Afghanistan Timeline Highlights:
B.C.
1500 – The Vedek civilization first settled in the area.
700 – The Medes conquer the region.
330 – Alexander the Great conquers Afghanistan on his way to India. He founded the city of Kandahar, originally called Alexandria.
150 – The Mauryan Empire of India conquers most of Afghanistan.
CE
642 – Arabs conquer Afghanistan and introduce Islam. Many independent tribes remain in the eastern part of the region.
998 – Mahmud of Ghazni comes to power. He expanded the Ghaznavid empire to include all of Afghanistan and much of its surrounding areas.
1040 – The Ghaznavids are defeated by the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Dandanakan.
1148 – The Ghaznavid dynasty is overthrown by the Guli dynasty.1219 – Genghis Khan leads the Mongol army to invade Afghanistan. Many cities have been looted and destroyed.
1370 – Afghanistan becomes part of the Timurid Empire of the Mongol Empire. Herat becomes the metropolis of the empire. Tamerlane will rebuild much of what Genghis Khan destroyed.
1504 – Babur conquers Kabul. He later established the Mughal Empire, which would rule from Afghanistan to southern India.
1738 – Nader Shah leads the Afsharids to victory in Kandahar.
1747 – Ahmad Shah Durrani establishes the Durrani Empire. This is considered the founding of the modern state of Afghanistan. Ahmad Shah Durrani is often referred to as the “Founding Father of Afghanistan”.
1776 – Capital moved from Kandahar to Kabul.
1809 – A treaty is signed with England.
1826 – Dost Mohammad Khan proclaims himself Emir of Afghanistan.
1839 – War breaks out between Afghanistan and the British East India Company.
1842 – 16,000 troops completely destroyed, forcing the British to retreat.1879 – After another war with Great Britain, Britain regains control of most of the country.
1893 – The Afghanistan-Pakistan border is agreed as the Durand Line.
1919 – Afghanistan declares independence from Britain.
1933 – Mohammed Zahir Shah proclaims himself King.
1953 – Prime Minister Daud introduces reforms including women’s rights.1963 – Dowd is forced to resign.
1964 – Constitution and parliament enacted.
1973 – Dowd leads a coup to regain power. He proclaimed a republic and overthrew the monarchy.
1978 – Soviet-backed communists assassinate Daud and civil war begins. Hafizullah Amin becomes president.1979 – The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan in support of the communist government. You killed President Amin.
1980 – The Soviet Union goes to war against Afghan rebels called the Mujahideen.
1988 – A peace treaty is signed with the Soviet Union.
1989 – The last Soviet troops leave the country. A civil war breaks out in Afghanistan between the communist government and the Mujahideen.
1992 – The communist government falls, but civil war rages as various factions of the Mujahideen vie for power.
1996 – An Islamic fundamentalist group called the Taliban takes control of Kabul. Introduced Islamic law forbidding women from working or walking around without a man. Violators will be stoned to death.
1996 – The Northern Alliance is formed against the Taliban.
2001 – The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks killed approximately 3,000 people in the United States. The attack is led by al Qaeda, an Islamist terrorist group based in Afghanistan. President George Bush has called on the Taliban to hand over al Qaeda leaders and close terrorist camps. When the Taliban refuse, the US and UN begin bombing Afghanistan.
2004 – Hamid Karzai is elected president.
2010 – US President Barack Obama sends additional troops to Afghanistan.
2011 – Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is captured and killed.
Afghanistan History Highlights:
The region of present-day Afghanistan is sometimes referred to as the hub of Central Asia. It is surrounded by big and powerful countries like India, Pakistan and Russia. The country has changed hands over the centuries as new empires have risen and ruled. Before Alexander the Great died in 328 BC. Afghanistan was under the control of the Persian Empire when it entered the region. Over the next millennium, various invaders conquered this land while migrating to other regions. Among them were the Huns, Turks, Arabs and finally the Mongol invasion by Genghis Khan in 1219.
Over the next few centuries, the region was ruled by various warlords and chieftains, with Ahmad Shah in 1747 vying for power until Durrani seized power. He contributed to the unification of what is now Afghanistan. In 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. They supported the Kalmar regime. However, the country was a difficult place for war, and the rebels still persisted. In the years that followed, they harassed and fought Soviet troops, further complicating peace in the country.
The Soviet Union finally got tired of fighting and withdrew in 1989. When the Soviet Union left, no one was responsible. The country fell into anarchy and was ruled by various warlords. The Taliban came to power in his mid-1990s. They remained in power until 2001, when the United States, along with the United Nations, decided to eliminate the Taliban for the purpose of training and harboring terrorists. The war continues as of 2014.