 Afghanistan is the crossroads between Central, West and South Asia  1 st area to domesticate animals  1 st true urban centers in Asia were in Afghanistan › Mundigak (near Khandahar) and Deh Morasi Ghundai  Wheat  Barley  Sheep  Goats

 Kabul was established between bce  Zoroastrianism (monotheistic religion) was introduced about 628 bce  Persians conquered Afghans by 330 bce but tribes continued bloody revolts  By 326 bce, it had been conquered by Alexander the Great, but he couldn’t quell the bloody revolts either

 After Alexander the Great… › Buddhism was introduced during the Kushan dynasty › Capital was Peshawar › Soon became part of the Selucid Empire  120 bce – Kushan Empire › King Kanishka was first to give Buddha a face

 400 ce – the White Huns invaded and left Afghanistan in ruins  425 ce – the Yaftalee Dynasty took over

 530 ce – Persians took over again

 652 ce – Arabs introduced Islam  962 ce – Ghazavid Dynasty took over › Mahmud – made Islam the main religion › Afghanistan was the center of Islamic power and civilization at that time  ce – Mongol Invasion – Genghis Khan  1273 ce – Marco Polo crossed Afghanistan on his way to the far East  – Moghul Dynasty › Babur Shah took control of Kabul › Used Kabul as his base for conquering India

 1708 ce – Mirwais Nika made Khandahar independent of Persia. He’s considered the father of Afghan independence

 1736 – Persia took over most of Afghanistan again  – Ahmad Shah Durrani, the founder of today’s Afghanistan took over. He was a military giant and a humanitarian. Beginning of the Durrani Empire

 1793 – capital moved from Khandahar to Kabul  Fighting lasted until 1826  – Dost Mohammad Khan took over › Britain and Russia fought for control/influence in Central Asia › Britain wanted control over northern routes to India  Tried to oust Dost  Caused 1 st Afghan War

 – Akbar Khan – hero – defeated the British. Very revered in Afghan history – portion of Kabul is named after him

 1857 – Dost signed an alliance with the British  1859 – British take Baluchistan causing Afghanistan to be land-locked  1865 – Russia conquered Bukhara, Tashkent and Samerkand  1873 – Russian set fixed boundary with Afghanistan  1878 – British invaded again but Afghanistan held them off  1879 – Amir Muhammed yaqub Khan gave territories to Brits – never to bet them back › Kabul went under British occupation

 Afghanistan supported the British against Russia  1893 – Durand Line fixed borders with Afghanistan and British India  1919 – Russia and Great Britain in Convention of St. Petersburg set territorial integrity of Afghanistan  Late 1920’s, early 1930’s there was a lot of in-fighting in Afghanistan

 1933 – at 19 years old, Zahir Shah took over as ruler of Afghanistan until 1973 › Declared Afghanistan neutral during WWII  1973 – his cousin, Daoud Khan overthrew Zahir Shah calls himself President – established Republic of Afghanistan  – Bloody Coup – Daoud was killed › Guerilla movement Mujahideen was born  1979 – Russia invaded Afghanistan › Guerillas gave them fits!

 1989 – Russia withdrew, defeated  1990s – Mujahideen fighting with Afghanistan gov’t. Islamic state was declared  1994 – Taliban militia was born. Fought Islamic gov’t and reduced Kabul to rubble  Oct – U.S. Invaded › Taliban › Osama Bin Laden  2005 Afghanistan gov’t is still getting better.