People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
The Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan was a socialist party established on 1 January 1965. While a minority, the party helped former prime minister of Afghanistan, Mohammed Daoud Khan, to overthrow his cousin, King Mohammed Zahir Shah, Daoud would eventually become a strong opponent of the party, firing PDPA politicians from high-ranking jobs in the government. This would lead to uneasy relations with the Soviet Union, in 1978 the PDPA, with help from the Afghan National Army, seized power from Daoud in what is known as the Saur Revolution. Before the civilian government was established, Afghan National Army Air Corps colonel Abdul Qadir was the ruler of Afghanistan for three days, starting from 27 April 1978. Qadir was eventually replaced by Nur Muhammad Taraki, after the Saur Revolution, the PDPA established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan which would last until 1987. After National Reconciliation talks in 1987 the official name of the country was reverted to Republic of Afghanistan, the republic lasted until 1992 under the leadership of Najibullah and acting president for the last twelve days, Abdul Rahim Hatef.
Nur Mohammad Taraki started his career as an Afghan journalist. The Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan was officially formed at the unity congress of the different factions of the Socialist Party of Afghanistan on January 1,1965. Twenty-seven men gathered at Tarakis house in Kabul, elected Taraki as the first party Secretary General and Karmal as Deputy Secretary General, Taraki was invited to Moscow by the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions International Department that year. The PDPA was known in Afghan society at that time as having ties with the Soviet Union. Eventually the PDPA was able to get three of its members into parliament, in the first free elections in Afghan history, these three parliamentarians were Karmal, Anahita Ratebzad, Nur Ahmad Nur. Later on, Taraki established the first radical newspaper in Afghan history under the name The Khalq, in 1967 the party had divided into several political sects, the biggest being the Khalqs and the Parchams, as well as the Setami Milli and Grohi Kar.
These new divisions started because of ideological and economic reasons, most of Khalqs supporters came from ethnic Pashtuns from the rural areas in the country. The Parchams supporters mostly came from citizens who supported social-economic reforms in the country. Karmal sought, unsuccessfully, to persuade the PDPA Central Committee to censure Tarakis excessive extreme radicalism, the vote, was close, and Taraki in turn tried to neutralize Karmal by appointing new members to the committee who were his own supporters. After this incident, Karmal offered his resignation, which was accepted by the Politburo, although the split of the PDPA in 1967 into two groups was never publicly announced, Karmal brought with him less than half the members of the Central Committee. Because of the strife within the party, the party lost most of its incumbent seats in the Afghan parliamentary election in 1969. In 1973 the PDPA assisted Mohammed Daoud Khan to seize power from Zahir Shah in a bloodless military coup
Kabul
Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan as well as its largest city, located in the eastern section of the country. According to a 2015 estimate, the population of the city was around 3,678,033 which includes all the ethnic groups. Rapid urbanization had made Kabul the worlds 64th largest city and the fifth fastest-growing city in the world, Kabul is said to be over 3,500 years old, mentioned since at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire. The city is at a location along the trade routes of South and Central Asia. It has been part of the Achaemenids, Mauryans, Kabul Shahis, Ghaznavids, Later, it was controlled by the Mughal Empire until finally becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. The city is located high up in a valley between the Hindu Kush mountains. Kabul became the capital of Afghanistan during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani, in the early 19th century, the British occupied the city but were compelled to abandon it. Relations between Afghanistan and Great Britain were established, the city was occupied by the Soviets in 1979 but they too abandoned it after the 1988 Geneva Accords were signed.
A civil war in the 1990s between various rebel groups destroyed much of the city, resulting in many casualties, since the removal of the Taliban from power in late 2001, the city gradually began rebuilding itself with assistance by the international community. Despite the many terrorist attacks by elements, the city is growing and developing. The city is divided into about 18 districts, the Kabul International Airport is located in the Wazir Akbar Khan district a few miles from the foreign embassies. The Parliament of Afghanistan, built by India, is located in the Kārte Seh district, spelled Cabool, Kabol, or Cabul. The word Kubhā is mentioned in the Rigveda, one of the four sacred texts of Hinduism, and the Avesta. The Rigveda praises it as a city, a vision of paradise set in the mountains. The area in which the Kabul valley sits was ruled by the Medes before falling to the Achaemenids, there is a reference to a settlement called Kabura by the rulers of the Achaemenid Empire, It became a center of Zoroastrianism followed by Buddhism and Hinduism.
The region became part of the Seleucid Empire but was given to the Indian Maurya Empire. The Greco-Bactrians captured Kabul from the Mauryans in the early 2nd century BC, indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BC, but lost the city to the Kushan Empire about 100 years later. Some historians ascribe Kabul the Sanskrit name of Kamboja and it is mentioned as Kophes or Kophene in some classical writings
Afghan Armed Forces
The Afghan Armed Forces are the military forces of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. They consist of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan Air Force, being a landlocked country, Afghanistan is without a navy. The President of Afghanistan is Commander-in-Chief of the military acts through the Ministry of Defense, the National Military Command Center in Kabul serves as the headquarters of the Afghan armed forces. Afghanistans military currently has approximately 200,000 active duty soldiers, the current Afghan military originates in 1709 when the Hotaki dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by the Durrani Empire. The Afghan armed forces fought many wars with the Safavid dynasty and it was re-organized by the British in 1880, when the country was ruled by Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. It was modernized during King Amanullah Khans rule in the early 20th century, from 1978 to 1992, the Soviet-backed Afghan army fought with multi-national mujahideen groups who were being funded by the United States and Saudi Arabia while trained by the Pakistani Armed Forces.
This era was followed by the rise of the Pakistan-backed Taliban regime, after the removal of the Taliban and the formation of the Karzai administration in late 2001, the military of Afghanistan was gradually rebuilt by NATO, mainly by the United States Armed Forces. Despite early problems with recruitment and training, it is becoming effective in fighting against the Taliban insurgency, as of 2014, it is becoming able to operate independently from the US-led International Security Assistance Force. As a major ally, Afghanistan continues to receive billions of dollars in military assistance from NATO. Afghans have served in the militaries of the Ghaznavids, Delhi Sultanate, the current Afghan military traces its origin to the early 18th century when the Hotaki dynasty rose to power in Kandahar and defeated the Persian Safavid Empire at the Battle of Gulnabad in 1722. The sun had just appeared on the horizon when the armies began to observe each other with that curiosity so natural on these dreadful occasions.
When Ahmad Shah Durrani formed the Durrani Empire in 1747, his Afghan army fought a number of wars in the Punjab region of Hindustan during the 18th to the 19th century. One of the battles was the 1761 Battle of Panipat in which the Afghans invaded. The Afghans engaged in wars with the Punjabi Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, British India invaded Afghanistan in 1838 but withdraw in 1842. During the three years a number of battles took place in different parts of Afghanistan, the first organized army of Afghanistan was established after the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1880 when the nation was ruled by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan. Traditionally, Afghan governments relied on three institutions, the regular army, tribal levies, and community militias. The regular army was sustained by the state and commanded by government leaders, the tribal or regional levies - irregular forces - had part-time soldiers provided by tribal or regional chieftains. The chiefs received tax breaks, land ownership, cash payments, the community militia included all available able-bodied members of the community, mobilized to fight, probably only in exceptional circumstances, for common causes under community leaders
Mohammed Zahir Shah
Mohammed Zahir Shah was the last King of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. He established friendly relations with countries and tried to modernize his country. While staying in Italy for medical treatment, Zahir Shah was overthrown in a coup by his cousin and former prime minister. He remained in exile near Rome until 2002, returning to Afghanistan after the end of the Taliban and he was given the title Father of the Nation, which he held until his death in 2007. Zahir Shah was born on 15 October 1914, in Kabul, Nadir Shah assumed the throne after the execution of Habibullah Ghazi on 10 October 1929. Mohammed Zahirs father, son of Sardar Mohammad Yusuf Khan, was born in Dehradun, British India, Nadir Shah was a descendant of Sardar Sultan Mohammed Khan Telai, half-brother of Amir Dost Mohammad Khan. His grandfather Mohammad Yahya Khan was in charge of the negotiations with the British resulting in the Treaty of Gandamak, during the reign of Amir Habibullah they received the title of Companions of the King.
Zahir Shah was educated in a class for princes at Habibia High School in Kabul. He continued his education in France where his father had served as an envoy, studying at the Pasteur Institute. When he returned to Afghanistan he helped his father and uncles restore order and he was enrolled at an Infantry School and appointed a privy counsellor. Zahir Shah served in the government positions of deputy war minister and minister of education, Zahir Shah was fluent in Pashto and French. Zahir Khan was proclaimed King on 8 November 1933 at the age of 19, after his ascension to the throne he was given the regnal title He who puts his trust in God, follower of the firm religion of Islam. For the first thirty years he did not effectively rule, ceding power to his uncles, Mohammad Hashim Khan. By the end of the 1930s, agreements on foreign assistance and trade had reached with many countries, most notably with the Axis powers, Italy. Zahir Shah provided aid and Afghan fighters to the Uighur, all the Afghan volunteers were killed by the Chinese Muslim troops, who abolished the First East Turkestan Republic, and reestablished Chinese government control over the area.
After the end of the Second World War, Zahir Shah recognised the need for the modernisation of Afghanistan, during this period Afghanistans first modern university was founded. During his reign a number of advances and reforms were derailed as a result of factionalism. The title AlMutawakkil ala Allah, The leaner on Allah is taken from the Quran, Sura 8, by the time he returned to Afghanistan during the twenty-first century, his rule was characterized by a lengthy span of peace, but with no significant progress
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land served as the source from which the Kushans, Samanids, Ghaznavids, Khiljis, Hotaks, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan.
The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire.
Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Neolithic, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians.
These tribes migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
Herat
Herat is the third-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 436,300, and serves as the capital of Herat Province and it is linked with Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif via highway 1 or the ring road. It is further linked to the city of Mashhad in neighboring Iran through the town of Islam Qala. Herat dates back to the Avestan times and was known for its wine. The city has a number of sites, including the Herat Citadel. During the Middle Ages Herat became one of the important cities of Khorasan and it has been governed by various Afghan rulers since the early 18th century. In 1717, the city was invaded by the Hotaki forces until they were expelled by the Afsharids in 1736, after Nader Shahs death and Ahmad Shah Durranis rise to power in 1747, Herat became part of Afghanistan. It witnessed some political disturbances and military invasions during the half of the 19th century. Herat suffered from destruction during the Soviet war in the 1980s. Herat lies on the ancient trade routes of the Middle East, the roads from Herat to Iran and other parts of Afghanistan are still strategically important.
As the gateway to Iran, it collects high amount of revenue for Afghanistan. The city has an international airport, Herat is a regional hub in western Afghanistan in close proximity to Iran and Turkmenistan. The city has high residential density clustered around the core of the city, vacant plots account for a higher percentage of the city than residential land use and agricultural is the largest percentage of total land use. Herat dates back to ancient times, but its exact age remains unknown, during the period of the Achaemenid Empire, the surrounding district was known as Hariva, and in classical sources the region was correspondingly known as Aria. In the Zoroastrian Avesta, the district is mentioned as Haroiva, the name of the district and its main town is derived from that of the chief river of the region, the Herey River, which traverses the district and passes some 5 km south of modern Herāt. Herey is mentioned in Sanskrit as yellow or golden color equivalent to Persian Zard meaning Gold, the naming of a region and its principal town after the main river is a common feature in this part of the world—compare the adjoining districts/rivers/towns of Arachosia and Bactria.
The district Aria of the Achaemenid Empire is mentioned in the lists that are included in various royal inscriptions, for instance. Representatives from the district are depicted in reliefs, e. g. at the royal Achaemenid tombs of Naqsh-e Rustam and they are wearing Scythian-style dress and a twisted Bashlyk that covers their head and neck
Quetta
Quetta is the provincial capital of Balochistan and the ninth-largest city of the country. The city is known as the garden of Pakistan, due to the numerous fruit orchards in and around it. The city was known as Little London in the past because of its beauty. The immediate area has long been one of pastures and mountains, with varied plants, Quetta is at an average elevation of 1,680 meters above sea level, making it Pakistans only high-altitude major city. The population of the city is estimated to be approximately 1,140,000, located in north western Balochistan near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Quetta is a trade and communication centre between the two countries. The city lies on the Bolan Pass route which was once the gateway from Central Asia to South Asia. Quetta played an important role militarily for the Pakistani Armed Forces in the intermittent Afghanistan conflict, Quetta is spelled Kuwatah, which is a variation of Kot, a Pashto word meaning fortress. It is believed that it relates to the four imposing hills that surround the city, in 1876 Quetta was incorporated into British controlled territories of the subcontinent.
British Troops constructed the infrastructure for their establishment as it was a strategic location, by the time of the earthquake on 31 May 1935 Quetta had developed into a bustling city with a number of multistory buildings and was known as Little Paris because of that. The epicenter of the earthquake was close to the city and destroyed most of the city’s infrastructure, during the independence movement of the Indian subcontinent, the predominantly Muslim population of the region supported the Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement. Quetta has an area of 2,653 km2 and consists of series of river valleys which act as a natural fort surrounded on all sides by hills. The closest city is Kandahar in Afghanistan, north-west at the end of the N25 road, three main roads gradually fan out to the south, the central route, the N25 leads via the city of Khuzdar to the coastal metropolis of Karachi. Quetta has a high semi-arid climate with a significant variation between summer and winter temperatures, summer starts about late May and goes on until early September with average temperatures ranging from 24–26 °C.
The highest temperature in Quetta is 42 °C which was recorded on 10 July 1998, autumn starts in late September and continues until mid-November with average temperatures in the 12–18 °C range. Winter starts in late November and ends in late March, with temperatures near 4–5 °C. The lowest temperature in Quetta is −18.3 °C which was recorded on 8 January 1970, spring starts in early April and ends in late May, with average temperatures close to 15 °C. Unlike more easterly parts of Pakistan, Quetta does not have a season of heavy rainfall. In the winter, snowfall has become quite erratic, the city saw a severe drought from 1999 to 2001, during which the city did not receive snowfall and below normal rains
Second Anglo-Afghan War
This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against the Afghan rebels, most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. This was aimed to thwart expansion by the Russian Empire into India, after tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the June 1878 Congress of Berlin, Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. That same summer, Russia sent a diplomatic mission to Kabul. Sher Ali Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan, tried unsuccessfully to keep them out, Russian envoys arrived in Kabul on 22 July 1878, and on 14 August, the British demanded that Sher Ali accept a British mission too. The Amir not only refused to receive a British mission under Neville Bowles Chamberlain, a British force of about 50,000 fighting men, mostly Indians, was distributed into military columns which penetrated Afghanistan at three different points. An alarmed Sher Ali attempted to appeal in person to the Russian Tsar for assistance, but unable to do so, he returned to Mazar-i-Sharif, where he died on 21 February 1879.
According to this agreement and in return for a subsidy and vague assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak, and a force of 10,000 Afghans, staged an uprising, despite besieging the British garrison there, he failed to maintain the Siege of Sherpur, instead shifting focus to Roberts force, and this resulted in the collapse of this rebellion. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari, Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, abandoning the provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul, but having achieved all their other objectives, the British withdrew. They used a method involving urine, Pathan women urinated into prisoners mouths. Captured British soldiers were out and fastened with restraints to the ground, a stick.
Pathan women squatted and urinated directly into the mouth of the man until he drowned in the urine, there were several decisive actions in the Second Anglo–Afghan War, from 1878 to 1880. Here are the battles and actions in chronological order, an asterisk indicates a clasp was awarded for that particular battle with the Afghanistan Medal. Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839–1947, National Union of Conservative and Constitutional Associations. Afghanistan, A Short Account of Afghanistan, Its History, and Our Dealings with It
Durand Line
The Durand Line is the 2, 430-kilometre international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghanistan was considered by the British as an independent princely state at the time, although the British controlled its foreign affairs, the single-page agreement, dated 12 November 1893, contains seven short articles, including a commitment not to exercise interference beyond the Durand Line. A joint British-Afghan demarcation survey took place starting from 1894, covering some 800 miles of the border, established towards the close of the Great Game, the resulting line established Afghanistan as a buffer zone between British and Russian interests in the region. The line, as modified by the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, was inherited by Pakistan. From a geopolitical and geostrategic perspective, it has described as one of the most dangerous borders in the world. Although it is recognised internationally as the border of Pakistan. The area in which the Durand Line runs has been inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns since ancient times, the Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans living in and around Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BC.
The Baloch tribes inhabit the southern end of the line, which runs in the Balochistan region that separates the ethnic Baloch people, arab Muslims conquered the area in the 7th century and introduced Islam to the Pashtuns. It is believed some of the early Arabs settled among the Pashtuns in the Sulaiman Mountains. It is important to note that these Pashtuns were historically known as Afghans and are believed to be mentioned by name in Arabic chronicles as early as the 10th century. The Pashtun area fell within the Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century followed by the Ghurids, Mughals, Hotakis, in 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, British-led Indian forces invaded Afghanistan and initiated a war with the Afghan rulers. Two years later, in 1842, the British were defeated, the British again invaded Afghanistan in 1878, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, withdrawing a couple of years after attaining some geopolitical objectives. During this war, the Treaty of Gandamak was signed, ceding control of various areas to the British Empire.
On November 12,1893, the Durand Line Agreement was reached, the two parties camped at Parachinar, a small town near Khost in Afghanistan, which is now part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, to delineate the frontier. From the British side, the camp was attended by Mortimer Durand and Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum, Political Agent Khyber Agency representing the British Viceroy and Governor General. The Afghan side was represented by Sahibzada Abdul Latif and a governor of Khost province in Afghanistan, Sardar Shireendil Khan. The original 1893 Durand Line Agreement was written in English, with translated copies in Dari and it included the areas of Multan, the Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan. These areas were part of the Durrani Empire from 1709 until the 1820s when the Sikh Empire followed by British invaded, the initial and primary demarcation, a joint Afghan-British survey and mapping effort, covered 800 miles and took place from 1894 to 1896
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British imperial India and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. Initially, the British successfully intervened in a dispute between emir Dost Mohammad and former emir Shah Shujah, whom they installed upon conquering Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian and Sikh force occupying Kabul, having endured harsh winters as well, was almost completely annihilated while retreating in January 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century was a period of diplomatic competition between the British and Russian empires for spheres of influence in Asia known as the Great Game. The Russian Empire was slowly extending its domain into Central Asia, the Company sent an envoy to Kabul to form an alliance with Afghanistans Amir, Dost Mohammad Khan against Russia. Dost Mohammad had recently lost Afghanistans second capital of Peshawar to the Sikh Empire and wanted support to retake it, for this reason, Lord Auckland preferred an alliance with the Punjab over an alliance with Afghanistan, which had nothing equivalent to the Dal Khalsa.
The British could have an alliance with the Punjab or Afghanistan, British fears of a Russian invasion of India took one step closer to becoming a reality when negotiations between the Afghans and Russians broke down in 1838. The Qajar dynasty of Persia, with Russian support, attempted the Siege of Herat, Lord Aucklands plan was to drive away the besiegers and replace Dost Mohammad with Shuja Shah Durrani, who had once ruled Afghanistan and was considered pro-British. Shuja Shah had been deposed in 1809 and been living in exile in British India since 1818, collecting a pension from the East India Company, the British denied that they were invading Afghanistan, claiming they were merely supporting its legitimate Shuja government against foreign interference and factious opposition. But this point, Auckland was committed to putting Afghanistan into the British sphere of influence, the Army of the Indus. which included 21,000 British and Indian troops under the command of John Keane, 1st Baron Keane set out from Punjab in December 1838.
With them was William Hay Macnaghten, the chief secretary of the Calcutta government. It included a train of 38,000 camp followers and 30,000 camels. By late March 1839 the British forces had crossed the Bolan Pass, reached the Baloch city of Quetta and they advanced through rough terrain, across deserts and 4, 000-metre-high mountain passes, but made good progress and finally set up camps at Kandahar on 25 April 1839. After reaching Kandahar, Keane decided to wait for the crops to ripen before resuming his march, Keane left behind his siege engines in Kandahar, which turned out to be a mistake as he discovered that the walls of the Ghazni fortress were far more powerful than he expected. A deserter, Abdul Rashed Khan, a nephew of Dost Mohammad Khan, informed the British that one of the gates of the fortress was in bad state of repair and might be blasted open with a gunpowder charge. The British took fifty prisoners who were brought before Shuja, where one of them stabbed a minister to death with a hidden knife.
On 22 July 1839, in an attack, the British-led forces captured the fortress of Ghazni. The British troops blew up one city gate and marched into the city in a euphoric mood, in taking this fortress, they suffered 200 men killed and wounded, while the Afghans lost nearly 500 men
Kandahar
Kandahar or Qandahar is the second-largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 491,500 as of 2012. Formerly called Alexandria Arachosia, the city is named after Alexander the Great, Kandahar is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at an altitude of 1,010 m above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city, the city of Kandahar has a population of 557,118. It has 15 districts and a land area of 27,337 hectares. The total number of dwellings in Kandahar is 61,902, Kandahar is one of the most culturally significant cities of the Pashtuns and has been their traditional seat of power for more than 200 years. It is a trading center for sheep, cotton, felt, food grains and dried fruit. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning and packing fruit, the area is believed to be the birthplace of cannabis indica. The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements, Alexander the Great had laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Αλεξάνδρεια Aραχωσίας.
Many empires have long fought over the city due to its location along the trade routes of southern, central. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom, in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan. A temple to the deified Alexander as well as an inscription in Greek and Aramaic by Emperor Ashoka, Ibn Batutta mentions Kandahar in the 14th century by describing it as a large and prosperous town three nights journey from Ghazni. It has been mentioned extensively by Mughal Emperor Babur and others, an alternative story describes Khandahar as Gandhara in Mahabharata ruled by Suvala and by Shakuni. The princess of Hastinapur, Gandhari was born in Gandhara, a folk etymology offered is that the word kand or qand in Persian and Pashto means candy. The name Candahar or Kandahar in this form probably translates to candy area and this probably has to do with the location being fertile and historically known for producing fine grapes, apricots and other sweet fruits.
Ernst Herzfeld claimed Kandahar perpetuated the name of the Indo-Parthian king Gondophares, excavations of prehistoric sites by archaeologists such as Louis Dupree and others suggest that the region around Kandahar is one of the oldest human settlements known so far. Early peasant farming villages came into existence in Afghanistan ca.5000 B. C. or 7000 years ago, deh Morasi Ghundai, the first prehistoric site to be excavated in Afghanistan, lies 27 km southwest of Kandahar. Another Bronze Age village mound site with multiroomed mud-brick buildings dating from the same period sits nearby at Said Qala, Bronze Age pottery and bronze horse trappings and stone seals were found in the lowermost levels in the nearby cave called Shamshir Ghar. In the Seistan, southwest of these Kandahar sites, two teams of American archaeologists discovered sites relating to the 2nd millennium B. C, while the Diadochi were warring amongst themselves, the Mauryan Empire was developing in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent
Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, known as Ahmad Khān Abdālī, was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern state of Afghanistan. After the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani was chosen as King of Afghanistan. Within a few years, he extended his control from Khorasan in the west to Kashmir and North India in the east, Durranis mausoleum is located at Kandahar, adjacent to the Shrine of the Cloak in the center of the city. Afghans often refer to him as Ahmad Shāh Bābā, Durrani was born in or about 1722 to Mohammad Zaman Khan, chief of the Abdali tribe and Governor of Herat, and Zarghuna Alakozai. There has been debate about Durranis exact place of birth. Most believe that he was born in Herat, Afghanistan and he was born as Ahmed Khan. Abdalis father suffered Persian captivity for years at Kirman before being released from prison in 1715. As a refugee, he made his way to India and joined his kinsmen at Multan, after he raised his family there, he was recognized as the scion of hereditary Sadozai chiefs.
It is believed that Zaman Khan returned to Afghanistan to fight the Persians and his Afghan rivals, so other sources believe that, Abdali was born at Multan in 1722, after which she returned to Afghanistan to reunite with her husband. He lost his father during his infancy, Durranis forefathers were Sadozais but his mother was from the Alakozai tribe. In June 1729, the Abdali forces under Zulfiqar had surrendered to Nader Shah Afshar, they soon began a rebellion and took over Herat as well as Mashad. In July 1730, he defeated Ibrahim Khan, a commander and brother of Nader Shah. This prompted Nader Shah to retake Mashad and intervene in the struggle of Harat. By July 1731, Zulfiqar returned to his capital Farah where he had been serving as the governor since 1726, a year Nadirs brother Ibrahim Khan took control of Farah. During this time Zulfiqar and the young Durrani fled to Kandahar where they took refuge with the Ghiljis and they were made political prisoners by Hussain Hotak, the Ghilji ruler of the Kandahar region.
Nader Shah had been enlisting the Abdalis in his army since around 1729, after conquering Kandahar in 1738, Durrani and his brother Zulfiqar were freed and provided with leading careers in Nader Shahs administration. Zulfiqar was made Governor of Mazandaran while Durrani remained working as Nader Shahs personal attendant, the Ghiljis, who are originally from the territories east of the Kandahar region, were expelled from Kandahar in order to resettle the Abdalis along with some Qizilbash and other Persians. Durrani proved himself in Nader Shahs service and was promoted from an attendant to command the Abdali Regiment
