A brief history of Afghanistan.
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Today (19 August) marks the 103rd anniversary of Afghanistan's independence.
On August 19, 1919, Afghanistan finally gained independence after defeating the British occupation forces. August 19 also became Afghanistan's Independence Day.
Today, Afghanistan gives the impression of a change of government, internal divisions, the displacement of refugees... A "failed state" through and through.
But how many people know that Afghanistan was also very rich.
In the 1960s, Afghanistan not only had a basic industrial system, which could produce industrial products such as automobiles, but also basically aligned with European and American countries in social life, becoming a vigorous star of hope.
So why did Afghanistan fall to this point?
The heartbreaking eyes of an Afghan girl
Afghanistan now covers an area of about 650,000 square kilometers, bordering Pakistan in the southeast, Iran in the west, and Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the north, making it a typical landlocked country.
Afghanistan's total population is about 32 million people, and more than 90% of the population is Muslim.
From a resource point of view, Afghanistan's family base is indeed "not rich".
The territory is dominated by plateaus and mountains, and the land is barren, which can be described as a poor country with no money and no oil.
Ruins of an abandoned ancient Afghan city
Brushing away the dust of history, when the Persian Empire and the Macedonian Empire "pinched each other" in the past, Afghanistan sandwiched in the middle was not only not affected, but also developed a trade network by virtue of its important geographical location, and built many new cities, such as kandahar.
In 312 BC, Alexander the Great's general Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty in Syria, and Afghanistan was controlled by both it and the Peacock dynasty in India.
Due to the flourishing of trade in Central Asia, the Bactria region of northern Afghanistan became the most important transportation artery and trade transit point for the two dynasties.
Indian spices were transported to West Asia through this place, and handicrafts and products from the Mediterranean coast were imported into Central Asia and India, and Afghanistan became a "country of a thousand cities" that was not inferior to its contemporaries Greece and China.
In the 1st century AD, the Ōtsuki people who moved west to Central Asia established the Kushan Empire, and Afghanistan, as the most important trading territory, still maintained a fairly high level of development.
Afghanistan's period of prosperity naturally attracted the covetousness of many surrounding tribal states.
Over the centuries, Afghanistan has changed hands several times, and the many empires and peoples that rule the land have come and gone.
During the Tang Dynasty, Afghanistan was also under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate of the Great Capital of Anxi
In the 12th century, the increasingly depressed Afghanistan finally got a respite.
At that time, under the rule of the Muslim Khwarazm Empire, Afghanistan attracted snow water from the Hindu Kush Mountains to water the land, and everywhere was fertile land, becoming the "model granary" of Khwarazm.
Under the patronage of the Khwarazm State, the wealthy Afghanistan was also praised by the Arab world as the "State of the Rising Sun" by the Arab world at that time.
The Mongol army attacked Khwarazm thoroughly and, by the way, conquered Afghanistan
Unfortunately, in 1219 AD, the short-sighted King Mokoma of Khwarazm killed the Mongol caravan merchants for no reason, stole the property, angered Genghis Khan, and caused disaster for himself and Afghanistan.
After the destruction of Khwarazm, King Mokoma died of illness while on the run, and his son Zalandin fled.
Thanks to Khwarazm, the Afghans chose to support Zalandin, fought several hard battles with the Mongol army, and were slaughtered after defeat.
This is where the decay of Afghanistan's history began.
Genghis Khan not only ordered the destruction of all towns in Afghanistan, but also had the army cut off the rivers and destroy all irrigation facilities, and the fertile land was turned into saline land that has not been restored.
The Mongols ruled Afghanistan for a hundred years and left a "gift" to the region – the Hazaras, who had a population of more than 6 million.
Hazara means "army of ten thousand people" in Mongolian... Yes, they are all descendants of the Mongol army.
Historians generally believe that Hazara in Afghanistan is a descendant of the Mongol armies
You think Afghanistan has been in a slump ever since?
No, Afghanistan later "counter-killed" Iran, which had occupied for many years, and turned against the wind to become the new ruler of Central and Western Asia.
At the end of the 13th century, Safavid Din, the leader of the Islamic Shia Sufi religious organization in northern Iran, established the Safavid Order, defeated the Ilkhanate of the Mongols and the Aries Dynasty of the Turkmens, and established the Safavid Dynasty.
With no choice but to surrender again, Afghanistan was honestly ruled for nearly two hundred years.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Safavid dynasty itself inevitably went into decline.
In 1709, a tribal chieftain in the Kandahar region of Afghanistan, with Russian support, rebelled.
In just 13 years, this Afghan chieftain tribe successfully conquered Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid dynasty, and established the Hortak dynasty that spanned Iran and Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, these rebellious "upstarts" do not know how to govern the country at all, and will only massacre and plunder.
Eventually, a Persian military strongman, Nadir Shah, led an uprising that ended seven years of Afghan rule over Iran.
Known as the "Sword of Persia", the strongman Nadir Shah
This Nadir Shah was a "ruthless man" who, after invading Afghanistan, crossed the Khyber Pass and captured Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Dynasty in India at the time.
As a result of the Iranian invasion, the once-mighty Mughal Dynasty lost its prestige in India, and India has since been mired in fragmentation and endless infighting.
It was thought that Afghanistan had been beaten down and decayed, but the emergence of a tribal warlord gave the Afghans hope.
After Nadir Shah's death, the Afghan tribes began to stir.
Among them, the Pashtun warlord Ahmad Shah Durrani rose up, unified Afghanistan by force, established a state in Kandahar, and incidentally occupied part of Iranian territory.
Maybe India is better bullied, Ahmad Shah Durrani turned around and followed the route of Nadir Shah, once again invaded Delhi, India, after a burning and looting, the Indians cried bitterly.
Known as the "Father of the Nation" of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Durrani
Ahmad Shah Durrani, who returned home with great joy, was praised by the chinese people as the "Father of the Nation".
Afghanistan has been a powerful character for hundreds of years, and everyone is obedient; When the big guy died, the tribes began to be restless.
After the death of the prestigious Ahmadsha Durrani, Afghanistan was once again a leaderless situation.
Internal strife is constant, and external Russia and Britain have quietly appeared around, looking at the tiger.
In the past, Afghanistan prospered thanks to its privileged location at key nodes of the Silk Road, thriving on a thousand-year-old trading system.
With the advent of the age of European navigation, the land trade was abandoned, and Afghanistan was unceremoniously abandoned by history.
If there is no trade, then let's manage agricultural production well.
Unfortunately, after the Mongol invasion, all water conservancy systems and irrigation facilities were destroyed, and the continuous civil unrest caused the Afghan economy to suffer irreversible damage.
After the great waves of history swept away, the "ship of revival" that the Afghans expected capsized.
In modern times, Afghanistan has also ushered in a brief "dawn of civilization" and ushered in a memorable leader: King Mohammed Zahir Shah.
In 1933, King Nadir of Afghanistan was assassinated by a mentally ill student.
At the age of 19, Zahir interrupted his studies in France and returned to China to inherit the throne, beginning a four-decade rule over Afghanistan.
King Zahir and Queen, beloved by the Afghan people
As a new king educated in Western civilization, Zahir was acutely aware that Afghanistan must not only learn to meet the great powers, but also carry out effective modernization reforms internally.
To change the national fortunes, king Zahir first formulated a constitution, replaced the Quran that the people have believed in for thousands of years with laws, and promoted the transformation of Afghanistan from a theocratic society to a modern society by building schools and letting people with study abroad experience become teachers.
Economically, King Zahir not only paved bridges and roads in the country, but also built a series of modern factories, igniting the flame of civilization for this weak country.
King Zahir's drastic reforms not only received strong support from his cousin, then Afghan Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, But also by young Afghans who were gradually embracing modern civilization.
Among them, the loudest voice is afghan women.
King Zahir first broke the millennia-old stereotype by allowing women's voices and images to appear on radio, television, and movies, allowing coeducational schools and classes.
At the same time, his queen, princess and other high-ranking women took the lead in taking off their traditional black robes and changing into gorgeous and fashionable costumes to appear in public.
As a country with deep religious concepts, the religious forces within Afghanistan are naturally very unhappy and vigorously attack Zahir's policies.
In the face of the most shouted mullahs (religious leaders), Daoud took out the Quran in front of them and asked them to point out where there was a clear basis for women to wear burqas and not to study and work with the opposite sex.
The mullahs, who could not find the slightest evidence, were dumbfounded and could only acquiesce to reality.
The awakening of female consciousness has further stimulated the aspirations of Afghan young people for civilization and made the domestic economy develop rapidly.
Beginning in the 1960s, Afghanistan entered a decade-long "golden age" of modernization.
Because King Zahir believes in pragmatic diplomacy, he not only maintains friendly relations with China, but also eases relations with countries such as India, the "enemy" in history.
King Zahir with Soviet leader Khrushchev
It was also because King Zahir was good at dealing with Europe, the United States and the Soviet Union, and helped Afghanistan obtain a lot of economic assistance from these countries, but it also laid the foundation for this.
In the 1960s, soviet-like trucks were produced in Afghanistan
During this period, Afghanistan not only built two important roads through Afghanistan, but also ran cars that were produced by Afghanistan.
In northern Afghanistan, condensate gas energy enterprises have been built, and hydroelectric power stations and high-level irrigation engineering systems have been built in the Peshawar Valley, which has effectively guaranteed the modernization process in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan had a time of material abundance
The Afghan people are not fools, and they know who can really make themselves live a good life.
As a result, various tribes that had always been at odds with the government also expressed their support for King Zahir.
Unfortunately, King Zahir's policy of "left and right" angered the Soviet government, which had been trying to win him over.
On July 17, 1973, taking advantage of Zahir's trip to Italy for medical treatment, Prime Minister Daoud, with the support of the Soviet Union, staged a coup d'état and announced the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic.
Zahir, who was already in a hurry, had to announce his abdication.
The "pro-Soviet" Daoud immediately began a series of radical nationalization and land reform movements at home, but it deeply hurt the interests of the Afghan tribes, and there was an undercurrent in the country.
On 27 April 1978, the officer corps in Kabul staged a coup d'état that killed The Daoud family.
Soon, Taraki, the successor of the Soviet government, was overthrown by his deputy Amin, who became the Afghan dictator who combined the power of the party, the government and the military.
On December 27, 1979, the Soviet Union, which could no longer hold back, sent special forces to overthrow the Amin government and thus fell into the quagmire of the Afghan people's resistance.
In 1989, the Soviet army, which had been tormented by war for a decade, finally patted its butt and left, leaving a devastated Afghanistan.
The power vacuum allowed the warlords who had originally held high the anti-Soviet banner to take advantage of the void, and the entire country was completely reduced to a battlefield.
Afghanistan has long since become a battlefield for warlords
Subsequently, the "Afghan War" launched by the United States made the Afghan people suffer even more, and the people of the entire country became refugees because of the war.
Afghanistan is now one of the least developed countries in the world, with a GDP of $18.89 billion and a PER capita GDP of $586.6 in the 2019/2020 fiscal year.
With more than 2.6 million people refugees and another 3.5 million displaced, the economy is on the verge of collapse.
Comparison of street women in Kabul, 1972 and 2013
It is worth mentioning that in the early 1970s, women accounted for more than 15% of Afghanistan's highest legislature; In Afghanistan today, women, not to mention participating in politics and deliberations, even reading and literacy are considered illegal.
Afghanistan, once rich, is now poor and weak, for historical reasons.
The most important thing is that "the country is weak and deceived", under the repeated ravages of superpowers, Afghanistan can only be reduced to a pawn at the mercy of others.
The "Afghan war" launched by the United States has completely reduced Afghans to refugees
Although the Afghan people have stubbornly resisted, in the end they have been in exchange for the chaos.
Afghanistan, the "graveyard of empires," left us with nothing but a sigh.