Invasions of Afghanistan

 

Invasions of Afghanistan

 Afghanistan is known as the “graveyard of empires”. 

 Being historically “on the way” from the West to India, Afghanistan has been invaded and occupied by myriad empires.  Some were not trivial, and established a long-lasting presence.  Others were fleeting, and relatively quickly displaced, like most recently, the USSR and the US/NATO.

 The Persians (Medes)

While relatively little detail is known, parts of the region of modern-day Afghanistan came under rule of the Median kingdom (part of ancient Persia), for a short time.

 Alexander and the Greeks (Macedonians)

Alexander the Great invaded what is today Afghanistan in 330 BC as part of war against Persia. Comprising the easternmost satrapies of Persia, Afghanistan provided some challenging battles in his conquest of the remaining lands of Persia. Renamed Bactria, and settled with his Ionian veterans, Alexander began his invasion of India from what is now Jalalabad, attacking the Indus River basin through the Khyber Pass. Several cities in Afghanistan are named for Alexander, including Alexandria Arachosia, now called Kandahar (a contraction of Iskandahar).

 The Islamic Caliphate

In the seventh to ninth centuries, following the disintegration of the Sassanid Persian Empire and Roman Empire, leaders in the world theatre for the last four centuries and archrivals, the area was again invaded from the west, this time by Umar, second Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, in the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan, eventually resulting in the conversion of most of its inhabitants to Islam.

 Genghis Khan and the Mongols

In the Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia (1219–1221), Genghis Khan invaded the region from the northeast in one of his many conquests to create the huge Mongol Empire. His armies slaughtered thousands in the cities of Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad etc. Thereafter most parts of Afghanistan other than the extreme south-eastern remained under Mongol rule as part of the Ilkhanate and Chagatai Khanate.

 Tamerlane (Timur) and Mughal Empire

From 1383 to 1385, the Afghanistan area was conquered from the north by Timur, leader of neighboring Transoxiana (roughly modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and adjacent areas), and became a part of the Timurid Empire. Timur was from a Turko-Mongol tribe and although a Muslim, saw himself more as an heir of Genghis Khan. Timur's armies caused great devastation and are estimated to have caused the deaths of 17 million people.

 The Sikh Empire

In the beginning of 1837, the Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Sikhs under Maharajah Ranjit Singh and the Afghans under Emir Dost Muhammad Khan. Since the consolidation of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, Maharajah Ranjit Singh had tried a wave of invasions on Afghanistan. The Afghans had been losing their long held territories to Sikhs over the preceding years due to internal conflicts, and had seen their once mighty empire disintegrating.

 British invasions: 1838–1842, 1878–1880 and 1919

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Afghanistan was invaded three times from British India. The First Anglo-Afghan War of 1838–1842 was conducted with the intention of limiting Russian influence in the country and quelling raiding from across the border. Within four years the British were expelled. The main British Indian force occupying Kabul along with their camp followers, was almost completely annihilated during its 1842 retreat from Kabul.  After the Indian Mutiny, the British launched a second invasion, the Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878–1880, for much the same reasons but did not attempt to maintain a permanent presence. A third conflict broke out in 1919. It lasted for three months, from May to August, and ended in a compromise that saw Afghanistan reassert its independence and control over its relations with other countries while agreeing to a border with British India known as the Durand Line. This line is still the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan today.

 Soviet invasions: 1929, 1930 and 1979

The Soviet Union successfully invaded Afghanistan in 1929 against the Saqqawists and again in 1930 to fight the Basmachi movement.  The Soviet Union, along with other countries, was a direct supporter of the new Afghan government after the Saur Revolution in April 1978. However, Soviet-style reforms introduced by the government such as changes in marriage customs and land reform were not received well by a population deeply immersed in tradition and Islam.  After continuing internal strife and assassinations of several Soviet puppet leaders, on 24 January 1989 Gorbachev's Politburo took the decision to withdraw most of the Soviet forces.

 Invasion by the United States and NATO, October 2001

On October 7, 2001 the United States, supported by some NATO countries including the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as other allies, began an invasion of Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. The invasion was launched to capture Osama bin Laden, who was the mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and was being sheltered by the Taliban.

 After some success against the Taliban, they began to regroup and to engage both NATO and Afghan National Army forces, starting a protracted war that lasted till 2021, with the withdrawal of Western forces and a Taliban victory.

  “Status quo ante”, except for the 2500 American lives lost, $2,4 trillion spent on the war, and $80 billion plus worth of military equipment gifted to the Taliban by the monumentally incompetent Joe Biden and minions.

 Ray Gruszecki

August 31, 2021