178-732: The history of Afghanistan , preceding the establishment of the Emirate of Afghanistan in 1823 is shared with that of neighbouring Iran , Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent . The Sadozai monarchy ruled the Afghan Durrani Empire , considered the founding state of modern Afghanistan . Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, and the country's strategic location along
356-699: A Khalqist stronghold, controlled the Sarandoy , or officially, the "Defenders of the Revolution", which was a militarized Gendarmerie force. The Ministry of Tribes and Frontiers controlled, until 1983 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence, the frontier troops and the tribal militia. According to the Afghan government, the Sarandoy mustered an estimated 115,000 males at its peak. Those who worked in
534-583: 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 a communist revolution established a socialist state , and subsequent infighting prompted the Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan in 1979. Mujahideen fought against
712-574: A coalition government. The new parliament was bicameral , and consisted of a Senate (Sena) and a House of Representatives ( Wolesi Jirga ). The president was to be indirectly elected to a 7-year term. A parliamentary election was held in 1988 . The PDPA won 46 seats in the House of Representatives and controlled the government with support from the National Front , which won 45 seats, and from various newly recognized left-wing parties, which had won
890-627: A commission working on a new constitution was established. There were 65 members of this commission, and they came from all walks of life. Due to his death, his constitution was never finished. In April 1980, under Babrak Karmal , the Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan were made law. The constitution was devoid of any references to socialism or communism , and instead laid emphasis on independence, Islam and liberal democracy . Religion
1068-638: A deliberate power-sharing between the two bodies; few Presidium members were ministers. It was the PDPA (perhaps with the involvement of the Soviets) which appointed and decided the membership of the Council of Ministers. An Afghan dissident who had previously worked in the office of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers reported that all topics up for discussion in the Council of Ministers had to be approved by
1246-483: A fragment of Neanderthal right temporal bone , suggest that early humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 52,000 years ago. A cave called Kara Kamar contained Upper Paleolithic blades Carbon-14 dated at 34,000 years old. Farming communities in Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world. Artifacts indicate that the indigenous people were small farmers and herdsmen, very probably grouped into tribes, with small local kingdoms rising and falling through
1424-632: A greater say in Afghanistan's foreign policy. Meanwhile, he signed the Treaty of Gandamak with the British on 26 May 1879, relinquishing solely the control of Afghanistan foreign affairs to the British Empire . However, when the British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari was killed in Kabul on 3 September 1879, the British offered to accept Abdur Rahman Khan as Emir. The British concluded a peace treaty with
1602-688: A group of Central Asian tribes. Four of the Huna tribe conquered and ruled Afghanistan: the Kidarites , Hephthalites , Alchon Huns and the Nezaks . The Kidarites were a nomadic clan, the first of the four Huna people in Afghanistan. They are supposed to have originated in Western China and arrived in Bactria with the great migrations of the second half of the 4th century. The Alchons are one of
1780-494: A inability to equip the estimated 170 thousand strong militias Najibullah set up through his reconciliation policies. In March 1992, Najibullah offered his government's immediate resignation, and following an agreement with the United Nations (UN), his government was replaced by an interim government. In mid-April Najibullah accepted a UN plan to hand power to a seven-man council. A few days later, on 14 April, Najibullah
1958-506: A large percentage of the population remained illiterate. Beginning with the Soviet intervention in 1979, successive wars virtually destroyed the nation's education system. Most teachers fled during the wars to neighboring countries. Afghan refugees are Afghan nationals who have fled their country as a result of the ongoing Afghan conflict . An estimated 6 million people have fled the country, most to neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, making it
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#17327757465622136-461: A member of the front. The National Fatherland Front (NFF) held its founding congress in June 1981, after being postponed on several occasions. The founding congress, which was planned to last four days, lasted only one. Within one month of its founding, 27 senior members had been assassinated by the mujahideen . Due to this, the organisation took time to establish itself; its first Provincial Committee
2314-539: A possible 344th Commando Brigade in 1980. The 26th Airborne Battalion was created from the 242nd and 455th Commando Battalions after the Saur Revolution. They were deemed politically unreliable, and on 5 August 1979, they (along with soldiers from the 444th Commando Brigade) initiated a rebellion against the PDPA government, the Bala Hissar uprising . As a result of the rebellion, the 26th Airborne Battalion
2492-656: A power struggle began between two PDPA factions: the hardline Khalq , led by Taraki and Amin; and the moderate Parcham , led by Babrak Karmal . The Khalqists eventually emerged victorious and subsequently purged the bulk of the Parchamite ranks, while also exiling most of the prominent Parcham leaders to the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc . Following the Khalq–Parcham conflict, a power struggle arose within
2670-683: A power struggle developed between them for control of the Afghan Army. Following the 1979 Herat uprising , the Revolutionary Council and the PDPA Politburo established the Homeland Higher Defence Council. Taraki was elected its chairman, while Amin became its deputy. Amin's appointment, and the acquisition of the premiership (as Chairman of the Council of Ministers), was not a step further up
2848-523: A powerful king who maintained his rule over the rest of Gandhāra and the western Punjab. The Kambojas entered into conflict with Alexander the Great as he invaded Central Asia. The Macedonian conqueror made short shrift of the arrangements of Darius and after over-running the Achaemenid Empire he dashed into today's eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. There he encountered resistance from
3026-543: A report, that the new government would be ambivalent, or even worse hostile, towards the United States. Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the Battle of Jalalabad was fought between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen ; the government forces, to the surprise of many, repulsed the attack and won the battle. This trend would not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on
3204-543: A total of 24 seats. Although the election was boycotted by the Mujahideen , the government left 50 of the 234 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a small number of seats in the Senate, vacant in the hope that the guerrillas would end their armed struggle and participate in the government. The only armed opposition party to make peace with the government was Hizbollah, a small Shi'a party not to be confused with
3382-450: A very close relationship at the beginning, the relationship soon deteriorated. Amin, who had helped to create a personality cult centered on Taraki, soon became disgusted with the shape it took and with Taraki, who had begun to believe in his own brilliance. Taraki began dismissing Amin's suggestions, fostering in Amin a deep sense of resentment. As their relationship turned increasingly sour,
3560-583: Is known for his struggles in defending his kingdom against the Ghaznavids in the modern-day eastern Afghanistan region. Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of Ghazni both in the reign of Sabuktigin and in that of his son Mahmud , which initiated the Muslim Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles. Sabuktigin, however, defeated him, and he
3738-512: The Indian and Iranian cultural spheres made the area a center for, Buddhism , Hinduism , Zoroastrianism and later Islam throughout history. The Durrani Empire is considered to be the foundational polity of the modern nation state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad Shah Durrani being credited as its Father of the Nation . However, Dost Mohammad Khan is sometimes considered to be the founder of
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#17327757465623916-583: The Afghan Air Force and heavy artillery regiments that lasted until June. As with the army, the majority of officers in the Afghan Air Force were Khalqists , but Parchamites held all the senior positions. Many in the Air Force were given education and training in the Soviet Union. The Air Force had throughout its history always been smaller than the Army. The Afghan Air Force was considered
4094-664: The Battle of Peshawar , he committed suicide because his subjects thought he had brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty. Jayapala was succeeded by his son Anandapala , who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various campaigns against the advancing Ghaznavids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the Kashmir Sivalik Hills . In 642 CE, Rashidun Arabs had conquered most of West Asia from
4272-586: The British withdrawal in 1842 and Dost Mohammad being reinstalled to the throne. However, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880), the British and Afghans signed the Treaty of Gandamak , which allowed the British to assume control of the Afghan territories within modern-day Pakistan as well as of Afghanistan's foreign affairs, on the condition that a subsidy be paid to the Afghans and
4450-523: The British withdrawing ; unable to subjugate the country, they forged greater ties instead, allowing Dost Mohammad to move toward uniting the dis-united state of Afghanistan, which split from the Durrani Civil wars brought on by the sons of Timur Shah . Upon the death of Dost Mohammad in 1863, he was succeeded by his son, Sher Ali Khan . However, three years later, his older brother Mohammad Afzal Khan overthrew him . In 1868, Mohammad Afzal Khan
4628-525: The Buddha (563 BCE to 483 BCE), as recorded by Husang Tsang . In this context a legend recorded by Husang Tsang refers to the first two lay disciples of Buddha, Trapusa and Bhallika responsible for introducing Buddhismin that country. Originally these two were merchants of the kingdom of Balhika, as the name Bhalluka or Bhallika probably suggests the association of one with that country. They had gone to India for trade and had happened to be at Bodhgaya when
4806-537: The Buddha had just attained enlightenment. The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom was a Hellenistic kingdom, founded when Diodotus I , the satrap of Bactria (and probably the surrounding provinces) seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BCE. The Greco-Bactria Kingdom continued until c. 130 BCE, when Eucratides I 's son, King Heliocles I , was defeated and driven out of Bactria by the Yuezhi tribes from
4984-432: The Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union, and one-child families or low earners. Unfortunately for the government, most people tried to evade conscription. So the government was forced to send army or police gangs to recruit civilians to service. Even so, some people carried fake papers so they could evade conscription. A side effect of the lack of recruits was that veterans were forced into longer service, or re-recruited. Of
5162-484: The First Anglo-Afghan War , fought between 1838 and 1842. During the war, Britain occupied the capital, Kabul, of the then called Emirate of Kabul, in an effort to prevent Afghanistan from coming under Russian control and curb Russian expansion , while also keeping Afghanistan in the British fold under a puppet leader, Shah Shujah Durrani . The war ended with Dost Mohammad returning to the throne, with
5340-734: The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , and Alexei Kosygin , the Soviet Chairman of the Council of Ministers , congratulated Karmal on his "election" as leader, before any Afghan state or party organ had elected him to anything. When he came to power, Karmal promised an end to executions, the establishment of democratic institutions and free elections,
5518-610: The Gupta Empire from eastern India in the 4th century. The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its eponymous first ruler Gondophares . They ruled parts of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan , and northwestern India , during or slightly before the 1st century CE. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings held Taxila (in the present Punjab province of Pakistan) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence
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5696-785: The Homeland Party government in Kabul. The last Soviet aid came in October, with all Russian aid being cut by the new President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin in January 1992. Correctly fearing that a Mujahedeen victory could lead to the new government backing Islamists against the former Soviet Central Asian republics, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan provided food aid to the Najibullah government. The end of weapon exports however led to
5874-590: The Indus Valley Civilisation . Urban civilization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE and it is possible that the early city of Mundigak (near Kandahar ) was a part of Helmand culture . The first known people were Indo-Iranians , but their date of arrival has been estimated widely from as early as about 3000 BCE to 1500 BCE. (For further detail see Indo-Iranians .) The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex became prominent between 2200 and 1700 BCE (approximately). The city of Balkh ( Bactra )
6052-559: The KGB Chairman , supported this position. This stance, if implemented, would be a betrayal of the Geneva Accords just signed. Najibullah was against any type of Soviet withdrawal. A few Soviet troops remained after the Soviet withdrawal; for instance, parachutists who protected the Soviet embassy staff, military advisors and special forces and reconnaissance troops still operated in the "outlying provinces", especially along
6230-606: The Kar faction led by Dastagir Panjsheri , who later became a Khalqist, and Settam-e-Melli formed and led by Tahir Badakhshi . The Settam-e-Melli was a part of the insurgency against the PDPA government. In 1979, a Settam-e-Melli group killed Adolph Dubs , the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan . Ideologically Settam-e-Melli was very close to the Khalqist faction, but Settam-e-Melli opposed what they saw as
6408-473: The Kingdom of Afghanistan . 34°32′N 69°08′E / 34.533°N 69.133°E / 34.533; 69.133 Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan , later known as the Republic of Afghanistan , was the Afghan state between 1978 and 1992 . It was bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, by Iran to the west, by the Soviet Union to
6586-634: The Maurya Empire , which was led by Chandragupta Maurya . The Mauryas further entrenched Hinduism and introduced Buddhism to the region, and were planning to capture more territory of Central Asia until they faced local Greco-Bactrian forces. Seleucus is said to have reached a peace treaty with Chandragupta by giving control of the territory south of the Hindu Kush to the Mauryas upon intermarriage and 500 elephants. Alexander took these away from
6764-626: The Muslim world and the Western Bloc , the country rapidly destabilized, resulting in widespread civilian casualties and the creation of millions of refugees , most of whom fled to Pakistan and Iran. In April 1980, the "Fundamental Principles" (comprising a constitution) were introduced by Karmal's administration, and several non-PDPA members were allowed into the government to broaden the country's support base. However, these policies ultimately failed to bring peace to Afghanistan, and in 1986, Karmal
6942-831: The Northern Alliance during the Third Afghan Civil War before collapsing to the United States invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. This Islamic Emirate would be re-established after the end of the War in Afghanistan in August 2021. Mohammad Daoud Khan , the President of the Republic of Afghanistan from 1973 to 1978, was ousted during the Saur Revolution (April Revolution) following
7120-646: The PDPA Central Committee . Under him was Babrak Karmal , the leader of the Parcham faction, as Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Council and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Amin as Council of Ministers deputy chairman and Minister of Foreign Affairs , and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar as Council of Ministers deputy chairman. The appointment of Karmal, Amin and Watanjar as Council of Ministers deputy chairmen proved unstable, and it led to three different governments being established within
7298-550: The Sasanian Empire , since Shapur I extended his authority eastwards into Afghanistan and the previously autonomous Kushans were obliged to accept his suzerainty . From around 370, however, towards the end of the reign of Shapur II , the Sasanians lost the control of Bactria to invaders from the north. These were the Kidarites , the Hephthalites , the Alchon Huns , and the Nezaks : The four Huna tribes to rule Afghanistan. These invaders initially issued coins based on Sasanian designs. The Hunas were peoples who were of
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7476-399: The shahada , an Islamic creed. Taraki's Government initiated a land reform on 1 January 1979, which attempted to limit the amount of land a family could own. Those whose landholdings exceeded the limit saw their property requisitioned by the government without compensation. The Afghan leadership believed the reform would meet with popular approval among the rural population while weakening
7654-448: The 1988 Geneva Accords , and the Soviet Union and the United States signed as guarantors; the treaty specifically stated that the Soviet military had to withdraw from Afghanistan by 15 February 1989. During a Politburo meeting Eduard Shevardnadze said "We will leave the country in a deplorable situation", and talked further about economic collapse, and the need to keep at least 10,000 to 15,000 troops in Afghanistan. Vladimir Kryuchkov ,
7832-498: The 60 people who graduated from Kabul University in 1982, (few male Afghans attended Kabul University between 1980 and 1983), 15 of them fled to Pakistan or began working for the mujahideen. The army's approach to conscription was carrot-and-stick . This policy was partially successful, and each year the government managed to induce 10,000 to 18,000 into the army. A general amnesty was announced in 1980 to army draft deserters from previous administrations. In 1982, students who served in
8010-400: The 666th Commando Brigade would be entirely decimated during the Battle of Khost in 1991. In 1980, the DRA also introduced three special forces battalions, one for each of the army corps. The 203rd Special Purpose Battalion was tied to the 1st Central Army Corps in Kabul , the 213th Special Purpose Battalion was tied to the 2nd Army Corps in Kandahar and the 230th Special Purpose Battalion
8188-487: The 6th century. Some of them were driven out of India and others were assimilated in the Indian society. The Nezaks are one of the four Huna people that ruled in Afghanistan. From the Middle Ages to around 1750 the eastern regions of Afghanistan such as Kabulistan and Zabulistan (now Kabul , Kandahar and Ghazni ) were recognized as being part of Indian subcontinent ( Al-Hind ), while its western parts were included in Khorasan , Tokharistan and Sistan . Two of
8366-413: The Afghan government and the Soviet military decided to solve the conflict militarily. The change from a political to a military solution came gradually. It began in January 1981: Karmal doubled wages for military personnel, issued several promotions, and one general and thirteen colonels were decorated. The draft age was lowered, the obligatory length of military duty was extended, and the age for reservists
8544-420: The Afghan government, and the Soviet military—the degeneration of training for new military recruits; new recruits were being rushed into service, because the Afghan government and the Soviet military feared a total collapse of the government. Western analysts expected the Afghan Army to lose the Battle of Jalalabad , but contrary to their expectations, managed to repel the Mujahideen and Pakistani forces (who had
8722-406: The Afghan people. The red star, the book and communist symbols in general, were removed from the flag in 1987 under Najibullah. The new emblem, which replaced Daoud's eagle emblem, was introduced together with the flag in 1978. When Karmal introduced a new emblem in 1980, he said "it is from the pulpit that thousands of the faithful are led to the right path." The book depicted in the emblem (and
8900-421: The Afghanistan area several times between 630 and 644 CE also speaks about them. Ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area and began to assimilate much of the culture and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there. Among these were the Khalaj people which are known today as Ghilzai . The Kabul Shahi dynasties ruled the Kabul Valley and Gandhara from
9078-474: The Afghans in 1880, and withdrew again in 1881 from Afghanistan. The British, in 1893, forced Afghanistan to consent to a new border, termed the Durand Line , which cuts right through the historic Pashtun settlement region. After the war, Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, who struck down the country reformed and repressed numerous uprisings. After his death in 1901 his son Habibullah Khan succeeded as emir and continued reforms. Habibullah Khan sought reconciliation with
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#17327757465629256-463: The Afghan–Soviet border. Pakistan, under Zia ul-Haq , continued to support the Afghan mujahideen even though it was a contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. Following the Soviet withdrawal the morale of the Afghan Military was said to have actually increased. The Central Intelligence Agency stated in
9434-406: The Air Force. Other Soviet equipment and weapons were used by the government. The Czech L-39 jet trainers were the only non-Soviet equipment. The IL-28 bombers remained in very limited service, with their roles mostly being replaced by the Su-17 and Su-22 MiG-17s remained grounded by the end of the 1980s with the more modern MiG-21s taking on the mantle. The Ministry of Interior Affairs ,
9612-451: The Amu Darya flowing west through the center ( Balkh ); Sattagydia was the easternmost regions of the Achaemenid Empire, part of its Seventh tax district according to Herodotus, along with Gandārae, Dadicae and Aparytae. It is believed to have been situated east of the Sulaiman Mountains up to the Indus River in the basin around Bannu.[ ( Ghazni ); and Gandhara which corresponds to modern day Kabul , Jalalabad , and Peshawar . Alexander
9790-418: The Apostle Saint Thomas – an architect and skilled carpenter – had a long sojourn in the court of king Gondophares , had built a palace for the king at Taxila and had also ordained leaders for the Church before leaving for the Indus Valley in a chariot, for sailing out to eventually reach Malabar Coast . The Kushan Empire expanded out of Bactria (Central Asia) into the northwest of the subcontinent under
9968-462: The British military fully withdraw. Emir Amanullah Khan signed the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 following the Third Anglo-Afghan War , gaining full Afghan independence. In 1926, Amanullah Khan reformed the country as the Kingdom of Afghanistan , becoming its first King. Escalated a few years after the establishment of the emirate, the Russian and British interests were in conflict between Muhammad Shah of Iran and Dost Mohammad Khan , which led to
10146-413: The Buddhist law and served a large number of divinities." The Hephthalites (or Ephthalites), also known as the White Huns and one of the four Huna people in Afghanistan, were a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the late antiquity period. The White Huns established themselves in modern-day Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century. Led by the Hun military leader Toramana , they overran
10324-479: The Great arrived in the area of Afghanistan in 330 BCE after defeating Darius III of Persia a year earlier at the Battle of Gaugamela . His army faced very strong resistance in the Afghan tribal areas where he is said to have commented that Afghanistan is "easy to march into, hard to march out of." Although his expedition through Afghanistan was brief, Alexander left behind a Hellenic cultural influence that lasted several centuries. Several great cities were built in
10502-457: The Hindoo line, so that it might continually have to encounter fresh troops. However, the army was hopeless in battle against the western forces, particularly against the young Mahmud of Ghazni. In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the Qarakhanids north of the Hindu Kush , Jaipal attacked Ghazni once more and suffered yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day Peshawar . After
10680-424: The Hindus and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus ( Chandragupta ), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants. Some time after, as he was going to war with the generals of Alexander, a wild elephant of great bulk presented itself before him of its own accord, and, as if tamed down to gentleness, took him on its back, and became his guide in
10858-425: The Indian Ocean maritime trade with the commerce of the Silk Road through the Indus valley, encouraging long-distance trade, particularly between China and Rome . The Kushans brought new trends to the budding and blossoming Gandhara art , which reached its peak during Kushan Rule. H. G. Rowlinson commented: The Kushan period is a fitting prelude to the Age of the Guptas. By the 3rd century, their empire in India
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#173277574656211036-450: The Kamboja Aspasioi and Assakenoi tribes. The Region of the Hindu Kush that was inhabitanted by the Kambojas has gone through many rules such as Vedic Mahajanapada , Pali Kapiśi , Indo-Greeks , Kushan and Gandharans to Paristan and modern day being split between Pakistan and Eastern Afghanistan. The descendants of Kambojas have mostly been assimilated into newer identities, however, some tribes remain today that still retain
11214-407: The Kamboja. Afghanistan fell to the Achaemenid Empire after it was conquered by Darius I of Persia . The area was divided into several provinces called satrapies , which were each ruled by a governor, or satrap . These ancient satrapies included: Aria : The region of Aria was separated by mountain ranges from the Paropamisadae in the east, Parthia in the west and Margiana and Hyrcania in
11392-423: The Khalq faction itself, as Taraki and Amin increasingly contested each other's influence. Amin gained the upper hand among the Khalqists and later had Taraki killed on his orders. Due to his earlier reforms, however, Amin's rule proved to be unpopular throughout most of Afghanistan, with the country's emerging instability prompting the Soviet government to begin planning for a direct military intervention in favour of
11570-413: The Khalq faction's "Pashtun chauvinism." Settam-e-Melli followed the ideology of Maoism . When Karmal ascended to power, the Settamites relationship with the government improved, mostly due to Karmal's former good relationship with Badakhshi, who was killed by government forces in 1979. In 1983, Bashir Baghlani , a Settam-e-Melli member, was appointed Minister of Justice . Karmal had first mentioned
11748-482: The NFF had amassed 700,000 members after its founding, which later increased to one million. The majority of its members were already members of affiliated organisations, such as the Women's Council , the Democratic Youth Organisation and the trade unions, all of which were controlled by the PDPA. The membership numbers were in any case inflated . In 1984 the NFF had 67,000 members, and in 1986 its membership peaked at 112,209. In 1985 Zeary stepped down as NFF leader, and
11926-430: The PDPA Politburo. The Karmal government was "a new evolutionary phase of the great Saur Revolution ." The Fundamental Principles was not implemented in practice, and it was replaced by the 1987 constitution in a loya jirga under Muhammad Najibullah but did not have support of opposition parties. Islamic principles were embedded in the 1987 constitution. For instance, Article 2 of the constitution stated that Islam
12104-543: The PDPA agenda included: massive land reform program; the abolition of bride price; and raising the marriage age to 16 for girls and to 18 for boys. However, the mullahs and tribal chiefs in the interiors viewed compulsory education, especially for women, as going against the grain of tradition, as anti-religious, and as a challenge to male authority. This resulted in an increase in shootings of women in Western clothes, killing of PDPA reformers in rural areas, and general harassment of women social workers. Despite improvements,
12282-425: The PDPA government reformed the education system; education was stressed for both sexes, and widespread literacy programmes were set up. By 1988, women made up 40 percent of the doctors and 60 percent of the teachers at Kabul University; 440,000 female students were enrolled in different educational institutions and 80,000 more in literacy programs. In addition to introducing mass literacy campaigns for women and men,
12460-411: The PDPA government's attempt to introduce state atheism . It was shown to the public for the first time in an official rally in Kabul. The red flag introduced under Taraki was replaced in 1980, shortly after the Soviet intervention, to the more traditional colours black, red and green. The PDPA flag, which was red with a yellow seal, was retained to emphasise the difference between the party and state to
12638-431: The Parchamites, the term Parcham was, according to Taraki, a word synonymous with factionalism. On 27 June, three months after the revolution, Amin managed to outmaneuver the Parchamites at a Central Committee meeting. The meeting decided that the Khalqists had the exclusive right to formulate and decide policy, which left the Parchamites impotent. Karmal was exiled. Later, a coup planned by the Parchamites and led by Karmal
12816-691: The Parchamites. On 27 December 1979, the Soviet Union launched Operation Storm-333 , assaulting the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinating Amin, who was then replaced by Karmal. The Karmal era, which lasted from 1979 to 1986, was marked by the height of the Soviet–Afghan War. As the Soviet and Afghan militaries fought against the Afghan mujahideen , which had been bolstered by military aid from
12994-610: The Sarandoy were paid 162 dollars a month, a wage which was higher than that of Deputy Minister of National Defence before the Saur Revolution . However, the militia was less disciplined than the regular Afghan Army and were sometimes described as ruthless thugs. KhAD also had their own paramilitary forces and elite units. KhAD ran a program of creating tribal militias. Notable militias include that of General Abdul Jabar Qahraman 's Helmand and Paktia militia, General Ismatullah Muslim Achakzai Kandahar Militia and General Abdul Rashid Dostum 's Junbish Militia . During communist rule,
13172-472: The Sasanians and Byzantines, and from the western city of Herat they introduced the religion of Islam as they entered new cities. Afghanistan at that period had a number of different independent rulers, depending on the area. Ancestors of Abū Ḥanīfa , including his father, were from the Kabul region. Emirate of Afghanistan The Emirate of Afghanistan , known as the Emirate of Kabul until 1855,
13350-726: The Sasanians and invaded northwestern India, stating that they were of the same stock, "in fact as well as in name", although he contrasted the Huns with the Hephthalites, in that the Hephthalites were sedentary, white-skinned, and possessed "not ugly" features. Song Yun and Hui Zheng , who visited the chief of the Hephthalite nomads at his summer residence in Badakhshan and later in Gandhara , observed that they had no belief in
13528-399: The Soviet Union continued, as did bilateral trade. He also encouraged the development of the private sector in industry. The Five-Year Economic and Social Development Plan, which was introduced in January 1986, continued until March 1991, one year before the government's fall. According to the plan, the economy, which had grown less than 2 percent annually until 1985, would grow 25 percent under
13706-402: The Soviet Union to give economic, military and political assistance. Even if Karmal indeed wanted all this, it would be impossible to put it into practice in the presence of the Soviet Union. Most Afghans mistrusted the government at this time. Many still remembered that Karmal had said he would protect private capital in 1978, a promise later proven to be a lie. When a political solution failed,
13884-450: The Soviet Union until the very end, despite the deterioration of official relations with the Soviet Union. When the Afghan intelligence service handed Amin a report that the Soviet Union would invade the country and topple him, Amin claimed the report was a product of imperialism . His view can be explained by the fact that the Soviet Union, after several months, decided to send troops into Afghanistan. Contrary to normal Western beliefs, Amin
14062-404: The Soviet Union, and of them, between 5 and 10 percent were members of the PDPA or communists. By the time of the Soviet intervention, the officer corps had decreased to 1,100 members. This decrease can be explained by the number of purges centered on the armed forces. The purge of the military began immediately after the PDPA took power. According to Mohammad Ayub Osmani, an officer who defected to
14240-555: The Soviet Union, the Special Commission of the Politburo on Afghanistan, which consisted of Yuri Andropov , Andrei Gromyko , Dmitriy Ustinov and Boris Ponomarev , wanted to end the impression that the Soviet government supported Amin's leadership and policies. Andropov fought hard for Soviet intervention, telling Leonid Brezhnev that Amin's policies had destroyed the military and the government's capability to handle
14418-605: The Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War and continued fighting amongst themselves following the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989 . The Islamic fundamentalist Taliban controlled most of 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 and overthrowing
14596-440: The Soviets were afraid that they would contact the enemy. In Afghan helicopter flights a Soviet adviser was always present, and commanded the Afghan pilot who flew the helicopter. Among the fixed-wing aircraft in use were MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters, Su-7 , Su-17 , and Su-22 fighter-bombers, IL-28 bombers and An-2 , An-24 and An-26 transport aircraft. MI-2 , MI-4 , MI-8 , MI-24 and MI-35 helicopters were used by
14774-458: The Soviets. Under Karmal, the Khalqist's were purged and replaced by the Parcham majority in the Council of Ministers. Of the 24 members of the Council of Ministers under Karmal's chairmanship, only four were Khalqists. The PDPA constitution was written during the party's First Congress in 1965. The constitution regulated all party activities and modelled itself after the Leninist party model;
14952-725: The Supreme Commander, who also held the posts of PDPA General Secretary and head of state. The order of precedence continued with the Minister of National Defense , the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Chief of General Staff , Chief of Army Operations, Air and Air Defence Commander and ended with the Chief of Intelligence. Of the 8,000 strong officer corps in 1978, between 600 and 800 were communists . An estimated 40 to 45 percent of these officers were educated in
15130-583: The UK, where he graduated in 1905 with a peace treaty with Russia, stretching for defeat in the Russo-Japanese War had to withdraw from Afghanistan. In the First World War, Afghanistan remained neutral, despite German and Ottoman efforts ( Niedermayer–Hentig Expedition ). In 1919 Habibullah Khan was assassinated by political opponents. Habibullah Khan's son Amanullah Khan was in 1919 against
15308-598: The ages. Urbanization may have begun as early as 3000 BCE. Gandhara is the name of an ancient kingdom from the Vedic period and its capital city located between the Hindu Kush and Sulaiman Mountains (mountains of Solomon ), although Kandahar in modern times and the ancient Gandhara are not geographically identical. Early inhabitants, around 3000 BCE were likely to have been connected through culture and trade to neighboring civilizations like Jiroft and Tappeh Sialk and
15486-471: The appointment of military officers to the PDPA leadership, altered his position; he now supported their elevation. The PDPA Politburo voted in favour of giving membership to the military officers; the victors (the Khalqists) portrayed the Parchamites as opportunists (they implied that the Parchamites had ridden the revolutionary wave, but not actually participated in the revolution). To make matters worse for
15664-612: The bigger party in Iran. The Council of Ministers was the Afghan cabinet, and its chairman was the head of government. It was the most important government body in PDPA Afghanistan, and it ran the governmental ministries. The Council of Ministers was responsible to the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council, and after the adoption of the 1987 constitution, to the President and House of Representatives. There seems to have been
15842-495: The capital shifted between Kabul and Peshawar . These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by the Arsacid dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups of Iranic tribes who lived east of Parthia proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the title Gondophares , which means "Holder of Glory", were even related. Christian writings claim that
16020-541: The confines of Lumghan , Subooktugeen ascended a hill to view the forces of Jeipal, which appeared in extent like the boundless ocean, and in number like the ants or the locusts of the wilderness. But Subooktugeen considered himself as a wolf about to attack a flock of sheep: calling, therefore, his chiefs together, he encouraged them to glory, and issued to each his commands. His soldiers, though few in number, were divided into squadrons of five hundred men each, which were directed to attack successively, one particular point of
16198-545: The country's infrastructure was destroyed, and normal patterns of economic activity were disrupted. The gross national product (GNP) fell substantially during Karmal's rule because of the conflict; trade and transport were disrupted along with the loss of labor and capital. In 1981 the Afghan GDP stood at 154.3 billion Afghan afghanis , a drop from 159,7 billion in 1978. GNP per capita decreased from 7,370 in 1978 to 6,852 in 1981. The most dominant form of economic activity
16376-413: The creation of a constitution, the legalisation of parties other than the PDPA, and respect for individual and personal property. Prisoners incarcerated under the two previous governments would be freed in a general amnesty. He even promised that a coalition government was going to be established that was not going to espouse socialism . At the same time, he told the Afghan people that he had negotiated with
16554-402: The crisis by use of mass repression. The plan, according to Andropov, was to assemble a small force to intervene and remove Amin from power and replace him with Karmal. The Soviet Union declared its plan to intervene in Afghanistan on 12 December 1979, and the Soviet leadership initiated Operation Storm-333 (the first phase of the intervention ) on 27 December 1979. Amin remained trustful of
16732-618: The death of Mir Akbar Khyber , a Parchamite politician from the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), who died under mysterious circumstances. Hafizullah Amin , a Khalqist , was the coup's chief architect. Nur Muhammad Taraki , the leader of the Khalqists, was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Revolutionary Council , Chairman of the Council of Ministers and retained his post as General Secretary of
16910-778: The decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. The Shahis are generally split up into two eras: the Buddhist Shahis and the Hindu Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around 870. The kingdom was known as the Kabul Shahan or Ratbelshahan from 565 to 670, when the capitals were located in Kapisa and Kabul, and later Udabhandapura , also known as Hund for its new capital. The Hindu Shahis under ruler Jayapala ,
17088-491: The defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven-year Siege of Khost had ended in a mujahideen victory and the morale of the Afghan military slumped. In 1991 a coup led by members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to remove Gorbachev failed resulting in the removal of many Soviet politicians and military officers that favored continuing aid to
17266-813: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the Najibullah government was unable to sustain itself and ultimately lost the First Afghan Civil War in April 1992, which, in turn, triggered the Second Afghan Civil War . A distinct faction known as the Taliban emerged from among the mujahideen's ranks during this period and eventually seized most of the country, establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , which fought
17444-552: The early stages of PDPA rule. One of the main reasons for the small size was that the Soviet military were afraid the Afghan army would defect en masse to the enemy if total personnel increased. There were several sympathisers of the mujahideen within the Afghan Armed Forces . Even so, there were several elite units under the command of the Afghan army, such as the 37th, 38th, 444th, 466th, 666th, 84th, 85th Commando Brigades. Additionally, there could have also been
17622-678: The east. The Yuezhi now had complete occupation of Bactria. It is thought that Eucratides' dynasty continued to rule in Kabul and Alexandria of the Caucasus until 70 BCE when King Hermaeus was also defeated by the Yuezhi. One of Demetrius I's successors, Menander I , brought the Indo-Greek Kingdom (now isolated from the rest of the Hellenistic world after the fall of Bactria) to its height between 165 and 130 BCE, expanding
17800-568: The enemy, of the 282 Afghan officers who attended the Malinovsky Military Armored Forces Academy in Moscow, an estimated 126 were executed by the authorities. Most of the officer corps, during the Soviet war and the ensuing civil war, were new recruits. The majority of officers were Khalqists, but after the Parchamites' ascension to power, Khalqists held no position of significance. The Parchamites, who were
17978-435: The final fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Kabul would suffer destruction following Najibullah's resignation as many factions fought for control . The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan described the Saur Revolution as a democratic revolution signifying "a victory of the honourable working people of Afghanistan" and the "manifestation of the real will and interests of workers, peasants and toilers." While
18156-503: The first modern Afghan state . Following the Durrani Empire's decline and the death of Ahmad Shah Durrani and Timur Shah , it was divided into multiple smaller independent kingdoms, including but not limited to Herat , Kandahar and Kabul . Afghanistan would be reunited in the 19th century after seven decades of civil war from 1793 to 1863, with wars of unification led by Dost Mohammad Khan from 1823 to 1863, where he conquered
18334-452: The flag) was generally considered to be Das Kapital , a work by Karl Marx , and not the Quran , the central Islamic text. The last emblem was introduced in 1987 by the Najibullah government. This emblem was, in contrast to the previous ones, influenced by Islam . The Red Star and Das Kapital were removed from the emblem (and the flag). The emblem depicted the mihrab , the minbar and
18512-544: The four Huna people that ruled in Afghanistan. A group of Central Asian tribes, Hunas or Huna, via the Khyber Pass, entered India at the end of the 5th or early 6th century and successfully occupied areas as far as Eran and Kausambi, greatly weakening the Gupta Empire. The 6th-century Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea (Book I. ch. 3), related the Huns of Europe with the Hephthalites or "White Huns" who subjugated
18690-624: The four main capitals of Khorasan ( Balkh and Herat ) are now located in Afghanistan. The countries of Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul formed the frontier region between Khorasan and the Indus. This land, inhabited by the Afghan tribes (i.e. ancestors of Pashtuns ), was called Afghanistan , which loosely covered a wide area between the Hindu Kush and the Indus River , principally around the Sulaiman Mountains . The earliest record of
18868-776: The government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , thus bringing an end to the 2001–2021 war . Although initially claiming it would form an inclusive government for the country, in September 2021 the Taliban re-established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with an interim government made up entirely of Taliban members. The Taliban government remains internationally unrecognized. Excavations of prehistoric sites by Louis Dupree and others at Darra-e Kur in 1966 where 800 stone implements were recovered along with
19046-544: The government. At the end of 1986, Najibullah called for a six-month ceasefire and talks between the various opposition forces, as part of his policy of National Reconciliation . The discussions, if fruitful, would have led to the establishment of a coalition government and be the end of the PDPA's monopoly on power. The programme failed, but the government was able to recruit disillusioned mujahideen fighters as government militias. The National Reconciliation did lead an increasing number of urban dwellers to support his rule, and to
19224-454: The government; the Khalq faction was answerable to Amin, the Parchamites were answerable to Karmal and the military officers (who were Parchamites) were answerable to Watanjar. The first conflict between the Khalqists and Parchamites arose when the Khalqists wanted to give PDPA Central Committee membership to military officers who participated in the Saur Revolution. Amin, who previously opposed
19402-556: The historic Silk Road has led it to being described, picturesquely, as the ‘roundabout of the ancient world’. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns , including those by the Persians , Alexander the Great , the Maurya Empire , Arab Muslims , the Mongols , the British , the Soviet Union , and most recently by a US-led coalition . The various conquests and periods in both
19580-551: The idea of moving Afghanistan toward socialism was proclaimed, completing the task was seen as an arduous road. Thus, Afghanistan's foreign minister commented that Afghanistan was a democratic but not yet socialist republic, while a member of the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan predicted that "Afghanistan will not see socialism in my lifetime" in an interview with a British journalist in 1981. Afghanistan
19758-743: The independent principalities of Afghanistan under the Emirate of Kabul. Dost Mohammad died in 1863, days after his last campaign to unite Afghanistan , and Afghanistan was consequently thrown back into civil war with fighting amongst his successors. During this time, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the Great Game between the British Raj in South Asia and the Russian Empire . The British Raj attempted to subjugate Afghanistan but
19936-661: The intention of establishing an interim government in Nangarhar Province ) and maintain control of the city. In April 1990, the DRA Armed Forces further proved their ability to fight without direct Soviet assistance when they successfully assaulted a fortified complex in Paghman . The Afghan Army, spearheaded by Junbish-i-Mili , the militia led by Abdul Rashid Dostum , were able to clear mujahideen entrenchments with constant assaults and heavy bombardment from
20114-406: The invasion the army could field 100,000 troops, after the invasion only 25,000. Desertion was pandemic, and the recruitment campaigns for young people often led them to flee to the opposition. To better organise the military, seven military zones were established, each with its own Defence Council. The Defence Council was established at the national, provincial and district level to devolve powers to
20292-608: The kingdom in Afghanistan and Pakistan to even larger proportions than Demetrius. After Menander's death, the Indo-Greeks steadily declined and the last Indo-Greek kings ( Strato II and Strato III ) were defeated in c. 10 CE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom was succeeded by the Indo-Scythians . The Indo-Scythians were descended from the Sakas ( Scythians ) who migrated from southern Siberia to Pakistan and Arachosia from
20470-417: The labour force. The balance of payments , which had improved in the pre-communist administration of Mohammed Daoud Khan ; the surplus decreased and became a deficit by 1982, which reached minus $ US70.3 million. The only economic activity that grew substantially during Karmal's rule was export and import . Najibullah continued Karmal's economic policies. The augmenting of links with the Eastern Bloc and
20648-455: The ladder as one might assume; due to constitutional reforms, Amin's new offices were more or less powerless. There was a failed assassination attempt led by the Gang of Four , which consisted of Watanjar , Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy , Sherjan Mazdoryar and Assadullah Sarwari . This assassination attempt prompted Amin to conspire against Taraki, and when Taraki returned from a trip to Havana , he
20826-534: The leadership of their first emperor, Kujula Kadphises , about the middle of the 1st century CE. They came from an Indo-European language-speaking Central Asian tribe called the Yuezhi , a branch of which was known as the Kushans. By the time of his grandson, Kanishka the Great , the empire spread to encompass much of Afghanistan, and then the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent at least as far as Saketa and Sarnath near Varanasi (Benares). Emperor Kanishka
21004-616: The lies. At the time of the Parchamite takeover of the state and party, an estimated 80 percent of military officers were Khalqists. In the party's history, only two congresses were held; the founding congress in 1965 and the Second Congress in June 1990, which transformed the PDPA into the Watan Party, which has survived to this today in the shape of the Democratic Watan Party . The Second Congress renamed
21182-469: The local PDPA. It is estimated that the Afghan government spent as much as 40 percent of government revenue on defence. Karmal was forced to resign from his post as PDPA General Secretary in May 1986, due to increasing pressure from the Soviet leadership, and was succeeded by Najibullah, the former Minister of State Security . He continued to have influence in the upper echelons of the party and state until he
21360-475: The majority of the country's years in existence were marked by the Soviet–Afghan War . It collapsed by the end of the First Afghan Civil War in April 1992, having lasted only four months after the dissolution of the Soviet Union . The PDPA began ruling Afghanistan after ousting the unelected autocrat Mohammad Daoud Khan , who had become president by leading the 1973 Afghan coup d'état ; he
21538-637: The middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara to Mathura . The power of the Saka rulers started to decline in the 2nd century CE after the Scythians were defeated by the south Indian Emperor Gautamiputra Satakarni of the Satavahana dynasty . Later the Saka kingdom was completely destroyed by Chandragupta II of
21716-488: The military, and graduated 10th grade in high school, would pass 11th and 12th grade and be given a scholarship. People who were conscripted after the 12th grade, could, after military service, attend whichever higher education facility they wanted. To stop army desertions, soldiers were quickly promoted to higher ranks. The army consisted of 14 divisions, of these 11 were infantry and another three were armored, which were part of three military corps. While an infantry division
21894-410: The minority, held the positions of power. Of the 1,100 large officer corps, only an estimated 200 were party members. According to Abdul Qadir , one-fifth of military personnel were party members, which meant that, if the military stood at 47,000, 9,000 were members of the PDPA. This number was, according to J. Bruce Amtstutz, an exaggeration. The strength of the Afghan Army was greatly weakened during
22072-474: The months following the coup, Taraki and other party leaders initiated other policies that challenged both traditional Afghan values and well-established traditional power structures in rural areas. Taraki introduced women to political life and legislated an end to forced marriage. The strength of the anti-reform backlash would ultimately lead to the Afghan Civil War . While Amin and Taraki had
22250-598: The most loyal element of the Communist regime. Following the Soviet intervention, the Soviets grounded the Air Force. Afghans were not allowed in security zones at Afghan airports by the Soviets. Afghans were generally not allowed to fly the airplanes of the Afghan Air Force, but the Soviets could. Afghan helicopters were assigned to tasks considered non-sensitive by the Soviets, and the majority of Air Force personnel were not told about missions beforehand, because
22428-464: The name " Afghan " ( "Abgân" ) being mentioned is by Shapur I of the Sasanian Empire during the 3rd century CE which is later recorded in the form of "Avagānā" by the Vedic astronomer Varāhamihira in his 6th century CE Brihat-samhita . It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana" , grandson of King Saul of Israel . Hiven Tsiang , a Chinese pilgrim, visiting
22606-660: The names of their ancestors. The Yusufzai Pashtuns are said to be the Esapzai / Aśvakas from the Kamboja age. The Kom /Kamoz people of Nuristan retain their Kamboj name. The Ashkun of Nuristan also retain the name of Aśvakas. The Yashkun Shina dards are another group that retain the name of the Kamboja Aśvakans. The Kamboj of Punjab are another group that still retain the name however have integrated into new identity. The country of Cambodia derives its name from
22784-509: The north and to the east, and Gedrosia to the south. The inhabitants of Arachosia were Iranian peoples , referred to as Arachosians or Arachoti. It is assumed that they were called Paktyans by ethnicity, and that name may have been in reference to the ethnic Paṣtun (Pashtun) tribes ; Bactriana was the area north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Tian Shan, with
22962-399: The north, and by China to the northeast. Established by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) following the Saur Revolution in April 1978, it came to rely heavily on the Soviet Union for financial and military assistance and was therefore widely considered to be a Soviet satellite state . The PDPA's rise to power is seen as the beginning of the ongoing Afghan conflict , and
23140-407: The north, while a desert separated it from Carmania and Drangiana in the south. It is described in a very detailed manner by Ptolemy and Strabo and corresponds, according to that, almost to the Herat Province of today's Afghanistan; Arachosia , corresponds to the modern-day Kandahar , Lashkargah , and Quetta . Arachosia bordered Drangiana to the west, Paropamisadae (i.e. Gandhara ) to
23318-440: The northern region of Pakistan and North India. Toramana's son Mihirakula , a Saivite Hindu, moved up to near Pataliputra to the east and Gwalior to central India. Hiuen Tsiang narrates Mihirakula's merciless persecution of Buddhists and destruction of monasteries, though the description is disputed as far as the authenticity is concerned. The Huns were defeated by the Indian kings Yashodharman of Malwa and Narasimhagupta in
23496-465: The opposite of the Soviet Union's; Najibullah was opposed to a Soviet withdrawal, the Soviet Union wanted a withdrawal. This was understandable, since it was thought that the Afghan military was on the brink of dissolution. Najibullah thought his only means of survival was to retain the Soviet presence. In July 1986 six Soviet regiments, up to 15,000 troops, were withdrawn from Afghanistan. The aim of this early withdrawal was, according to Gorbachev, to show
23674-423: The opposition. By 1990, another constitution was introduced, stating that Afghanistan's true nature was that of an Islamic republic and transforming the PDPA into the Watan Party . On the military front, the government still proved to be capable of performing in open combat, as demonstrated in the Battle of Jalalabad . However, with growing internal difficulties, such as the 1990 Khalqist coup d'état attempt , and
23852-437: The party and tried to revitalise it by admitting to past mistakes and evolving ideologically. The policy of national reconciliation was given a major ideologically role, since the party now looked for a peaceful solution to the conflict; class struggle was still emphasised. The party also decided to support and further develop the market economy in Afghanistan. Throughout PDPA history there were also other factions, such as
24030-409: The party was based on the principles of democratic centralism and Marxism–Leninism was the party's official ideology. In theory, the Central Committee of the PDPA ruled Afghanistan by electing the members to the Revolutionary Council , Secretariat, and the Politburo of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan , the key decision-making bodies of state and party. After the Soviet intervention,
24208-448: The plan. Industry would grow 28 percent, agriculture 14–16 percent, domestic trade by 150 percent and foreign trade by 15 percent. None of these predictions were successful, and economic growth continued at 2%. The 1990 constitution gave attention to the private sector . Article 20 covered the establishment of private firms, and Article 25 encouraged foreign investment in the private sector. The military 's chain of command began with
24386-435: The political landscape in areas under government control. Political parties could be established as long as they opposed colonialism , imperialism , neo-colonialism , Zionism , racial discrimination , apartheid , and fascism . The Revolutionary Council was abolished, and replaced by the National Assembly of Afghanistan , a democratically elected parliament. The government announced its willingness to share power, and form
24564-442: The possibility of establishing a "broad national front" in March 1980, but given the situation the country was in, the campaign for the establishment of such an organisation began only in January 1981. A "spontaneous" demonstration in support of establishing such an organisation was held that month. The first pre-front institution to be established was a tribal jirga in May 1981 by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. This jirga later became
24742-443: The power of the bourgeoisie . The reform was declared complete in mid-1979 and the government proclaimed that 665,000 hectares (approximately 1,632,500 acres) had been redistributed. The government also declared that only 40,000 families, or 4 percent of the population, had been negatively affected by the land reform. Contrary to government expectations the reform was neither popular nor productive. Agricultural harvests plummeted and
24920-472: The powers of the PDPA decreased because of the government's increased unpopularity amongst the masses. Soviet advisers took over nearly all aspects of Afghan administration; according to critics, the Afghans became the advisors and the Soviet became the advised. The Soviet intervention had forced Karmal upon the party and state. While trying to portray the new government as a Khalq – Parcham coalition, most members (the majority of whom were Khalqists), saw through
25098-401: The reform itself led to rising discontent amongst Afghans. When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he quickly abandoned the policy. However, the land reform was gradually implemented under the later Karmal administration, although the proportion of land area affected by the reform is unclear. During the civil war, and the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War , most of
25276-408: The reform, causing agricultural harvests to plummet and rising discontent amongst Afghans. When Taraki realized the degree of popular dissatisfaction with the reform he began to curtail the policy. Afghanistan's long history of resistance to any type of strong centralized governmental control further undermined his authority. Consequently, much of the land reform did not get implemented nationwide. In
25454-509: The region named "Alexandria," including: Alexandria-of-the-Arians (modern-day Herat ); Alexandria-on-the- Tarnak (near Kandahar ); Alexandria-ad-Caucasum (near Bagram , at Bordj-i-Abdullah); and finally, Alexandria-Eschate (near Kojend), in the north. After Alexander's death, his loosely connected empire was divided. Seleucus , a Macedonian officer during Alexander's campaign, declared himself ruler of his own Seleucid Empire , which also included present-day Afghanistan. The territory fell to
25632-446: The rightful heir apparent Nasrullah Khan , the then Emir of Afghanistan . Shortly afterwards another war broke which lasted for three months. This war was ended with the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 after which, the Afghans were able to resume the right to conduct their own foreign affairs as a fully independent state. Amanullah Khan began the reformation of the country and was crowned 1926 Padshah (king) of Afghanistan and founded
25810-474: The rising power of Avanti . Pukkusāti was successful in this struggle with Pradyota. By the later 6th century BCE, the founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire , Cyrus , soon after his conquests of Media , Lydia , and Babylonia , marched into Gandhara and annexed it into his empire. The scholar Kaikhosru Danjibuoy Sethna advanced that Cyrus had conquered only the trans-Indus borderlands around Peshawar which had belonged to Gandhāra while Pukkusāti remained
25988-400: The stabilisation of the Afghan defence forces. While Najibullah may have been the de jure leader of Afghanistan, Soviet advisers still did most of the work after Najibullah took power. As Gorbachev remarked "We're still doing everything ourselves ... That's all our people know how to do. They've tied Najibullah hand and foot." Fikryat Tabeev, the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan ,
26166-418: The war, and conspicuous in fields of battle. Sandrocottus, having thus acquired a throne, was in possession of India, when Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness; who, after making a league with him, and settling his affairs in the east, proceeded to join in the war against Antigonus. As soon as the forces, therefore, of all the confederates were united, a battle was fought, in which Antigonus
26344-418: The world that the Soviet leadership was serious about leaving Afghanistan. The Soviets told the United States Government that they were planning to withdraw, but the United States Government didn't believe it. When Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan during his visit the United States, Reagan called, bizarrely, for the dissolution of the Afghan Military . On 14 April the Afghan and Pakistani governments signed
26522-416: Was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward, the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority. They played an important role in the establishment of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent and its spread to Central Asia and China. Historian Vincent Smith said about Kanishka: He played the part of a second Ashoka in the history of Buddhism. The empire linked
26700-461: Was accused of acting like a Governor General by Gorbachev, and he was recalled from Afghanistan in July 1986. But while Gorbachev called for the end of Soviet management of Afghanistan, he could not resist doing some managing himself. At a Soviet Politburo meeting, Gorbachev said, "It's difficult to build a new building out of old material ... I hope to God that we haven't made a mistake with Najibullah." As time would prove, Najibullah's aims were
26878-439: Was an emirate in Central Asia and South Asia that encompassed present-day Afghanistan and parts of present-day Pakistan (before 1893). The emirate emerged from the Durrani Empire , when Dost Mohammad Khan , the founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Kabul , prevailed. The history of the Emirate was dominated by the ' Great Game ' between the Russian Empire and the British Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. This period
27056-403: Was an important imperial power in north-west South Asia, with the valley of Kaśmīra being part of the kingdom, while the other states of the Punjab region, such as the Kekayas , Madrakas , Uśīnaras , and Shivis being under Gāndhārī suzerainty. The Gāndhārī king Pukkusāti , who reigned around 550 BCE, engaged in expansionist ventures which brought him into conflict with the king Pradyota of
27234-404: Was characterized by European influence in Afghanistan . The Emirate of Afghanistan continued the Durrani Empire's war with the Sikh Empire , losing control of the former Afghan stronghold of the Valley of Peshawar at the Battle of Nowshera on 14 March 1823. This was followed in 1838 by the First Anglo-Afghan War with British forces. The war eventually resulted in victory for Afghans, with
27412-417: Was considered by the Soviet Union as a state with a socialist orientation. The Soviets, in mid-1979, initially proclaimed Afghanistan as not merely a progressive ally, but a fully fledged member of the socialist community of nations. In contrast, later Soviet rhetoric invariably referred to the Saur Revolution as a democratic turn, but stopped short of recognizing a socialist society. Under Hafizullah Amin ,
27590-472: Was discovered by the Khalqist leadership, prompting a swift reaction; a purge of Parchamites began. Parchamite ambassadors were recalled, but few returned; for instance, Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah stayed in their respective countries. During Taraki's rule, an unpopular land reform was introduced, leading to the requisitioning of land by the government without compensation; it disrupted lines of credit and led to some crop buyers boycotting beneficiaries of
27768-536: Was disintegrating and their last known great emperor was Vasudeva I . After the Kushan Empire 's rule was ended by Sasanians — officially known as the Empire of Iranians— was the last kingdom of the Persian Empire before the rise of Islam. Named after the House of Sasan, it ruled from 224 to 651 AD. In the east around 325, Shapur II regained the upper hand against the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom and took control of large territories in areas now known as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Much of modern-day Afghanistan became part of
27946-436: Was established in November, and its first jirga in December. It was not until 1983 that the NFF became an active, and important organisation. The aim of the NFF was to establish a pro-PDPA organisation for those who did not support the PDPA ideologically. Its first leader was Salah Mohammad Zeary, a prominent politician within the PDPA. Zeary's selection had wider implications: the PDPA dominated all NFF activities. Officially,
28124-459: Was forced to pay an indemnity. Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more. Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the Kabul Valley and Indus River . Before his struggle began Jaipal had raised a large army of Punjabi Hindus. When Jaipal went to the Punjab region , his army was raised to 100,000 horsemen and an innumerable host of foot soldiers. According to Firishta : The two armies having met on
28302-513: Was forced to resign by 4 of his generals, because of the loss of Bagram airbase and the town of Charikar . Abdul Rahim Hatef became acting head of state following Najibullah's resignation. Najibullah, not long before Kabul's fall, appealed to the UN for amnesty, which he was granted. But Najibullah was hindered by Abdul Rashid Dostum from escaping; instead, Najibullah sought haven in the local UN headquarters in Kabul. The war in Afghanistan did not end with Najibullah's ouster, and continued until
28480-429: Was forced to resign from his post of Revolutionary Council Chairman in November 1986, being succeeded by Haji Mohammad Chamkani , who was not a PDPA member. In September 1986 the National Compromise Commission (NCC) was established on the orders of Najibullah. The NCC's goal was to contact counter-revolutionaries "in order to complete the Saur Revolution in its new phase." An estimated 40,000 rebels were contacted by
28658-414: Was founded about this time (c. 2000–1500 BCE). The Gandhara region centered around the Peshawar Valley and Swat river valley, though the cultural influence of "Greater Gandhara" extended across the Indus river to the Taxila region in Pothohar Plateau and westwards into the Kabul and Bamyan valleys in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. During the 6th century BCE, Gandhāra
28836-448: Was himself overthrown and replaced as Emir by Sher Ali, who returned to the throne after spending few short years in exile in Russia. His return as Emir led to new conflicts with Britain. Subsequently, the British marched on 21 November 1878 into Afghanistan and Emir Sher Ali was forced to flee again to Russia, but he died in 1879 in Mazar-i-Sharif . His successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan , sought solutions for peace with Russia and gave them
29014-408: Was increased to thirty-five years of age. In June, Assadullah Sarwari lost his seat in the PDPA Politburo, and in his place were appointed Mohammad Aslam Watanjar , a former tank commander and the then Minister of Communications , Major General Mohammad Rafi , the Minister of Defence and KHAD Chairman Mohammad Najibullah . These measures were introduced due to the collapse of the army; before
29192-561: Was informed of the Soviet decision to send troops into Afghanistan. Amin was killed by Soviet forces on 27 December 1979. Karmal ascended to power following Amin's assassination. On 27 December Radio Kabul broadcast Karmal's pre-recorded speech, which stated "Today the torture machine of Amin has been smashed, his accomplices – the primitive executioners, usurpers and murderers of tens of thousand of our fellow countrymen – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters, children and old people ...". On 1 January Leonid Brezhnev ,
29370-417: Was not liked by the Afghan people. During his rule, opposition to the communist regime increased, and the government lost control of the countryside. The state of the Afghan Armed Forces deteriorated under Amin; due to desertions the number of military personnel in the Afghan Army decreased from 100,000, in the immediate aftermath of the Saur Revolution, to somewhere between 50,000 and 70,000. Another problem
29548-472: Was ousted, and later suffocated on Amin's orders. During his 104 days in power, Amin became committed to establishing a collective leadership . When Taraki was ousted, Amin promised "from now on there will be no one-man government ...". Prior to the Soviet intervention , the PDPA executed between 1,000 and 27,000 people, mostly at Pul-e-Charkhi prison . Between 17,000 and 25,000 people were arrested during Taraki's and Amin's rules combined. Amin
29726-417: Was repelled in the First Anglo-Afghan War . However, the Second Anglo-Afghan War saw a British victory and the successful establishment of British political influence over Afghanistan. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, Afghanistan became free of foreign political hegemony, and emerged as the independent Kingdom of Afghanistan in June 1926 under Amanullah Khan . This monarchy lasted almost half
29904-410: Was slain, and his son Demetrius put to flight. Having consolidated power in the northwest, Chandragupta pushed east towards the Nanda Empire . Afghanistan's significant ancient tangible and intangible Buddhist heritage is recorded through wide-ranging archeological finds, including religious and artistic remnants. Buddhist doctrines are reported to have reached as far as Balkh even during the life of
30082-485: Was succeeded by Abdul Rahim Hatef , who was not a member of the PDPA. The ascension of Hatef proved more successful, and in 1985–86 the NFF succeeded in recruiting several "good Muslims". The NFF was renamed the National Front in 1987. On 19 October 1978 the PDPA government introduced a new flag, a red flag with a yellow seal, and it was similar to the flags of the Soviet Central Asian republics. The new flag stirred popular resentment, as many Afghans saw it as proof of
30260-410: Was succeeded by Mohammad Najibullah . Najibullah pursued a policy known as National Reconciliation : a new constitution was introduced in 1987 and democratic elections were held in 1988 , though they were boycotted by the mujahideen. After almost a decade of warfare, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in February 1989, but continued to back the PDPA, which was facing mounting resistance from
30438-612: Was succeeded by Nur Muhammad Taraki as the head of state and government on 30 April 1978. Both Taraki and his successor Hafizullah Amin , who had organized the Saur Revolution as the General Secretary of the PDPA, introduced several contentious reforms during their time in office, such as land and marriage reforms and an enforced policy of de- Islamization vis-à-vis the promotion of socialism . Amin, in particular, built upon Khan's reforms with even more radical legislation for Afghanistan's conservative Muslim society, such as universal education and equal rights for women . Soon afterwards,
30616-456: Was supposed to be composed of 4,000 to 8,000 men, between 1980 and 1983 a division normally mustered between 2,000 and 2,500. The strength of armored divisions in contrast were maintained, and stood at 4,000. During the Soviet war, the Afghan army used light weapons, and used neglected equipment. During the counter-insurgency, heavy equipment, tanks and artillery were most of the time, but not always, used and fired by Soviet soldiers. A problem faced
30794-494: Was that the KGB had penetrated the PDPA, the military and the government bureaucracy. While his position in Afghanistan was becoming more perilous by the day, his enemies who were exiled in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc were agitating for his removal. Babrak Karmal , the Parchamite leader, met several leading Eastern Bloc figures during this period, and Mohammad Aslam Watanjar , Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy and Assadullah Sarwari wanted to exact revenge on Amin. Meantime in
30972-446: Was the agricultural sector . Agriculture accounted for 63 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1981; 56 percent of the labour force worked in agriculture in 1982. Industry accounted for 21 percent of GDP in 1982, and employed 10 percent of the labour force. All industrial enterprises were government-owned . The service sector, the smallest of the three, accounted for 10 percent of GDP in 1981, and employed an estimated one-third of
31150-410: Was the state religion , and Article 73 stated that the head of state had to be born into a Muslim Afghan family. In 1990, the 1987 constitution was amended to state that Afghanistan was an Islamic republic , and the last references to communism were removed. Article 1 of the amended constitution said that Afghanistan was an "independent, unitary and Islamic state." The 1987 constitution liberalized
31328-451: Was tied to the 3rd Army Corps in Gardez. Most soldiers were recruited for a three-year term, later extended to four-year terms in 1984. Each year, the Afghan army lost an estimated 15,000 soldiers, 10,000 from desertion and 5,000 from casualties sustained in battle. Everyone between 19 and 39 was eligible for conscription, the only exceptions were certain party members, or party members in certain tasks, Afghans who studied abroad, mostly in
31506-400: Was to be respected, the exception being when religion threatened the security of society. The Fundamental Principles were, in many ways, similar to Mohammad Daoud Khan 's 1977 constitution. While official ideology was de-emphasized, the PDPA did not lose its monopoly on power, and the Revolutionary Council continued to be ruled through its Presidium, the majority of Presidium members were from
31684-406: Was transformed into the 37th Commando Brigade. The Commando Brigades were, in contrast, considered reliable and were used as mobile strike forces until they sustained excessive casualties. After sustaining these casualties, the Commando Brigades were turned into battalions. The airborne capabilities of the Afghan commando brigades would cease in 1988, during the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and
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