Theancient history of Afghanistan, also referred to as thepre-Islamic period of Afghanistan, dates back to theprehistoric era and theHelmand civilization around 3300–2350 B.C.Archaeological exploration began inAfghanistan in earnest afterWorld War II and proceeded until the late 1970s during theSoviet–Afghan War. Archaeologists and historians suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world.[1]Urbanized culture has existed in the land from between 3000 and 2000 BC.[1][2][3] Artifacts typical of thePaleolithic,Mesolithic,Neolithic,Bronze, andIron ages have been found inside Afghanistan.[3]
After theIndus Valley Civilisation stretched up to northeast Afghanistan,[4] it was inhabited by theIranic tribes and controlled by theMedes until about 500 BC whenDarius the Great (Darius I) marched with hisPersian army to make it part of theAchaemenid Empire. In 330 BC,Alexander the Great ofMacedonia invaded the land after defeatingDarius III ofPersia in theBattle of Gaugamela. Much of Afghanistan became part of theSeleucid Empire followed by theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom.Seleucus I Nicator was defeated byChandragupta Maurya and gave his daughter in a peace treaty. The land was inhabited by various tribes and ruled by many different kingdoms for the next two millennia. Before thearrival of Islam in the 7th century, there were a number of religions practiced in modern-day Afghanistan.Zoroastrianism andAncient Iranian religions were practiced in western Afganistan (Khorasan andHerat).Hinduism andBuddhism was primarily practiced in regions of Eastern (Kabul) and South-Eastern Afganistan (Kandahar).[5] TheKafiristan (present-dayNuristan) region, in theHindu Kush mountain range, was not converted until the 19th century. They still follow theancient Vedic religion (related to modern day Hinduism).
Louis Dupree, theUniversity of Pennsylvania, theSmithsonian Institution and others suggest that humans were living in Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago and thatfarming communities of the region were among the earliest in the world.[1] Evidence of early human settlements at cave sites such asDarra-e Kur suggest that hunter-gatherer societies existed in the region by at least 30,000 B.C.[6]
The earliest evidence of Neolithic farming dates to the 7th millennia B.C. where excavations atSaid Qala Tepe in southernKandahar have revealed the remains of domesticated sheep, goats, and cattle alongside plant material from domesticated wheat and barley.[7] By the 5th millennia B.C., the Neolithic agricultural transition spread throughout southern and northern Afghanistan, as evidenced by the archaeological findings at permanent settlements such asMundigak and theAq Kupruk cave complex.[8]
These findings place Afghanistan within the broader arc of the Neolithic agricultural transition radiating outward from theFertile Crescent, and suggest an eastward flow of cultural and technological exchange from sites such asTepe Sialk inIran andMehrgarh inBaluchistan,Pakistan, while Afghanistan’s own highland communities adapted farming practices to local ecological conditions.[9][10]
Afghanistan seems in prehistory, as well as in ancient and modern times, to have been connected by culture and trade with the neighbouring regions. Urban civilization may have begun as early as 3000 to 2000 BC.[3] Archaeological finds indicate the possible beginnings of the Bronze Age, which would ultimately spread throughout the ancient world from Afghanistan. It is also believed that the region had early trade contacts withMesopotamia.[11]
Partially located within the present borders of modern-day Afghanistan,Bactria (2300-1700 BCE) was an ancientBronze AgeIranian civilization located in the area south of the Oxus River (modernAmu Darya) and north of theHindu Kush. The modern archaeological designation for this ancient civilization isBactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), and is also known as the Oxus civilization. Located at the confluence of several important trade routes, this mostly nomadic population accumulated vast amounts of wealth and developed its first proto-urban civilization during the 2nd millennia BCE.
BMAC communities engaged in long-distance trade with theIndus Valley andMesopotamia, exchanging goods likelapis lazuli andturquoise.[12] The decline of the BMAC around 1700 BCE coincides with the arrival of Indo-Iranian groups in Central Asia, marking a cultural shift toward the Iron Age.[13] While some scholars suggest the BMAC population may have been early Indo-Iranians, this remains uncertain.[14]
TheIndus Valley Civilisation (IVC) was aBronze Age civilization (3300–1300 BCE). Evidence of an Indus Valley site from theMature Harappan period (2600-1900 BCE) has been found on theOxus River atShortugai in northern Afghanistan.[15] Apart from Shortughai isMundigak, another notable site. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan.
Between 2000–1200 BC, a branch ofIndo-European-speaking tribes known as theAryans began migrating into the region. This is part of a dispute in regards to theIndo-Aryan migration. They split intoIranic peoples,Nuristani, andIndo-Aryan groups at an early stage, possibly between 1500 and 1000 BC in what is today Afghanistan or much earlier as eastern remnants of theIndo-Aryans drifted much further west as with theMitanni. The Iranians dominated the modern day plateau, while the Indo-Aryans ultimately headed towards theIndian subcontinent. TheAvesta is believed to have been composed possibly as early as 1800 BC and written in ancientAriana (Aryana), the earliest name of Afghanistan which indicates an early link with today's Iranian tribes to the west, or adjacent regions in Central Asia or northeastern Iran in the 6th century BC.[16] Due to the similarity between early Avestan andSanskrit (and other related early Indo-European languages such asLatin andAncient Greek), it is believed that the split between the old Persians and Indo-Aryan tribes had taken place at least by 1000 BC. There are striking similarities betweenAvestan andSanskrit, which may support the notion that the split was contemporary with the Indo-Aryans living in Afghanistan at a very early stage. Also, the Avesta itself divides into Old and New sections and neither mention theMedes who are known to have ruled Afghanistan starting around 700 BC. This suggests an early time-frame for the Avesta that has yet to be exactly determined as most academics believe it was written over the course of centuries if not millennia. Much of the archaeological data comes from theBactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC andIndus Valley civilization) that probably played a key role in early Aryanic civilization in Afghanistan.
TheIndo-Aryan inhabitants of the region- mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country were adherents ofHinduism. Notable among these were theGandharis[17]ThePashayi andNuristanis are present day examples of these Indo-Iranian people.[18][19][20][21][22]
The Medes, a Western Iranian people, arrived from what is todayKurdistan sometime around the 700s BC and came to dominate most of ancient Afghanistan.[23] They were an early tribe that forged the first empire on the present Iranian plateau and sister-nations with the Persians whom they initially dominated in the province ofFars to the south. Median control of parts of far off Afghanistan would last until Cyrus the Great, prince of thePersians, assassinated and ultimately replaced his Median emperor father-in-law from rule.
The city of Bactra (which later becameBalkh), is believed to have been the home ofZarathustra,[by whom?] who founded theZoroastrian religion. TheAvesta refers to eastern Bactria as being the home of the Zoroastrian faith.[citation needed] Regardless of the debate as to where Zoroaster was from, Zoroastrianism spread to become one of the world's most influential religions and became the main faith of the old Aryan people for centuries.[citation needed] It also remained the official religion of Persia until the defeat of the Sassanian rulerYazdegerd III—over a thousand years after its founding—by MuslimArabs.[citation needed] In what is today southern Iran, the Persians emerged to challenge Median supremacy on the Iranian plateau. By 550 BC, the Persians had replaced Median rule with their own dominion and even began to expand past previous Median imperial borders. BothGandhara andKamboja Mahajanapadas of the Buddhist texts soon fell a prey to the Achaemenian Dynasty during the reign of Achaemenid,[citation needed]Cyrus the Great (558–530 BC), or in the first year ofDarius I, marking the region or of the easternmost provinces of the empire, located partly in nowadays Afghanistan. According toPliny's evidence, Cyrus the Great (Cyrus II) had destroyed Kapisa in Capiscene[24] which was a Kamboja city. The former region of Gandhara and Kamboja (upper Indus) had constituted seventh satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire and annually contributed 170 talents of gold dust as a tribute to the Achaemenids.
Bactria had a special position in old Afghanistan, being the capital of a vice-kingdom. By the 4th century BC, Persian control of outlying areas and the internal cohesion of the empire had become somewhat tenuous. Although distant provinces like Bactriana had often been restless under Achaemenid rule, Bactrian troops nevertheless fought in the decisiveBattle of Gaugamela in 330 BC against the advancing armies ofAlexander the Great. The Achaemenids were decisively defeated by Alexander and retreated from his advancing army of Greco-Macedonians and their allies.Darius III, the last Achaemenid ruler, tried to flee to Bactria but was assassinated by a subordinate lord, the Bactrian-bornBessus, who proclaimed himself the new ruler of Persia as Artaxerxes (V). Bessus was unable to mount a successful resistance to the growing military might of Alexander's army so he fled to his native Bactria, where he attempted to rally local tribes to his side but was instead turned over to Alexander who proceeded to have him tortured and executed for having committedregicide.[citation needed]
Moving thousands of kilometers eastward from recently subdued Persia, the Macedonian leaderAlexander the Great, encountered fierce resistance from the local tribes ofAria, Drangiana,Arachosia (South and Eastern Afghanistan, North-West Pakistan) and Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan). One of the fiercest battles that he faced was inHerat. One of his top commanding officers was killed by the rebels and he had to go there himself. He couldn't defeat them in time and he ended up burning down the forest to finish the rebellion.[25]
Upon Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire, which had never been politically consolidated, broke apart as his companions began to divide it amongst themselves. Alexander's cavalry commander,Seleucus, took nominal control of the eastern lands and founded theSeleucid dynasty. Under the Seleucids, as under Alexander, Greek colonists and soldiers colonized Bactria, roughly corresponding to modern Afghanistan's borders. However, the majority of Macedonian soldiers of Alexander the Great wanted to leave the east and return home to Greece. Later, Seleucus sought to guard his eastern frontier and movedIonian Greeks (also known asYavanas to many local groups) to Bactria in the 3rd century BC.
Greece had one of the most advanced civilizations at that period. Wherever they went, they left and gained something from cultures and ultimately, they had a civilization that was compromised from other top civilizations of the time. Greek men were marrying with other women and this helped the process of mixing the cultures a lot.[25]
While theDiadochi were warring amongst themselves, theMauryan Empire was developing in the northern part of theIndian subcontinent. The founder of the empire,Chandragupta Maurya, confronted a Macedonian invasion force led bySeleucus I in 305 BC and following a brief conflict, an agreement was reached as Seleucus cededGandhara andArachosia (centered around ancientKandahar) and areas south ofBagram (corresponding to the extreme south-east of modern Afghanistan) to the Mauryans. During the 120 years of the Mauryans in southern Afghanistan, Buddhism was introduced and eventually become a major religion alongside Zoroastrianism and local pagan beliefs. The ancientGrand Trunk Road was built linking what is now Kabul to various cities in the Punjab and the Gangetic Plain. Commerce, art, and architecture (seen especially in the construction ofstupas) developed during this period. It reached its high point under Emperor Ashoka whose edicts, roads, and rest stops were found throughout the subcontinent. Although the vast majority of them throughout the subcontinent were written in Prakrit, Afghanistan is notable for the inclusion of 2 Greek and Aramaic ones alongside the court language of the Mauryans.
Inscriptions made by the Mauryan EmperorAshoka, a fragment ofEdict 13 in Greek, as well as a full Edict, written in both Greek and Aramaic has been discovered inOld Kandahar. It is said to be written in excellent Classical Greek, using sophisticated philosophical terms. In this Edict, Ashoka uses the wordEusebeia ("Piety") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous "Dharma" of his other Edicts written inPrakrit:
The last ruler in the region was probablySubhagasena (Sophagasenus ofPolybius), who, in all probability, belonged to theAshvaka (q.v.) background.
In the middle of the 3rd century BC, an independent, Hellenistic state was declared inBactria and eventually the control of the Seleucids and Mauryans was overthrown in western and southern Afghanistan.Graeco-Bactrian rule spread until it included a large territory which stretched from Turkmenistan in the west to the Punjab in India in the east by about 170 BC.Graeco-Bactrian rule was eventually defeated by a combination of internecine disputes that plagued Greek and Hellenized rulers to the west, continual conflict with Indian kingdoms, as well as the pressure of two groups of nomadic invaders from Central Asia—theParthians andSakas.
In the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, theParthians, a nomadicIranian peoples, arrived in Western Asia. While they made large inroads into the modern-day territory of Afghanistan, about 100 years later another Indo-European group from the north—the Kushans (a subgroup of the tribe called theYuezhi by the Chinese)—entered the region of Afghanistan and established an empire lasting almost four centuries, which would dominate most of the Afghanistan region.
TheKushan Empire spread from theKabul River valley to defeat other Central Asian tribes that had previously conquered parts of the northern central Iranian Plateau once ruled by the Parthians. By the middle of the 1st century BC, the Kushans' base of control became Afghanistan and their empire spanned from the north of thePamir mountains to theGanges river valley in India. During rule of Kanishka, they had 2 seasonal capital cities which were Kabul in Spring and Summer then moving to Peshawar for Fall and Winter.[27] Early in the 2nd century underKanishka, the most powerful of the Kushan rulers, the empire reached its greatest geographic and cultural breadth to become a center of literature and art. Kanishka extended Kushan control to the mouth of the Indus River on theArabian Sea, intoKashmir, and into what is today the Chinese-controlled area north ofTibet. Kanishka was a patron of religion and the arts. It was during his reign that Buddhism, which was promoted in northern India earlier by theMauryan emperorAshoka (c. 260 BC–232 BC), reached its zenith in Central Asia. Though the Kushanas supported local Buddhists and Hindus as well as the worship of various local deities.
In the 3rd century, Kushan control fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms that became easy targets for conquest by the rising Iranian dynasty, theSasanians (c. 224–561) which annexed Afghanistan by 300 AD. In these far off easternmost territories, they established vassal kings as rulers, known as theKushanshahs. Sasanian control was tenuous at times as numerous challenges from Central Asian tribes led to instability and constant warfare in the region.
The disunited Kushan and Sasanian kingdoms were in a poor position to meet the threat several waves ofXionite/Huna invaders from the north from the 4th century onwards. In particular, theHephthalites (orEbodalo;Bactrian script ηβοδαλο) swept out of Central Asia during the 5th century intoBactria and Iran, overwhelming the last of the Kushan kingdoms. Historians believe that Hephthalite control continued for a century and was marked by constant warfare with the Sassanians to the west who exerted nominal control over the region.By the middle of the 6th century, the Hephthalites were defeated in the territories north of theAmu Darya (the Oxus River of antiquity) by another group of Central Asian nomads, theGöktürks, and by the resurgent Sassanians in the lands south of the Amu Darya. It was the ruler of western Göktürks, Sijin (a.k.a. Sinjibu, Silzibul and Yandu Muchu Khan) who led the forces against the Hepthalites who were defeated at theBattle of Chach (Tashkent) and at the Battle of Bukhara.
TheShahi dynasties ruled portions of theKabul Valley (in eastern Afghanistan) and the old province ofGandhara (northern Pakistan andKashmir) from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century.[28] They are split into two eras the BuddhistTurk Shahis and the laterHindu Shahis with the change-over occurring around 870, and ruled up until theIslamic conquest of Afghanistan.
WhenXuanzang visited the region early in the 7th century, theKabul region was ruled by aKshatriya king, who is identified as theShahi Khingal, and whose name has been found in an inscription found inGardez. The Turkic Shahi regency was overthrown and replaced by aMohyal Shahi dynasty of Brahmins who began the first phase of the Hindu Shahi dynasty.
TheseHindu kings of Kabul and Gandhara may have had links to some ruling families in neighboringKashmir and other areas to the east. The Shahis were rulers of predominantlyBuddhist,Zoroastrian,Hindu andMuslim populations and were thus patrons of numerous faiths, and various artifacts and coins from their rule have been found that display their multicultural domain. In 964 AD, the last Mohyal Shahi was succeeded by theJanjua overlord, Jayapala, of thePanduvanshi dynasty. The last Shahi emperorsJayapala,Anandapala and Tirlochanpala fought the MuslimGhaznavids ofGhazna and were gradually defeated. Their remaining army were eventually exiled into northern India.
Most of the Zoroastrian, Greek, Hellenistic, Buddhist, Hindu and other indigenous cultures were replaced by the coming of Islam and little influence remains in Afghanistan today. Along ancient trade routes, however, stone monuments of the once flourishing Buddhist culture did exist as reminders of the past. The two massive sandstoneBuddhas of Bamyan, 35 and 53 meters high, overlooked the ancient route throughBamyan toBalkh and dated from the 3rd and 5th centuries. They survived until 2001, when they were destroyed by theTaliban.[29] In this and other key places in Afghanistan,archaeologists have locatedfrescoes,stucco decorations, statuary, and rare objects from as far away as China,Phoenicia, andRome, which were crafted as early as the 2nd century and bear witness to the influence of these ancient civilizations upon Afghanistan.
One of theearly Buddhist schools, theMahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravāda, were known to be prominent in the area of Bamiyan. The ChineseBuddhist monkXuanzang visited a Lokottaravāda monastery in the 7th century CE, at Bamiyan, Afghanistan, and this monastery site has since been rediscovered by archaeologists.[30]Birchbark andpalm leaf manuscripts of texts in this monastery's collection, includingMahāyāna sūtras, have been discovered at the site, and these are now located in theSchøyen Collection. Some manuscripts are in theGāndhārī language andKharoṣṭhī script, while others are in Sanskrit and written in forms of theGupta script. Manuscripts and fragments that have survived from this monastery's collection include well-known Buddhist texts such as theMahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (from theĀgamas), theDiamond Sūtra (VajracchedikāPrajñāpāramitā), theMedicine Buddha Sūtra, and theŚrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra.[30]
In 2010, reports stated that about 42 Buddhist relics have been discovered in theLogar Province of Afghanistan, which is south of Kabul. Some of these items date back to the 2nd century according to Archaeologists. The items included twoBuddhist temples (Stupas), Buddha statues, frescos, silver and gold coins and precious beads.[31][32]
There is a temple, stupas, beautiful rooms, big and small statues, two with the length of seven and nine meters, colorful frescos ornamented with gold and some coins... Some of the relics date back to the fifth century (AD)... We have come across signs that there are items maybe going back to the era before Christ or prehistory... We need foreign assistance to preserve these and their expertise to help us with further excavations.[33]
— Mohammad Nader Rasouli, Afghan Archaeological Department
Chronological chart for the historical periods of Afghanistan | ||
−2200 — – −2000 — – −1800 — – −1600 — – −1400 — – −1200 — – −1000 — – −800 — – −600 — – −400 — – −200 — – 0 — – 200 — – 400 — – 600 — – 800 — – 1000 — – 1200 — – 1400 — – 1600 — – 1800 — – 2000 — – 2200 — | Coming of Iranians c.1700-1100 BC: TheRigveda, one of the oldest known texts written in anIndo-European language, is composed in a region described asSapta Sindhu ('land of seven great rivers', which may correspond to theKabul Valley). c. 1350 BC: Migration of waves ofIranian tribes begin from theBactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex westwards to theIranian plateau, western Afghanistan and westernIran. According to theAvesta (Vendidad 1.1-21), they are compelled to leave their homelandAiryana Vaēǰah becauseAŋra Mainyu so altered the climate that the winter became ten months long and the summer only two. Along the way, they settle down near large rivers, such asBāxδī,Harōiva,Haraxᵛaitī, etc. (SeeAvestan geography.) c. 1100-550 BC:Zoroaster introduces a new religion atBactra (present-dayBalkh) -Zoroastrianism - which spreads acrossIranian plateau. He composes Older (i.e. 'Gathic')Avesta and later Younger Avesta is composed - at least - inSīstān/Arachosia,Herāt,Merv and Bactria. | |
At the time of the first Muslim advances, numerous local natural religions were competing with Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism in the territory of modern Afghanistan.
Historically, north and east Afghanistan was considered part of the Indian cultural and religious sphere. Early accounts of the region mention the Pashayi as living in a region producing rice and sugarcane, with many wooded areas. Many of the people of the region were Buddhists, though small groups of Hindus and others with tribal religions were noted.
Before their conversion to Islam, the Pashayi followed a religion that was probably a corrupt form of Hinduism and Buddhism. Today, they are Sunni (orthodox) Muslims of the Hanafite sect.
