History of Afghanistan E02 | Islam in Afghanistan

History of Afghanistan E02 | Islam in Afghanistan  I was June 323 BCE, Alexander the Great was on his death bed. His top generals stood around his bed. He had heavily relied on these generals during his military campaigns. Legend has it that they asked Alexander,... ... who would he like to give his throne after his death. Alexander replied that he would give his throne to the most powerful among his generals. Alexander the Great died on the night between the 10th and 11th of June, 323 BCE. These broken walls belong to a palace. Alexander the Great probably died in this palace. Nebuchadnezzar II, the famous king of Babylon, had built this palace. He was the same king who had conquered Jerusalem, imprisoned Jews, and destroyed the Temple of Solomon. But now his palace is in ruins. Alexander the Great's kingdom also fell apart like this palace. But what role did Afghans play in the fall of this empire? Who raised the flag of Islam over Afghanistan? Who did lay the foundations of the current Afghan state? When Alexander the Great died, his Afghan (Bactrian) wife, Queen Roxana, was pregnant. Alexander's close associates believed that Queen Roxana would give birth to a son. The boy would inherit Alexander the Great's kingdom after him. But some people pointed out that Roxana was not a Greek. They said that her child wasn't the legitimate heir of Alexander. Greeks considered Asians to be barbaric and uncivilized. Since Queen Roxana was not Greek, many Greek commanders and elites did not like her. But in Greeks, children were traditional heirs of their fathers. So Roxana's unborn child had a stronger claim to Alexander's throne. Alexander had also recruited a large number of Afghans (Bactrians) into his army. These Afghan (Bactrian) soldiers were loyal to the Queen. They supported Queen Roxana's claim to the throne. But Roxana's expected son needed a guardian to rule the vast kingdom. Somebody had to govern in his place until he grew up. The question of a guardian remained even during the last rites of Alexander the Great. His generals were still indecisive over the issue of succession. After much deliberation, they found a solution. They decided to enthrone both Queen Roxana's son and Alexander's half-brother, Arrhidaios, who was mentally handicapped. They both were to be made joint rulers. But their rule was only symbolic. Alexander's 4 generals were the real rulers. That is how the matter was settled. Sometime later, Roxana birth to a son. The son was named Alexander IV. Alexander's half-brother was given the title of Philip III. So the Greek generals controlled the Empire in the name of these 2 symbolic rulers. But the arrangement lasted only two years. The Greeks didn't like Queen Roxana because of her Afghan background They could not accept her son Alexander IV as their ruler for long. Some generals themselves dreamed of becoming kings. they did not want to be subject to a child and a mentally handicapped person. Greek generals also differed over governing issues. In 321 BCE, just 2 years after Alexander's death, the situation took a deadly turn. Civil war broke out in the Greek Empire. This civil war lasted for about 40 years. The civil war divided most of Alexander's Empire between 3 of his generals. General Antigonus occupied the Greek mainland. Egypt was ruled by General Ptolemy. General Seleucus had established his rule over parts of modern Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. These 3 empires were established by the generals of Alexander the Great on their own after this civil war. Alexander the Great's Afghan bride, Roxana, and his son were also killed, probably in 310 BCE. Thus Alexander the Great's bloodline was erased. Now the Afghans had to submit to the rule of the Seleucid Empire. 

At the same time, before the end of the Greek Civil War, the Greeks lost much of present-day Afghanistan.  When the Greek Civil War broke out in 321 BCE. Another powerful empire emerged in neighboring India. It was called the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of this Empire. But when it emerged, large parts of northwestern Indiaby this time much of northwestern India, or present-day Pakistan, which had been conquered by Alexander the Great, was still under Greek occupation. There were also some Greek troops stationed here, especially in Taxila, also known as Takshila. The presence of foreign forces on Indian soil was not a moment for Chandra Gupta Moriah. He also wanted to expand his empire. So he attacked Taxila, defeated the Greeks, and forced them to leave India. Thus northwestern India became independent from the Greeks. After defeating the Greeks, Chandragupta Maurya conquered most of India. He made Patlipatra or present-day Patna his capital and ruled over India. But the growing power of the Maurya Empire became a problem for the Greeks. Alexander the Great's former general Seleucus was not ruling a large part of Afghanistan. The Mauryan Empire posed a threat to his Afghan territory. He had another desire. He wanted to take back the lost territories of northwestern India from the Mauryan Empire. So he gathered a large army and attacked India between 305 BCE and 301 BCE. But the attack was a failure. Chandragupta Maurya's army defeated the Seleucid Greeks and drove them out of India. Seleucus returned to Afghanistan. He also ceded parts of Afghanistan to the Mauryan Empire. However, he still controlled northwestern Afghanistan. Seleucus also married his daughter Chandragupta. Chandragupta also gifted 500 elephants to Seleucus. After this agreement, Seleucus never attacked India again. However, he made good use of the elephants gifted by the Mauryan Empire. In 301 BCE, Seleucus defeated his rival Antigonus' army in present-day Turkey. General Antigonus, I was killed in that battle. This historic battle is called the Battle of Ipsus in which the Indian elephants played a decisive role. After General Antigonus I, his son Demetrius I ruled Macedonia. My Curious Fellows, Chandragupta died probably in 297 BCE. After his death, the Maurya Empire continued to advance in Afghanistan. At its peak, large parts of Afghanistan including Kandahar and Kabul were under Mauryan control. Now Afghanistan was part of the Maurya Empire. But then in 268 BCE, there was a great change. This change affected Afghanistan and its culture along with India. The name of this change was Ashoka. Ashoka was the grandson of Chandragupta. He ascended the throne at the tender age of 12. He too was fond of conquests like his forefathers. But then he fought a state called Kalinga. This state was located in the present Indian state of Orissa. In this battle, Ashoka won and he also captured Kalinga. But the disaster caused by the battle shocked him. At least 100,000 people were killed and over 150,000 were displaced. Ashoka walked around the battlefield and saw corpses, screaming wounded and scattered human pieces. He now hated war. This terrible war turned Ashoka's mind away from war forever and now he only talked about peace and humanity. He decided never to wage war again. He also converted to Buddhism, which was based on non-violence. Now you know that powerful kings are the major reason behind the spread of many religions. Powerful kings easily spread the religion of their choice. In the Roman Empire, for example, the Roman Emperor Constantine 1 converted to Christianity and spread it. Similarly, Ashoka converted to Buddhism and started preaching Buddhism in every corner of his Empire. One of Ashoka's most important steps was to write Buddhist teachings on tablets and install them at various places in his empire. Apparently, his empire included a large area of ​​Afghanistan. Thus Buddhism began to spread rapidly in Afghanistan under the patronage of Ashoka. Archaeological excavations have uncovered several tablets from Afghanistan. These belonged to Ashoka's time. Thus, through Ashoka's efforts, Buddhism deepened its roots in Afghanistan and India. Many powerful political groups in Afghanistan also embraced Buddhism after Ashoka. The Mauryan Empire fell in 185 BCE. The local Greeks who settled in Afghanistan gradually replaced the Seleucid Empire and established their own independent Greek Kingdom. 

This new kingdom was called the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. These Greek rulers ruled Afghanistan until the first century BCE. This empire greatly promoted the Greek culture in Afghanistan. In the present province of Takhar, Afghanistan, they also established a city called Ai-Khanoum. , The city also served as the capital of the Kingdom for a long time. Remains of the city still exist, and excavations show that the city was built in the Greek style. There were also theaters and places of worship in the city. But then suddenly this kingdom vanished almost overnight. A sudden historical change came after 40 BCE. Archaeologists have discovered local coins after that era instead of Greek coins.

What happened to the Greek kingdom.

Historical speculation
suggested that perhaps the kingdom was overrun by local and foreign invaders. 

Some historians used to believe that the Greek rulers were fed up with constant fighting. They left their kingdom and settled in another Afghan province Nuristan. These people remained non-Muslims until the end of the 19th century. They also followed the Hindu religion and because of them, the area of ​​Nuristan was called Kafiristan. As in Pakistan, the area of ​​Kailash Valley is called Kafiristan. Similarly, the area of ​​Nuristan was also called Kafiristan. but then it happened that in the 1890s, Afghan emir Abdul Rehman invaded the area. He allegedly converted the locals to Islam by force. Then he renamed the area Nuristan or the land of light. But we don't know the actual reason for the fall of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. However, the Afghans continued to practice Buddhism for another 1,000 years. By this time, however, Hinduism had begun to replace Buddhism in India. There were also followers of Hinduism and Parsi religions in Afghanistan but the majority religion was Buddhism. This was the period when art and culture flourished under Buddhism in Afghanistan. Here statues were carved, places of worship were built and Buddhist religious books were taught in these places of worship. In Balkh alone, there were more than 100 Buddhist places of worship where students could stay. During the same period, huge statues of Buddha were built in the Bamiyan region of Afghanistan. 

The Taliban destroyed these statutes during their previous rule. In short, the rise of Buddhism in Afghanistan was a golden age Afghanistan. During this period, Afghanistan's ties with China and India became stronger. At that time Buddhism was also spreading rapidly in China. Therefore, a large number of Afghans used to go to China besides India for religious education. One such Afghan Buddhist monk, Hui Shen, traveled by some of his Chinese companions to a foreign land in 458 AD. He called the land, Fusang. Many historians today believe that Hui Shen may have traveled to the Americas. It all happened about 1,000 years before Columbus discovered the Americas. So Afghans and Chinese Buddhist monks were perhaps the first to visit the Americas. But their visit didn't establish a permanent connection with the Americas. That's why the credit for discovering the Americas goes to Columbus. However, Buddhism continued to spread the message of peace in Afghanistan for nearly 700 to 800 years. However foreign invaders also continued their attacks. Empires born in Central Asia and Iran kept trying to occupy Afghanistan. Around 427 AD, the White Hun tribes also ruled over Afghanistan for some time. But during all this time, Afghanistan had no historical significance of its own. It was like a province of great empires that valued it only because it... ... was an important road between Central Asia, Iran, and India. Afghanistan had no other significance. But then in the 7th century AD, a new power emerged here. This power made Afghanistan a powerful Empire in the future. It was a force that had both an ideology and a sword. The name of this power was Islam. In the 7th century, Islam began to spread in the reign of the Caliphs. Afghanistan was under the control of the Sassanid Empire of Iran. Apart from Afghanistan, a large area of ​​Central Asia was also part of the Sassanid Iranian Empire. During the reign of Hazrat Omar Farooq, the Muslims won 2 major victories against the Sassanids in 636 AD and 642 AD. They occupied Iran and Iraq after these victories. The Iranian emperor Yazd Gard fled to Afghanistan and took refuge in Balkh. Following them, the Muslim army also entered Afghanistan and occupied Herat and Balkh. Muslims also called Balkh the 'mother of cities. When Amir Muawiyah established the Umayyad Empire in 661 AD (or 662 AD). He decided to invade India. He ordered his general Mohlab bin Abi Safra to invade India. Mahlab was based in the area of Khorasan. He immediately marched on Kabul and then to India. He attacked many areas from Kabul to Multan. He defeated the local rulers and gained a lot of booties. He then returned to Central Asia via Afghanistan and took part in the occupation of Samarkand. 

On the other hand, another army of Muslims advanced from the Iranian region of Sistan and attacked Kandahar. According to Muslim historians, the citizens of Kandahar bravely fought the invading army. The Muslims suffered heavy casualties in this battle. But the Muslims were victorious and they occupied Kandahar. Thus, a series of conquests beginning with the four Caliphs reached its climax in the Umayyad period Afghanistan came under the control of the Muslims for the first time. However, the Afghan people did not quickly convert to Islam. They continued to practice Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Shamani religions. continued to practice their respective religions. The nomadic tribes of Afghanistan in particular were not aware of Islamic teachings. This remained the case until the end of the Umayyad Empire. But around 750 AD, when the Umayyad Empire collapsed and was replaced by the Abbasid Empire, the situation changed. The Abbasids adopted Iranian art and culture and began to build large-scale beautiful mosques and palaces in their Empire. Balkh and Herat were great cities of Afghanistan at that time. Muslims also built mosques and palaces in these cities. These mosques became the preaching centers of Islam. and a large number of Afghans have now started embracing this new religion. Now it has been 1,000 years since then. Islam is the dominating religion of Afghanistan. At present Afghanistan has a non-Muslim population of less than one percent. But the Afghanistan that existed in the Umayyad and Abbasid eras was not a great power. It was only a small province of great empires. For the first time in history, a Turkish leader is credited with introducing Afghanistan as a power. His name was Mahmud Ghaznavi. Mehmud Ghaznavi emerged only because of the decline of the Abbasid Empire.

The Abbasid Empire declined even before 850 AD.

Taking advantage of the weakness of the Abbasids, revolts broke out in Central Asia and new empires began to emerge. 

Once again Afghanistan fell one after one into the hands of various empires. In 819 AD, a new empire was established in Central Asia. It was Samanid Empire This empire lasted until 999 AD. Afghanistan was also part of this empire. In the 980s AD, a former Turkish slave named Sabuktagin became Samanid governor of Afghanistan. But he was not a common Turkish slave. He was a descendent of Yazd Gard, the last emperor of the Sassanid Empire. The Muslims had conquered Afghanistan while pursuing him. Yazd Gard and his family later settled in Central Asia. They married local Turkish tribes. Sabuktagin was also one of their descendants. He later became governor of Khorasan. This area included parts of Iran and Afghanistan. Mahmud Ghaznavi was his son. He rebelled against the Samanid Empire and established Afghanistan as an independent state. According to Historian Muhammad Habib, he was the first Muslim ruler to adopt the title of Sultan. Earlier the breakaway Muslim rulers of the Abbasid Empire were called emir or malik. While the Fatimid and Umayyad rulers of Al-Andulas styled themselves as Caliphs. So Mahmud Ghaznavi was the first Sultan. Then he turned Afghanistan into the largest empire of his times. Even the Abbasid Caliphs of Baghdad also recognized him as a great ruler. Abbasids also sent him a gift of royal raiment (dress). Another important development also took place in that era. This development gave new life to a nation in Afghanistan. Pashtu language's Devanagari writing system was replaced by the Arabic writing style. The new writing system took the Pashtu language to new heights. Because the Arabic system was the writing style of the rulers. Thus the change of the writing style provided the Pashtu-speaking people a chance to become a new political power.

But who were Pashtuns?

Is there history 6,000 years old?

How did Genghis Khan and the Mughals treat Afghanistan?

How was modern Afghanistan established?

We will show you all this in the next episode of this series.