A History Of Invasions: Afghanistan's Enduring Struggle For Sovereignty

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central and South Asia. Due to its geographical position, controlling Afghanistan is vital in controlling Southern Asia or getting a passage through Central Asia. Afghanistan has been invaded by many empires and nations throughout history, including the Maurya Empire, the ancient Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, the Rashidun Caliphate, the Mongol Empire led by Genghis Khan, the Timurid Empire of Timur, the Mughal Empire, various Persian Empires, the British Empire, the Soviet Union, and most recently, the United States. The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, in response to the 9/11 attacks, was the latest in a long history of foreign domination and internal strife in the country.

The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001

On October 7, 2001, the US military, with British support, began a bombing campaign against Taliban forces, officially launching Operation Enduring Freedom. The war's early phase mainly involved US airstrikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban forces, assisted by about 1,000 US special forces, the Northern Alliance, and ethnic Pashtun anti-Taliban forces. The first wave of conventional ground forces arrived twelve days later.

The Taliban regime unravelled rapidly after its loss at Mazar-e-Sharif on November 9, 2001, to forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek military leader. Over the next week, Taliban strongholds crumbled after coalition and Northern Alliance offensives. On November 13, the Taliban retreated from Kabul without a fight, and on November 17, the US toppled the Taliban government.

On December 5, 2001, the United Nations invited major Afghan factions, most prominently the Northern Alliance and a group led by the former king, to a conference in Bonn, Germany. The factions signed the Bonn Agreement, which installed Hamid Karzai as interim administration head and created an international peacekeeping force to maintain security in Kabul.

The end of the Taliban regime is generally tied to the date when the Taliban surrendered Kandahar and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar fled the city, leaving it under tribal law. Despite the official fall of the Taliban, al-Qaeda leaders continued to hide out in the mountains.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979

The invasion began on 24 December 1979, when the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. The Soviets deployed a special assault unit against Tajberg Palace and within a few days, they had secured Kabul. Elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance.

The invasion was a response to the internal political turmoil in Afghanistan. In April 1978, soldiers aligned with the Khalq faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) assaulted the presidential palace, executing the former Afghan Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family. In the following days, Nur Muhammad Taraki, a founding member of the Khalq faction, became the Prime Minister. However, his regime was unstable and faced fierce resistance from conservative and religious leaders.

In the summer of 1979, Hafizullah Amin, a longtime ally of Taraki, received word of a plot to overthrow the Taraki regime by Babrak Karmal, the exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the PDPA. Amin responded by purging and executing many Parchamists and consolidating his power. This internal strife damaged the Kabul government's major national program to bring the Communist revolution to the Islamic tribal areas beyond Kabul.

By the winter of 1979, the Islamic insurgency had intensified, and it became clear to the Soviets that Taraki could not prevent a civil war. The Soviets dispatched combat troops to Bagram Air Base outside of Kabul. This move prompted the Carter administration to begin supplying non-lethal aid to Afghan mujahideen, or Islamic insurgents.

Fearing that Amin's regime would collapse and that Afghanistan would fall under the influence of the United States, the Soviets decided to invade Afghanistan. On Christmas Eve, Soviet troops killed Amin and installed Babrak Karmal as the Soviet's puppet head of government.

The invasion triggered a brutal, nine-year civil war in Afghanistan and contributed significantly to the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. An estimated one million civilians were killed, along with 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, 18,000 Afghan troops, and 14,500 Soviet soldiers.

The British-Afghan Wars of the 19th and 20th centuries

Afghanistan has been invaded by many empires throughout history, including the British Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries.

First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-1842)

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul, with the British attempting to extend their control over Afghanistan and prevent Russian influence in the region. The war began in 1838 when the British invaded Afghanistan, taking sides in a succession dispute between Emir Dost Mohammad Khan and former King Shah Shujah. The British successfully invaded the country and occupied Kabul, enduring harsh winters. However, during their retreat from Kabul in 1842, the British forces and their camp followers were almost completely massacred. The British then sent an Army of Retribution to Kabul, after which Dost Mohammad Khan surrendered and was sent into exile in India.

Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880)

The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan, ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty. The war was part of the Great Game between the British and Russian empires, with both sides vying for influence in Afghanistan. The war consisted of two campaigns, with the first beginning in November 1878 when British forces invaded Afghanistan from India. The British quickly defeated the Afghan forces and forced Sher Ali Khan to flee. His successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879, ceding control of Afghan foreign affairs to the British in exchange for their support. However, tensions rose again in September 1879 when a British envoy and his staff were massacred in Kabul, leading to the second campaign. The British decisively defeated the Afghan forces outside Kandahar in September 1880, and Abdur Rahman Khan became the new ruler of Afghanistan.

Third Anglo-Afghan War (1919)

The Third Anglo-Afghan War took place in 1919 and led to Afghanistan's full independence. The war was brief, lasting only three months from May to August 1919, and ended with Afghanistan reasserting its independence and control over its relations with other countries. A border known as the Durand Line was established between Afghanistan and British India, which still forms the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan today.

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom

The region of Bactria was inhabited by Greek settlers since the times of Darius I, when the entire population of Barca, in Cyrenaica, was deported to the region for refusing to surrender assassins. Greek influence increased under Xerxes I, after the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor) were forcibly relocated to Bactria. By the time Alexander the Great conquered Bactria in 328 BCE, Greek communities and language were already common in the area.

Diodotus, the satrap of Bactria, founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom when he seceded from the Seleucid Empire around 250 BCE and became King Diodotus I of Bactria. The new kingdom was highly urbanized and considered one of the richest of the Orient. It further grew in power and engaged in territorial expansion to the east and the west.

In 230 BCE, a local ruler named Euthydemos overthrew the Diodotids and created his own dynasty, extending his territory northward into Sogdiana and Ferghana. In 210 BCE, the Seleucid Antiochos III fought victoriously against Euthydemos, forcing him to retreat. This endless siege and the threat of northern nomads forced Antiochos III to negotiate: he recognized Euthydemos as king and gave him one of his daughters in exchange for supplies and war elephants.

Following the death of Alexander the Great, Bactria was annexed by his general, Seleucus I. The Seleucids lost the region after the declaration of independence by the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I; thus began the history of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.

The Greco-Bactrians were known for their high level of Hellenistic sophistication, and they kept regular contact with India and nomadic neighbors, and possibly also the Chinese. Their art was known to be one of the finest of its time, and their coins were of particularly high quality.

The last Greek Kingdom in Afghanistan was conquered by the Kushan invaders in the first century CE, a full three centuries after Alexander the Great. However, the Greek language continued to be used by the Kushans in their coinage for several centuries.

The Islamic Conquest of Afghanistan

The Arab invasions of Afghanistan in the 7th century were part of the larger Islamic expansion into Central and South Asia. The Arabs entered the region from northeastern Iran and captured the city of Herat in 642. From there, they advanced towards northern Afghanistan, pursuing the Sassanian emperor Yazdegerd III, who had fled eastward following his defeat. The Arabs stationed a large portion of their army in Herat before continuing their advance.

The inhabitants of northern Afghanistan gradually accepted Islam through Umayyad missionary efforts, particularly during the reign of Caliph Hisham and Umar ibn AbdulAziz. In the south, Abdur Rahman bin Samara made incursions into Zabulistan, which was ruled by the Zunbils. Despite these efforts, the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan was a slow process, and it took several centuries for Islam to become the predominant religion in the region.

During the reign of Al-Mu'tasim and his successors, Islam became the predominant religion in Kabul and other major cities of Afghanistan. The Samanids, who ruled from Bukhara, propagated Sunni Islam deep into Central Asia, and the first complete translation of the Quran into Persian was made in the 9th century. Since then, Islam has dominated the religious landscape of Afghanistan.

The Ghaznavids, a Turkic dynasty that rose to power in the 10th century, played a significant role in the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan. They conquered Kabul and encouraged mass conversions to Islam in Afghanistan and India. The Ghaznavids were followed by the Ghurid dynasty, who further expanded the Islamic empire.

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