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201-572: At its peak, the kingdom consisted of present-day Afghanistan , Tajikistan , Uzbekistan , and Turkmenistan , and for a short time, small parts of Kazakhstan , Pakistan and Iran . An extension further east, with military campaigns and settlements, may have reached the borders of the Qin State in China by about 230 BC. Although a Greek population was already present in Bactria by the 5th century BC, Alexander

402-755: A Macedonian princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war elephants , a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes , to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara , at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state ). Megasthenes wrote detailed descriptions of India and Chandragupta's reign, which have been partly preserved to us through Diodorus Siculus . Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus ,

603-625: A communist revolution established a socialist state (itself a response to the dictatorship established following a coup d'état in 1973 ), and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting among themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989 . The Taliban controlled most of

804-606: A proxy war as the Pakistani government provided these rebels with covert training centers, the United States supported them through Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Soviet Union sent thousands of military advisers to support the PDPA regime. Meanwhile, there was increasingly hostile friction between the competing factions of the PDPA ;– the dominant Khalq and

1005-631: A British victory. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in 1926. This monarchy lasted almost half a century, until Zahir Shah was overthrown in 1973 , following which the Republic of Afghanistan was established. Since the late 1970s, Afghanistan's history has been dominated by extensive warfare, including coups, invasions, insurgencies, and civil wars . The conflict began in 1978 when

1206-572: A Hellenistic army and composed mostly of native Bactrian, Sogdian and other Indo-Iranian light horsemen. Polybius mentions 10,000 horse at the Battle of the Arius river in 208 BC. Greco-Bactrian armies also included units of heavily armored cataphracts and small elite units of companion cavalry . The third arm of the Greco-Bactrian army was the Indian war elephants , which are depicted in some coins with

1407-561: A closer relationship with the Soviet Union . Afterward, the 1964 constitution was formed, and the first non-royal prime minister was sworn in. Zahir Shah, like his father Nadir Shah, had a policy of maintaining national independence while pursuing gradual modernization, creating nationalist feeling, and improving relations with the United Kingdom. Afghanistan was neither a participant in World War II nor aligned with either power bloc in

1608-644: A contingent of 4,000 Pashtuns . The Abdalis had "unanimously accepted" Ahmad Shah as their new leader. With his ascension in 1747, Ahmad Shah had led multiple campaigns against the Mughal empire , Maratha empire , and then-receding Afsharid empire . Ahmad Shah had captured Kabul and Peshawar from the Mughal appointed governor, Nasir Khan. Ahmad Shah had then conquered Herat in 1750, and had also captured Kashmir in 1752. Ahmad Shah had launched two campaigns into Khorasan , 1750–1751 and 1754–1755. His first campaign had seen

1809-660: A key role in the transfer of the Avesta to Persia and is thus considered by some to be the "second homeland of Zoroastrianism". Alexander the Great and his Macedonian forces arrived in Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier in the Battle of Gaugamela . Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the Seleucid Empire controlled the region until 305 BCE, when they gave much of it to

2010-530: A marriage contract, and received in return five hundred elephants. Other territories ceded before Seleucus' death were Gedrosia in the south-east of the Iranian plateau, and, to the north of this, Arachosia on the west bank of the Indus River . Following his and Lysimachus ' decisive victory over Antigonus at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, Seleucus took control over eastern Anatolia and northern Syria . In

2211-781: A member state for their official spokesman in Doha , Suhail Shaheen . The United Nations did not recognize the previous Taliban government and chose to work with the then government-in-exile instead. Western nations suspended most of their humanitarian aid to Afghanistan following the Taliban's August 2021 takeover of the country; the World Bank and International Monetary Fund also halted their payments. More than half of Afghanistan's 39 million people faced an acute food shortage in October 2021. Human Rights Watch reported on 11 November 2021 that Afghanistan

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2412-519: A movement and militia of students ( talib ) from Islamic madrassas (schools) in Pakistan , who soon had military support from Pakistan. Taking control of Kandahar city that year, they conquered more territories until finally driving out the government of Rabbani from Kabul in 1996, where they established an emirate . The Taliban were condemned internationally for the harsh enforcement of their interpretation of Islamic sharia law, which resulted in

2613-463: A myriad of campaigns to unite most of Afghanistan in his reign, launching numerous incursions including against the surrounding states such as the Hazarajat campaign , conquest of Balkh , conquest of Kunduz , and the conquest of Kandahar . Dost Mohammad led his final campaign against Herat , conquering it and re-uniting Afghanistan. During his campaigns of re-unification, he held friendly relations with

2814-515: A nomadic steppe nation called Sakastan . Around 140 BC, eastern Scythians (the Saka , or Sacaraucae of Greek sources), apparently being pushed forward by the southward migration of the Yuezhi started to invade various parts of Parthia and Bactria. Their invasion of Parthia is well documented: they attacked in the direction of the cities of Merv , Hecatompolis and Ecbatana . They managed to defeat and kill

3015-516: A period of great cultural syncretism, exemplified by the development of Greco-Buddhism in the region of Gandhara . Back in Bactria, Eucratides I , either a general of Demetrius or an ally of the Seleucids , managed to overthrow the Euthydemid dynasty and establish his own rule, the short-lived Eucratid dynasty, around 170 BC, probably dethroning Antimachus I and Antimachus II . The Indian branch of

3216-468: A policy of exiling rebelling Greek communities to that region long before it fell to Greek conquest. Therefore, it had a considerable Greek community that was expanded upon after Macedonian conquest. Afghanistan Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia . It is bordered by Pakistan to

3417-540: A regular basis, with occasional intervention from Ptolemaic Egypt and other outside powers. The Seleucids existed solely because no other nation wished to absorb them—seeing as they constituted a useful buffer between their other neighbours. In the wars in Anatolia between Mithridates VI of Pontus and Sulla of Rome, the Seleucids were largely left alone by both major combatants. Mithridates' ambitious son-in-law, Tigranes

3618-466: A reply to lay before the senate." For a few moments he hesitated, astounded at such a peremptory order, and at last replied, "I will do what the senate thinks right." He then chose to withdraw rather than set the empire to war with Rome again. On his return journey, according to Josephus , he made an expedition to Judea , took Jerusalem by force, slew a great many who had favored Ptolemy , sent his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled

3819-608: A river bearing the same name and emptying into the Oxus ), and Darapsa, and several others. Among these was Eucratidia , which was named after its ruler. In 247 BC, the Ptolemaic empire (the Greek rulers of Egypt following the death of Alexander the Great ) captured the Seleucid capital, Antioch . In the resulting power vacuum, Andragoras , the Seleucid satrap of Parthia, proclaimed independence from

4020-548: A rump Seleucid kingdom was restored under Antiochus XIII . Even so, civil wars could not be prevented, as another Seleucid, Philip II , contested rule with Antiochus. After the Roman conquest of Pontus, the Romans became increasingly alarmed at the constant source of instability in Syria under the Seleucids. Once Mithridates was defeated by Pompey in 63 BC, Pompey set about the task of remaking

4221-521: A sepulcher: As Eucratides returned from India, he was killed on the way back by his son, whom he had associated to his rule, and who, without hiding his parricide, as if he didn't kill a father but an enemy, ran with his chariot over the blood of his father, and ordered the corpse to be left without a sepulture. During or after his Indian campaigns, Eucratides was attacked and defeated by the Parthian king Mithridates I , possibly in alliance with partisans of

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4422-515: A series of events that would dramatically turn Afghanistan from a poor and secluded (albeit peaceful) country to a hotbed of international terrorism. The PDPA initiated various social, symbolic, and land distribution reforms that provoked strong opposition, while also brutally oppressing political dissidents. This caused unrest and quickly expanded into a state of civil war by 1979, waged by guerrilla mujahideen (and smaller Maoist guerrillas) against regime forces countrywide. It quickly turned into

4623-458: A series of religious persecutions. This cumulated in a localized revolt in Jerusalem. Antiochus IV's violent retaking of the city and the banning of traditional Judean practices led to the eventual loss of control of Judea by the Seleucid government, paving the way for the rise of an independent Hasmonean kingdom . As with the other major Hellenistic armies , the Seleucid army fought primarily in

4824-578: A small power like Afghanistan, which is like a goat between these lions [Britain and Russia] or a grain of wheat between two strong millstones of the grinding mill, stand in the midway of the stones without being ground to dust? During the First World War , when Afghanistan was neutral, Habibullah Khan was met by officials of the central powers in the Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition . They called on Afghanistan to declare full independence from

5025-606: A successful war against the old enemy, Ptolemaic Egypt , which met with initial success as the Seleucids defeated and drove the Egyptian army back to Alexandria itself. As the king planned on how to conclude the war, he was informed that Roman commissioners, led by the Proconsul Gaius Popillius Laenas , were near and requesting a meeting with the Seleucid king. Antiochus agreed, but when they met and Antiochus held out his hand in friendship, Popilius placed in his hand

5226-461: A tiny minority of the overall population, these Greeks were the backbone of the empire: loyal and committed to a cause that gave them vast territory to rule, they overwhelmingly served in the military and government. Unlike Ptolemaic Egypt , Greeks in the Seleucid Empire seem to rarely have engaged in mixed marriages with non-Greeks; they kept to their own cities. The various non-Greek peoples of

5427-557: A tower ( thorakion ) or howdah housing men armed with bows and javelins. This force grew as the Greco-Bactrian kingdom expanded into India and was widely depicted in Greco-Bactrian coinage. Other units in the Bactrian military included mercenaries or levies from various surrounding peoples such as the Scythians , Dahae , Indians, and Parthians . Greeks first began settling the region long before Alexander conquered it. The Persian Empire had

5628-774: A vast territory, as indicated by his minting of coins in many Indian mints, possibly as far as the Jhelum River in Punjab . In the end, however, he was repulsed by the Indo-Greek king Menander I , who managed to create a huge unified territory. In a rather confused account, Justin explains that Eucratides was killed on the field by "his son and joint king", who would be his own son, either Eucratides II or Heliocles I (although there are speculations that it could have been his enemy's son Demetrius II ). The son drove over Eucratides' bloodied body with his chariot and left him dismembered without

5829-478: Is a high chronology ( c.  255 BC) and a low chronology (c. 246 BC) for Diodotus' secession. The high chronology has the advantage of explaining why the Seleucid king Antiochus II issued very few coins in Bactria, as Diodotus would have become independent there early in Antiochus' reign. On the other hand, the low chronology, from the mid-240s BC, has the advantage of connecting the secession of Diodotus I with

6030-747: Is also described in western Classical sources from the 1st century BC: The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari , and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Jaxartes , opposite the Sacae and Sogdiani . Around that time the king Heliocles abandoned Bactria and moved his capital to the Kabul valley, from where he ruled his Indian holdings. Apparently there were two other Greco-Bactrian kings preceding Heliocles in

6231-564: Is considered the "crossroads of Asia", and the country has had the nickname Heart of Asia. The renowned Urdu poet Allama Iqbal once wrote about the country: Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( / s ɪ ˈ lj uː s ɪ d / ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period . It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator , following

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6432-485: Is now Afghanistan and Pakistan , therefore including a diverse array of cultures and ethnic groups. Greeks , Assyrians , Armenians , Georgians , Persians , Medes , Mesopotamians, Jews , and more all lived within its bounds. The immense size of the empire gave the Seleucid rulers a difficult balancing act to maintain order, resulting in a mixture of concessions to local cultures to maintain their own practices while also firmly controlling and unifying local elites under

6633-473: Is one of the four founders of the Taliban and was a deputy prime minister of the previous emirate; his appointment was seen as a compromise between moderates and hardliners. A new, all-male cabinet was formed, which included Abdul Hakim Haqqani as minister of justice. On 20 September 2021, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres received a letter from acting minister of foreign affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi to formally claim Afghanistan's seat as

6834-587: Is the country's capital and largest city. According to the World Population review, as of 2023 , Afghanistan's population is 43 million. The National Statistics Information Authority of Afghanistan estimated the population to be 32.9 million as of 2020 . Human habitation in Afghanistan dates to the Middle Paleolithic era. Popularly referred to as the graveyard of empires , the land has witnessed numerous military campaigns , including those by

7035-534: Is the second-largest producer of cannabis resin , and third largest of both saffron and cashmere . The country is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and a founding member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation . Due to the effects of war in recent decades, the country has dealt with high levels of terrorism, poverty , and child malnutrition. Afghanistan remains among

7236-527: The 2014 presidential election where for the first time in Afghanistan's history power was democratically transferred. On 28 December 2014, NATO formally ended ISAF combat operations and transferred full security responsibility to the Afghan government. The NATO-led Operation Resolute Support was formed the same day as a successor to ISAF. Thousands of NATO troops remained in the country to train and advise Afghan government forces and continue their fight against

7437-743: The Achaemenid cavalry contingents. 2,000 Bactrian horsemen fought at the Granicus against Alexander and 9,000 at the Battle of Gaugamela on the left flank of Darius' army. Herodotus also mentions the widespread use of chariots among the Bactrians. After Alexander's conquest of Bactria, Bactrian cavalry units served in his army during the invasion of India and after the Indian campaign, Alexander enlarged his elite companion cavalry by adding Bactrians, Sogdians and other east Iranian cavalrymen. Both Aeschylus (The Persians, v. 318) and Curtius mention that Bactria

7638-562: The Badakhshan region. During the first century BCE, the Parthian Empire subjugated the region but lost it to their Indo-Parthian vassals. In the mid-to-late first century CE the vast Kushan Empire , centered in Afghanistan, became great patrons of Buddhist culture, making Buddhism flourish throughout the region. The Kushans were overthrown by the Sassanids in the 3rd century CE, though

7839-677: The Battle of Jamrud . Akbar Khan and the Afghan army failed to capture the Jamrud Fort from the Sikh Khalsa Army , but killed Sikh Commander Hari Singh Nalwa , thus ending the Afghan-Sikh Wars . By this time the British were advancing from the east, capitalizing off of the decline of the Sikh Empire after it had its own period of turbulence following the death of Ranjit Singh , which engaged

8040-531: The Battle of Mount Labus and Battle of the Arius and besieged the Bactrian capital . He even emulated Seleucus with an expedition into India where he met with King Sophagasenus ( Sanskrit : Subhagasena ) receiving war elephants, perhaps in accordance of the existing treaty and alliance set after the Seleucid-Mauryan War. Actual translation of Polybius 11.34 (No other source except Polybius makes any reference to Sophagasenus): He [Antiochus] crossed

8241-602: The Cold War . However, it was a beneficiary of the latter rivalry as both the Soviet Union and the United States vied for influence by building Afghanistan's main highways, airports, and other vital infrastructure. On a per capita basis, Afghanistan received more Soviet development aid than any other country. In 1973, while the King was in Italy, Daoud Khan launched a bloodless coup and became

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8442-769: The Durrani Afghan Empire in the 18th century, although Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of the first modern Afghan state . Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Empire and the Russian Empire . From India, the British attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but were repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War ; the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw

8643-600: The Emirate of Kabul in the first major conflict during " The Great Game ". In 1839 a British expeditionary force marched into Afghanistan, invading the Principality of Qandahar , and in August 1839, seized Kabul . Dost Mohammad Khan defeated the British in the Parwan campaign , but surrendered following his victory. He was replaced with the former Durrani ruler Shah Shuja Durrani as

8844-429: The Fifth Syrian War , the Seleucids ousted Ptolemy V from control of Coele-Syria . The Battle of Panium (200 BC) definitively transferred these holdings from the Ptolemies to the Seleucids. Antiochus appeared, at the least, to have restored the Seleucid Kingdom to glory. Following the defeat of his erstwhile ally Philip by Rome in 197 BC, Antiochus saw the opportunity for expansion into Greece itself. Encouraged by

9045-401: The Hydaspes towards the end of his reign ( c.  138 BC, before his kingdom was weakened by his death in 136 BC). Heliocles I ended up ruling what territory remained. The defeat, both in the west and the east, may have left Bactria very weakened and open to nomadic invasions. A nomadic steppe people called the Yuezhi inhabited a region thousands of miles to the east of Bactria on

9246-421: The Indo-Sassanids continued to rule at least parts of the region. They were followed by the Kidarites who, in turn, was replaced by the Hephthalites . They were replaced by the Turk Shahi in the 7th century. The Buddhist Turk Shahi of Kabul was replaced by a Hindu dynasty before the Saffarids conquered the area in 870, this Hindu dynasty was called Hindu Shahi . Much of the northeastern and southern areas of

9447-439: The Indus Valley Civilization stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has been found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. After 2000 BCE successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan; among them were many Indo-European -speaking Indo-Iranians . These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, and toward Europe via

9648-420: The Italian Renaissance as the center of a cultural rebirth. In the early 16th century Babur arrived from Ferghana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty . Babur would go on to conquer the Afghan Lodi dynasty who had ruled the Delhi Sultanate in the First Battle of Panipat . Between the 16th and 18th century, the Uzbek Khanate of Bukhara , Iranian Safavids , and Indian Mughals ruled parts of

9849-463: The Karzai administration and provide basic security. By this time, after two decades of war as well as an acute famine at the time, Afghanistan had one of the highest infant and child mortality rates in the world, the lowest life expectancy, much of the population were hungry, and infrastructure was in ruins. Many foreign donors started providing aid and assistance to rebuild the war-torn country. As coalition troops entered Afghanistan to help

10050-967: The Kuliab area of Tajikistan , in eastern Greco-Bactria, and dated to 200–195 BC, a Greek by the name of Heliodotus, dedicating a fire altar to Hestia , mentions Euthydemus as the greatest of all kings, and his son Demetrius I as "Demetrios Kallinikos", meaning "Demetrius the Glorious Conqueror": τόνδε σοι βωμὸν θυώδη, πρέσβα κυδίστη θεῶν Ἑστία, Διὸς κ(α)τ᾽ ἄλσος καλλίδενδρον ἔκτισεν καὶ κλυταῖς ἤσκησε λοιβαῖς ἐμπύροις Ἡλιόδοτος ὄφρα τὸμ πάντων μέγιστον Εὐθύδημον βασιλέων τοῦ τε παῖδα καλλίνικον ἐκπρεπῆ Δημήτριον πρευμενὴς σώιζηις ἐκηδεῖ(ς) σὺν τύχαι θεόφρον[ι]. tónde soi bōmòn thuṓdē, présba kydístē theôn Hestía, Diòs kat' álsos kallídendron éktisen kaì klytaîs ḗskēse loibaîs empýrois Hēliodótos óphra tòm pántōn mégiston Euthýdēmon basiléōn toû te paîda kallínikon ekprepê Dēmḗtrion preumenḕs sṓizēis ekēdeîs sỳn Týchai theόphroni. "Heliodotus dedicated this fragrant altar for Hestia , venerable goddess, illustrious amongst all, in

10251-432: The Kushan empire around 30 AD, and adopted the Greek alphabet to write their language and added Greek deities to their pantheon . The Greco-Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum was at the doorstep of India and known for its high level of Hellenistic sophistication. Greek art travelled from Bactria with the Indo-Greeks and influenced Indian art, religion and culture, leading to new syncretic art called Greco-Buddhist art . Due to

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10452-413: The League of Nations in 1934. The 1930s saw the development of roads, infrastructure, the founding of a national bank , and increased education. Road links in the north played a large part in a growing cotton and textile industry. The country built close relationships with the Axis powers , with Nazi Germany having the largest share in Afghan development at the time. Until 1946 King Zahir ruled with

10653-409: The Maurya Empire as part of an alliance treaty. The Mauryans controlled the area south of the Hindu Kush until they were overthrown in about 185 BCE. Their decline began 60 years after Ashoka 's rule ended, leading to the Hellenistic reconquest by the Greco-Bactrians . Much of it soon broke away and became part of the Indo-Greek Kingdom . They were defeated and expelled by the Indo-Scythians in

10854-440: The Northern Alliance , later joined by others, to resist the Taliban. Dostum's forces were defeated by the Taliban during the Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif in 1997 and 1998; Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff, Pervez Musharraf , began sending thousands of Pakistanis to help the Taliban defeat the Northern Alliance. By 2000, the Northern Alliance only controlled 10% of territory, cornered in the northeast. On 9 September 2001, Massoud

11055-509: The Persians , Alexander the Great , the Maurya Empire , Arab Muslims , the Mongols , the British , the Soviet Union , and a US-led coalition . Afghanistan also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians and the Mughals , among others, rose to form major empires. Because of the various conquests and periods in both the Iranian and Indian cultural spheres, the area was a center for Zoroastrianism , Buddhism, Hinduism, and later Islam. The modern state of Afghanistan began with

11256-463: The Principality of Qandahar , Emirate of Herat , Khanate of Qunduz , Maimana Khanate , and numerous other warring polities. The most prominent state was the Emirate of Kabul , ruled by Dost Mohammad Khan . With the collapse of the Durrani Empire, and the exile of the Sadozai Dynasty to be left to rule in Herat , Punjab and Kashmir were lost to Ranjit Singh , ruler of the Sikh Empire , who invaded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in March 1823 and captured

11457-402: The Punjab region The Durranis lost Multan in 1772 after Ahmad Shah's death. Following this victory, Timur Shah was able to lay siege to Multan and recapture it, incorporating it into the Durrani Empire once again, reintegrating it as a province until the Siege of Multan (1818) . Timur Shah was succeeded by his son Zaman Shah Durrani after his death in May 1793. Timur Shah's reign oversaw

11658-425: The Soviet Union and the Weimar Republic . He proclaimed himself King of Afghanistan on 9 June 1926, forming the Kingdom of Afghanistan . He introduced several reforms intended to modernize his nation. A key force behind these reforms was Mahmud Tarzi , an ardent supporter of the education of women. He fought for Article 68 of Afghanistan's 1923 constitution , which made elementary education compulsory. Slavery

11859-592: The Soviet withdrawal , the civil war ensued until the communist regime under People's Democratic Party leader Mohammad Najibullah collapsed in 1992. The Soviet–Afghan War had drastic social effects on Afghanistan. The militarization of society led to heavily armed police, private bodyguards, openly armed civil defense groups, and other such things becoming the norm in Afghanistan for decades thereafter. The traditional power structure had shifted from clergy, community elders, intelligentsia, and military in favor of powerful warlords . Another civil war broke out after

12060-437: The Third Anglo-Afghan War , and entering British India via the Khyber Pass . After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War and the signing of the Treaty of Rawalpindi on 19 August 1919, Emir Amanullah Khan declared the Emirate of Afghanistan a sovereign and fully independent state . He moved to end his country's traditional isolation by establishing diplomatic relations with the international community, particularly with

12261-509: The Third Syrian War , a catastrophic conflict for the Seleucid Empire. Diodotus, the governor of the thousand cities of Bactria ( Latin : Theodotus, mille urbium Bactrianarum praefectus ), defected and proclaimed himself king; all the other people of the Orient followed his example and seceded from the Macedonians. The new kingdom, highly urbanized and considered one of the richest of the Orient ( opulentissimum illud mille urbium Bactrianum imperium "The extremely prosperous Bactrian empire of

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12462-484: The Uppsala Conflict Data Program , at least 212,191 people were killed in the conflict. Though the state of war in the country ended in 2021, armed conflict persists in some regions amid fighting between the Taliban and the local branch of the Islamic State , as well as an anti-Taliban Republican insurgency . The Taliban government is led by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and acting prime minister Hasan Akhund , who took office on 7 September 2021. Akhund

12663-442: The creation of a dysfunctional coalition government between leaders of various mujahideen factions. Amid a state of anarchy and factional infighting, various mujahideen factions committed widespread rape, murder and extortion, while Kabul was heavily bombarded and partially destroyed by the fighting. Several failed reconciliations and alliances occurred between different leaders. The Taliban emerged in September 1994 as

12864-487: The division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great , and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC. After receiving the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq , Iran , Afghanistan , Syria , and Lebanon , all of which had been under Macedonian control after

13065-405: The east and south , Iran to the west , Turkmenistan to the northwest , Uzbekistan to the north , Tajikistan to the northeast , and China to the northeast and east . Occupying 652,864 square kilometers (252,072 sq mi) of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest , which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. Kabul

13266-421: The rebuilding process , the Taliban began an insurgency to regain control. Afghanistan remained one of the poorest countries in the world because of a lack of foreign investment, government corruption , and the Taliban insurgency. The Afghan government was able to build some democratic structures, adopting a constitution in 2004 with the name Islamic Republic of Afghanistan . Attempts were made, often with

13467-399: The siege of Kandahar , the last Hotak stronghold, from Shah Hussain Hotak . Soon after, the Persian and Afghan forces invaded India , Nader Shah had plundered Delhi, alongside his 16-year-old commander, Ahmad Shah Durrani who had assisted him on these campaigns. Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747. After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani had returned to Kandahar with

13668-410: The temple , and interrupted the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation, for three years and six months. The latter part of his reign saw a further disintegration of the Empire despite his best efforts. Weakened economically, militarily and by loss of prestige, the Empire became vulnerable to rebels in the eastern areas of the empire, who began to further undermine the empire while

13869-417: The 2nd century BC, ancient writers referred to them as the Syrian kings, the kings of Syria or of the Syrians, the kings descended from Seleucus Nicator, the kings of Asia, and other designations. Alexander , who quickly conquered the Persian Empire under its last Achaemenid dynast, Darius III , died young in 323 BC, leaving an expansive empire of partly Hellenised culture without an adult heir. The empire

14070-519: The Afghan government and quickly advanced in front of collapsing Afghan government forces. The Taliban captured the capital city of Kabul on 15 August 2021, after regaining control over a vast majority of Afghanistan. Several foreign diplomats and Afghan government officials, including president Ashraf Ghani, were evacuated from the country, with many Afghan civilians attempting to flee along with them. On 17 August, first vice president Amrullah Saleh proclaimed himself caretaker president and announced

14271-429: The Afghans, as well as accept Afghan sovereignty. Following this, Ahmad Shah sieged Nishapur once again, and captured it. Ahmad Shah invaded India eight times during his reign, beginning in 1748. Crossing the Indus River, his armies sacked and absorbed Lahore into the Durrani Realm . He met Mughal armies at the Battle of Manupur (1748) , where he was defeated and forced to retreat back to Afghanistan. He returned

14472-674: The American invasion. During the initial invasion, US and UK forces bombed al-Qaeda training camps, and later working with the Northern Alliance, the Taliban regime came to an end. In December 2001, after the Taliban government was overthrown, the Afghan Interim Administration under Hamid Karzai was formed. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council to help assist

14673-713: The British despite the First Anglo-Afghan War, and affirmed their status in the Second Anglo-Afghan treaty of 1857, while Bukhara and internal religious leaders pressured Dost Mohammad to invade India during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Dost Mohammad died in June 1863, a few weeks after his successful campaign to Herat. Following his death, a civil war ensued among his sons, prominently Mohammad Afzal Khan , Mohammad Azam Khan , and Sher Ali Khan . Sher Ali won

14874-562: The Caucasus Indicus (Paropamisus) ( Hindu Kush ) and descended into India; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus the king of the Indians; received more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether; and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him. Having traversed Arachosia and crossed

15075-647: The Euthydemids tried to strike back. An Indian king called Demetrius (very likely Demetrius II ) is said to have returned to Bactria with 60,000 men to oust the usurper, but he apparently was defeated and killed in the encounter: Eucratides led many wars with great courage, and, while weakened by them, was put under siege by Demetrius, king of the Indians. He made numerous sorties, and managed to vanquish 60,000 enemies with 300 soldiers, and thus liberated after four months, he put India under his rule. Eucratides campaigned extensively in present-day northwestern India, and ruled

15276-774: The Euthydemids: The Bactrians, involved in various wars, lost not only their rule but also their freedom, as, exhausted by their wars against the Sogdians, the Arachotes, the Dranges, the Arians and the Indians, they were finally crushed, as if drawn of all their blood, by an enemy weaker than them, the Parthians. Following his victory, Mithridates I gained Bactria's territory west of the Arius ,

15477-575: The Ghurids in 1186 , whose architectural achievements included the remote Minaret of Jam . The Ghurids controlled Afghanistan for less than a century before being conquered by the Khwarazmian dynasty in 1215. In 1219 CE, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region . His troops are said to have annihilated the Khwarazmian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan . The destruction caused by

15678-526: The Great attempted to project Seleucid power and authority into Hellenistic Greece , but his attempts were thwarted by the Roman Republic and its Greek allies. The Seleucids were forced to pay costly war reparations and had to relinquish territorial claims west of the Taurus Mountains in southern Anatolia , marking the gradual decline of their empire. Mithridates I of Parthia conquered much of

15879-413: The Great conquered the region by 327 BC and founded many cities, most of them named Alexandria , and further settled with Macedonians and other Greeks . After the death of Alexander, control of Bactria passed on to his general Seleucus I Nicator . The fertility and the prosperity of the land by the early 3rd century BC led to the creation of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom by Diodotus as a successor state of

16080-447: The Great , king of Armenia , however, saw opportunity for expansion in the constant civil strife to the south. In 83 BC, at the invitation of one of the factions in the interminable civil wars, he invaded Syria and soon established himself as ruler of Syria, putting the Seleucid Empire virtually at an end. Seleucid rule was not entirely over, however. Following the Roman general Lucullus ' defeat of both Mithridates and Tigranes in 69 BC,

16281-507: The Great . These territories possibly are identical with the Bactrian satrapies of Tapuria and Traxiane . Demetrius , the son of Euthydemus, started an invasion of the subcontinent before 180 BC, and a few years after the Mauryan empire had been overthrown by the Shunga dynasty . Historians differ on the motivations behind the invasion. Some historians suggest that the invasion of the subcontinent

16482-479: The Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus I confronted the invasion of the Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great , he commanded 10,000 horsemen). Zhang Qian actually visited Bactria (named Daxia in Chinese ) in 126 BC, and portrays a country which was totally demoralized and whose political system had vanished, although its urban infrastructure remained: Daxia (Bactria) is located over 2,000 li southwest of Dayuan, south of

16683-525: The Greco-Macedonian style, with its main body being the phalanx . The phalanx was a large, dense formation of men armed with small shields and a long pike called the sarissa . This form of fighting had been developed by the Macedonian army in the reign of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. Alongside the phalanx, the Seleucid armies used numerous native and mercenary troops to supplement their Greek forces, which were limited due to

16884-520: The Greek language, wrote in Greek, absorbed Greek philosophical ideas, and took on Greek names; some of these practices then slowly filtered down to the lower classes. Hellenic ideas began an almost 250-year expansion into the Near East, Middle East, and Central Asian cultures. Synthesizing Hellenic and indigenous cultural, religious, and philosophical ideas – an ethnic unity framework established by Alexander – met with varying degrees of success. The result

17085-511: The Gui (Oxus) river. Its people cultivate the land and have cities and houses. Their customs are like those of Dayuan. It has no great ruler but only a number of petty chiefs ruling the various cities. The people are poor in the use of arms and afraid of battle, but they are clever at commerce. After the Great Yuezhi moved west and attacked Daxia, the entire country came under their sway. The population of

17286-527: The Hellenistic East , by creating new client kingdoms and establishing provinces. While client nations like Armenia and Judea were allowed to continue with some degree of autonomy under local kings, Pompey saw the Seleucids as too troublesome to continue; doing away with both rival Seleucid princes, he made Syria into a Roman province . The domain of the Seleucids stretched from the Aegean Sea to what

17487-465: The Hindu Kush. The Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century. By the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni had defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and effectively Islamized the wider region, with the exception of Kafiristan . Mahmud made Ghazni into an important city and patronized intellectuals such as the historian Al-Biruni and the poet Ferdowsi . The Ghaznavid dynasty was overthrown by

17688-679: The Iaxartes forms also the boundary between the Sogdians and the nomads. Euthydemus was attacked by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III around 210 BC. Although he commanded 10,000 horsemen, Euthydemus initially lost a battle on the Arius and had to retreat. He then successfully resisted a three-year siege in the fortified city of Bactra , before Antiochus finally decided to recognize the new ruler, and to offer one of his daughters to Euthydemus's son Demetrius around 206 BC. Classical accounts also relate that Euthydemus negotiated peace with Antiochus III by suggesting that he deserved credit for overthrowing

17889-539: The Indo-Greek kings. However, soon after this the kingdom began to decline. The Parthians and nomadic tribes such as Sakas and Yuezhi became a major threat. Eucratides was killed by his own son in about 145 BC, which may have further destabilised the kingdom. Heliocles was the last Greek king to rule in Bactria. Even after the fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, their rich Hellenistic influence remained strong for many more centuries. The Yuezhi invaders settled in Bactria and became Hellenized . They subsequently founded

18090-626: The Indus was subject to Seleucus. Chandragupta Maurya ( Sandrokottos ) founded the Maurya Empire in 321 BC after the conquest of the Nanda Empire and their capital Pataliputra in Magadha . Chandragupta then redirected his attention to the Indus River region, and by 317 BC, he conquered the remaining Greek satraps left by Alexander. Expecting a confrontation, Seleucus gathered his army and marched to

18291-456: The Indus. It is said that Chandragupta could have fielded a conscript army of 600,000 men and 9,000 war elephants. Chandragupta received, formalized through a treaty, territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush , modern day Afghanistan , and the eastern part Balochistan province of Pakistan , bordering on the Indus. Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as

18492-718: The Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society. Mongol rule continued with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khalji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of Timur (aka Tamerlane), who established the Timurid Empire in 1370. Under the rule of Shah Rukh , the city of Herat served as the focal point of the Timurid Renaissance , whose glory matched Florence of

18693-460: The Pakistani government ordered the expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan . Iran also decided to deport Afghan nationals back to Afghanistan. Taliban authorities condemned the deportations of Afghans as an "inhuman act". Afghanistan faced a humanitarian crisis in late 2023. On 10 November 2024, Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry confirmed that Taliban representatives would attend the COP29 summit , marking

18894-671: The Parthian king Phraates II , son of Mithridates I, routing the Greek mercenary troops under his command (troops he had acquired during his victory over Antiochus VII ). Again in 123 BC, Phraates's successor, his uncle Artabanus I , was killed by the Scythians. When the Han Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian visited the Yuezhi in 126 BC, trying to obtain their alliance to fight the Xiongnu , he explained that

19095-685: The Parthians moved into the power vacuum to take over the old Persian lands. Antiochus' aggressive Hellenizing (or de-Judaizing) activities provoked a full scale armed rebellion in Judea —the Maccabean Revolt . Efforts to deal with both the Parthians and the Jews as well as retain control of the provinces at the same time proved beyond the weakened empire's power. Antiochus orchestrated a military campaign, capturing Artaxias I , King of Armenia, and reoccupying Armenia. His offensive ventured as far as Persepolis, but he

19296-560: The Parthians, partly because, used to the rule of the Macedonians, they disliked the arrogance of this new people. Thus, Demetrius, supported by the Persians, Elymes and Bactrians, routed the Parthians in numerous battles. At the end, deceived by a false peace treaty, he was taken prisoner. The 5th century historian Orosius reports that Mithridates I managed to occupy territory between the Indus and

19497-477: The Roman general Pompey in 63 BC. Contemporary sources, such as a loyalist decree honoring Antiochus I from Ilium , in Greek language define the Seleucid state both as an empire ( ἀρχή , archḗ ) and as a kingdom ( βασιλεία , basileía ). Similarly, Seleucid rulers were described as kings in Babylonia. The rulers did not describe themselves as being of any particular territory or people, but starting from

19698-404: The Seleucid banner. The government established Greek cities and settlements throughout the empire via a program of colonization that encouraged immigration from Greece; both city settlements as well as rural ones were created that were inhabited by ethnic Greeks. These Greeks were given good land and privileges, and in exchange were expected to serve in military service for the state. Despite being

19899-495: The Seleucid empire. The Bactrian Greeks grew increasingly more powerful and invaded north-western India between 190 and 180 BC under king Demetrius , the son of Euthydemus . This invasion led to the creation of the Indo-Greek kingdom , as a successor state of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, and was subsequently ruled by kings Pantaleon and Apollodotus I . Historical records indicate that many rich and prosperous cities were present in

20100-533: The Seleucids, declaring himself king. A decade later, he was defeated and killed by Arsaces of Parthia, leading to the rise of a Parthian Empire . This cut Bactria off from contact with the Greek world. Overland trade continued at a reduced rate, while sea trade between Greek Egypt and Bactria developed. Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II , who allied himself with the Parthian Arsaces in his fight against Seleucus II : Soon after, relieved by

20301-575: The Taliban. A report titled Body Count concluded that 106,000–170,000 civilians had been killed as a result of the fighting in Afghanistan at the hands of all parties to the conflict. On 19 February 2020, the US–Taliban deal was made in Qatar. The deal was one of the critical events that caused the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF); following the signing of the deal,

20502-565: The US dramatically reduced the number of air attacks and deprived the ANSF of a critical edge in fighting the Taliban insurgency , leading to the Taliban takeover of Kabul. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on 14 April 2021 that the alliance had agreed to start withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan by 1 May. Soon after NATO troops began withdrawing, the Taliban launched an offensive against

20703-619: The United Kingdom, join them and attack British India, as part of the Hindu–German Conspiracy . The effort to bring Afghanistan into the Central Powers failed, but it sparked discontent among the population about maintaining neutrality with the British. Habibullah was assassinated in February 1919, and Amanullah Khan eventually assumed power. A staunch supporter of the 1915–1916 expeditions, Amanullah Khan invaded British India, beginning

20904-482: The Yuezhi again invaded his territory in the Paropamisadae (while the "eastern" Indo-Greek kings would continue to rule until around AD 10 in the area of the Punjab region ). Overall, the Yuezhi remained in Bactria for more than a century. They became Hellenized to some degree, as suggested by their adoption of the Greek alphabet to write their later Iranian court language, and by numerous remaining coins, minted in

21105-449: The Yuezhi were settled north of the Oxus but also held under their sway the territory south of Oxus, which makes up the remainder of Bactria. According to Zhang Qian, the Yuezhi represented a considerable force of between 100,000 and 200,000 mounted archer warriors, with customs identical to those of the Xiongnu, which would probably have easily defeated Greco-Bactrian forces (in 208 BC when

21306-529: The area by the time that Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in 328 BC. Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria (and probably the surrounding provinces) founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BC and became Basileus , or king Diodotus I of Bactria. The preserved ancient sources (see below) are somewhat contradictory, and the exact date of Bactrian independence has not been settled. Somewhat simplified, there

21507-722: The area north of the Caspian Sea . The region at the time was referred to as Ariana . By the middle of the 6th century BCE, the Achaemenids overthrew the Medes and incorporated Arachosia , Aria , and Bactria within its eastern boundaries. An inscription on the tombstone of Darius I of Persia mentions the Kabul Valley in a list of the 29 countries that he had conquered. The region of Arachosia , around Kandahar in modern-day southern Afghanistan, used to be primarily Zoroastrian and played

21708-463: The assistance of his uncle, who held the post of prime minister and continued the policies of Nadir Shah. Another uncle, Shah Mahmud Khan , became prime minister in 1946 and experimented with allowing greater political freedom. He was replaced in 1953 by Mohammed Daoud Khan , a Pashtun nationalist who sought the creation of a Pashtunistan , leading to highly tense relations with Pakistan. Daoud Khan pressed for social modernization reforms and sought

21909-617: The attempted stabilization and consolidation of the empire. However, Timur Shah had over 24 sons, which plunged the empire in civil war over succession crises. Zaman Shah Durrani succeeded to the Durrani Throne following the death of his father, Timur Shah Durrani. His brothers Mahmud Shah Durrani and Humayun Mirza revolted against him, with Humayun centered in Kandahar and Mahmud Shah centered in Herat . Zaman Shah would defeat Humayun and force

22110-426: The brutal treatment of many Afghans, especially women . During their rule, the Taliban and their allies committed massacres against Afghan civilians, denied UN food supplies to starving civilians and conducted a policy of scorched earth , burning vast areas of fertile land and destroying tens of thousands of homes. After the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Rashid Dostum formed

22311-505: The city of Pergamum in the west was asserting its independence under the Attalid dynasty . The Seleucid economy started to show the first signs of weakness, as Galatians gained independence and Pergamum took control of coastal cities in Anatolia. Consequently, they managed to partially block contact with the West. A revival would begin when Seleucus II's younger son, Antiochus III the Great , took

22512-465: The city of Peshawar following the Battle of Nowshera . In 1834, Dost Mohammad Khan led numerous campaigns, firstly campaigning to Jalalabad , and then allying with his rival brothers in Kandahar to defeat Shah Shuja Durrani and the British in the Expedition of Shuja ul-Mulk . In 1837, Dost Mohammad Khan attempted to conquer Peshawar and sent a large force under his son Wazir Akbar Khan , leading to

22713-416: The country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan . The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul , ending the 2001–2021 war . The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized. Afghanistan is rich in natural resources, including lithium , iron, zinc , and copper. It

22914-629: The country is large, numbering some 1,000,000 or more persons. The capital is called the city of Lanshi ( Bactra ) and has a market where all sorts of goods are bought and sold. ( Records of the Great Historian by Sima Qian , quoting Zhang Qian, trans. Burton Watson) The Yuezhi further expanded southward into Bactria around 120 BC, apparently further pushed out by invasions from the northern Wusun . It seems they also pushed Scythian tribes before them, which continued to India, where they came to be identified as Indo-Scythians . This invasion of Bactria

23115-601: The country remained dominated by Buddhist culture. Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. Before the arrival of Islam , the region used to be home to various beliefs and cults, often resulting in Syncretism between the dominant religions such as Zoroastrianism , Buddhism or Greco-Buddhism , Ancient Iranian religions , Hinduism , Christianity, and Judaism. An exemplification of

23316-409: The death of Diodotus, Arsaces made peace and concluded an alliance with his son, also by the name of Diodotus; some time later he fought against Seleucos who came to punish the rebels, and he prevailed: the Parthians celebrated this day as the one that marked the beginning of their freedom. Euthydemus , an Ionian Greek from Magnesia according to Polybius , and possibly satrap of Sogdiana , overthrew

23517-617: The defeat of his brother, Suleiman Mirza. Timur Shah Durrani ascended to the throne in November 1772, having defeated a coalition under Shah Wali Khan and Humayun Mirza. Timur Shah began his reign by consolidating power toward himself and people loyal to him, purging Durrani Sardars and influential tribal leaders in Kabul and Kandahar . One of Timur Shah's reforms was to move the capital of the Durrani Empire from Kandahar to Kabul . Timur Shah fought multiple series of rebellions to consolidate

23718-455: The distance from the Seleucid rulers' Macedonian homeland. The size of the Seleucid army usually varied between 70,000 and 200,000 in manpower. The distance from Greece put a strain on the Seleucid military system, as it was primarily based around the recruitment of Greeks as the key segment of the army. In order to increase the population of Greeks in their kingdom, the Seleucid rulers created military settlements. There were two main periods in

23919-474: The dominant political class and was reinforced by steady immigration from Greece . The empire's western territories were repeatedly contested with Ptolemaic Egypt —a rival Hellenistic state. To the east, conflict with the Indian ruler Chandragupta of the Maurya Empire in 305 BC led to the cession of vast territory west of the Indus and a political alliance. In the early second century BC, Antiochus III

24120-559: The dynasty of Diodotus II around 230–220 BC and started his own dynasty. Euthydemus's control extended to Sogdiana, going beyond the city of Alexandria Eschate founded by Alexander the Great in Ferghana : And they also held Sogdiana, situated above Bactriana towards the east between the Oxus River, which forms the boundary between the Bactrians and the Sogdians, and the Iaxartes River. And

24321-403: The east, where he sought to extract money to pay the indemnity. The reign of his son and successor Seleucus IV Philopator (187–175 BC) was largely spent in attempts to pay the large indemnity, and Seleucus was ultimately assassinated by his minister Heliodorus . Seleucus' younger brother, Antiochus IV Epiphanes , now seized the throne. He attempted to restore Seleucid power and prestige with

24522-520: The easternmost part of the Kartid realm. This name was later used for certain regions in the Ṣafavid and Mughal empires that were inhabited by Afghans. While based on a state-supporting elite of Abdālī / Durrānī Afghans, the Sadūzāʾī Durrānī polity that came into being in 1160 / 1747 was not called Afghanistan in its own day. The name became a state designation only during the colonial intervention of

24723-740: The edges of the Han Empire called the Hexi Corridor . Shortly before 176 BC, the Xiongnu invaded the Hexi Corridor, forcing the Yuezhi to flee the region. In 162 BC the Yuezhi were driven west to the Ili River valley by the Xiongnu. In 132 they were driven out of the Ili valley by the Wusun . The surviving Yuezhi migrated again south towards the territory just north of the Oxus River where they encountered and expelled

24924-399: The empire were still influenced by the spread of Greek thought and culture, a phenomenon referred to as Hellenization . Historically significant towns and cities, such as Antioch , were created or renamed with Greek names, and hundreds of new cities were established for trade purposes and built in Greek style from the start. Local educated elites who needed to work with the government learned

25125-457: The empire, and he also led campaigns into Punjab against the Sikhs like his father, though more successfully. The most prominent example of his battles during this campaign was when he led his forces under Zangi Khan Durrani – with over 18,000 men total of Afghan, Qizilbash, and Mongol cavalrymen – against over 60,000 Sikh men. The Sikhs lost over 30,000 in this battle and staged a Durrani resurgence in

25326-505: The end of the 1st century BC. Antigonus might have briefly won a battle against the Yuezhi or the Saka before he was overrun himself. Around 12 BC the Yuezhi then moved further to northern India where they established the Kushan Empire . Before the Greek conquest, the armies of Bactria were overwhelmingly composed of cavalry and were well known as effective soldiers, making up large portions of

25527-410: The establishment of settlements, firstly under Seleucus I Nicator and Antiochus I Soter and then under Antiochus IV Epiphanes . The military settlers were given land, "varying in size according to rank and arm of service'. They were settled in 'colonies of an urban character, which at some point could acquire the status of a polis". The settler-soldiers were called katoikoi ; they would maintain

25728-453: The ethnic Pashtun and Baloch territories were divided by the Durand Line , which forms the modern-day border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shia -dominated Hazarajat and pagan Kafiristan remained politically independent until being conquered by Abdur Rahman Khan in 1891–1896. He was known as the "Iron Amir" for his features and his ruthless methods against tribes. He died in 1901, succeeded by his son, Habibullah Khan . How can

25929-514: The exiled Carthaginian general Hannibal , and making an alliance with the disgruntled Aetolian League , Antiochus launched an invasion across the Hellespont . With his huge army he aimed to establish the Seleucid empire as the foremost power in the Hellenic world, but these plans put the empire on a collision course with the new rising power of the Mediterranean, the Roman Republic . At the battles of Thermopylae (191 BC) and Magnesia (190 BC), Antiochus's forces suffered resounding defeats, and he

26130-476: The fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire . At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that covered Anatolia , Persia , the Levant , Mesopotamia , and what are now modern Kuwait , Afghanistan , and parts of Turkmenistan . The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture . Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide variety of local traditions had been generally tolerated, while an urban Greek elite had formed

26331-475: The famed Nisean horse herd); and Roman intervention was an ever-present threat. Sidetes managed to bring the Maccabees to heel and frighten the Anatolian dynasts into a temporary submission; then, in 133, he turned east with the full might of the Royal Army (supported by a body of Jews under the Hasmonean prince, John Hyrcanus ) to drive back the Parthians. Sidetes' campaign initially met with spectacular success, recapturing Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Media. In

26532-409: The fashion of the Macedonian army . A Greek army in Bactria during the anti-Macedonian revolt of 323 BC numbered 23,000. The army of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom was then a multi-ethnic force with Greek colonists making up large portions of the infantry as pike phalanxes, supported by light infantry units of local Bactrians and mercenary javelin-wielding Thureophoroi . The cavalry arm was very large for

26733-468: The first president of Afghanistan , abolishing the monarchy. In April 1978, the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) seized power in a bloody coup d'état against then-President Mohammed Daoud Khan , in what is called the Saur Revolution . The PDPA declared the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , with its first leader named as People's Democratic Party General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki . This would trigger

26934-470: The first time the country participated since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. Afghanistan had been barred from previous summits due to the lack of global recognition of the Taliban regime. However, the Taliban's environmental officials stressed that climate change is a humanitarian issue, not a political one, and should be addressed regardless of political differences. Afghanistan is located in Southern-Central Asia. The region centered at Afghanistan

27135-467: The formation of an anti-Taliban front with a reported 6,000+ troops in the Panjshir Valley , along with Ahmad Massoud . However, by 6 September, the Taliban had taken control of most of Panjshir province , with resistance fighters retreating to the mountains. Clashes in the valley ceased mid-September. According to the Costs of War Project , 176,000 people were killed in the conflict, including 46,319 civilians, between 2001 and 2021. According to

27336-510: The grove of Zeus , with beautiful trees; he made libations and sacrifices so that the greatest of all kings Euthydemus , as well as his son, the glorious, victorious and remarkable Demetrius , be preserved of all pains, with the help of Tyche with divine thoughts." Following the departure of the Seleucid army, the Bactrian kingdom seems to have expanded. In the west, areas in north-eastern Iran may have been absorbed, possibly as far as into Parthia , whose ruler had been defeated by Antiochus

27537-475: The historian Appian : Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia, 'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to

27738-401: The historian Strabo, as having "subdued more tribes than Alexander." The invasion was completed by 175 BC. This established in the northwestern Indian Subcontinent what is called the Indo-Greek Kingdom , which lasted for almost two centuries until around 10 AD. The Buddhist faith flourished under the Indo-Greek kings, especially Menander who was arguably the most powerful of them all. It was also

27939-399: The historical value of its archaeological sites. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic , Mesolithic , Neolithic , Bronze , and Iron Ages have been found in Afghanistan. Urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak (near Kandahar in the south of the country) was a center of the Helmand culture . More recent findings established that

28140-607: The influence of the Greeks, both Buddhist and Hindu deities were represented in human form for the first time. Bactria was inhabited by Greek settlers since the time of Darius I , when the entire population of Barca , in Cyrenaica , was deported to the region for refusing to surrender assassins. Greek influence increased under Xerxes I , after the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor ) were forcibly relocated in Bactria, and later on with other exiled Greeks, most of them prisoners of war. Greek communities and language were already common in

28341-426: The inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka , are known as far as Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. According to Appian: He [Seleucus] crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship. It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter, or

28542-448: The kingdom's guards' regiments. The rest of the Seleucid army would consist of native and mercenary troops, who would serve as light auxiliary troops. While the Seleucids were happy to recruit from less populated and outlying parts of the Empire such as the Arabs and Jews, Iranian peoples in the east, and inhabitants of Asia Minor to the north, they generally eschewed recruiting native Syrians and native Mesopotamians ( Babylonians ). This

28743-512: The kingdom, but only a few such cities have been excavated, such as Ai-Khanoum and Bactra . The city of Ai-Khanoum, in north-eastern Afghanistan, had all the hallmarks of a true Hellenistic city with a Greek theater , gymnasium and some houses with colonnaded courtyards. The kingdom reached the height of its power under king Eucratides the Great , who seems to have seized power through a coup around 171 BC and created his own dynasty. Eucratides also invaded India and successfully fought against

28944-408: The land as their own and in return, they would serve in the Seleucid army when called. The majority of settlements were concentrated in Lydia , northern Syria , the upper Euphrates and Media . Antiochus III brought Greeks from Euboea , Crete and Aetolia and settled them in Antioch . These Greek settlers would be used to form the Seleucid phalanx and cavalry units, with picked men put into

29145-459: The last was defeated and killed by the invading Parni of Arsaces —the region would then become the core of the Parthian Empire . Diodotus , the Seleucid governor for the Bactrian territory, asserted independence in around 245 BC, although the exact date is far from certain, to form the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . This kingdom was characterized by a rich Hellenistic culture and was to continue its domination of Bactria until around 125 BC when it

29346-453: The late 2nd century BCE. The Silk Road appeared during the first century BCE, and Afghanistan flourished with trade, with routes to China, India, Persia, and north to the cities of Bukhara , Samarkand , and Khiva in present-day Uzbekistan. Goods and ideas were exchanged at this center point, such as Chinese silk, Persian silver and Roman gold, while the region of present Afghanistan was mining and trading lapis lazuli stones mainly from

29547-511: The latter area, he founded a new capital at Antioch on the Orontes , a city he named after his father. An alternative capital was established at Seleucia on the Tigris , north of Babylon. Seleucus's empire reached its greatest extent following his defeat of his erstwhile ally, Lysimachus, at Corupedion in 281 BC, after which Seleucus expanded his control to encompass western Anatolia. He hoped further to take control of Lysimachus's lands in Europe – primarily Thrace and even Macedonia itself, but

29748-491: The loyalty of Mahmud Shah Durrani. Securing his position on the throne, Zaman Shah led three campaigns into Punjab . The first two campaigns captured Lahore , but he retreated due to intel about a possible Qajar invasion. Zaman Shah embarked on his third campaign for Punjab in 1800 to deal with a rebellious Ranjit Singh. However, he was forced to withdraw, and Zaman Shah's reign was ended by Mahmud Shah Durrani. However, just under two years into his reign, Mahmud Shah Durrani

29949-583: The more moderate Parcham . In October 1979, PDPA General Secretary Taraki was assassinated in an internal coup orchestrated by then-prime minister Hafizullah Amin , who became the new general secretary of the People's Democratic Party . The situation in the country deteriorated under Amin, and thousands of people went missing. Displeased with Amin's government, the Soviet Army invaded the country in December 1979, heading for Kabul and killing Amin. A Soviet-organized regime, led by Parcham's Babrak Karmal but inclusive of both factions (Parcham and Khalq), filled

30150-409: The name, " -stan ", is a Persian suffix meaning "place of". Therefore, "Afghanistan" translates to "land of the Afghans", or "land of the Pashtuns" in a historical sense. According to the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam : The name Afghanistan (Afghānistān, land of the Afghans / Pashtuns, afāghina , sing. afghān ) can be traced to the early eighth/fourteenth century, when it designated

30351-467: The new ruler of Kabul , a de facto puppet of the British. Following an uprising that saw the assassination of Shah Shuja , the 1842 retreat from Kabul of British-Indian forces and the annihilation of Elphinstone 's army, and the punitive expedition of The Battle of Kabul that led to its sacking, the British gave up on their attempts to try to subjugate Afghanistan, allowing Dost Mohammad Khan to return as ruler. Following this, Dost Mohammad pursued

30552-462: The new Amir, leading to Britain gaining control of Afghanistan's foreign relations as part of the Treaty of Gandamak of 1879, making it an official British Protected State . An uprising however, re-started the conflict, and Yaqub Khan was deposed. During this tumultuous period, Abdur Rahman Khan began his rise to power, becoming an eligible candidate to become Amir after he seized much of Northern Afghanistan . Abdur Rahman marched on Kabul , and

30753-601: The new system, which eventually led to the demise of Perdiccas. Ptolemy's revolt created a new subdivision of the empire with the Partition of Triparadisus in 320 BC. Seleucus , who had been "Commander-in-Chief of the Companion cavalry " ( hetairoi ) and appointed first or court chiliarch (which made him the senior officer in the Royal Army after the regent and commander-in-chief Perdiccas since 323 BC, though he helped to assassinate him later) received Babylonia and, from that point, continued to expand his dominions ruthlessly. Seleucus established himself in Babylon in 312 BC,

30954-416: The newly formed Parthian Empire . The Seleucid satrap of Parthia, named Andragoras , first claimed independence, in a parallel to the secession of his Bactrian neighbour. Soon after, however, a Parthian tribal chief called Arsaces invaded the Parthian territory around 238 BC to form the Arsacid dynasty , from which the Parthian Empire originated. Antiochus II's son Seleucus II Callinicus came to

31155-471: The next year in 1749 and captured the area around Lahore and Punjab , presenting it as an Afghan victory for this campaign. From 1749 to 1767, Ahmad Shah led six more invasions, the most important being the last; the Third Battle of Panipat created a power vacuum in northern India, halting Maratha expansion. Ahmad Shah Durrani died in October 1772, and a civil war over succession followed, with his named successor, Timur Shah Durrani succeeding him after

31356-455: The nineteenth century. The term "Afghanistan" was officially used in 1855, when the British recognized Dost Mohammad Khan as king of Afghanistan . Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in the area were among the earliest in the world. An important site of early historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in

31557-402: The original rebel Diodotus and that he was protecting Central Asia from nomadic invasions thanks to his defensive efforts: ... for if he did not yield to this demand, neither of them would be safe: Seeing that great hordes of Nomads were close at hand, who were a danger to both; and that if they admitted them into the country, it would certainly be utterly barbarised. In an inscription found in

31758-440: The recovered eastern territories were recaptured by the Parthians. The Maccabees again rebelled, civil war soon tore the empire to pieces, and the Armenians began to encroach on Syria from the north. By 100 BC, the once-formidable Seleucid Empire encompassed little more than Antioch and some Syrian cities. Despite the clear collapse of their power, and the decline of their kingdom around them, nobles continued to play kingmakers on

31959-431: The region have also attested to a major Macedonian presence, as evidenced by the presence of symbols, style of coinage, and epigraphic names. Greek garrisons in the satrapy of Bactria were housed in fortresses called phrouria and at major cities. Military colonists were settled in the countryside and were each given an allotment of land called a kleros . These colonists numbered in the tens of thousands, and were trained in

32160-399: The regions of Tapuria and Traxiane : "The satrapy Turiva and that of Aspionus were taken away from Eucratides by the Parthians." In the year 141 BC, the Greco-Bactrians seem to have entered in an alliance with the Seleucid king Demetrius II to fight again against Parthia: The people of the Orient welcomed his (Demetrius II's) arrival, partly because of the cruelty of the Arsacid king of

32361-402: The remaining eastern lands of the Seleucid Empire in the mid-second century BC including Assyria and what had been Babylonia , while the independent Greco-Bactrian Kingdom continued to flourish in the northeast. The Seleucid kings were thereafter reduced to a rump state in Syria after a civil war, until their conquest by Tigranes the Great of Armenia in 83 BC, and ultimate overthrow by

32562-440: The resulting Afghan Civil War (1863–1869) and ruled Afghanistan until his death in 1879. In his final years, the British returned to Afghanistan in the Second Anglo-Afghan War to fight perceived Russian influence in the region. Sher Ali retreated to northern Afghanistan, intending to create a resistance there similar to his predecessors, Dost Mohammad Khan, and Wazir Akbar Khan. His untimely death however, saw Yaqub Khan declared

32763-403: The river Enymanthus, he came through Drangene to Carmania; and as it was now winter, he put his men into winter quarters there. When he returned to the west in 205 BC, Antiochus found that with the death of Ptolemy IV , the situation now looked propitious for another western campaign. Antiochus and Philip V of Macedon then made a pact to divide the Ptolemaic possessions outside of Egypt, and in

32964-429: The rule of Antiochus IV introduced significant changes. Antiochus IV instigated a bidding process for the High Priest position—this led to Menelaus , a radical Hellenist, outbidding Jason , a moderate Hellenist who upheld many traditional Judean practices. The shift from Jason to Menelaus unsettled the Jewish populace due to Menelaus's more extreme Hellenistic leanings. Aggravating the situation, Antiochus IV initiated

33165-476: The ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka the Great , is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court. The Indians occupy [in part] some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta Maurya) in consequence of

33366-449: The same region and from the same dynasty, named Eucratides II and Plato Epiphanes , the latter probably being a brother of Eucratides I. Since Heliocles left the Bactrian territory, he is technically the last Greco-Bactrian king, although several of his descendants, moving beyond the Hindu Kush, would form the western part of the Indo-Greek kingdom . The last of these "western" Indo-Greek kings, Hermaeus , would rule until around 70 BC, when

33567-465: The siege of Mashhad , however, he was forced to retreat after four months. In November 1750, he moved to siege Nishapur , but he was unable to capture the city and was forced to retreat in early 1751. Ahmad Shah returned in 1754 ; he captured Tun , and on 23 July, he sieged Mashhad once again. Mashhad had fallen on 2 December, but Shahrokh was reappointed in 1755. He was forced to give up Torshiz , Bakharz , Jam , Khaf , and Turbat-e Haidari to

33768-422: The style of the Greco-Bactrian kings, with the text in Greek. There is evidence for the persistence of Greek populations in Bactria after the collapse of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. For example, an obol of a previously unknown ruler called Antigonus has been found and it seems he ruled after the kingdom's collapse, as evidenced by the use of a lunate sigma and the lower art quality of the coin, perhaps dating from

33969-428: The support of foreign donor countries, to improve the country's economy, healthcare, education, transport, and agriculture. ISAF forces also began to train the Afghan National Security Forces . Following 2002, nearly five million Afghans were repatriated. The number of NATO troops present in Afghanistan peaked at 140,000 in 2011, dropping to about 16,000 in 2018. In September 2014 Ashraf Ghani became president after

34170-401: The syncretism in the region would be that people were patrons of Buddhism but still worshipped local Iranian gods such as Ahura Mazda , Lady Nana , Anahita or Mihr (Mithra) and portrayed Greek gods as protectors of Buddha. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids extended their Islamic influence south of

34371-436: The tablets on which was written the decree of the senate and told him to read it. The decree demanded that he should abort his attack on Alexandria and immediately stop waging the war on Ptolemy. When the king said that he would call his friends into council and consider what he ought to do, Popilius drew a circle in the sand around the king's feet with the stick he was carrying and said, "Before you step out of that circle give me

34572-469: The territory. During the medieval period, the northwestern area of Afghanistan was referred to by the regional name Khorasan , which was commonly used up to the 19th century among natives to describe their country. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak , a local Ghilzai tribal leader, successfully rebelled against the Safavids . He defeated Gurgin Khan , the Georgian governor of Kandahar under the Safavids, and established his own kingdom. Mirwais died in 1715, and

34773-482: The thousand cities", according to the historian Justin ), was to further grow in power and engage in territorial expansion to the east and the west: The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of the fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Ariana , but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander… Their cities were Bactra (also called Zariaspa, through which flows

34974-438: The throne after his brother's capture. He faced the enormous task of restoring a rapidly crumbling empire, one facing threats on multiple fronts. Hard-won control of Coele-Syria was threatened by the Jewish Maccabee rebels. Once-vassal dynasties in Armenia, Cappadocia, and Pontus were threatening Syria and northern Mesopotamia ; the nomadic Parthians, brilliantly led by Mithridates I of Parthia , had overrun upland Media (home of

35175-515: The throne around 246 BC. Seleucus II was soon dramatically defeated in the Third Syrian War against Ptolemy III of Egypt and then had to fight a civil war against his own brother Antiochus Hierax . Taking advantage of this distraction, Bactria and Parthia seceded from the empire. In Asia Minor too, the Seleucid dynasty seemed to be losing control: the Gauls had fully established themselves in Galatia , semi-independent semi-Hellenized kingdoms had sprung up in Bithynia , Pontus , and Cappadocia , and

35376-477: The throne in 223 BC. Although initially unsuccessful in the Fourth Syrian War against Egypt, which led to a defeat at the Battle of Raphia (217 BC), Antiochus would prove himself to be the greatest of the Seleucid rulers after Seleucus I himself. He spent the next ten years on his anabasis (journey) through the eastern parts of his domain and restoring rebellious vassals like Parthia and Greco-Bactria to at least nominal obedience. He gained many victories such as

35577-494: The usurping general Diodotus Tryphon —held out in Antioch . Meanwhile, the decay of the Empire's territorial possessions continued apace. By 143 BC, the Jews in the form of the Maccabees had fully established their independence. Parthian expansion continued as well. In 139 BC, Demetrius II was defeated in battle by the Parthians and was captured. By this time, the entire Iranian Plateau had been lost to Parthian control. Demetrius Nicator's brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes , took

35778-557: The vacuum. Soviet troops in more substantial numbers were deployed to stabilize Afghanistan under Karmal, marking the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War . Lasting nine years, the war caused the deaths of between 562,000 and 2 million Afghans, and displaced about 6 million people who subsequently fled Afghanistan, mainly to Pakistan and Iran . Heavy air bombardment destroyed many countryside villages, millions of landmines were planted, and some cities such as Herat and Kandahar were also damaged from bombardment. After

35979-405: The west and the Sikh Empire in the east. Fateh Khan , leader of the Barakzai tribe , installed many of his brothers in positions of power throughout the empire. Fateh Khan was brutally murdered in 1818 by Mahmud Shah . As a result, the brothers of Fateh Khan and the Barakzai tribe rebelled, and a civil war brewed. During this turbulent period, Afghanistan fractured into many states, including

36180-415: The west, including repeated wars with Ptolemy II and a Celtic invasion of Asia Minor —distracting attention from holding the eastern portions of the Empire together. Towards the end of Antiochus II's reign, various provinces simultaneously asserted their independence, such as Bactria and Sogdiana under Diodotus , Cappadocia under Ariarathes III , and Parthia under Andragoras . A few years later,

36381-419: The winter of 130/129 BC, his army was scattered in winter quarters throughout Media and Persis when the Parthian king, Phraates II , counter-attacked. Moving to intercept the Parthians with only the troops at his immediate disposal, he was ambushed and killed at the Battle of Ecbatana in 129 BC. Antiochus Sidetes is sometimes called the last great Seleucid king. After the death of Antiochus VII Sidetes, all of

36582-401: The world's least developed countries , ranking 182nd on the Human Development Index . Afghanistan's gross domestic product (GDP) is $ 81 billion by purchasing power parity and $ 20.1 billion by nominal values. Per capita, its GDP is among the lowest of any country as of 2020 . Some scholars suggest that the root name Afghān is derived from the Sanskrit word Aśvakan , which

36783-468: The year later used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. The rise of Seleucus in Babylon threatened the eastern extent of the territory of Antigonus I Monophthalmus in Asia. Antigonus, along with his son Demetrius I Poliorcetes , unsuccessfully led a campaign to annex Babylon. The victory of Seleucus ensured his claim of Babylon and legitimacy. He ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire enormous eastern part of Alexander's empire, as described by

36984-527: Was able to field a force of 30,000 horse. Most of these horsemen were lightly armed, using bows and javelins before closing with sword and spear. Herodotus describes the Persian cavalry of Mardonius at the Battle of Plataea (which included Bactrians) as horse archers ( hippotoxotai ). Bactrian infantry is described by Herodotus as wearing caps in the Median style, short spears and reed Scythian style bows. Alexander and Seleucus I both settled Macedonians and other Greeks in Bactria, and archeological finds in

37185-602: Was abolished in 1923. King Amanullah's wife, Queen Soraya , was an important figure during this period in the fight for woman's education and against their oppression. Some of the reforms, such as the abolition of the traditional burqa for women and the opening of co-educational schools, alienated many tribal and religious leaders, leading to the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929) . King Amanullah abdicated in January 1929, and soon after Kabul fell to Saqqawist forces led by Habibullah Kalakani . Mohammed Nadir Shah , Amanullah's cousin, defeated and killed Kalakani in October 1929, and

37386-543: Was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus on landing in Europe. His son and successor, Antiochus I Soter , was left with an enormous realm consisting of nearly all of the Asian portions of the Empire, but faced with Antigonus II Gonatas in Macedonia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus in Egypt, he proved unable to pick up where his father had left off in conquering the European portions of Alexander's empire. Antiochus I (reigned 281–261 BC) and his son and successor Antiochus II Theos (reigned 261–246 BC) were faced with challenges in

37587-463: Was assassinated by two Arab suicide attackers in Panjshir Valley . Around 400,000 Afghans died in internal conflicts between 1990 and 2001. In October 2001, the United States invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban from power after they refused to hand over Osama bin Laden , the prime suspect of the September 11 attacks , who was a "guest" of the Taliban and was operating his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. The majority of Afghans supported

37788-437: Was compelled to make peace and sign the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC), the main clause of which saw the Seleucids agree to pay a large indemnity, to retreat from Anatolia and to never again attempt to expand Seleucid territory west of the Taurus Mountains . The Kingdom of Pergamum and the Republic of Rhodes , Rome's allies in the war, gained the former Seleucid lands in Anatolia. Antiochus died in 187 BC on another expedition to

37989-432: Was declared Amir, being recognized by the British as well. Another uprising by Ayub Khan threatened the British, where rebels confronted and defeated British forces in the Battle of Maiwand . Following up on his victory, Ayub Khan unsuccessfully besieged Kandahar , and his decisive defeat saw the end of the Second Anglo-Afghan War, with Abdur Rahman secured firmly as Amir. In 1893, Abdur Rahman signed an agreement in which

38190-520: Was declared King Nadir Shah. He abandoned the reforms of King Amanullah in favor of a more gradual approach to modernization, but was assassinated in 1933 by Abdul Khaliq . Mohammed Zahir Shah succeeded to the throne and reigned as king from 1933 to 1973. During the tribal revolts of 1944–1947 , King Zahir's reign was challenged by Zadran , Safi , Mangal , and Wazir tribesmen led by Mazrak Zadran , Salemai , and Mirzali Khan , among others – many of whom were Amanullah loyalists . Afghanistan joined

38391-403: Was deposed by his brother Shah Shuja Durrani on 13 July 1803. Shah Shuja attempted to consolidate the Durrani Realm but was deposed by his brother at the Battle of Nimla (1809) . Mahmud Shah Durrani defeated Shah Shuja and forced him to flee, usurping the throne again. His second reign began on 3 May 1809. By the early 19th century, the Afghan empire was under threat from the Persians in

38592-616: Was facing widespread famine due to an economic and banking crisis. The Taliban have significantly tackled corruption, now being placed as 150th on the corruption watchdog perception index. The Taliban have also reportedly reduced bribery and extortion in public service areas. At the same time, the human rights situation in the country has deteriorated. Following the 2001 invasion, more than 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan; however, in 2021, 2.6 million Afghans remained refugees, primarily in Iran and Pakistan, and another 4 million were internally displaced. In October 2023,

38793-455: Was forced from the city by the populace. On his return home, Antiochus died in Isfahan in 164 BC. After the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes , the Seleucid Empire became increasingly unstable. Frequent civil wars made central authority tenuous at best. Epiphanes' young son, Antiochus V Eupator , was first overthrown by Seleucus IV's son, Demetrius I Soter in 161 BC. Demetrius I attempted to restore Seleucid power in Judea particularly, but

38994-545: Was intended to show their support for the Mauryan empire , and to protect the Buddhist faith from the religious persecutions of the Shungas as alleged by Buddhist scriptures (Tarn). Other historians have argued however that the accounts of these persecutions have been exaggerated ( Thapar , Lamotte ). Demetrius may have been as far as the imperial capital Pataliputra in today's eastern India (today Patna ). However, these campaigns are typically attributed to Menander . His conquests were mentioned along with that of Menander by

39195-447: Was overrun by the invasion of northern nomads. One of the Greco-Bactrian kings, Demetrius I of Bactria , invaded India around 180 BC to form the Indo-Greek Kingdoms . The rulers of Persis , called Fratarakas , also seem to have established some level of independence from the Seleucids during the 3rd century BC, especially from the time of Vahbarz . They would later overtly take the title of Kings of Persis , before becoming vassals to

39396-447: Was overthrown in 150 BC by Alexander Balas —an impostor who (with Egyptian backing) claimed to be the son of Epiphanes. Alexander Balas reigned until 145 BC when he was overthrown by Demetrius I's son, Demetrius II Nicator . Demetrius II proved unable to control the whole of the kingdom, however. While he ruled Babylonia and eastern Syria from Damascus , the remnants of Balas' supporters—first supporting Balas' son Antiochus VI , then

39597-417: Was presumably mostly from a desire not to train and arm the people who were an overwhelming majority in the trade and governmental centers of the Empire in Antioch and Babylon, risking revolt. While a revolt in a remote place could be put down by resolute action from the center, an uprising in Syria-Coele would have undermined the kingdom's very existence. Following losses of territory in Asia Minor during

39798-419: Was put under the authority of a regent, Perdiccas , and the vast territories were divided among Alexander's generals, who thereby became satraps at the Partition of Babylon , all in that same year. Alexander's generals, known as diadochi , jostled for supremacy over parts of his empire following his death. Ptolemy I Soter , a former general and then current satrap of Egypt , was the first to challenge

39999-466: Was succeeded by his brother Abdul Aziz , who was soon killed by Mirwais's son Mahmud for possibly planning to sign a peace with the Safavids. Mahmud led the Afghan army in 1722 to the Persian capital of Isfahan , and captured the city after the Battle of Gulnabad and proclaimed himself King of Persia. The Afghan dynasty was ousted from Persia by Nader Shah after the 1729 Battle of Damghan . In 1738, Nader Shah and his forces captured Kandahar in

40200-424: Was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush . Aśvakan literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or " cavalrymen " (from aśva , the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse"). Historically, the ethnonym Afghān was used to refer to ethnic Pashtuns . The Arabic and Persian form of the name, Afġān , was first attested in the 10th-century geography book Hudud al-'Alam . The last part of

40401-444: Was times of simultaneous peace and rebellion in various parts of the empire. In general, the Seleucids allowed local religions to operate undisturbed, such as incorporating Babylonian religious tenets , to gain support. Tensions around the integration of Judaism were present during the reign of the Seleucid governments. Though previous governments had managed a relatively seamless integration of Judean religious and cultural practices,

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