Afghanistan

Afghanis, though hosting a potpourri of clan, race and culture have one common ideal amongst them, and that is their spirit of independence which defies even the thought of being ruled or subjugated. / They don’t regard Americans, Russians or Europeans as enemies, but their outlook toward foreign presence in their homeland is similar toward Arabs who have been trying to rule them for the past few decades in the name of Islam, and that outlook is disgust and bitterness with a sense of hopelessness. / To understand their fear, plight or behavior, it would be beneficial for the peace of the world, if we could have a brief overview of the history of Afghanistan. / This land and its people have endured centuries of raids, massacres, marauders and fortune-hunters, and yet have remained resilient in their spirit of independence against the hurricanes of woe, tragedy and devastation./ No one has ever been able to rule the fierce tribes of this land inundated with wild, treacherous valleys and terrains with the exception of Babur, the first Moghul of India./ Babur and later Moghuls in succession safeguarded Kabul as their precious Jewel to polish and preserve until the sixth Moghul emperor in line lost this jewel as well as the jewel of India by the grand folly of his zeal, savagery and intolerance./ Roundabout of the ancient Afghanistan/ 2000 BC-1500 BC/ Aryans came to Afghanistan—the time of Rigveda/ 628 BC/ Zoroaster introduces new religion in Balkh/ 330 BC-323 BC/ Alexander conquers Persia, Afghanistan/ 120 AD/ Buddhist culture flourishes under king Kanishka. / Buddha first given a human face one hundred and seventy-five feet in width and one hundred and twenty feet tall at the mountain of Bamiyan./ 400/ Invasion of White Huns. /They destroy the Buddhist culture, and leave most of Afghanistan in ruins./ 642/ Arabs invaded Afghanistan from the western city of Herat, introducing the religion of Islam./ 970/ Mohammed Ghazni consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and turned the city of Ghazni in Afghanistan into a cultural center as well as a base for frequent forays into India./ 1219-1221/ Mongol invasion by Genghis Khan with a massive destruction of the cities of Herat, Balkh and Bamiyan. / 1273/ Marco Polo discovers silk route on his voyage from Italy to China./ 1393/ Tamerlane conquers Afghanistan./ He chooses the city of Herat as his capital, rebuilding most of the Afghanistan’s infrastructure destroyed by his ancestor. His tomb is in Samarkand. / 1504-1530/ Babur is the undisputed lord of Kabul—king and padishah. /The city of Kandahar ruled by the Persians. /Kabul in possession of the Moghuls till Year 1709/ 1709-1738/ Mir Wais Hotak frees Kandahar from the Persians. / Later, Hotak’s son Mahmud Hotaki conquers Isfahan, the capital of Persia, assuming the title of Persian Shah. / Hotaki begins the reign of terror and is murdered by his cousin Ashraf Khan, who becomes the new Afghan leader. / Hotaki’s brother Shah Husayn rules Kandahar./ Nadir Shah from Persia conquers Kandahar, Ghazni, Kabul and Lahore./ 1747-1826/ Ahmad Shah Durrani, a Pashtun from the Abdali clan elected king in a loya jirga after the assassination of Nadir Shah./ He establishes the modern state of Afghanistan from his capital of Kandahar, uniting the fragmented provinces into one country./ His rule extended from Mashad in the west to Kashmir and Delhi in the east, and from Amu Darya (Oxus) River in the north to the Arabian sea in the south. / All the successive rulers till the Year 1818 were from the Durrani’s Pashtun tribal confederation./ 1826-1838/ Dost Mahmud gains control in Kabul./ The Great Game of British and Russian Empires sue for power and influence in Afghanistan. / Dost Mahmud is deposed by British, while the city of Herat is besieged by the Persians in the Year 1837 to retake Afghanistan from the clutches of British and Russia / 1839-1842/ First Anglo-Afghan war with British. Mohammad Akbar defeats British./ 1843/ Dost Mohammed returns, Afghanistan declares independence./ 1865/ Russia occupies Bokhara, Tashkent and Samarkand./ 1878/ Second Anglo-Afghan war with British. / Amir Sher Ali refuses to accept British mission in Kabul. / This conflict brings Amir Abdur Rahman to the throne while the British and Russians establish the boundaries of Afghanistan./ 1880/ Afghan woman by the name of Malalai carries Afghan flag forward after the soldiers carrying the flag are killed by the British./ 1919/ Abdur Rahman’s son and successor are assassinated./ Amanullah Khan takes control of Afghanistan./ Third Anglo-Afghan war with British. / The British relinquish control over foreign affairs by signing a treaty at Rawalpindi./ August 1919 becomes the Day of Independence for Afghanistan./ 1919-1929/ Amanullah Khan’s father-in-law and foreign minister gains support of Loya Jirga in implementing Article 68 of Afghanistan’s first constitution, which made elementary education compulsory./ Amanullah Khan was forced to abdicate in Year 1929 by the forces led by Habibullah Kalakani./ 1929-1973/ Amanullah’s cousin Nadir Shah defeats Habibullah Kalakani and becomes the king of Afghanistan./ In Year 1933 Nadir Shah is assassinated by a Kabul student in revenge killing, and his son Zahir Shah succeeds as the king of Afghanistan./ 1973-1978/ Daoud Khan succeeds as a ruler over the Republic of Afghanistan in a military coup against Zahir Shah. / The communist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan splits into factions, one led by Nur Muhammad Taraki and Hafizullah Amin, and the other by Babrak Karmal. / 1978-1979/ The regime of Daoud Khan was overthrown by Nur Muhammad Takaki and Babrak Karmal. / Afghanistan becomes the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under the rule of Nur Muhammad Taraki. / Many decrees were issued under the rule of Taraki, amongst them the rights of women. / Anahita Ratebzad—a leader of the Marxist group and a member of revolutionary council reported in the Year 1978 in the famous New Kabul editorial: Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country. / Educating and enlightening women now is the subject of close government attention./ Meanwhile USSR sets foothold in Afghanistan by contacting to build roads, schools and hospitals. / A band of students dubbed as Mujahideen, funded by United States government to weaken the power of USSR rebel against the new reforms in Afghanistan. / Amidst the bouts of violent uprising Nur Muhammad Taraki is overthrown by Hafizullah Amin, and Russians send troops to invade Afghanistan./ 1979-1989/ Nine years of soviet war and occupation against Mujahideen leads to civil war./ Meanwhile America, CIA, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia supporting and assisting Mujahideen, including the Yemeni Arab by the name of Osama Bin Laden. / During this time of chaos and warring factions, power shifts from Karmal to Najibullah and to Mujahideen./ 1992/ Civil war in Afghanistan, the collapse of Soviet Union, and Najibullah government overthrown by Mujahideen. / Mujahideen seize Kabul./ 1996-2001/ Mulla Omar rules Afghanistan./ 2001 December/ Hamid Karzai becomes the leader of Afghanistan./ Babur biography:/ Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur was born on February 14 1483 in the town of Andijan, in the Ferghana Valley which is in eastern Uzbekistan. / Ferghana Valley is about four hundred and twenty kilometer east of Tashkent, and seventy-five kilometer west of Andijan. / At the southern tip of Central Asia it cuts across the borders of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan./ During sixteenth and seventeenth century Afghanistan’s north kingdom of Balkh was ruled by Uzbeks. /West was ruled by Safavid rulers from Persia./ East was under the sway of the Moghuls. / Babur’s father Omar Sheikh was the king of the Valley of Ferghana. / After Omar Sheikh’s death, Babur on the rung of twelve summers was thrown into the jungles of warfare against his uncles and Uzbeks. / Babur lost Ferghana—the pearl of Uzbekistan while striving toward possessing Samarkand—the pearl of the East. /He won and lost Samarkand three times, and conquered Kabul in Year 1504. / Under his reign Kabul flourished as the center of poetry and literature, commemorating this land enriched by poets, saints, philosophers and astronomers./ The most famous amongst them Rabia, Rumi, Jami and Ulugh Beg. / Rabia in tenth century was born in the city of Balkh in Afghanistan and settled in the city of Basra in Iraq./ Rumi in thirteenth century was born and educated in Balkh in Afghanistan./ Jami in fifteenth century was born in the city of Herat in Afghanistan. / Ulugh Beg, though born in Persia became the governor of Samarkand. / He wrote accurate trigonometric tables of sine and tangent values correct to at least eight decimal places, and built his famous observatory in Samarkand./ Babur himself was a poet and an architect./ Writing poetry and his own memoirs!/ Designing palaces and planting gardens. / When he conquered Delhi and Agra in the Year 1526, becoming the first Moghul emperor of Hind, he ordered the construction of grand highway from Agra to Kabul, posting couriers every ten kilometers with a fresh supply of horses for the delivery of goods and messages./ Babur died at Agra in the Year 1530, longing for Kabul. / Later his remains were transferred to Kabul by his beloved wife Bibi Mubaraka, known as the Afghan Lady, and the emperor was buried in his own garden of Shahi-Kabul amidst glorious blooms and no monument to block the sunshine./ ‘With the slaughter of multitudes/We have grief and sorrow/Every victory is a funeral/When you win a war/You celebrate by mourning.’/ Tao Te Ching