Afghanistan

Early History

Supposedly the home of Prophet Zoroaster, Afghanistan's location on trading routes to China lent it value to various empires of the past, and it was incorporated into Cyrus the Great's Achaemenid Empire and later conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BCE. Buddhism was introduced to the region under the Mauryan Empire, which ruled from the fourth to the second century BCE, and those practices endured through the Sassanid Empire to the sixth century CE. The ‘Abbāsid Dynasty gained dominance in the seventh century, and through the ninth century, the inhabitants of the area were mostly converted to Sunnī Islam. Meanwhile, agricultural conditions brought many to settle in the Hindu Kush area, and they began to assimilate into the already thriving Pashtun culture.

Following the weakening of the ‘Abbāsid Caliphate in the ninth century, Afghanistan began to be ruled by local dynasties such as the Samanids, who preferred and promoted the Shi'a tradition. The area was conquered by Genghis Khan in the 13th century, but his rule did not displace the Islamic faith that had taken hold. By the time the dynasty's reign had concluded, most of Genghis Khan's descendants and successors had converted to the faith. The Mughal emperor Zahir ud-din Muhammad Babur captured Kabul from the Mongols in 1504, and though his center of political power was in India, he expressed his love for the land of Afghanistan in his memoirs.

The Mughal rule, Islamic in character, lasted until the 18th century. During this period, Afghanistan saw regular warfare between the Mughals and the Safavids as well as the Uzbeks of Central Asia. The Pashtuns were able to gain concessions from all sides of the conflict as Kandahar changed hands several times. While the Pashtun Hotaki Dynasty was able to give Afghanistan indigenous rule for a short time, they were ousted by the armies of Nadir Shah of Persia in 1738. None of the myriad governors attempted to alter the religious attitude of the region, but its Muslim character would be challenged by communist zeal during the Cold War.

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