approximately one year later Nasrullah is murdered
in his cell.
1919
- 1929 :
Amanullah
Khan : Brother. Became king in 1926.
1919
- 1921 :
Amanullah
Khan notes the weakness of the major political players in the region,
Russia and Britain, after the conclusion of the First World War
and decides to launch a surprise attack against the British. This
leads to the Third Anglo-Afghan War which quickly becomes
a stalemate. An armistice is agreed in 1921 which allows the Afghan
emirate to become an independent nation.
1921
- 1924 :
The Turkestan Autonomous Republic has gradually lost ground to the
Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks themselves have been divided into two
groups over the region's future, but the idea of a pan-Turkic state
is jettisoned in place of several smaller states. In 1924 the Turkestan
ASSR is divided into the Uzbek SSR, the Turkmen SSR, the Kara-Kirghiz
Autonomous Oblast (Kyrgyzstan), and the Karakalpak Autonomous Oblast
(modern Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan). Initially,
the Tajik ASSR is also adjoined to the Uzbek state.
1926
:
Amanullah
proclaims himself shah, creating the kingdom of Afghanistan under
his Barakzai dynasty.
Kingdom
of Afghanistan (Barakzai Dynasty) :
AD 1926 - 1973 :
The Barakzai emirate of Afghanistan had been inherited by Dost Mohammad
Khan, first as regent in 1826 and then as emir in 1836. While he
was still trying to reunite the various Afghan factions, the British,
in collaboration with a deposed Durrani king, Shah Shoja, invaded
Afghanistan from India in 1839 and deposed him. Shah Shoja's return
to power was brief, however. The Afghans manage to unify for long
enough to force the British to retreat from the country in January
1842, and Dost Mohammad was released from captivity. In 1926 his
successor, Amanullah Khan, proclaimed himself shah in the Persian
fashion, the equivalent of a king, and the emirate became a kingdom.
The Barakzai dynasty continued to rule Afghanistan for another half
century, initially under Shah Amanullah Khan. Despite an early career
in which he contributed to the murder of his father, and the death
of his brother who he himself had imprisoned, Amanullah Khan attempted
to introduce progressive and fairly liberal social reforms into
the country. This led to opposition from conservative forces which
seeded unrest, and three years after proclaiming himself shah he
was forced to flee when the army failed to protect Kabul from an
uprising. His eventual replacement was the temporarily popular Habibullah
Kalakani.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit
Rajadhyaksha, from the Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan,
Ludwig W Adamec (Scarecrow Press, 2011), from Afghanistan,
Louis Dupree (Princeton University Press, 1973), from Making
States Work: State failure and the crisis of governance, Simon
Chesterman, Michael Ignatieff, & Ramesh Thakur (Eds, United
Nations University Press, 2005), and from External Links:
Afghanistan Online Biographies (dead link), and The Royal
Ark, and Encyclopaedia Iranica.)
1926
- 1929 :
Amanullah
Khan : Self-elevated to shah. Abdicated. Exiled. Died 1960.
1929
:
Amanullah
Khan has been attempting to drive through reforms in the country
to make it a fully functional modern state. His efforts have not
been well received in all quarters, however. Anti-reformist elements
now band together and storm the capital, Kabul. Much of the standing
army deserts rather than resist the uprising. The shah is forced
to abdicate and flees to British India. His brother is ordered to
relinquish his own claim to the throne. The leader of the rebellion,
an ethnic Tajik by the name of Habibullah Kalakani, takes control
of the country.
![Amanullah Khan in 1928](Afghan_AmanullahKhan01_full.jpg)
Shah
Amanullah Khan photographed in 1928 and wearing what appears to
be full ceremonial dress, along with a full selection of dignitaries
and high officials
1929
:
Inayatullah
Khan : Brother. Unwilling king who abdicated after a few
days.
1929
:
Habibullah
Kalakani (Ghazi) : Anti-reform usurper for 9 months. Killed
by Nadir Khan.
1929
:
In
a dramatic year of turmoil and change for Afghanistan, Habibullah
Kalakani is executed by the government's former minister of war,
Nadir Khan. Nadir Khan himself is a great-grandson of Sultan Mohammad
Khan Telayee, the brother of the Barakzai ruler, Dost Mohammad Khan
(1842-1863). He is also the brother-in-law of Amanullah Khan following
a visit to India by the latter which had seen Nadir's sister marry
the shah and her family being restored from exile there. Nadir Khan
had supported Habibullah Kalakani in destabilising the country and
now fulfilled his own ambitions to be king.
1929
- 1933 :
Mohammed
Nadir Khan : Former minister under Amanullah Khan. Assassinated.
1933
:
Nadir
Khan has suppressed rebellions against his rule and has begun a
more low-key modernisation of the country. However, he is assassinated
during a local visit, although the reason for the assassination
seems to be unclear. His son, Zahir Shah, becomes shah in his place
and Afghanistan remains a monarchy for the next four decades, albeit
largely governed by Zahir Shah's uncles for the first thirty years.
1933
- 1973 :
Mohammed
Zahir Khan : Son. Deposed and exiled until 2002.
1939
- 1945 :
The
Nazi German invasion of Poland on 1 September is the trigger for
the Second World War. With both France and Britain, under
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, pledged to support Poland, both
countries have no option but to declare war on 3 September. Allies
on all sides are subsequently pulled into the war but Afghanistan,
despite its strong links with the Axis forces, remains neutral,
one of the very few to do so.
1953
:
General
Mohammed Daud Khan, one of the shah's uncles who are exercising
true power from behind the throne, becomes prime minister. He turns
to the Soviet Union for economic and military assistance, and introduces
a number of social reforms, such as the abolition of purdah
(the practice of secluding women from public view).
1963
- 1964 :
Mohammed
Daud is forced to resign in 1963, freeing Zahir Khan to lead the
country personally. A constitutional monarchy is introduced, but
this leads to political polarisation and power struggles. Mohammed
Daud is especially antagonistic as the changes will serve to prevent
him from making a political comeback.
1973
:
Mohammed
Zahir Khan is in Italy for medical treatment. His uncle and former
prime minister, Mohammed Daud, has chosen his moment carefully and
he seizes power in a surprise coup, declaring a republic of Afghanistan.
Modern
Afghanistan :
AD 1973 - Present Day :
The modern Islamic republic of Afghanistan is largely a creation
of the eighteenth century, formed out of several ancient regions.
It is located along the ancient trade routes between modern Iran
to its the west and India to the east. To the north it is bordered
(from west to east) by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan.
China borders briefly along the eastern Wakhan Corridor Nature Refuge,
while Pakistan occupies the full remainder of the eastern and southern
border.
The
territory which now forms Afghanistan largely formed the ancient
region of Arachosia. Arachosia seems to have formed part of a much
larger and more poorly-defined region known as Ariana, of which
the later province of Aria was the heartland. Barely recorded by
written history, its precise boundaries are impossible to pin down.
Conquered in the mid-sixth century BC by Cyrus the Great, Arachosia
was added to the Persian empire as the satrapy of Harahuwatish.
The Greek empire replace the Persians, and the Indian Mauryan
empire replaced them. Following that the region suffered from
the same uncertainty and shifting rulers as the rest of South Asia,
although the Kushanshahs held sway for some time. A new region,
Southern Khorasan, emerged during the early Islamic period, of which
a greater part was later absorbed into Afghanistan as a native kingship
eventually emerged. From the 1700s those native kings were engaged
in a near-constant battle against Iranians and Indians for power
and territory, and then became playthings of the colonial powers
prior to independence being restored early in the twentieth century.
As can be seen, the country endured a troubled time for several
centuries, and not more so than since 1973. Mohammed Daud seized
power in a coup in that year and declared Afghanistan to be a republic,
ditching its Barakzai king. He tried to play off the Soviets against
the western powers, but his style quickly alienated left-wing factions
who joined forces against him. Soviet Russian forces invaded the
country in 1979, leading to a decade of guerrilla warfare from the
Afghan tribal forces. Despite a massive superiority in firepower,
Russia was never able to defeat these canny hill-fighting forces,
but by the time they retreated the country was in ruins. Various
factions vied for control thereafter, sometimes briefly unifying
the country before the next faction pushed it aside. The most destructive
of these was the fundamentalist Taliban regime, which employed brutal
suppression as its tool of government. They were pushed into the
east by the allied invasion of 2001 and have largely been pinned
back there ever since.
The titular Barakzai kings of Afghanistan, led by the deposed and
exiled Zahir Khan, retained their claim even though Zahir Khan was
not even allowed back into the country until the Taliban had clearly
been removed from governance in 2002. Despite not holding any power
at all in the destabilised country, the current head of the royal
house could be re-established as king should the country eventually
decide to go that way, however unlikely that may seem at present.
Titular claimants are shown below with a shaded background to differentiate
them from the actual holders of power in the country.
(Information
by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Abhijit Rajadhyaksha,
and from The Persian Empire, J M Cook (1983), from The
Histories, Herodotus (Penguin, 1996), from Farāmarz,
the Sistāni Hero: Texts and Traditions of the Farāmarznāme
and the Persian Epic Cycle, Marjolijn van Zutphen, from Alexander
The Great: In the Realm of Evergetǽs, Reza Mehrafarin,
and from External Links: The Geography of Strabo (Loeb Classical
Library Edition, 1932), and The Natural History, Pliny the Elder
(John Bostock, Ed), and Livius.org, and Encyclopaedia Iranica.)
1973
- 1978 :
Mohammed Daud Khan : Military dictator. Former prime minister.
Murdered.
1978
- 2007 :
Mohammed
Zahir Khan : Deposed Barakzai king of Afghanistan. Died
2007.
1978
- 1979 :
Daud
is overthrown and killed in a coup - known as the Saur Revolution
- by the leftist People's Democratic Party. The party's Khalq and
Parcham factions fall out, leading to a purge of most of the Parcham
leaders. At the same time, conservative Islamic and ethnic leaders
who object to social changes begin an armed revolt in the countryside.
![Russian invasion of 1979](Afghan_Russians01_full.jpg)
The
Soviet Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the decade of war which
followed left the country devastated, and starkly divided along
factional lines
1978
- 1979 :
Nur
Mohammed Taraki : Pro-Soviet leader. Overthrown and murdered.
1979
:
A
power struggle explodes between the leftist leaders, Hafizullah
Amin and Nur Mohammed Taraki, in Kabul is won by Amin. Taraki is
removed from power and is murdered on Armin's orders. Revolts in
the countryside continue and the Afghan army faces collapse. The
Soviet Union finally sends in troops to help remove Amin, who is
executed.
1979
:
Hafizullah Amin : Leftist victor in the power struggle.
Executed.
1980
- 1986 :
Babrak Karmal : Parcham faction leader & Soviet puppet
ruler. Replaced.
1980
- 1989 :
Various
Mujahideen factions fight a guerrilla war against the occupying
Soviet army. In 1985, they unite in Pakistan and begin to offer
a much more effective fighting force, backed by the USA from 1986.
Soviet troops begin to withdraw from 1988, with the evacuation being
completed in 1989. The Afghan Civil War (1989-1992) is triggered
as the Mujahideen fight on to oust Najibullah.
1986
- 1992 :
Najibullah Ahmadzai : Soviet puppet ruler. Hanged by the
Mujahideen.
1993
- 1994 :
The
next phase of the Afghan Civil War (1992-1996) sees the tables turned.
The victorious Mujahideen forces agree on the formation of a government,
with an ethnic Tajik, Burhanuddin Rabbani, being proclaimed president.
1992
- 1996 :
Burhanuddin Rabbani : Mujahideen ruler. Fled Kabul as president-in-exile.
1994
- 1996 :
In
1994, the Pashtun-dominated Taliban under the leadership of Mohammad
Omar emerge as major challenge to the Rabbani government. Within
two years they capture Kabul and impose a hardline version of Islam
during the Taliban Period (backed here in pale green) and their
self-proclaimed emirate of Afghanistan. Women are banned from working,
while fundamentalist Islamic punishments are introduced which include
death by stoning and amputations (the removal of a hand for low-level
crime, for instance). Rabbani flees to join the anti-Taliban northern
alliance as the still-recognised president in exile, and another
phase of the Afghan Civil War (1996-2001) is triggered.
![Taliban](Afghan_Taliban01_full.jpg)
Despite
a decade of fighting against Nato forces, the Taliban remain strong
in eastern Afghanistan, although various attempts to negotiate a
peace with them have floundered
1996
- 2001 :
Mullah
Mohammad Omar :
First supreme Taliban ruler. Died of tuberculosis
in 2013.
2001
:
In
March, the Bamiyan Bhuddas, built by the Indo-Greek settlers in
the region in the third century, are destroyed by the Taliban. By
2008 a project to rebuild one of them is underway, to be completed
in 2009.
The
Taliban refuse a US demand to hand over terrorist leader, Osama
bin Laden, who is taking refuge in the country. This gives the US
an excuse to take military action of its own and open a fresh phase
of the Afghan Civil War (2001-2014).
2001
:
By
November 2001, the Taliban have been pushed out of Kabul and into
the eastern fringes of the country by US and British air strikes
and a resurgent northern alliance. A power-sharing Democracy Period
government is formed in Kabul, with Hamid Karzai selected as interim
head of state. US and British forces, along with smaller units from
other countries, attempt to destroy the remaining Taliban forces
without much overall success. One benefit of these successes is
the fact that the former king, Mohammed Zahir Khan, is allowed back
into the country for the first time since he had been deposed in
1973.
2004
- 2005
:
Presidential
elections are undertaken in the country to ratify the western-driven
move towards democracy, with Hamid Karzai winning. The first parliamentary
and provincial elections in decades are held in the country in 2005.
Some stability has been achieved in the west and north, but the
fighting against the Taliban in the east shows no sign of abating.
![](Afghan_HamidKarzai01_full.jpg)
Hamid
Karzai, a former mujahideen leader, was one of the few senior figures
to remain standing after the Taliban takeover and retreat, subsequently
becoming president of a democratic Afghanistan between 2001-2014
(ratified by a public vote in 2004)
2007
- 2021 :
Crown
Prince Ahmad Shah :
Son of Zahir Shah. Born 1934. Retained
claim after 2021.
2014
- 2015 :
The last British troops pull out of Helmand province, transferring
all defensive duties to Afghan forces as the fight against the Taliban
continues. US forces in the country are also being reduced to a
minimum by the end of the year, although official combat participation
formally ends in line with the British on 26 October. The following
year the Taliban agree for the first time to take part in peace
negotiations, although fighting still takes place in bursts of activity.
2015
- 2016 :
Mullah
Akhtar Mohammad Mansour :
Second supreme Taliban ruler. Killed by drone
strike.
2016
- 2021 :
Mawlawi
Haibatullah Akhundzada :
Third supreme Taliban ruler. Refounded
Taliban Emirate?
2020
- 2021
:
The
US drawdown of troops has increased massively under the Trump government.
The other allies, including Britain, fail to come up with a fresh
support programme without the US, so the last allied forces pull
out at the start of 2021.
Taliban
advances in August 2021 suddenly speed up to an alarming rate. Town
after town, city after city, and region after region fall to them,
with the apparently powerless Afghan national forces unable to stop
them. By the weekend of 14-15 August the Taliban have all but secured
control of the country while President Ashraf Ghani flees by plane,
initially to Uzbekistan. The coalition allies evacuate their citizens
and staff, while the world waits to see whether the Taliban will
re-proclaim their Islamic emirate of Afghanistan.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsFarEast/AsiaArachosia.htm