Editing History of Afghanistan (section)

==Middle Ages (c. 565–1504 CE)==
[[File:Ancient Khorasan highlighted.jpg|thumb|Map of the region during the 7th century]]
From the [[Middle Ages]] to around 1750 the eastern regions of Afghanistan such as [[Kabulistan]] and [[Zabulistan]] (now [[Kabul]], [[Kandahar]] and [[Ghazni]]) were recognized as being part of [[Indian subcontinent]] (''Al-Hind'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wink |first=André |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g2m7_R5P2oAC&dq=zabul+kabul+al-Hind&pg=PA116 |title=Al-Hind, the Making of the Indo-Islamic World: Early Medieval India and the Expansion of Islam 7Th–11th Centuries |date=2002 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-0-391-04173-8 |pages=116 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{citation
 | chapter = The Tāhirids and Ṣafārids
 | last = Bosworth
 | first = C. E.
 | year = 1975
 | title = The Cambridge History of Iran
 | editor-last = Frye
 | editor-first = R. N.
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | volume = 4
 | pages = 111–112
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hvx9jq_2L3EC
 | isbn = 978-0-521-20093-6
 }}</ref> Its western parts were included in the regions called [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Khorasan-historical-region-Asia|title=Khorāsān &#124; historical region, Asia|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|date=3 April 2024 }}</ref><ref name="Khorasan">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/316850/Khorasan |title=Khorasan |quote=Khorāsān, also spelled Khurasan, historical region and realm comprising a vast territory now lying in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan. The historical region extended, along the north, from the Amu Darya (Oxus River) westward to the Caspian Sea and, along the south, from the fringes of the central Iranian deserts eastward to the mountains of central Afghanistan.|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=21 October 2010}}</ref> [[Tokharistan]]<ref name="AA51">{{cite book |last1=Akasoy |first1=Anna |last2=Burnett |first2=Charles |last3=Yoeli-Tlalim |first3=Ronit |title=Islam and Tibet – Interactions along the Musk Routes |date=14 December 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-92605-8 |pages=51 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lu64DQAAQBAJ&pg=PT51 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Sistan]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia
|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/drangiana
|last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt (Indogermanist)
|title=DRANGIANA or Zarangiana; territory around Lake Hāmūn and the Helmand river in modern Sīstān |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |date=15 December 1995}}</ref> Two of the four main capitals of Khorasan (i.e. [[Balkh]] and [[Herat]]) are now located in Afghanistan. The countries of Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni formed the [[frontier]] region between Khorasan and the Indus.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=91 |title=Events Of The Year 910 (p.4) |author=[[Babur|Zahir ud-Din Mohammad Babur]] |work=[[Baburnama|Memoirs of Babur]] |publisher=[[Packard Humanities Institute]] |year=1525 |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114042117/http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=91 |archive-date=14 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> This land, inhabited by the [[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan tribes]] (i.e. ancestors of [[Pashtuns]]), was called [[Name of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], which loosely covered a wide area between the [[Hindu Kush]] and the [[Indus River]], principally around the [[Sulaiman Mountains]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ibn Battuta |date=2004 |title=Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKqn_CWTxYEC&pg=PA180 |edition=reprint, illustrated |publisher=Routledge |page=416 |isbn=0-415-34473-5}}</ref><ref name="Firishta">{{cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |title=The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8) |access-date=22 August 2010 |author=[[Firishta|Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah]] |work=Sir H. M. Elliot |publisher=Packard Humanities Institute |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726121158/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |archive-date=26 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The earliest record of the name ''"[[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]]"'' (as ''"Abgân"'') being mentioned is by [[Shapur I]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]] during the 3rd century CE<ref name="Habibi">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |work=[[Abdul Hai Habibi]]|publisher=alamahabibi.com|year=1969|access-date=24 October 2010}}</ref><ref name="Abgan">{{cite book|title=Afghanistan -a country without a state?|last1=Noelle-Karimi|first1=Christine|author2=Conrad J. Schetter |author3=Reinhard Schlagintweit |year=2002|publisher=IKO|location=University of Michigan, United States|isbn=3-88939-628-3|page=18|quote=The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ|access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360 |title=History of Afghanistan|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica Online Version|access-date=3 November 2010}}</ref> which is later recorded in the form of ''"Avagānā"'' by the Vedic astronomer [[Varāhamihira]] in his 6th century CE [[Bṛhat Saṃhitā|Brihat-samhita]].<ref name="Iranica">{{cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation |title=Afghan |work=Ch. M. Kieffer |publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition |date=15 December 1983|access-date=27 September 2010}}</ref> It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as ''"Afghana"'', grandson of [[Saul|King Saul of Israel]].<ref>Niazi, Shaheer. "'The Origin of the Pathans'." Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 18.1 (1970): 23.</ref> Xuanzang, the Chinese pilgrim who visited the Afghanistan area several times between 630 and 644 CE also speaks about them.<ref name="Habibi"/> Ancestors of many of today's [[Turkic languages|Turkic-speaking]] Afghans settled in the [[Hindu Kush]] area and began to [[Pashtunization|assimilate]] much of the [[Afghan culture|culture]] and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0006) |title=Islamic conquest|publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] on [[Afghanistan]]|year=1997|access-date=10 September 2010}}</ref> Among these were the [[Khalaj people]] which are known today as [[Ghilzai]].<ref name="Khalaj">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |title=The Turkish dialect of the Khalaj |volume=10 |edition=2 |pages=417–437 |author=[[Vladimir Fedorovich Minorsky|V. Minorsky]] |publisher=[[University of London]] |access-date=10 January 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613145756/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2005/TheKhalajWestoftheOxus.shtml |archive-date=13 June 2011 }}</ref>

===Kabul Shahi===
{{Main|Turk Shahis|Hindu Shahis}}

The Kabul Shahi dynasties (also called Turk Shahi) ruled the [[Kabul Valley]] and [[Gandhara]] from the decline of the [[Kushan Empire]] in the 3rd century to the early 9th century.<ref name="EB">[https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9067075 Shahi Family] ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 2006. 16 October 2006</ref>  The Shahis are generally split up into two eras: the Buddhist Shahis and the Hindu Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around 870. The kingdom was known as the Kabul Shahan or Ratbelshahan from 565 to 670, when the capitals were located in [[Kapisa Province|Kapisa]] and Kabul, and later [[Hund, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Udabhandapura]], also known as Hund<ref>Sehrai, Fidaullah (1979). Hund: ''The Forgotten City of Gandhara'', p. 2. Peshawar Museum Publications New Series, Peshawar.</ref> for its new capital.<ref>The Shahi Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, pp 1, 45–46, 48, 80, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians; Country, Culture and Political life in early and medieval India, 2004, p 34, Daud Ali.</ref><ref>''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', 1954, pp 112 ff; "The Shahis of Afghanistan and Punjab", 1973, p 46, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians.</ref><ref>''India, A History'', 2001, p 203, John Keay.</ref>

The Hindu Shahis under ruler [[Jayapala]], is known for his struggles in defending his kingdom against the [[Ghaznavids]] in the modern-day eastern Afghanistan region. Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city of [[Ghazni]] both in the reign of [[Sabuktigin]] and in that of his son [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud]], which initiated the Muslim Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.<ref name="Lewis">{{Citation | title=The Cambridge history of Islam |editor1=P. M. Holt |editor2=Ann K. S. Lambton |editor3=[[Bernard Lewis]] | year=1977 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=0-521-29137-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5ccI0u5XDR0C | page=3 | quote=... Jaypala of Waihind saw danger in the consolidation of the kingdom of Ghazna and decided to destroy it. He therefore invaded Ghazna, but was defeated ...}}</ref> Sabuktigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.<ref name="Lewis"/> Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.<ref name="Lewis"/> Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the [[Kabul|Kabul Valley]] and [[Indus River]].<ref name="Ferishta">{{cite web |author=[[Firishta]]|title=History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India|volume=1: Section 15 |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=12 |editor=Ameer Nasir-ood-Deen Subooktugeen |publisher=Packard Humanities Institute |access-date=30 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194724/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=12 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Before his struggle began Jaipal had raised a large army of Punjabi Hindus. When Jaipal went to the [[Punjab region]], his army was raised to 100,000 horsemen and an innumerable host of foot soldiers. According to [[Firishta]]:

{{blockquote|The two armies having met on the confines of [[Laghman Province|Lumghan]], [[Sabuktigin|Subooktugeen]] ascended a hill to view the forces of Jeipal, which appeared in extent like the boundless ocean, and in number like the ants or the locusts of the wilderness. But Subooktugeen considered himself as a wolf about to attack a flock of sheep: calling, therefore, his chiefs together, he encouraged them to glory, and issued to each his commands. His soldiers, though few in number, were divided into squadrons of five hundred men each, which were directed to attack successively, one particular point of the Hindoo line, so that it might continually have to encounter fresh troops.<ref name="Ferishta"/>}}

However, the army was hopeless in battle against the western forces, particularly against the young Mahmud of Ghazni.<ref name="Ferishta"/> In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with the [[Qarakhanid]]s north of the [[Hindu Kush]], Jaipal [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|attacked Ghazni]] once more and suffered yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-day [[Peshawar]].  After the [[Battle of Peshawar (1001)|Battle of Peshawar]], he committed suicide because his subjects thought he had brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.<ref name="Lewis"/><ref name="Ferishta"/>

Jayapala was succeeded by his son [[Anandapala]],<ref name="Lewis"/> who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various campaigns against the advancing Ghaznavids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to the [[Kashmir]] [[Sivalik Hills]].<ref name="Ferishta"/>

<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Gardesh Ganesha dedicated by Khingila, Kabul, 7-8th century CE.jpg|The ''[[Gardez Ganesha]]'', representing a [[Hindu deity]], [[Ganesha]], consecrated by the [[Turk Shahis|Shahis]] in [[Gardez]], Afghanistan, c. 7th-8th century CE.
File: Khair Khaneh sanctuary (devotee 1).jpg|[[Khair Khaneh]] donor, wearing a tunic, boots and a sword.
File:Turk Shahis. Sandan. After 688 CE.jpg|A Turk Shahi ruler named Sandan. Copy of an issue of [[Khusrau II]], combining [[Brahmi script]] around the ruler, [[Bactrian script]] along the two rims, where ςανδανο [[:wikt:βαγο|βαγο]] [[:wikt:χοαδηο|χοαδηο]],"Lord King Sandan" is mentioned, and [[Pahlavi scripts|Pahlavi]] around the altar on the reverse, c. 7th century CE.<ref>{{cite web|title=Coin type IOC.2367 British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_IOC-2367|website=The British Museum|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Alram|first1=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H5AcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|title="The numismatic legacy of the Sasanians in the East" in "Sasanian Iran in the Context of Late Antiquity: The Bahari Lecture Series at the University of Oxford"|date=1 February 2021|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-46066-9|page=32|language=en}}</ref>
File:Coins of the Shahis 8th century.jpg|Coins of the Hindu Shahis, which later inspired [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] coins in the [[Middle East]].<ref name="Wink1991">{{cite book|author=André Wink|title=Al- Hind: The slave kings and the Islamic conquest. 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bCVyhH5VDjAC&pg=PA127|date=June 1991|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-09509-0|pages=127–}}</ref>
</gallery>
===Arab conquest===
{{Main|Muslim conquests of Afghanistan}}

In 642 CE, [[Rashidun]] Arabs had conquered most of West Asia from the Sasanians and Byzantines, and from the western city of [[Herat]] they introduced the religion of Islam as they entered new cities. Afghanistan at that period had a number of different independent rulers, depending on the area. Ancestors of [[Abū Ḥanīfa]], including his father, were from the Kabul region.

The early Arab forces did not fully explore Afghanistan due to attacks by the mountain tribes. Much of the eastern parts of the country remained independent, as part of the Hindu Shahi kingdoms of Kabul and [[Gandhara]], which lasted that way until the forces of the Muslim [[Saffarid dynasty]] followed by the [[Ghaznavids]] conquered them.

{{blockquote|Arab armies carrying the banner of Islam came out of the west to defeat the [[Sasanians]] in 642 CE and then they marched with confidence to the east. On the western periphery of the [[Afghan (name)|Afghan]] area the princes of [[Herat]] and [[Seistan]] gave way to rule by Arab governors but in the east, in the mountains, cities submitted only to rise in revolt and the hastily converted returned to their old beliefs once the armies passed. The harshness and avariciousness of Arab rule produced such unrest, however, that once the waning power of the [[Caliphate]] became apparent, native rulers once again established themselves independent. Among these the [[Saffarids]] of Seistan shone briefly in the Afghan area. The fanatic founder of this dynasty, the persian [[Ya'qub-i Laith Saffari|Yaqub ibn Layth Saffari]], came forth from his capital at [[Zaranj]] in 870 CE and marched through [[Lashkargah|Bost]], [[Kandahar]], [[Ghazni]], [[Kabul]], [[Bamyan, Afghanistan|Bamyan]], [[Balkh]] and [[Herat]], conquering in the name of Islam.<ref>Dupree, Nancy Hatch (1971) "Sites in Perspective (Chapter 3)" ''An Historical Guide To Afghanistan'' Afghan Tourist Organization, Kabul, {{OCLC|241390}}</ref>|[[Nancy Hatch Dupree]]|1971}}

===Ghaznavid Empire===
{{Main|Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid campaigns in India}}
[[File:Ghaznavid Empire 975 - 1187 (AD).PNG|thumb|Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent in 1030 CE]]
The Ghaznavid dynasty ruled from the city of [[Ghazni]] in eastern [[Afghanistan]]. From 997 to his death in 1030, [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] turned the former provincial city of [[Ghazni]] into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's [[Afghanistan]], eastern and central [[Iran]], [[Pakistan]], parts of India, [[Turkmenistan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Uzbekistan]]. [[Mahmud of Ghazni]] (Mahmude Ghaznavi in local pronunciation) consolidated the conquests of his predecessors and the city of Ghazni became a great cultural centre as well as a base for frequent forays into the Indian subcontinent. The [[Nasher clan|Nasher]] Khans became princes of the [[Kharoti]] until the Soviet invasion.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref name="afghan-bios.info"/>

===Ghurids===
{{Main|Ghurid dynasty}}
[[File:Ghurid Empire according to Schwartzberg Atlas, p.147.png|thumb|right|Map of Ghurid territory, before the assassination of [[Muhammad of Ghor]].<ref name="JS">{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical Atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=Oxford University Press, Digital South Asia Library|author-link=Joseph E. Schwartzberg |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=185|page=147, Map "g"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eaton |first1=Richard M. |authorlink=Richard M. Eaton |title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |date=2019 |publisher=Allen Lane |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIF6DwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0713995824}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bosworth |first1=C.E. |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |pages=432–433 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA432 |language=en}}</ref> In the west, Ghurid territory extended to [[Nishapur]] and [[Merv]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=David |page=26, Figure I:2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6h2_DwAAQBAJ |title=The Ebb and Flow of the Ghūrid Empire |date=2018 |publisher=Sydney University Press |isbn=978-1-74332-542-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="KS">{{cite book |last1=Schmidt |first1=Karl J. |title=An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History |date=20 May 2015 |publisher=Routledge |page=37, Map 16.2|isbn=978-1-317-47681-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BqdzCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA37 |language=en}}</ref> while Ghurid troops reached as far as [[Gorgan]] on the shores of the [[Caspian Sea]].<ref name="a">{{cite book |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103467-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=18eABeokpjEC&pg=PA185 |language=en|quote="In 1201 Ghurid troops entered Khurasan and captured Nishapur, Merv, Sarakhs and Tus, reaching as far as Gurgan and Bistam. Kuhistan, a stronghold of the Ismailis, was plundered and all Khurasan was brought temporarily under Ghurid control"}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ghurids |last=Bosworth |first=C. Edmund |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/ghurids |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, Vol. X, Fasc. 6 |pages=586–590 |location=New York |year=2001b}}</ref> Eastward, the Ghurids invaded as far as [[Bengal]].<ref name="THC">{{cite book |title=Turkish History and Culture in India: Identity, Art and Transregional Connections |date=17 August 2020 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-43736-4 |page=237 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ml75DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA237 |language=en|quote="In 1205, Bakhtīyar Khilji sacked Nudiya, the pre-eminent city of western Bengal and established an Islamic government at Laukhnauti, the capital of the predecessor Sena dynasty. On this occasion, commemorative coins were struck in gold and silver in the name of Muhammad b. Sām"}}</ref>]]
The [[Ghurids]] defeated the Ghaznavid dynasty in 1148, but the Ghaznavid [[Sultan]]s continued to live in Ghazni as the '[[Nasher (tribe)|Nasher]]' until the early 20th century.<ref name="ReferenceA">Meher, Jagmohan: {{Google books |title=Afghanistan: Dynamics of Survival |page=29 |id=aTP1-nG0Us4C }}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">{{Google books |title=International Business Publication: Afghanistan. Country Study Guide, Volume 1, Strategic Information and Developments |page=66 |id=BXG8AAAAQBAJ }}</ref><ref name="afghan-bios.info">{{Cite web|url=http://www.afghan-bios.info/index.php?option=com_afghanbios&id=556&task=view&total=2916&start=857&Itemid=2|title=Database|website=www.afghan-bios.info}}</ref> The Ghurids were of [[Tajiks|Tajik]] origin<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[Richard M. Eaton|Richard Eaton]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLXXAAAAMAAJ&q=Rajputs |title=Essays on Islam and Indian History |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=100|quote=The dynamics of north Indian politics changed dramatically, however, when the Ghurids, a dynasty of Tajik (eastern Iranian), origin arrived from central Afghanistan towards the end of twelfth century|isbn=978-0-19-565114-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>[[Encyclopaedia of Islam]], "Ghurids", C.E. Bosworth, Online Edition, 2006: ''"... The Shansabānīs were, like the rest of the <u>Gh</u>ūrīs, of eastern Iranian Tājik stock ..."''</ref> and their empire was established by three brothers from the [[Ghor Province|Ghor province]] of Afghanistan, namely Qutb al-Din, Sayf al-Din, Baha al-Din, all of whom fought against the Ghaznavid emperor Bahram Shah of Ghazni but were not successful and killed in the process. Initially [[Ala al-Din Husayn]], the son of Baha al-Din defeated the Ghazanavid ruler [[Bahram-Shah of Ghazna|Bahram Shah]] and to take revenge of his father and uncle's death ordered the city to be sacked. The Ghorids or Ghurids lost the northern territory of Transoxiana and northern Great Korasan especially their capital Ghor province due to the invasion of Seljucks but Sultan Ala al-Din's successors consolidated their power in India by defeating the remainder of Ghaznavid rulers. At their largest extent they ruled east of [[Iran]], much of the [[Indian subcontinent]] like [[Pakistan]], and north and central part of modern [[India]].

===Mongol conquest===
{{Further|Mongol campaigns in Central Asia|Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire}}
[[File:Genghis Khan empire-en.svg|thumb|260px|[[Mongol invasions and conquests]] seriously depopulated large areas of Afghanistan]]

The Mongols invaded Afghanistan in 1221 having defeated the Khwarazmian armies. The Mongols invasion had long-term consequences with many parts of Afghanistan never recovering from the devastation. The towns and villages suffered much more than the nomads who were able to avoid attack. The destruction of irrigation systems maintained by the sedentary people led to the shift of the weight of the country towards the hills. The city of [[Balkh]] was destroyed and even 100 years later [[Ibn Battuta]] described it as a city still in ruins. While the Mongols were pursuing the forces of [[Jalal al-Din Mangburni]] they besieged the city of [[Siege of Bamyan|Bamyan]]. In the course of the siege a defender's arrow killed Genghis Khan's grandson [[Mutukan]]. The Mongols razed the city and massacred its inhabitants in revenge, with its former site known as the [[Shahr-e Gholghola|City of Screams]]. [[Herat]], located in a fertile valley, was destroyed as well but was rebuilt under the local [[Kart dynasty]]. After the Mongol Empire splintered, Herat eventually became part of the [[Ilkhanate]] while Balkh and the strip of land from Kabul through Ghazni to Kandahar went to the [[Chagatai Khanate]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tanner |first1=Stephen |title=Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban |date=2003 |publisher=DA CAPO PRESS |isbn=9780585482132 |pages=81–82}}</ref> The Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush were usually either allied with the [[Khalji dynasty]] of northern India or independent.

===Timurid Empire===
{{Main|Timurid Empire}}
[[File:Timurid Dynasty 821 - 873 (AH).png|thumb|Timurid Empire at its greatest extent in about 1405 CE.]]
[[Timur]] (Tamerlane) incorporated much of the area into his own vast [[Timurid Empire]]. The city of Herat became one of the capitals of his empire, and his grandson [[Pir Muhammad bin Jahangir Mirza|Pir Muhammad]] held the seat of [[Kandahar]]. Timur rebuilt most of Afghanistan's infrastructure which was destroyed by his early ancestor. The area was progressing under his rule. Timurid rule began declining in the early 16th century with the rise of a new ruler in Kabul, [[Babur]].
Timur, a descendant of Genghis Khan, created a vast new empire across Russia and Persia which he ruled from his capital in Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan. Timur captured Herat in 1381 and his son, [[Shah Rukh]] moved the capital of the Timurid empire to Herat in 1405. The Timurids, a Turkic people, brought the Turkic nomadic culture of Central Asia within the orbit of Persian civilisation, establishing Herat as one of the most cultured and refined cities in the world. This fusion of Central Asian and Persian culture was a major legacy for the future Afghanistan. Under the rule of Shah Rukh the city served as the focal point of the [[Timurid Renaissance]], whose glory matched [[Florence]] of the [[Italian Renaissance]] as the center of a cultural rebirth.<ref>Periods of World History: A Latin American Perspective – Page 129</ref><ref>The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia – Page 465</ref> A century later, the emperor Babur, a descendant of Timur, visited Herat and wrote, "the whole habitable world had not such a town as Herat." For the next 300 years the eastern Afghan tribes periodically invaded India creating vast Indo-Afghan empires. In 1500 CE, Babur was driven out of his home in the Ferghana valley. By the 16th century western Afghanistan again reverted to Persian rule under the Safavid dynasty.<ref>Babur-Nama, translated by Nette Beverage, Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore, 1979.</ref><ref>Taliban Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, 2nd ed. Rashid, Ahmed. Introduction, page 9. Yale University Press</ref>