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Zoom in on Afghanistan Zoom out on Central Asia

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for an assassination attempt this weekend on Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Three people were killed in the attack, which took place during a ceremony to mark the end of the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan. President Karzai and other dignitaries escaped unharmed.

The attack underscores Afghanistan’s continuing instability, even after the recent arrival of more U.S. Marines. Sadly, it’s also the latest chapter in a long history of violence. To put Afghanistan’s present problems into perspective, let’s take a two-day timeline look at that history. Today, Afghanistan from British interventions to the Soviet invasion. Tomorrow, from the Soviet war to the Taliban’s rise and beyond.

As our timeline begins, the British have achieved Pyrrhic victories in two Anglo-Afghan wars (1839-42 and 1878-80). They’ve taken charge of Afghan foreign policy, but they haven’t conquered the country. Crucially, they can’t subdue the fiercely independent Pashtun peoples living in the highlands along the disputed border between Afghanistan and British India (now the Afghanistan-Pakistan border).

1893 – Vexed by the Pashtuns, Britain’s Sir Mortimer Durand meets with the emir of Kabul to decide who should control what turf. Durand draws a line on a map–since called the Durand Line–that cuts right through Pashtun tribes and villages. Though the Afghans dispute its legitimacy, the Durand Line effectively (or ineffectively) becomes the border between Afghanistan and British India.

1919 – A new emir, Amanullah Khan, leads his people in a third Anglo-Afghan war. The war ends in stalemate, but Britain cedes its control over Afghan foreign affairs. Having won full sovereignty, Afghanistan promptly signs a treaty of friendship with the new Soviet regime in Moscow. Over the next few years, Amanullah proclaims himself shah (king) and pursues economic, political, and social reforms that annoy conservatives in Afghanistan’s military and mosques.

1929 – Faced with a string of revolts, Amanullah abdicates and flees. An ethnic Tajik named Bacha-i-Saqao (”son of a water carrier”) briefly captures Kabul, but his rule is short-lived. Before the end of the year, Amanullah’s cousin, Mohammed Nadir Shah, wins Kabul back for the family. Nadir Shah rules until 1933, rolling back many of Amanullah’s reforms while still trying to modernize the country.

1933 – Nadir Shah is assassinated. His 19-year-old son, Mohammed Zahir Shah, ascends to the throne, which he will keep for 40 years. For the first 20 of them, Zahir Shah rules with help from two uncles, who each take a turn as prime minister. Afghanistan enjoys relative prosperity and peace, even remaining neutral during World War II.

1947 – The British depart from India, and the independent nation of Pakistan is born. Long-simmering tensions over the Durand Line heat up again–though the border dispute is now with the Pakistanis rather than the British.

1950 – Pakistan stops vital oil shipments to Afghanistan after a string of attacks by Pashtun tribesman near the border. To help relieve the resulting economic pressure, Moscow offers aid and a trade deal. Kabul says “Da!”

1953 – The king’s cousin, Mohammad Daoud, becomes prime minister and implements economic and social reforms (which again annoy conservatives). He increases ties to the Soviet Union but tries to maintain U.S. economic aid. He also funnels money to anti-Pakistani Pashtuns on both sides of the border and calls for Pashtun self-determination.

1961 – Provoked by Daoud, Pakistan closes the border, putting a major crimp in Afghanistan’s export economy. After a two-year standoff, the king asks for Daoud’s resignation. He gets it, and trade relations with Pakistan resume.

1964 – A loya jirga (”great council”) called by the king produces a new constitution, and Afghanistan becomes a constitutional monarchy (with the emphasis on monarchy). The constitution proclaims that Islam is “the sacred religion of Afghanistan,” but worries conservative Muslims by elevating secular law above Islamic sharia law.

1965 – Afghans elect a parliament, and several political parties begin to emerge (though, technically, they’re illegal). Among them: the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), a communist party. Over the next several years, parliament becomes increasingly polarized and ineffective, while ordinary Afghans become increasingly frustrated with it.

1973 – Daoud returns to power in a nearly bloodless coup. Out go the monarchy and the 1964 constitution. In comes a politically repressive single-party “republic,” with Daoud at its head. Daoud cultivates ties with India, Iran, and others, and relations with the Soviet Union become strained–especially after he starts purging PDPA members, some of whom helped him to power. He also antagonizes Islamic conservatives.

1978 – Rival factions of the PDPA put aside their differences long enough to overthrow Daoud, who is shot in the presidential palace. The communists then announce economic and social reforms–including equal rights for women–that infuriate traditional ethnic leaders and conservative Muslims alike. Small-scale revolts flare up across the country, and religiously minded Afghans organize to resist the “infidel” communist regime. Meanwhile, infighting between the communist factions resumes.

1979 – As rebellion spreads, the Afghan army largely collapses. The government asks the Soviet Union for more military aid and gets it. Then it gets more than it bargained for. On December 25, the Soviets invade. Within days, they’ve captured Kabul and installed a new regime.

–Steve Sampson