The Mongol invasion And Islamization Of Afghanistan

• published: 16 May 2015
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Before the 19th century, the northwestern area of Afghanistan was referred to by the regional name Khorasan. Two of the four capitals of Khorasan (Herat and Balkh) are now located in Afghanistan, while the regions of Kandahar, Zabulistan, Ghazni, Kabulistan, and Afghanistan formed the frontier between Khorasan and Hindustan. Arab Muslims brought Islam to Herat and Zaranj in 642 CE and began spreading eastward; some of the native inhabitants they encountered accepted it while others revolted. The land was collectively recognized by the Arabs as al-Hind due to its cultural connection with Greater India. Before Islam was introduced, people of the region were multi-religious, including Zoroastrians, Buddhists, Surya and Nana worshipers, Jews, and others. The Zunbils and Kabul Shahi were first conquered in 870 CE by the Saffarid Muslims of Zaranj. Later, the Samanids extended their Islamic influence south of the Hindu Kush. It is reported that Muslims and non-Muslims still lived side by side in Kabul before the Ghaznavids rose to power in the 10th century. Afghanistan became one of the main centers in the Muslim world during the Islamic Golden Age. By the 11th century, Mahmud of Ghazni defeated the remaining Hindu rulers and effectively Islamized the wider region, with the exception of Kafiristan. The Ghaznavid dynasty was defeated and replaced by the Ghurids, who expanded and advanced the already powerful Islamic empire. Some speculate that today's Nasher clan is a remnant of the Ghaznavid dynasty. In 1219 AD, Genghis Khan and his Mongol army overran the region. His troops are said to have annihilated the Khorasanian cities of Herat and Balkh as well as Bamyan. The destruction caused by the Mongols forced many locals to return to an agrarian rural society. Mongol rule continued with the Ilkhanate in the northwest while the Khilji dynasty administered the Afghan tribal areas south of the Hindu Kush until the invasion of Timur, who established the Timurid dynasty in 1370. During the Ghaznavid, Ghurid, and Timurid eras, the region produced many fine Islamic architectural monuments and numerous scientific and literary works. In the early 16th century, Babur arrived from Fergana and captured Kabul from the Arghun dynasty. From there he began dominating control of the central and eastern territories of Afghanistan. He remained in Kabulistan until 1526 when he invaded Delhi in India to replace the Lodi dynasty with the Mughal Empire. Between the 16th and 18th century, the Khanate of Bukhara, Safavids, and Mughals ruled parts of the territory.