Excavation of prehistoric
sites by Louis Dupree, the University of Pennsylvania, the Smithsonian
Institute and others suggests that early humans were living in what is now
Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago, and that farming communities in
Afghanistan were among the earliest in the world.[1][2]
Afghanistan's history, internal political development, foreign relations,
and very existence as an independent state have largely been determined by
its geographic location at the crossroads of Central, West, and South Asia.
Over the centuries, waves of migrating peoples passed through the
region--described by historian Arnold Toynbee as a "roundabout of the
ancient world"--leaving behind a mosaic of ethnic and linguistic groups. In
modern times, as well as in antiquity, vast armies of the world passed
through this region of Asia, temporarily establishing local control and
often dominating ancient Afghanistan.
Invariably, most of Afghanistan's history was spent as part of the larger
events that took place upon the Iranian plateau as a whole. The Iranian
peoples who arrived in Afghanistan have left their Iranian languages
(Pashto, Dari, etc.) as their legacy as well as distinct cultural traits
that many authors and historians such as Sir Olaf Caroe, writer of The
Pathans, describe as distinctly Iranic: "There is indeed a sense in which
all the upland (the Iranian plateau) from the Tigris to the Indus is one
country. The spirit of Persia has breathed over it, bringing an awareness of
one background, one culture, one way of expression, a unity of spirit felt
as far away as Peshawar and Quetta." It is perhaps not surprising that it is
the Iranic past and Islamic invasions of the Arabs that have defined modern
Afghanistan, while its Greek, Central Asian nomadic, and
Buddhist/Hindu/Zoroastrian past have long since vanished. |
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A presentation of
Afghan history. You will find: chronologies, biographies, documents such
as past constitutions, and articles dealing with various stages
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The location of
Afghanistan astride the land routes between the Indian subcontinent,
Iran, and central Asia has enticed conquerors throughout history
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