From chess player to chess piece, and finally to chessboard: How did Afghanistan end up like this?

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With the Taliban's rapid occupation of Kabul, Afghanistan has once again become the focus of international news. The Soviet Union and the United States, both at their peak, tried to foster a modern regime that was friendly to them, but both ended in failure. The corrupt, inefficient and frequently changing government, the fragmented and warlord-dominated domestic situation, the disorderly proliferation of drugs and guns, and the long-term rampant extremism have all made Afghanistan a "failed state."

But what most people don’t know is that Afghanistan was once a very prosperous region. After its economic decline, it was still a regional powerhouse militarily, and even posed a great threat to Iran and India two or three hundred years ago. It was not until the two superpowers, Britain and Russia, began to compete in Central Asia that Afghanistan was reduced from a chess player to a chess piece, and finally tragically became a chessboard, and eventually became what it is today.

In other words, Afghanistan's ancestors were also rich.

A first-class prosperous place

Although human activities had been going on for a long time and several city-states had been formed, the first time Afghanistan entered the history books was after the rise of the Persian Empire, which spanned Asia, Africa and Latin America. Cyrus, the founding king of Persia, and Darius, the famous king, made two expeditions to the east, basically incorporating Afghanistan into their eastern territory. The unification of the Persian Empire brought new opportunities for the development of Eurasian trade. Just as the unification of the Qin Empire brought closer commercial ties between the various vassal states of China, under the rule of the Persian Empire, the existing trade routes both within and outside the empire were greatly developed and became a larger trade network.

In order to promote trade, the Persians built a large number of roads in their territory, many of which later became the main routes for international trade in Eurasia for 2,500 years. The longest and most famous road is the "King's Road", which starts from the ancient capital of Sardis in the west of Asia Minor (now Turkey), passes through the entire Asia Minor into the Mesopotamia region, and then goes along the Tigris River to another ancient city of Susa, with a total length of 2,400 kilometers. There is a post station every 25-30 kilometers on this road, equipped with facilities for serving the envoys and merchant groups. In addition to the King's Road, there is another major trade route in the East that has a far-reaching influence. Starting from the Iranian Plateau in the heart of the Persian Empire, after entering the famous city of Herat in northwestern Afghanistan, it is divided into two branches: one leads to the Bactria province under Persian rule in the northeast and trades with the Central Asian steppes. One leads to the Indian border in the southeast and trades with India. The expansion of these two trade routes has greatly promoted the development of the Afghan region. Pottery jars and other materials originally produced in Greece during this period have also been unearthed in Afghanistan, which shows the prosperity of trade.

Persian Empire. Afghanistan benefited from the trade with the eastern part of the empire and developed rapidly. Source/Internet

The Persian Empire made a great contribution to the international trade of the entire Eurasian continent. It can even be said that, except for the easternmost and westernmost ends, the entire land part of the "Silk Road" was initially formed under the rule of the Persian Empire. After Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, Afghanistan also fell under the rule of the Macedonian Empire. During Alexander the Great's short reign in Afghanistan, he established many new cities here, the most famous of which is Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan today.

With Alexander's sudden death, his empire collapsed. After decades of fighting, today's Afghanistan was divided into two factions: Bactria in northern Afghanistan today is now a province of the Seleucid Empire, which inherited the Asian part of Alexander's empire, while most of Afghanistan, including today's three largest cities of Kabul, Kandahar and Herat, belonged to the most powerful unified dynasty in ancient Indian history: the Maurya Empire. The two dynasties established long-term friendly relations and even sent resident ambassadors to each other. During this period, Afghanistan, whether governed by Indians or Greeks, ushered in a golden age of rapid development.

On the left is a plan of the ruins of Ay-Khanum in northern Afghanistan, and on the right are, from top to bottom, the Corinthian capitals found in the ruins, an aerial view of the city ruins, and a restored view of the amphitheater. This city was one of many cities in northern Afghanistan during the Hellenistic era, which shows how prosperous Afghanistan was at the time. Source/Internet

After Alexander's Eastern Expedition, the Mediterranean maritime trade network controlled by the Greeks and Phoenicians was directly connected to the land trade network of the Persian Empire. Together with the Black Sea trade, Indian Ocean maritime trade and Red Sea maritime trade influenced by Greek culture, an integrated trade network was formed in Eurasia. During the Seleucid Dynasty, the original trade routes of the Persian Empire were able to expand further. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the trade expansion was today's Afghanistan.

During this period, the Bactria region in northern Afghanistan today was the most important transportation hub after the expansion of trade routes, and its economy and trade were particularly prosperous. Indian specialties such as spices were shipped to western Asia through this region; specialties and handicrafts from countries along the Mediterranean coast were imported into India and Central Asia from this region. After independence from the Seleucid Empire, this region became even more powerful and prosperous, and was known as the "Country of a Thousand Cities". Southern and western Afghanistan, under the rule of the Maurya Dynasty of India, also prospered further due to the stable political environment and the promotion of international trade, and cities such as Herat, Kabul, and Kandahar expanded in size. Judging from the scale of cities, cultural relics and craftsmanship discovered by archaeologists today, the level of civilization development in various parts of Afghanistan during this period was no less than that of contemporary Greece, Rome or the Qin and Han dynasties in China.

A decorative panel with Greek mythology stories inscribed on it in Afghanistan 2,200 years ago, from the collection of the National Museum of Afghanistan, shows the high level of craftsmanship in Afghanistan at that time. I hope these cultural relics can continue to be preserved under the rule of the Taliban. Source/Internet

Later, the Maurya Dynasty in India declined, and the places they ruled, such as Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat, were also occupied by the Greeks in northern Afghanistan. The expansion of the Greeks in Central Asia and India was also short-lived. In less than two hundred years, it was basically destroyed by the tide of nomadic invasions, but the international trade system formed under their rule was preserved. After a long period of war, the Kushan Kingdom ruled most of Afghanistan, and the original trade routes still played an important role during this period. Although it declined compared to the earlier period, the Afghan region at this stage benefited from the urbanization of the Hellenistic era and its important role as a node on the international trade route, and maintained a high level of development.

New sea routes accelerate Afghanistan’s decline

The Afghan region, which was developed and prosperous under the rule of the Maurya Empire of India and the Greeks, remained relatively civilized under the governance of the Kushan Kingdom. By the end of the 2nd century AD, several other major countries on the main trade line of Eurasia were in serious trouble: after the end of the most prosperous "Five Good Emperors" era of Rome, it gradually fell into turmoil and decline; the Eastern Han Dynasty fell into division after the Yellow Turban Rebellion and Dong Zhuo's national disaster, and began to enter the era of great division; the Parthian Empire (Parthia) was repeatedly conquered by the Romans, including its capital, and its economy was in decline, and it was on the verge of extinction. The decline of major countries caused a significant reduction in the Kushan Kingdom's trade income, which affected the central finances and was unable to control local princes. Many places gradually broke away from the rule of the dynasty. In addition, the Kushan Dynasty had been established for a long time and could not escape the historical cycle, and gradually moved towards division and decline.

In the 2nd century AD, the powerful Kushan Empire ruled many areas in Central Asia with Afghanistan as its core. Source/Internet

The new Sassanid Empire replaced the Kushan Empire to rule most of Afghanistan. They turned most of the princes who split from the Kushan Empire into their vassals. During this period, due to the general decline of trade, Afghanistan was no longer as powerful as before. A nomadic people from Central Asia, the Yada (yàn dā), occupied most of Afghanistan in the middle and late 4th century AD and ruled it for two centuries.

During this period, Afghanistan became a military camp and transit point for the Hephthalites to further invade northern India. Unfortunately, the Hephthalites never really gained a foothold in India like the Persians, Greeks or Kushans. If the Greeks and Indians ruled Afghanistan during its golden age, and the Kushan Empire and Sassanid Persia were not so good, then during the Hephthalite rule, which was good at plundering and destroying but not good at building, Afghanistan further embarked on a path of decline. The Chinese monk Faxian and the traveler Song Yun had both traveled to Afghanistan and northern India under the rule of the Hephthalites, and saw depression everywhere, and the brutal Hephthalite warlords were killing, plundering and destroying at will.

When the Hephthalites fell, most of Afghanistan fell into the hands of Sassanid Persia and the emerging Western Turkic Khanate, and was once included in the vassal states established by the Tang Dynasty in my country. With the rise of Islam and the eastward advance of the Arabs, the situation here has changed again. For a long time, Afghanistan was either occupied by dynasties from the Iranian Plateau, dominated by local military strongmen, or controlled by Turkic warlords in the north. These dynasty changes are not worth mentioning at all. But the subsequent invasion of the Mongols not only caused great killing and destruction in this area, but also permanently changed the ecology of Afghanistan.

When the Mongols invaded Afghanistan, since this was the main resistance base of Khwarezmian Prince Jalaluddin, the Mongol army burned, killed, and looted along the way, and deliberately and thoroughly destroyed many places. We know that the Taliban destroyed the Bamiyan Buddha, but the disaster that Bamiyan City experienced was much more terrible. When the Mongolian army passed through Bamiyan City, due to the fierce resistance of the defenders, Genghis Khan's favorite grandson was killed. So after the city was broken, all the residents of the entire city and the livestock were killed, realizing the literal meaning of "no chicken or dog left". The city has not been able to recover to its former vitality until now. In Herat, the trade hub entering Afghanistan from the Iranian Plateau, the Mongols carried out a seven-day and seven-night massacre. Including Balkh, the capital of the Greek and Kushan era (the "Lanshi City" in ancient Chinese books), as well as Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni, which are important cities in Afghanistan today, almost all cities in Afghanistan were completely massacred, looted and destroyed, and once became deserted.

The Bamiyan Buddha before being blown up pales in comparison to the fate of Bamiyan City. Source/CCTV News

The Bamiyan Buddha, a world cultural heritage, is "resurrected" in this way. Source/CCTV News Although Afghanistan itself is mountainous, the land is not barren. Whether it is the Persians, the Greeks or the forces that later ruled Afghanistan, they could not directly rule most of the mountainous areas, but relied on controlling key large cities, passes and dams to achieve this. On the one hand, the local mountain tribes rely on the irrigation system first established by the Persians and used by rulers of all dynasties. On the other hand, submitting to a powerful regime can obtain a relatively stable living and trading environment, and restless militants can also realize their value by joining the army of the regime's rulers. The irrigation system composed of these water diversion channels and Afghanistan's unique geographical latitude make these areas have excellent agricultural output. In Xinjiang, my country, which has a latitude similar to that of Afghanistan, the quality of many agricultural products is the best in the country, which can be used as a reference for ancient Afghan agriculture.

In the process of conquering these cities, the Mongols often used water to attack the cities. From the Persian Empire to the warlords in the Middle Ages, Afghanistan's water conservancy facilities have always been well developed. At that time, these water conservancy facilities became tools for the Mongols to attack the city. As dams were dug one after another by Mongolian craftsmen, Afghanistan's water conservancy system was systematically destroyed. After the war, the Mongolian princes who ruled here imposed heavy taxes and plundered the surviving local Afghan residents. War and exploitation led to a sharp decline in population in many parts of Afghanistan. Coupled with the systematic destruction of precious water conservancy facilities, a large number of farmlands became barren after losing water sources, and even became pastures for the Mongols, and eventually turned into a salt-alkali desert. By the end of the 13th century, Afghanistan's arable farmland had dropped to a fraction of its previous level, and its ecological level has not recovered to this day.

Mongolian cavalry in battle. The Mongol invasion of the west played a great role in the decline of Afghanistan and the deterioration of its ecology. Source/Internet

Shortly after the Mongol conquest, Afghanistan was once again plundered and destroyed on a large scale by Timur the Lame, a famous Central Asian conqueror. It then became a territory repeatedly fought over by various Central Asian warlords and the Safavid dynasty of Iran. The wars during this period are also not described in detail. However, another incident during this period led Afghanistan to further decline.

We know that Afghanistan was extremely prosperous in ancient times because of its fertile land and excellent agricultural output, and because it benefited from the Eurasian trade, especially its geographical location as a key node on the Silk Road. The former ceased to exist after the Mongol invasion and systematic destruction of its water conservancy system. After the Mongols opened up the Eurasian trade route, Afghanistan still had hope of reviving through international trade, but with the advent of the Age of Exploration, Western European countries opened up new routes, and this possibility disappeared.

Afghanistan has since become the impoverished, conservative mountain tribal country we remember. Nevertheless, Afghanistan will still leave a strong mark in world history before and after its formal independence.

Ruling Iran, destroying India's hopes for revival

After the warlords in Central Asia, the Safavid dynasty of Iran eventually became the ruler of most of Afghanistan. However, nearly two hundred years after its founding, by the beginning of the 18th century, the Safavid dynasty itself inevitably declined. Since the Safavid dynasty believed in Shia Islam, while most of Afghanistan believed in Sunni Islam, religious conflicts became increasingly serious. In 1709, a tribal chief in Kandahar, Afghanistan, supported by Russia, rebelled and was responded to by many chiefs in Afghanistan who also believed in Sunni Islam. The final outcome of this rebellion was shocking. A rebellion by a border tribal chief in Kandahar actually developed to the point of capturing Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid dynasty, 13 years later.

In this way, a tribal chieftain in Kandahar, Afghanistan, became the master of most of Afghanistan and Iran and became the new Shah (the title of the Persian monarch, meaning "King of Kings"). However, the rule of the Afghans in Iran was unpopular. They slaughtered the royal family, nobles and Shiite religious scholars of the Safavid dynasty in Isfahan and plundered them. There were also constant infighting within the Safavid dynasty because of the distribution of power. Although the Iranians were tired of the Safavid dynasty, their hatred for the invading Afghans quickly surpassed the former.

Under such circumstances, a Persian military strongman who later went down in history as Nader Shah stepped onto the historical stage. He assembled an army, established an exiled prince of the Safavid dynasty as a puppet monarch, and finally ended the seven-year Afghan occupation of Iran. He then further counterattacked into Afghanistan and, after a hard battle, finally destroyed the emerging Afghan Hotak dynasty.

After conquering Afghanistan, Nadir Shah crossed the Khyber Pass and continued to invade and plunder India. He captured Delhi, the capital of the Mughal Empire, and burned, killed and looted. Nadir Shah's capture of Delhi meant the complete decline of the central authority of the Mughal Empire. India fell into fragmentation and endless regional melee. The East India Company also gradually rose soon after, until it grew into a behemoth that ruled most of India. Nadir Shah's plunder of Delhi was one of the wars in human history that obtained the most war loot. Two giant diamonds, the national treasure of the Mughal Empire, were also taken away. One of them, the "Mountain of Light", later fell into the hands of the British royal family. It is still on the British crown today, and the Indian government is also tirelessly claiming this lost national treasure.

The "Mountain of Light" on the British Queen's crown. Source/Internet

On the surface, with the rise of the military strongman Nader Shah and his conquest of the Hotak dynasty in Afghanistan, Afghanistan's independence seemed to be a distant prospect. However, as an upstart, Nader Shah was cruel, murderous, and unkind. In his later years, even the Iranians who had been liberated from the Afghans by him generally hated him. In the end, he was assassinated by his men, and his dynasty collapsed.

When Nader Shah conquered the newly independent Afghanistan, an Afghan warlord named Ahmad Durrani surrendered to him, and this Afghan army became a powerful force under Nader Shah. After Nader Shah's death, Ahmad Durrani's attempt to win the inheritance of Nader Shah's entire empire failed, so he returned to Kandahar and established his own country based on Nader Shah's system. He was able to handle religious and tribal relations relatively well. Relying on his military experience, personal prestige and the powerful troops that followed Nader Shah in his long-term conquests, he unified the entire territory of Afghanistan and took advantage of the civil strife after Nader Shah's death to occupy parts of eastern Iran. Because of these achievements, he was revered as the father of Afghanistan. Of course, what he cared about most was India. When Nader Shah was alive, Ahmad Durrani followed him to invade Delhi and witnessed the mountains of loot with his own eyes. Now, he decided to follow the route of his previous master and invade India again.

Comparison of the Durrani Empire and modern Afghanistan. Map/Geographic Valley

With the continuous victory of many years of war, Ahmad Durrani gradually controlled many areas in northern India and invaded and destroyed the city of Delhi again. Previously, Nadir Shah's capture and plunder of Delhi greatly aggravated the disintegration of the Mughal Empire. The Marathas, who had risen up against the Mughal Empire as early as the heyday of the Mughal Empire, gradually became stronger during the decline of the Mughal Empire. After Nadir Shah's invasion, they quickly developed into one of the most likely forces to replace the Mughal Empire and unify India. However, the Marathas appeared in a tough defense of Hinduism from the beginning. When Ahmad Durrani raised the banner of religious jihad, most of the Muslim warlords in northern India turned to him.

In 1761 AD, Ahmad Durrani and the Mattalas fought a decisive battle in Panipat. This place is really a sad place for Indians. More than 200 years ago, the Mughals from Central Asia established their own dynasty after defeating the Indians twice here. Now, the Afghans defeated the main force of the Maratha League here again, and most of the leaders of the Maratha League were killed. After the failure of this battle, the Maratha League lost the possibility of becoming the common ruler of India.

If the biggest losers of this battle were the Marathas or most Indians, then the biggest winner of this battle was not Ahmad Durrani, who won the hard-fought victory, but the British, who had just defeated the Indian princes supported by the French in the Battle of Plassey a few years ago and began to expand into India on a large scale. The Marathas, the strongest and most warlike people in India, were crippled by the Afghans who aimed at plunder, which meant that the difficulty of British expansion in India was greatly reduced.

The 2019 Indian Bollywood film "Battle of Panipat" recreates the Third Battle of Panipat in 1761, where India's hopes for rejuvenation were ultimately destroyed by the invasion of Afghans. Source/Poster of "Battle of Panipat"

After Ahmad Durrani's death, his kingdom, like Nader Shah's, fell into a succession dispute and weakened in constant civil war and division. However, what is more terrifying for the Afghans is the emergence of a superpower that is not in the same dimension as them. Russia gradually annexed the Central Asian countries and began to appear on the northern border of Afghanistan. India, south of Afghanistan, has been the target of invasion for two thousand years since the fall of the Maurya Dynasty, and is now controlled by Britain, the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets". In front of these two players of different magnitudes, Afghanistan embarked on a tragic path from chess player to chess piece and finally to chessboard. Although the tenacity of the Afghans has earned them the title of "Graveyard of Empires", this cemetery belongs not only to these empires that came and went, but also to every Afghan. The prosperity of this region more than two thousand years ago is only left in the exhibits of the museum, which gives us endless sighs.

END

Author: Black King

Editor | Zhan Xihui

Proofreading | Wang Yongxin

Typesetting | Xue Mengyuan

‍*This article is an exclusive article of "National Humanities and History". Readers are welcome to forward it to their friends.