Afghanistan Chronology

From Missiopedia

See also Afghanistan.

• 50. Kushan rule under King Kanishka.
• 1st century. Graeco-Buddhist Gandharan culture reaches its height.
• 220. Kushan empire fragments into dynasties.
• 5th century. Bishop in Herat.
• 400. Invasion of White Huns destroys Buddhist culture, leaves country in ruins.
• 425-550. Independent Yaftalee rule.
• 550. Persians reassert control, but Afghan tribes revolt.
• 652. Islam introduced.
• 962. Islamic era fully established with Ghaznavid dynasty (962-1140); Afghanistan becomes the center of Islamic power and civilization.
• 1030. Mahmud Ghazni dies; in the power vacuum, conflicts between potential successors causes the empire to crumble.
• 1140. Ghorid leaders from central Afghanistan capture and burn Ghazni, then move on to conquer India.
• 1219. Genghis Khan invades, destroys irrigation systems, turns fertile soil into permanent deserts.
• 1273. Marco Polo crosses Afghan Turkistan.
• 1451. Afghan Buhlul invades Delhi, seizes throne, founds Lodi dynasty.
• 1504. Babur, founder of the Moghul dynasty, takes control of Kabul (1504-1519).
• 1579. Intellectual Bayazid Roshan revolts against Moghuls and is killed but sparks continuing independence struggle.
• 1613-1689. Khushhal Khan Khattak (Afghan warrior-poet) starts a national uprising against the Moghuls.
• 1708. Mir Wais achieves Kandahar independence from Safavid Persia (which had ruled it since 1622).
• 1715. Wais dies.
• 1722. Wais' son Mir Mahmud invades Persia, occupies Isfahan; Durranis revolt, terminate Persian occupation of Heart.
• 1725. Mir Mahmud dies mysteriously 1725; Afghans begin losing control of Persia.
• 1736. Nadir Shah (head of Persia) occupies southwest Afghanistan 1736.
• 1738. Shah takes Kandahar.
• 1747. Shah assassinated. Afghans rise once more under leadership of Ahmad Shah Abdali, retake Kandahar, establish modern Afghanistan.
• 1774-1773. Rule of Ahmad Shah Abdali; consolidates and enlarges Afghanistan, defeats Moghuls west of Indus, takes Heart from Persians, establishes empire from Central Asia to Delhi and Kashmir to Arabian Sea, becomes greatest Muslim empire in the second half of the 18th century.
• 1760s. Rule of Ahmad Shah Abdali.
• 1773-1793. Rule of Timur Shah. Capital transferred to Kabul. Constant internal revolts.
• 1790-1801. Rule of Zaman Shah. Constant internal revolts.
• 1795. Persians invade Khurasan.
• 1801-1803. Rule of Mahmood. Constant internal revolts.
• 1803-1809. Rule of Shah Shujah.
• 1805. Persian attack fails.
• 1809-1818. Mahmood returns to the throne. Indecisive war with Persia.
• 1819-1826. Sons of Timur Shah struggle for the throne: civil war and anarchy. Afghans lose Sind permanently; Dost Mohammad Khan takes Kabul and establishes control 1826.
• 1832. Persia invades Khurasan, threatens Heart. Afghans successfully defend Heart but lose Peshawar to Sikhs.
• 1834. Afghans successfully attack Sikhs and defeat armies but fail to retake Peshawar.
• 1836. Dost Mohammad Khan proclaimed Amir al-mu'minin (commander of the faithful), nearly reunifies Afghanistan when the British in collaboration with the ex-king Shah Shujah invade Afghanistan.
• 1839-1842. First Anglo-Afghan War. Amir Dost Mohammad Khan surrenders to British, deported to India; Shah Shuja installed as a puppet king by the British; assassinated by Afghans 1842; Afghans continue struggle against British; Akbar Khan (Afghan hero) victorious against British; one British survivor (out of 30,000) from British-Indian garrison reaches fort in Jalalabad 1842.
• 1843. After annihilation of British troops, Afghanistan becomes independent and Dost Mohammad Khan comes back and occupies the royal throne 1843-1863.
• 1845. Akbar Khan dies.
• 1855. Dost Mohammad Khan signs peace treaty with India.
• 1859. British take Baluchistan, leaving Afghanistan completely landlocked.
• 1863. Sher Ali (Dost Mohammad Khan's son) succeeds to throne.
• 1866. Russia takes Bukhara, Tashkent, Samarkand; Mohammad Afzal takes occupies Kabul and proclaims himself Amir 1866, dies 1867.
• 1867. Mohammad Azram succeeds to the throne.
• 1868. Mohammad Azram flees to Persia; Sherh Ali reasserts control.
• 1873. Russia establishes boundary with Afghanistan.
• 1878. British invade, start of Second Anglo-Afghan War.
• 1879. Sher Ali dies in Mazar-i-Sharif and Amir Muhammad Yaqub Khan takes over until 1879, gives up Kurram, Khyber, Michni, Pishin, Sibi to British, territories lost permanently.
• 1880s. Battle of Maiwand; heroine Malalai; Abdur Rahman takes throne of Afghanistan as Amir; British withdraw while retaining right to handle Afghanistan's foreign relations; Rahman establishes fixed borders but loses much land; Nuristan converted to Islam;
• 1885. Panjdesh Incident: Russian forces seize Panjdeh Oasis but promise to honor Afghan territorial integrity in the future.
• 1893. Durand line fixes borders of Afghanistan and British India, splits Afghan tribal areas, leaving half of Afghans in what is modern Pakistan.
• 1895. Afghanistan's northern border fixed by Russia.
• 1901. Abdur Rahman dies, succeeded by son Habibullah.
• 1907. Slow steps to modernization; Russia & Great Britain sign convention of St Petersburg removing Afghanistan from Russian sphere of influence.
• 1918. Journalism introduced by creation of several newspapers.
• 1919. Habibullah assassinated, succeeded by son Amanullah; first museum created at Baghe Bala.
• 1920s. Third Anglo-Afghan War 1921, British defeated, Afghans gain full control of foreign affairs; Amanullah Khan initiates ambitious modernization, changes title to Padshah (King) 1923; overthrown by Habibullah Kalakani 1929.
• 1930s. Mahmud Tarzi seeks asylum in Turkey; rise and fall of Habibullah Kalakani, killed by Nadir Khan; Nadir Khan takes throne, tribal army loots government buildings and houses of wealthy because treasury is empty 1929; Nadir Khan abolishes reforms set forth by Amanullah Khan 1930; Nadir assassinated 1933; Zahir Khan inherits throne 1933-1973 with uncles serving as prime ministers and advisors until 1953; USA recognizes Afghanistan 1934; State Bank incorporated 1938.
• 1940s. World War II: Zahir Shah proclaims neutrality; British withdraw from India 1947; Pakistan carved out of Indian and Afghan lands; Durand treaty denounced, no longer recognized 1949; Pahstuns try for independence but ignored.
• 1950s. Prince Mohammad Daoud becomes Prime Minister 1953; US refuses Afghan request for military equipment, Daoud turns to USSR for military aid, Pashtuns become restless 1955; USSR, Bulgaria agrees to military aid to Afghanistan 1956; Purdah is made optional, and women begin to enroll in Universities 1959; women enter workforce, government 1959.
• 1960s. Pakistan and Afghanistan come close to war over Pashtunistan issue 1961; Zahir Shah demands Daoud's resignation 1963, Dr. Mohammad Yusof becomes Prime Minister; Afghan Communist Party formed by Babrak Karmal, others 1965; first nationwide elections 1965; Karmal elected to Parliament, later instigates riots, Zahir/Yussof form second government; second nationwide elections 1969; Babrak and Hafizullah Amin elected.
• 1970s. Mohammad Moussa becomes Prime Minister 1972; while Zahir Shah on vacation in Europe, government overthrown by military coup headed by Afghan Communist Party 1973; Daoud Khan abolishes monarchy, declares himself President, establishes Republic 1973; Heart named as world cultural heritage city by UNESCO 1974; Daoud Khan presents new constitution, confirms women's rights, starts to oust suspected opponents 1975-77; bloody Communist coup 1978, Daoud killed, Taraki named President, Karam becomes deputy Prime Minister, mass arrests, tortures, Afghan flag changed, treaty of friendship with USSR; mujahideen movement born June 1978; mass killings 1979, US ambassador killed, Taraki killed, Hafizullah Amin takes Presidency, Amin executed, replaced by Babrak Karmal, USSR invades in December 1979.
• 1980s. Dr. Najibullah brought back from USSR to run secret police 1980; UN sends human rights investigators 1984; babrak Karmal is replaced by Dr. Najibullah 1986; Najibullah proposes cease-fire, mujahideen refuse to deal, make gains, eminent defeat of USSR 1987; peace accord signed in Geneva 1988; USSR withdraws 1989, having lost 40,000 to 50,000 Soviets; mujahideen continue to fight Najibullah regime; Sibhhatullah Mojadidi elected as head of government in exile 1989.
• 1990s. Mujahideen take Kabul 1992; Najibullah protected by UN, exiled; Mujahideen form Islamic state; Iranian and Pakistani interference and increased fighting 1992; Burhannudin Rabbani elected President; Taliban militia born 1994, rapidly moves against Rabbani government; Dostum and Hekmatyar clash with Rabbani government, Kabul reduced to rubble; Massive gains by Taliban 1995; Hekmatyar eliminated as military power, returns to Kabul to rule as prime minister; Taliban force Rabbani and government of Kabul, capture Najibullah, execute him, institute strict fundamentalist regime 1996; earthquake in northeast Aghanistan kills 4,000 1998; Taliban capture Mazar-i-Sharif, massacre civilians (mostly Hazaras); US launches cruise missiles at suspected Osama bin Laden base; tensions between Iran and Taliban over Mazar-i-Sharif but no fighting; earthquake strikes east 1999; ex-king calls for Loya Jirga but Taliban ridicule the idea; sanctions against Afghanistan for support of bin Laden 1999.
• 2000s Taliban-aided al-Qaeda terrorist group attacks USA 2001; USA attacks Taliban, al-Qaeda locations in Afghanistan 2001-02; new government established 2002.