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Nadir Shah's Death
The beginning of modern Aghanistan can be dated to 1747, when the Afghans in Nadir Shah's army return home after his death. Their leader, Ahmad Khan Abdali, enters Kandahar and is elected king of the Afghans in a tribal assembly. He takes the title Durr-i-Durran ('pearl among pearls') and changes the name of his tribe to the Durrani. -
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Dost Mohammad Khan
Kabul is taken in 1818 by an Afghan tribe, the Barakzai, led on this occasion by Dost Mohammed - the twentieth but the most forceful of the twenty-one sons of the tribal chieftain. Civil war against supporters of the Durrani continues for several years, until in 1826 the country is safely divided between Dost Mohammed and some of his brothers -
Dost Mohammed Death
Kabul is taken in 1818 by an Afghan tribe, the Barakzai, led on this occasion by Dost Mohammed - the twentieth but the most forceful of the twenty-one sons of the tribal chieftain. Civil war against supporters of the Durrani continues for several years, until in 1826 the country is safely divided between Dost Mohammed and some of his brothers.
Dost Mohammed receives the greatest share, in a stretch from Ghazni to Jalalabad which includes Kabul. He soon becomes accepted as the leader of the nati -
wo Anglo-Afghan Wars: AD 1838-1842 and 1878-81
In December 1838 a British army is assembled in India for an Afghan campaign. By April 1839, after a difficult advance under constant harassment from tribal guerrillas, the city of Kandahar is captured. Here Britain's chosen puppet ruler, Shah Shuja, is crowned in a mosque. Four months later Kabul is taken and Shah Shuja is crowned again. By the end of 1840 the rightful amir, Dost Mohammed, is a prisoner of the British. He and his family are sent into exile into India. But the British garriso -
Abdurrahman Khan and his successors
Abdurrahman is followed on the throne by three generations of his family. He sets a pattern, which they follow, of an authoritarian regime dedicated to the introduction of technology and investment from more developed countries - though the violence and anarchy of Afghan life often frustrate such modernizing intentions. Abdurrahman is succeeded in 1901 by his son Habibullah Khan, who successfully maintains a policy of strict neutrality during World War I. After the war he demands internationa -
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Zahir Shar and Daud Khan: AD 1933-1978
In a reign of forty years Zahir Shah skilfully promotes Afghan interests. Once again neutrality is successfully maintained during a World War. And in the ensuing Cold War Afghanistan brilliantly demonstrates the power of a non-aligned country to derive benefits from the major players on both sides. Both the USA and the USSR build highways and hospitals, in a mood of superpower competition orchestrated by Zahir's cousin and brother-in-law Daud Khan (prime minister from 1953). -
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Reform and reaction
Daud's government is overthrown (and he and most of his family killed) by a lef-wing faction within the army. When the coup is complete, the officers hand over control to the nation's two leftist political parties - Khalq (the People's party) and Parcham (the Banner party). The two are for once working in harmony, though only briefly -
Soviet occupation end
The communist prime minister, Hafizullah Amin, is either shot or commits suicide within a day of the Soviet invasion. In his place the Russians bring Babrak Karmal from Moscow, as their puppet ruler. But ruling Afghanistan in these circumstances proves impossible. Russian tanks can take any town and Russian planes can bomb even remote valleys into temporary submission, but as soon as the focus of military might shifts elsewhere the guerrillas return to take control on the ground. Only Kabul -
Civil war: from AD 1989
Contrary to expectations Najibullah contrives to remain in power for three years, holding at bay the mujaheddin. But in 1992 Kabul falls to his opponents. He secures promise of a safe passage from the UN forces, who prove unable to escort him out of the city. He is given asylum in the UN compound in Kabul. An Islamic state is immediately declared. On occasion the seven factions in the IUAW, together with three Shia groups from western Afghanistan, do manage to work in harmony. But it is a fra -
The Taliban: from AD 1994
In 1994 the most significant group in present-day Afghanistan emerges unheralded and without fanfare. A mullah in Kandahar, Mohammad Omar Akhund (commonly known as Mullah Omar), forms a group which he calls Taliban, meaning 'students' - in this case Sunni students of the Qur'an. In the violence and chaos of Afghanistan, the Taliban inevitably become a guerrilla group; and, compared to the blatant self-interest of certain other mujaheddin, the Taliban's simple message of Muslim fundamentalism pro -
War against al-Qaida
The terrorist attacks against the USA on 11 September 2001 transform the situation in Afghanistan. The immediate assumption in Washington is that the outrage is the work of Osama bin Laden and his al-qaeda organization. At first there is widespread scepticism elsewhere, but the Bush administration is able to form a coalition after convincing sufficient leaders of foreign nations (crucial is neighbouring Pakistan, which has previously supported the Taliban). For several years bin Laden has mad -
The United Nations takes the lead in trying to help
The United Nations takes the lead in trying to help Afghaninstan towards a more stable political future. The country's various factions are invited to send delegates to a summit conference at Königswinter, a resort near Bonn. After a week of difficult negotiation, arrangements are in place for an interim government. It is to be headed by the Pashtun leader Hamid Karzai. It is to rule for six months from 22 December 2001. At the end of that period a Loya Girga, or meeting of tribal elders, will b
