Muslim conquests of Afghanistan

Medieval Modern Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan Related topics Political history Political violence Culture Economic history Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests Category Afghanistan portal v t e The Islamic conquest of Afghanistan (642–714) began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja , al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand . The Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 642 captured the city, Herat . By 667 AD the Kabul region had been conquered by the Arabs and in 714 their control had reached the Indus River . The complete conversion of Afghanistan to Islam was during the period of the Ghaznavids , in or about the 11th century. A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan (2003), by Amy Romano, pg. 18.

Medieval Modern Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan Related topics Political history Political violence Culture Economic history Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests Category Afghanistan portal v t e The Islamic conversion of Afghanistan (642–870) began in the middle of the 7th century after the Islamic conquest of Persia was completed, when Arab Muslims defeated the Sassanid Empire at the battles of Walaja , al-Qādisiyyah and Nahavand . The Muslim Arabs then began to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 captured the city, Herat . By 667, the Afghan area was under invasion by the Arabs but in 683 Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan fought with resistance and completely routed the invading army which was led by the Governor of Seistan. The near-complete conversion of Afghans to Islam was during the period of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century, when Afghans converted voluntarily with Kafiristan holding out until Emir Abdur Rahman Khan conquered and forcibly converted them in the 1890s. A Historical Atlas of Afghanistan (2003), by Amy Romano, pg. 18.

Overview of Muslim conquests in Afghanistan Medieval Modern Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan Related topics Political history Political violence Culture Economic history Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests Category Afghanistan portal v t e Minaret of Jam built by the Ghurid dynasty The Muslim conquests of Afghanistan began during the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Arab Muslims migrated eastwards to Khorasan , Sistan and Transoxiana . Fifteen years after the Battle of Nahāvand in 642 AD, they controlled all Sasanian domains except in Afghanistan. Fuller Islamization was not achieved until the period between 10th and 12th centuries under Ghaznavid and Ghurid dynasty 's rule who patronized Muslim religious institutions. Khorasan and Sistan , where Zoroastrianism was well-established, were conquered. The Arabs had begun to move towards the lands east of Persia and in 652 AD they captured the city of Herat , establishing an Arab governor there. The Muslim frontier in modern Afghanistan had become stabilized after the first century of the Lunar Hijri calendar as the relative importance of the Afghan areas diminished. From historical evidence, it appears Tokharistan (Bactria) was the only area heavily conquered by Arabs where Buddhism flourished. Balkh 's final conquest was undertaken by Qutayba ibn Muslim in 705. Hui'Chao , who visited around 726, mentions that the Arabs ruled it and all the inhabitants were Buddhists . The eastern regions of Afghanistan were at times considered politically as parts of India . Buddhism and Hinduism held sway over the region until the Muslim conquest. Kabul and Zabulistan which housed Buddhism and other Indian religions , offered stiff resistance to the early Muslim advance. Nevertheless, the Arab Umayyads regularly claimed nominal overlordship over the Zunbils and Kabul Shahis, and in 711 Qutayba ibn Muslim managed to force them to pay tribute. They would also be conquered by the Saffarids and Ghaznavids . The Caliph Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833 AD) was paid double the tribute by the Rutbil. His were the last Arab expeditions on Kabul and Zabul. The king of Kabul was captured by him and converted to Islam. The last Zunbil was killed by Ya'qub bin al-Layth along with his former overlord Salih b. al-Nadr in 865. Meanwhile, the Hindu Shahi of Kabul were defeated under Mahmud of Ghazni . Indian soldiers were a part of the Ghaznavid army, Baihaki mentioned Hindu officers employed by Ma'sud . The 14th-century Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta described the Hindu Kush as meaning "slayer of Indians", because large numbers of slaves brought from India died from its treacherous weather. The geographer Ya'qubi states that the rulers of Bamiyan , called the Sher , converted in the late 8th century. Ya'qub is recorded as having plundered its pagan idols in 870 while a much later historian Shabankara'i claims that Alp-Tegin obtained conversion of its ruler in 962. No permanent Arab control was established in Ghur and it became Islamised after Ghaznavid raids . By the time of Bahram-Shah , Ghur was converted and politically united. In the late 15th century, Babur , the founder of the Mughal Empire , arrived from Fergana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty . Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb ruled parts of the eastern territory. The Pashtun habitat during their conquest by Mahmud was located in the Sulaiman Mountains in the south of Afghanistan. They were enlisted by both Sabuktigin and Mahmud according to Tarikh-i-Yamini . Prior to Pashtun migration to the Kabul River valley, Tajiks formed the dominant population of Kabul , Nangarhar , Logar Valley and Laghman in east Afghanistan. The Pashtuns later began migrating westward from Sulaiman Mountains in the south, and displaced or subjugated the indigenous populations such as Tajiks , Hazaras , the Farsiwanis , before or during 16th and 17th centuries. The successive wave of Pashtun immigration displaced the original Kafir and Pashayi people from the Kunar Valley and Laghman Valley, the two eastern provinces near Jalalabad , to the less fertile mountains. Before their conversion, the Kafir people of Kafiristan practiced a form of ancient Hinduism infused with locally developed accretions. The region from Nuristan to Kashmir was host to a vast number of "Kafir" cultures. They were called Kafirs due to their enduring paganism, remaining politically independent until being conquered and converted by Afghan Amir Abdul Rahman Khan in 1895–1896 while others also converted to avoid paying jizya . Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban . Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban . Historic Cities of the Islamic World , ed. Silk Road Art and Archaeology . 9 : 167. History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 . The garden of the eight paradises: Bābur and the culture of Empire in Central Asia, Afghanistan and India (1483–1530) . Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354 (reprint, illustrated ed.). The History of India .

7th to 19th-century Muslim conquests in present-day Afghanistan Medieval Modern Related historical regions Arachosia Aria Ariana Bactria Gandhara Iran Kabulistan Kafiristan Khorasan Kushanshahr Paropamisadae Sistan Zabulistan Related topics Political history Political violence Culture Economic history Name Afghan (ethnonym) List of years List of heads of state Wars List of wars Hinduism history Hindu and Buddhist heritage Jewish history Muslim conquests Category Afghanistan portal v t e Minaret of Jam built by the Ghurid dynasty The Muslim conquests of Afghanistan began during the Muslim conquest of Persia as the Arab Muslims expanded eastwards to Khorasan , Sistan and Transoxiana . Fifteen years after the battle of Nahāvand in 642 AD, they controlled all Sasanian domains except in Afghanistan. Fuller Islamization was not achieved until the period between 10th and 12th centuries under Ghaznavid and Ghurid dynasties who patronized Muslim religious institutions. Khorasan and Sistan , where Zoroastrianism was well-established, were conquered. The Arabs had begun to move towards the lands east of Persia in the 7th century. The Muslim frontier in modern Afghanistan had become stabilized after the first century of the Lunar Hijri calendar as the relative importance of the Afghan areas diminished. From historical evidence, it appears Tokharistan (Bactria) was the only area conquered by Arabs where Buddhism heavily flourished. Balkh 's final conquest was undertaken by Qutayba ibn Muslim in 705. The eastern regions of Afghanistan were at times considered politically as parts of India . Buddhism and Hinduism held sway over the region until the Muslim conquest. Kabul and Zabulistan which housed Buddhism and other Indian religions , offered stiff resistance to the early Muslim advance. Nevertheless, the Arab Umayyads regularly claimed nominal overlordship over the Zunbils and Kabul Shahis. The expeditions of Caliph Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833 AD) were the last by the Arabs on Kabul and Zabul. The king of Kabul was captured by him and converted to Islam. The last Zunbil was killed by Ya'qub bin al-Layth along with his former overlord Salih b. al-Nadr in 865. Meanwhile, the Hindu Shahi of Kabul were defeated under Mahmud of Ghazni . Indian soldiers were a part of the Ghaznavid army and the 14th-century Muslim scholar Ibn Battuta described the Hindu Kush as meaning "slayer of Indians", because large numbers of slaves brought from India died from its treacherous weather. The geographer Ya'qubi states that the rulers of Bamiyan , called the Sher , converted in the late 8th century. Ya'qub is recorded as having plundered its pagan idols in 870 while a much later historian Shabankara'i claims that Alp-Tegin obtained conversion of its ruler in 962. No permanent Arab control was established in Ghur and it became Islamised after Ghaznavid raids . By the time of Bahram-Shah , Ghur was converted and politically united. The Pashtun habitat during their conquest by Mahmud was located in the Sulaiman Mountains in the south of Afghanistan. Prior to Pashtun settlement in the Kabul River valley, Tajiks formed the dominant population of Kabul , Nangarhar , Logar Valley and Laghman in east Afghanistan. The Pashtuns later began settling westward from Sulaiman Mountains in the south, and displaced or subjugated the indigenous populations such as Tajiks, Hazaras , the Farsiwanis , Nuristanis and Pashayi people before or during 16th and 17th centuries. Before their conversion, the Nuristanis or Kafir people of Kafiristan practiced a form of ancient Hinduism infused with locally developed accretions. The region from Nuristan to Kashmir was host to a vast number of "Kafir" cultures. They remained politically independent until being conquered and converted under Afghan Amir Abdul Rahman Khan in 1895–1896. Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban . Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban . Historic Cities of the Islamic World , ed. Advanced Study in the History of Medieval India . Modern Afghanistan was part of ancient India; the Afghans belonged to the pale of Indo-Aryan civilisation. In the eighty century, the country was known by two regional names—Kabul land Zabul. The northern part, called Kabul (or Kabulistan) was governed by a Buddhist dynasty. Its capital and the river on the banks of which it was situated, also bore the same name. Lalliya, a Brahmin minister of the last Buddhist ruler Lagaturman, deposed his master and laid the foundation of the Hindushahi dynasty in c. 865. Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals . Although Afghanistan was considered an integral part of India in antiquity, and was often called "Little India" even in medieval times, politically it had not been a part of India after the downfall of the Kushan empire, followed by the defeat of the Hindu Shahis by Mahmud Ghazni. Silk Road Art and Archaeology . 9 : 167. History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750 .