Zabulistan (Persian/Pashto: زابلستان; Zabol + -stan), also spelled Zabolestan, is a historical region in the border area of today's Iran and Afghanistan.

History of Zabulistan[link]

Kushano-Hephthalite Kingdoms in 565 CE, after destruction of the Hephthalite Khanate by Persian and Turkish forces.

Babur records in his Babur-Nama that Ghazni is also known as Zabulistan^[1] The name possibly covered a larger area in the past, as evident by the existence of a province in Afghanistan called Zabul at the foot of the Hindukush, (along the border with Pakistan). According to Persian mythology, Zabulistan was the country of Iranic hero Rostam. In Shahnameh, Zabulistan and Sistan are used interchangeably.

In ancient times, Zabulistan was part of the region known as Arachosia. Northern parts of the region were under the control of the Median Empire before 550 BCE, after which the province fell to the Achaemenid Persians. Alexander the Great conquered Zabul during his conquest of the First Persian Empire in the 320s BCE. The region later became part of the Seleucid Empire, which traded it to the Mauryan Empire in 305 BCE as part of an alliance. The Sunga Dynasty overthrew the Mauryans in 185 BC, but shortly afterwards lost Zabul to the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Zabul became part of the break-away Indo-Greek Kingdom in the mid 2nd century BCE.

Indo-Scythians expelled the Indo-Greeks by the mid 1st century BCE, but lost the region to the Parthians and Indo-Parthians in the early 1st century CE. The Kushan Empire soon expelled the Indo-Parthians and ruled Zabul until around 230 CE, when the Kushans were defeated by the Persian Sassanid Empire and were replaced by Sassanid vassals known as the Kushanshas or Indo-Sassanids. In 420 CE the Kushanshas were driven out of Afghanistan by the Chionites, who established the Kidarite Kingdom. The Kidarites were replaced in the 460s CE by the Hephthalites, who were defeated in 565 CE by a coalition of Persian and Turkish armies. Zabul became part of the surviving Shahi Kingdoms of Kapisa, then Kabul, before coming under attack from the Moslem Arabs.

Buddhist and Hindu Shahi[link]

Around 870 CE the Buddhist Shahi Dynasty was replaced by the Hindu-Shahi dynasty, which fell to the Ghaznavids in the early 11th century CE.

Zunbils[link]

Introduction of Islam[link]

Arabs had been repelled at Sindh in 660, but they invaded Kabul and Zabulistan during the Caliphate of Muawiyah (661-680). In 683 Kabul revolted and defeated the Muslim army, but two years later Zabul's army was routed by the Arabs.^[4]

Sakawand a pilgrimage centre[link]

Various scholars have recorded the importance of Sakawand as a major centre of Pagan pilgrimage.

See also[link]

• Zabul Province
• Zunbils
• Abu Ali Lawik
• Shahnameh
• Sām
• Zal
• Rostam
• Zamindawar

References[link]