History of Afghanistan: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:04, 31 October 2006

Revision as of 02:25, 31 October 2006

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''Main article: [[Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan]]''

[[Image:AlexanderAttackingDarius.jpg|thumb|150px180px|'''[[Alexander the Great]]''' fighting the Persian king [[Darius III of Persia|Darius]] ([[Pompeii]] mosaic, from a [[3rd century BC]] original Greek painting, now lost).]]

Afghanistan's known pre-Islamic past began with Aryan invasions around 2000 BCE and continued with [[Persia]]n, [[Medes|Median]], [[Greece|Greek]], [[Mauryan]], [[Bactria]]n, and other phases in its history.

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==Durrani Empire (1747-1818)==

[[Image:Kandahar_1747.jpg|thumb|180px200px|[[Coronation]] of '''[[Ahmad Shah Abdali|Ahmad Shah Durrani]]''', who became the first King of Afghanistan in 1747.]]

In 1747, [[Ahmed Shah Durrani]], the founder of what is known today as [[Afghanistan]], established his rule. A [[Pashtun]], Durrani was elected king in the first Loya Jirga after the assassination of the Persian ruler Nadir Shah at Khabushan in the same year. Throughout his reign, Durrani consolidated chieftainships, petty principalities, and fragmented provinces into one country. His rule extended from [[Mashad]] in the west to [[Kashmir]] and [[Delhi]] in the east, and from the Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian Sea in the south. With the exception of a 9-month period in 1929, all of Afghanistan's rulers until the 1978 Marxist coup were from Durrani's Pashtun tribal confederation, and all were members of that tribe's Mohammadzai clan after 1818.<ref>''Afghanland'' - Ahmad Shah Durrani...[http://www.afghanland.com/history/ahmadshah.html link]</ref>

==European influence in Afghanistan (1826-1919)==

''Main article: [[European influence in Afghanistan]]''

[[Image:KhanNasher.JPG|thumb|right|Nasher Khan after defeating the British colonial force in 1880]]

[[Dost Mohammed Khan]] gained control in Kabul. Collision between the expanding [[British Empire|British]] and [[Russian Empire]]s significantly influenced Afghanistan during the [[19th century]] in what was termed "[[The Great Game]]." British concern over Russian advances in [[Central Asia]] and growing influence in Persia culminated in two Anglo-Afghan wars and "The Siege of Herat" 1837-1838, in which Persians trying to retake Afghanistan and throw out the British and Russians sent armies into the country waging wars with the British mostly around and in the city

of [[Herat]]. The [[first Anglo-Afghan War|first]] ([[1839]]-[[1842]]) resulted in the destruction of a British army; it's remembered as an example of the ferocity of Afghan resistance to foreign rule. The [[second Anglo-Afghan war]] ([[1878]]-[[1880]]) was sparked by Amir [[Shir Ali Khan of Afghanistan|Shir Ali]]'s refusal to accept a British mission in Kabul. This conflict brought [[Amir Abdur Rahman]] to the Afghan throne. During his reign ([[1880]]-[[1901]]), the British and Russians officially established the boundaries of what would become modern Afghanistan. The British retained effective control over [[Kabul]]'s foreign affairs.[[Image:KhanNasher.JPG|thumb|right|180px|Nasher Khan after defeating the British colonial force in 1880.]]

Afghanistan remained neutral during [[World War I]], despite [[Germany|German]] encouragement of anti-British feelings and Afghan rebellion along the borders of [[British India]]. The Afghan king's policy of neutrality was not universally popular within the country, however.

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''Main article: [[Reigns of Nadir Shah and Zahir Shah]]''

Prince [[Mohammed Nadir Khan]], a cousin of Amanullah's, in turn defeated Bacha-i-Saqao in October of the same year and, with considerable Pashtun tribal support, was declared King Nadir Shah. He began consolidating power and regenerating the country. He reversed the reforms of [[Amanullah Khan]] in favour of a more gradual approach to modernisation. In [[1933]], however, he was assassinated in a revenge killing by a [[Kabul]] student.[[Image:Mohammed Zahir Shah.jpg|thumb|right|180px150px|[[Mohammed Zahir Shah|Zahir Shah]] became the youngest, longest-serving and last king of Afghanistan.]]

[[Mohammad Zahir Shah]], Nadir Khan's 19-year-old son, succeeded to the throne and reigned from 1933 to 1973. Until [[1946]] Zahir Shah ruled with the assistance of his uncle [[Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan]], who held the post of Prime Minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. In [[1946]] another of Zahir Shah's uncles, [[Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan]], became Prime Minister. He began an experiment allowing greater political freedom, but reversed the policy when it went further than he expected. In [[1953]] he was replaced as Prime Minister by [[Mohammed Daoud Khan]], the king's cousin and brother-in-law. Daoud sought a closer relationship with the [[Soviet Union]] and a more hostile one towards [[Pakistan]]. However dispute with Pakistan led to an economic crisis and he was asked to resign in [[1963]]. From [[1963]] until [[1973]] Zahir Shah took a more active role.

In 1964, King Zahir Shah promulgated a liberal constitution providing for a bicameral legislature to which the king appointed one-third of the deputies. The people elected another third, and the remainder were selected indirectly by provincial assemblies. Although Zahir's "experiment in democracy" produced few lasting reforms, it permitted the growth of unofficial extremist parties on both the left and the right. These included the communist [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]] (PDPA), which had close ideological ties to the [[Soviet Union]]. In 1967, the PDPA split into two major rival factions: the [[Khalq]] (Masses) faction headed by [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] and [[Hafizullah Amin]] and supported by elements within the military, and the [[Parcham]] (Banner) faction led by [[Babrak Karmal]]. The split reflected ethnic, class, and ideological divisions within Afghan society. However, most of the following presidents and heads of state were Ghilzai (Taraki, Amin, Najib, Mullah Omar), once again trying to take away the power from the Durrani.

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''Main article: [[Daoud's Republic of Afghanistan]]''

[[Image:Mohammed_Daoud_Khan.jpg|thumb|180pxleft|150px|[[Mohammed_Daoud_Khan|Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan]] was President of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1978.]]

Amid charges of corruption and malfeasance against the royal family and poor economic conditions created by the severe 1971-72 drought, former Prime Minister [[Mohammed Daoud Khan|Mohammad Sardar Daoud Khan]] seized power in a military coup on July 17, 1973. Zahir Shah fled the country eventually finding refuge in [[Italy]]. Daoud abolished the monarchy, abrogated the 1964 constitution, and declared Afghanistan a republic with himself as its first President and Prime Minister. His attempts to carry out badly needed economic and social reforms met with little success, and the new constitution promulgated in February 1977 failed to quell chronic political instability.

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In 1979 the Afghan army was overwhelmed with the number of incidents, and the Soviet Union sent troops to crush the uprising, install a pro-Moscow government, and support the new government. On [[December 25]], [[1979]] the Soviet army entered [[Kabul]]. This was the starting point of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the [[Soviet war in Afghanistan]], which ended only in 1989 with a full withdrawal of Soviet troops under the [[Geneva accords]] reached in [[1988 ]] between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[[Image:Evstafiev-afghan-apc-passes-russian.jpg|thumb|right|250 px250px|Soviet troops withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988.]]

For over nine years the Soviet Army conducted military operations against the Afghan mujahedin rebels. The [[United States|American]] [[CIA]], [[Pakistan]], and [[Saudi Arabia]] assisted in the financing of the resistance because of their anti-communist stance, and, in the case of Saudi Arabia, because of their [[Islamist]] inclinations.

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In reaction to the anarchy and [[warlord]]ism prevalent in the country, and the lack of [[Pashtun]] representation in the Kabul government, the [[Taliban]], a movement of religious scholars and former mujahideen, emerged from the southern province of [[Kandahar]]. The [[Taliban]] took control of approximately 95% of the country by the end of [[2000]], limiting the opposition mostly to a small corner in the northeast. The opposition formed the [[Afghan Northern Alliance]], which continued to receive [[diplomatic recognition]] in the [[United Nations]] as the government of [[Afghanistan]].

[[image:Hamid Karzai 2006-09-26.jpg|thumb|right|180|President of Afghanistan, [[Hamid Karzai]].]] In response to the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], the [[United States]] and its coalition allies launched an [[U.S. invasion of Afghanistan|invasion of Afghanistan]] to oust the Taliban government. Sponsored by the UN, Afghan factions met in [[Bonn]], [[Germany]] and chose a 30 member interim authority led by [[Hamid Karzai]], a Pashtun from Kandahar. After governing for 6 months, former [[King Zahir Shah]] convened a [[Loya Jirga]], which elected Karzai as president and gave him authority to govern for two more years. Then, on October 9, 2004, Karzai was elected as president of Afghanistan in the country's first ever direct presidential election.

==See also==