Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan: 1700–2014

By Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan MSc

Afghanistan is the victim of conspiracies.

History tells us about happenings and events of the past. Life would be empty in the absence of history. Therefore, the authorintrinsically motivated to understand his roots, his motherland, and the cause for the backwardness and suffering of Afghanistandecided to take this adventurous journey and complete this three-hundred-year history in thirty years and share them with all those interested about Afghanistan issues.

In the course of thirty years, the author had gone through very rough, bumpy, and sometimes painful routes, making him cry, especially feeling in his heart the pain and fear of not reaching the destiny. In spite of all his difficulties, he has dug out a lot of painful documents from very reliable sources and compiled them in this book titled Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan: 17002014. Thereby, the author of this book has endeavored to present the link between various eras and major historic events inside Afghanistan with the purpose of exposing the facts about the Afghan and foreign conspiracies and atrocities which, as a result, caused the backwardness of this nation. Afghanistan has suffered immensely through the course of this three-hundred-year journey and especially in the last thirty-six years.

The author leaves the judgement to the respected readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503573000

Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan MSc

Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan is the son of Mr. Abdul Satar Khan Durani (Popalza-i), born in 1937 in the town of Salihan, District of Panjwayee in the Province of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmed Afghan completed his primary and secondary education at Habibia High School and at the Afghan Technical Institute of Kabul in 1960. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University in 1964. In 1972, he received his master’s degree in structural engineering from University of Manitoba in Canada. Ahmed Afghan has served in a variety of positions within the construction division of the Afghan Ministry of Education. His primary duties included being in charge of building schools across the country. He served as president of construction and then the general president of the construction unit at the Ministry of Education in Kabul. Ahmed Afghan has been the project coordinator for school buildings projects financed by UNESCO, UNICEF, WFP, World Bank, USAID, and Ministry of Education, Kabul. Ahmed Afghan was appointed as consul general of Afghanistan in Bombay, India, and served from 1981 to 1985. While living in India, he continued his work and goal of establishing peace in his motherland, Afghanistan. Since September 1987, he and his family have settled in Vancouver, Canada, where he continues to work toward his dear and critical goal.

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COPYRIGHT © 2015 BY ENGINEER FAZEL AHMED AFGHAN, MSC.

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Rev. date: 06/11/2015

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CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

HOMAGE AND CONDOLENCE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF AFGHANISTAN

-Historical Names for Afghanistan

(1) ARIANA

-The Boundaries of Ariana

(2) KHORASAN

-The Boundaries of Khorasan

CHAPTER 2

AFGHANISTAN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AND SPIRIT FOR FREEDOM AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW AFGHANISTAN

MIR WAIS KHAN NIKAH AND HOTAKI’S ERA 1706–1730

MIR WAIS KHAN HOTAKI 1706–1720

THE SUCCESSORS OF MIR WAIS KHAN NIKAH, 1720–1730

CHAPTER 3

(3) NEW AFGHANISTAN

CHAPTER 4

AHMED SHAH ABDALI (DORANI) THE FOUNDER OF MODERN OR NEW AFGHANISTAN 1747–1777

THE SUCCESSORS OF AHMED SHAH ABDALI

THE REIGN OF TAIMOR SHAH ABDALI (DORANI) 1773–1793

THE REIGN OF SHAH ZAMAN ABDALI (DORANI) 1793–1801

Shah Zarman’s Personality

AFGHANISTAN IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

THE FIRST REIGN OF SHAH MAHMUD ABDALI 1801–1803

THE FIRST REIGN OF SHAH SHUJAH ABDALI 1804–1809

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF AHMAD SHAH ABDALI (DORANI) EMPIRE

THE SECOND REIGN OF SHAH MAHMUD

CHAPTER 5

THE ANARCHY AND CHAOS PERIOD 1818–1824

THE FIRST REIGN OF AMIR DOST MOHAMMAD KHAN BARAKZAl (1824–3839) AND THE FIRST TRAP BY THE BEAR TO CATCH THE LION

Captain Alexander Burnes’s Mission

THE SECOND REIGN OF SHAH SHUJAH ABDALI THE FIRST ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR THE END OF DORANI ERA

THE SECOND REIGN OF AMIR DOST MOHAMMAD KHAN ALSO KNOWN AS GREAT AMIR (THE FOUNDER OF MOHAMMAD ZAI’S ERA 1843–1863

CHAPTER 6

AFGHANISTAN IN THE SCUFFLE BETWEEN THE SONS OF AMIR DOST MOHAMMAD KHAN AND THE FIRST REIGN OF AMIR SHIR ALI KHAN 1863–1869

THE SECOND REIGN OF AMIR SHIR ALI KHAN THE BEAR’S (RUSSIA) SECOND TRAP FOR THE LION (BRITAIN) 1868–1878

The Coming Of War: Anglo-Afghan Relations 1874–1878

Amir Shir Ali Khan’s Personality

Sayed Jamaluddin Afghan, 1838–1896

THE REIGN OF AMIR MOHAMMAD YAQUB KHAN THE GANDOMAK TREATY THE SECOND ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR 1879–1880

Maj. Sir Louis Napoleon Cavagnori’s Personality and Character

Robert’s Assault on Kabul and His Atrocities

CHAPTER 7

THE CONFRONTATION OF THE LION WITH THE TIGERS THE ESCAPE OF THE FORMER THE SECOND ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR

Lord E. R. B. Lytton’s Personality

Amir Mohammad Yaqub Khan’s Personality

CHAPTER 8

THE RETURN OF SARDAR ABDUL RAHMAN KHAN TO NORTHERN PARTS OF AFGHANISTAN

The Battle of Maiwand and the Investment of Kandahar

THE REIGN OF AMIR ABDUL RAHMAN KHAN 1880–1901

Reunification of Afghanistan

Amir Abdul Rahman Khan’s Social Reforms

Crushing Opposition

Scientifically Established Borders

The Scientific Frontier

The Durand Line or the Third Cancer in the Motherland (Afghanistan)

Amir Abdul Rahman Khan’s Personality

Amir Abdul Rahman Khan’s Political Will

CHAPTER 9

THE PRESENT-DAY AFGHANISTAN 1893–2014

WORLD AND THE PRESENT-DAY AFGHANISTAN 1901–2000

Abdul Wahhab and Wahhabism

CHAPTER 10

THE FIRST TERM OF MOHAMMAD ZA-I’S ERA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

AMIR HABIBULLAH KHAN AND HIS SUCCESSORS

AMIR HABIBULLAH KHAN 1901–1919

CHAPTER 11

KING AMANULLAH KHAN 1919–1929

King Amanullah and the Declaration of Third Anglo-Afghan War

Development and Progress

The Khost Revolt

Who was Colonel Lawrence of Arabia (T. E. Lawrence), and what role did he play in the collapse of King Amanullah’s era, the beloved leader of Afghanistan?

T. E. Lawrence Saying about himself:

Authentic Evidence for T. E. Lawrence’s Involvement in the Collapse of King Amanullah’s Era

King Amanullah’s Trip to Europe

The Return from Europe

Beginning of the End

CHAPTER 12

HABIBULLAH KALAKANI JANUARY 17, 1929–OCTOBER 15, 1929

The Brigand King in the Saddle

Abdul Satar Khan Durani (Popalza-i) in Civil War as a Freedom Fighter

CHAPTER 13

ABSOLUTE OR FAMILY MONARCHY OF KING NADIR KHAN 1929–1933

Abdul Satar Khan Durani (Popalza-i) after the Civil War

CHAPTER 14

ABSOLUTE OR FAMILY MONARCHY OF KING MOHAMMAD ZAHIR SHAH 1933–1964

Prime Minister Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan 1933–1946

Prime Minister Sardar Shah Mahmud Khan 1946–1953

Pashtunistan

Democracy

Developments

Prime Minister Sardar Mohammad Daud Khan 1953–1963

Hilmand Valley and Developments

CHAPTER 15

PARLIAMENTARY MONARCHY OF KING ZAHIR SHAH OR DEMOCRATIC DECADE 1963–1973

Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Yousuf March 14, 1963–November 2, 1965

Mr.Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal November 2, 1965–October 11, 1967

Mr. Nur Ahmed Etemadi 1967–1971

Dr. Abdul Zahir, June 1971–December 1972

Mr. Mohammad Moussa Shafiq, December 12, 1972–July 17, 1973

CHAPTER 16

THE FIRST REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN AND THE FIRST PRISIDENT MOHAMMED DAUD KHAN

The First Meeting of Author with President Daud

CHAPTER 17

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN 1978–1988

Mr. Nur Mohammad Taraki April 29, 1978–September 16, 1979

Mr.Hafizullah Amin September 15, 1979–December 27, 1979

Mr. Babrak Karmal December 1979–May 1986

About Osama bin Laden

Dr. Najibullah Era 1986–1992

The Ugly Outcome of April Revolution

CHAPTER 18

ISLAMIC STATE OF AFGHANISTAN, 1992–1996

Who are the mujahideen?

Who is a mujahid?

What is jihad?

Who Were the Atrocious Mujahideen Leaders?

PESHAWAR ACCORD May 24, 1992

Professor Sibghatullah Mojaddedi and Professor Burhanuddin Rabani and Eleven Atrocious Warlords

PROFESSOR SIBGHATULLAH MUJADDEDI, THE PRESIDENT OF ISLAMIC STATE, APRIL 1992–JUNE 28, 1992

PRESIDENT PROFESSOR BURHANUDDIN RABANI AND THE CIVIL WAR JULY 1992–SEPTEMBER 1996

CHAPTER 19

AFGHANISTAN, INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS DISASTER

Arms and Ammunition after 1992

International Responsibility

Some Drops from a Bucket of Very Polluted Water

CHAPTER 20

AFHANISTAN IN TALIBAN’S DARK AGES ERA 1996–2001

Who are the Taliban?

Who Is Mullah Mohammed Omar, Leader of Taliban?

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

MULLAH MOHAMMAD OMAR’S ERA SEPTEMBER 27, 1996–NOVEMBER 13, 2001

Amnesty International, 1995

The Assassination of Ahmed Shah Masoud

CHAPTER 21

TRAGEDY OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001,

Before 9/11

After 9/11

Afghanistan and the United Nations

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN, BONN (2001)

AGREEMENT ON PROVISIONAL ARRANGEMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN PENDING THE REESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER 22

MR. HAMID KARZAI’S ERA, 2001–2014

Interim Administration

ARTICLE-1: Operation Enduring Freedom

Transitional Administration, First Term, Second Term

The First Term of Hamid Karzai (President of Afghanistan) 2004–2009

The Second Term of Hamid Karzai, 2009–2014

ARTICLE-2: Afghanistan’s Wartime Economy (2001–2014).

The Devastating Impacts of IMF-World Bank Reforms

Afghan War Was Conspiracy: Karzai

Conclusion

OF OIL AND KORAN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER 23

THE CRIES AND APPEALS OF AFGHAN 1984–2011

Introduction

Letters and Proposals sent from Mumbai (Bombay) India

I. To Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, August 2, 1984

II To Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, September 10,1984

III To Shri Rajeev Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, December 31, 1984

IV To His Excellency Mr. Syed Sharifuddin Peerzadah, Secretary General for Islamic Conference Jeddah, January 24, 1985

V To Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Moscow, March 14, 1985

VI To Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, April 15, 1985

VII To His Excellency Mr. Rajiv Ghandi, Prime Minister of India, June 4, 1985

VIII To His Excellency Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, October1985

IX To His Excellency Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, April 17, 1986

X To Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,Kremlin, Moscow, USSR, July 29, 1986

XI To His Excellency Dr. Rupert Mugabe, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Office of Prime Minister, Harare, Zimbabwe, 20, August, 1996

XII To His Excellency Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, United Nations Organization, September 8, 1986,

My Warning about Terrorism and the Response from International Air Transportation Association (IATA)

XIII To His Excellency Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, United Nations Organization, United Nations Plaza, New York, New York, USA, October 14, 1986

XIV To His Excellency Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, October 20, 1986

XV To Dr. Najibullah, Secretary General of People’s Party of Afghanistan Center Committee, January 2, 1987

XVI To His Excellency Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, Secretary General of the United Nations Organization, March 21, 1987

Letters and proposals sent from Canada

1 To Mr. Javier Perez de Ceullar, United Nations Secretary General, United Nations Organization December 27, 1987

2 To His Excellency Mr. Giulio Terzi, Ambassador of Italy to the United Nations, UN Headquarters, December 6, 2008

3 A Proposal for Fundamental Changes in the Government of Afghanistan

4 To His Excellency Mr. Jean-Maurice Ripert, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, August 30, 2009

5 To His Excellency President Barack. H. Obama

6 Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan, Peace Plan to Extinguish the Imposed A blazed Fire in Afghanistan, A Conference for Peace in Afghanistan, Hayward, California, USA, January 2, 2010

REFERENCES

ENDNOTES

I

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Engineer Fazel Ahmed Afghan is the son of Mr. Abdul Satar Khan Durani (Popalza-i), born in 1937 in the town of Salihan, District of Panjwayee in the Province of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmed Afghan completed his primary and secondary education at Habibia High School and at the Afghan Technical Institute of Kabul in 1960.

He received his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University in 1964. In 1972, he received his master’s degree in structural engineering from University of Manitoba in Canada.

Ahmed Afghan has served in a variety of positions within the construction division of the Afghan Ministry of Education. His primary duties included being in charge of building schools across the country. He served as president of construction and then the general president of the construction unit at the Ministry of Education in Kabul.

Ahmed Afghan has been the project coordinator for school buildings projects financed by UNESCO, UNICEF, WFP, World Bank, USAID, and Ministry of Education, Kabul.

Ahmed Afghan was appointed as consul general of Afghanistan in Bombay, India, and served from 1981 to 1985.

While living in India, he continued his work and goal of establishing peace in his motherland Afghanistan. Since September 1987, he and his family have settled in Vancouver, Canada, where he continues to work toward his dear and critical goal.

Ahmed Afghan’s Literary Work:

1. Master’s degree thesis: A One-Quarter Scale Experimental Study of the Effect of Peripheral Reinforcement in a Concrete Hollow-Block Shear Wall, April 1972 (English)

2. Educational building report for UNESCO: Innovation in the Management of Primary School Construction in Afghanistan (English)

3. Book: My Cries and Appeals to the World Leaders to Bring About Peace in My Beloved Motherland Afghanistan, 1985 (English)

4. Documented and pictorial history book: Afghanistan from Heaven to Hell 53766.png 1700–2001 (Persian, Dary) Exposes the Conspiracies and Atrocities from 1700–2000

5. More than hundred letters to the world leaders as well as political, social, and cultural articles and proposals for bringing peace to Afghanistan and unity among all his Afghan brothers and sisters (Dary)

6. A documented and pictorial seven-hundred-page book under the title of Cry of Afghan (Dary)

7. Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan, 700–2014

8. Presently working on four other books

Ahmed Afghan has a wife, three daughters, and a son. He is always proud of his family.

1.jpg

After getting the MSc from University of Manitoba in 1972

2.jpg

During giving speech in inauguration of a new school in Kabul City

3.jpg

Meeting with president of India His Excellency Zail Singh in Mumbai (Bombay), the capital of Maharashtra Province

4.jpg

Meeting the president of Mozambique His Excellency Samora Machela in Mumbai (Bombay), India

5.jpg

Receiving one of the of the high dignitaries from African countries

6.jpg

Meeting the honorable chief minister of Maharashtra in Bombay, India

7.jpg

Meeting the honorable governor of Maharashtra in Bombay, India

8.jpg

The author at the end of his duty as council general in Bombay in his farewell party standing next to the dean of Counsellor Corp.

9.jpg

Meeting His Excellency John Fraser, the speaker of the Canadian Parliament, in his office

01.jpg

Author speaking in in his son,s wedding on August 10, 2007

02.jpg

Author speaking in peace Conference on Jane 2,2010 in Hayward, CA

II

HOMAGE AND CONDOLENCE

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICENT, THE MERCIFUL

I would like to express my humble tributes, with a heavy heart and great respect, to all those martyred Afghan brothers and sisters who are not with us anymore and who lost their precious lives to the cause of their beloved motherland Afghanistan. I pray for them to have their souls in peace in paradise.

I share my profound and deepest grief with all the bereaved families who have lost their dear and heroic family members in different parts of our country in imposed inhumane wars during the last thirty-six years.

As a human and a Muslim who knows God created us to love one another, I extend my condolences to those bereaved families in other countries who have received the bodies of their loved ones in boxes as a result of the last thirty-six years of war in Afghanistan.

I express my deepest sorrow for those who have lost their state of mind during the imposed wars in Afghanistan over the last thirty-six years.

May God the Almighty bless all my respected brothers and sisters who are unfortunately handicapped, addicted to heroin and other illegal drugs, inhumanely humiliated, or have lost their loved ones or their own precious lives due to hunger and different types of explosions during the bloodshed and destruction of their houses and towns in my dearly beloved Afghanistan since the bloody revolution of 1978. Amen.

III

This book is dedicated to the following:

My dear and honorable parents—may their souls be at peace in heaven—who raised me with great affection and always encouraged me to have higher education.

My beloved wife, Zahra Ahmed, as well as my dearest daughters, Wazmakay E. Ahmed Charlwood, Zelgay Ahmed Ali, Brishkay Ahmed Farahani; my son, Shafiq Ahmed; my sons-in-law, Mustafa Ali, Reza Farahani, and Chris Charlwood; my daughter-in-law, Chun Bhandal Ahmed; and my grandchildren Aman Ali, Sofia Farahani, Atusa Farahani, and Samir Ali.

The late Dr. Ali Ahmed Popal, the father of education in Afghanistan, who had helped me to continue my education and encouraged me to go to Afghan Institute of Technology in Kabul and faculty of engineering in Kabul University.

All my dear Afghan brothers and sisters who lost their precious lives for freedom and peace.

All my dearest Afghan brothers and sisters who are continuously struggling and working hard to end the imposed crisis and bloodshed and to bring peace to their beloved country, Afghanistan.

The present and future young Afghan generations who are the hope and inspiration of their parents and ancestors, for keeping up the voice of freedom, unity of Afghans, democracy, integrity of the country, and peace in Afghanistan and in the world.

Those scholars who devoted their lives in the public service to promote and provide sound education for the conscientious, sensible, intellectual, and progressive children of Afghanistan.

All my honorable and esteemed teachers and instructors who have given me education, for without their hard work and compassion, it would have been impossible to write this book.

All those who expose the internal and external conspiracies and atrocious people in Afghanistan.

IV

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I express my highest gratitude to Almighty God, my dearest parents, may their souls be in peace, and all my teachers for giving me the knowledge of reading and writing.

I express my special and profound thanks and appreciation to my dearest friend Mr. Said Jallal Masumi, one of my talented, honest, and hardworking coworkers who was general director for foreign assistance in the construction unit, Ministry of Education, Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2001, he translated part of my book (Afghanistan from Heaven to Hell 53850.png ) as well as very old and worn-out letters and decrees from King Nadir Khan, King Zahir Shah, and his uncles, as well as the resignation letter of King Zahir Shah addressed to President Daud and the letter of President Daud to President Jimmy Carter in English. God bless him and his family.

Note: The original Decrees and letters are in the custody of author to register them in National Archive in Kabul Afghanistan.

I express my appreciation to Mr. Mohammad Asif Khan Nowrose, my special secretary in the consulate general of Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in Bombay (Mumbai), India. He secretly helped me typing my letters to the world leaders and mailed them to the address of Mr. Arif Jalili in France and kept my secret documents in his parents’ home.

I extend my special thanks and appreciation to Mr. Mohammad Arif Jalili, the son of my sister-in-law, who mailed my letters from his address in Paris, France, to the world leaders.

I extend my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Dr. Abdul Rahman Zamani, writer of Review of King Amanullah’s Reign and British Conspiracies, for sending me authentic copies of telegrams that prove the hand of T. E. Lawrence in the collapse of King Amanullalah’s government.

I express my appreciation to Mr. Duncan Campbell and Mrs. Elizabeth Campbell, our best Canadian friends, for helping me and my family to come to Canada and for giving the opportunity to use the democratic freedom in this part of the world to express my views openly. Without their help, it would have been difficult for me to write this book.

I express my thanks and appreciation for all the writers listed in the reference of this book.

I express special thanks to my dearest daughter and son, Brishkay Ahmed Farahani, and Shafiq Ahmed, for their valuable help.

V

PREFACE

Every action begins with a motive, with some being so strong that it drives a lifetime pursuit as has been the case with me. My passion to put pen to paper and write my letters to world leaders and my books over the last thirty years comes from the suffering and frustration I experienced in relation to the socioeconomic backwardness of the society in which I lived: in my beloved country of Afghanistan. From the early years of my professional career, when I was a junior engineer in the Ministry of Education, I was constantly in pursuit of finding out and analyzing the true reasons for the vast disparities, inequities, injustices, and shortcomings that existed in my country.

This pursuit of mine started taking shape in 1966, during my practical training at the engineering firm, DMJM, in Los Angeles, where I had the opportunity to learn about the social and economic system that prevailed in the United States of America and one that was very foreign to me. It was during this time that I came to realize that the underlying cause of the social and economic injustices and ills in my motherland, Afghanistan, were because of the lack of education and significantly high rate of illiteracy of the citizens. This gap had prevented my country’s children from having the opportunity to take positive and assuring steps toward the development of themselves and their society, while other nations had embraced advancements in science, technology, and modern education with open arms. The unfortunate irony I observed was that even when an opportunity presented itself to capitalize on the gift of knowledge and know-how, the internal and external conspirators, armed with their power and money, used irresponsible and inhumane actions to take that faint opportunity away from the poor and defenseless people.

Upon completion of my graduate studies in Canada in 1972, I could have chosen to stay and lead a comfortable life with my family, utilizing all that an advanced country offered. However, I felt a moral and conscious responsibility to return to my homeland and give back to the previous generations, as it was because of their continuous efforts that I was one of the lucky few able to obtain an education in Afghanistan, USA, and Canada. And more importantly, I wanted to contribute to the success of future generations so more individuals could have the opportunity of education that I was blessed to have.

I decided to direct my energy and focus toward serving my countrymen, with the commitment to see that through to my last breath. I swore to Almighty God to return to my country with great zeal and love, despite the social and economic limitations and difficulties that plagued it. I chose to shoulder responsibility alongside other Afghans and render service to the country and my countrymen.

Upon returning from my postgraduate studies, I knew that the future success of Afghanistan was dependent on the children and youth having a safe and healthy environment for education. I identified this to be the first solution for the miseries surrounding my country’s children, and so I focused my efforts over the next seventeen years on working with the Ministry of Education to build schools and champion the acceleration of education and learning throughout the country.

Such goals were made more difficult when Afghanistan lost her independence and freedom after the military invasion of the Soviet Union in 1979. The enemies of my country, including the foreign powers whom I refer to as the conspirators, extended unlawful conspiracy from the north, south, east, and west, using religion and ideology as a weapon through their hired Afghan agents. In a very short time after the invasion, the amassed infrastructure built up since 1901 by the sons and daughters of the country suddenly went down in ruins.

The Afghan nation was robbed of the opportunity to focus on its development. Because of the unbelievable atrocities of the Russians, the members of the People’s Democratic Party, the cries and suffering of the Afghan nation got louder and louder. Educated people fled, the economy hit a stalemate, and progress was halted. The construction of schools also stopped. With a heavy heart, I decided that I could no longer be of useful service to my cause and my countrymen inside Afghanistan; and like hundreds of thousands of other Afghan sisters and brothers looking for stability and safety, my family and I chose to leave my beloved motherland with tearful eyes, hoping to be able to do something for her even while outside her borders.

Throughout my time out of Afghanistan, while residing in India, I knew that although I was far from my country, I had to extend my voice on the critical issues affecting it. I put pen to paper and released My Cries and Appeals to the World Leaders to Bring Peace in My beloved Motherland Afghanistan and sent letters to the United Nations and world leaders, as well as political dignitaries, in an attempt to raise their attention to the conspiracies and atrocities in my country and make a call to action.

Also, since I have been in Canada and hearing the news of conspiracies and atrocities in my beloved motherland, I took the opportunity to look to history and study the work of respected historians and writers about Afghanistan to find answers to the many questions I had about why my homeland had faced such challenges and what underlying drivers brought others to meddle in its activities. This study of history and information from different reliable sources, addressed in depth throughout this book, brought me to the conclusion that behind all the atrocities, disparities, inequities, crises, injustices, and backwardness prevalent over the history of my beloved country were the bloody hands of internal and external conspirators looking to fulfill their own goals at the cost of my countrymen.

Specifically, after the first interference of the British Empire that sent Captain John Malcolm from India to Persia in 1799, it resulted in three unfair and unjust treatise between the British and the defenseless amirs of Afghanistan. This lead to giving away part of their lands to the British in India and changing forever the map of Afghanistan to a landlocked country by the signing of the Durand Line Treaty.

Events such as the first two imposed Anglo-Afghan wars, followed by the Russian invasion in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Iran’s interference supported by Islamic and Western countries from time to time, echoing in my ears the words of Wahhabism, internal and international terrorism, and the rise of cultivation of poppy for opium in Afghanistan, were just the tip of the iceberg. What lay beneath the surface of creation of notorious warlords included Islamic fundamentalists, al-Qaeda, Bin Laden, as well as the phenomenon of Taliban. The implications of all these events, along with the actions of such individuals leading up to the tragedy of 9/11 in the United States and the unjust post-9/11 invasion of United States in Afghanistan, as well as the conspiracies since the 2001 Bonn Conference, opened the door to many more catastrophes. All these horrors have fueled my motivation to write this chronological book titled Conspiracies and Atrocities in Afghanistan, 1700–2014.

Looking back at the long history of my beloved homeland, I came to the conclusion that the strategic location of Afghanistan in the region was one of the primary motivations used by the superpowers of the time. Their interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, as well as their imposing of destructive wars, contributed to the country moving steadily backward. My goal became to expose the internal and external conspirators and atrocities through the use of a pictorial and factually documented book of historic events.

So that we learn from the past and never forget, I bring this book together for all my countrymen, especially those youth who have been away from Afghanistan and have little knowledge about their motherland. I write it also for all other non-Afghans interested in the affairs of Afghanistan and leave to their judgment how to characterize the journey of my beloved motherland over the last three hundred years. One thing should be kept in mind in this long three-hundred-year journey: the road slowly gets bumpier and may bring tears in the eyes. As the reader immerses himself in the book, he will be gradually led toward the unbelievable internal and external conspiracies and atrocities in Afghanistan. With deep sincerity, I would like to express that the respected reader should be aware that any condemnation this book contains is not directed against any nation, political ideology, or faith directly or indirectly involved in the crisis in Afghanistan. Rather, it is against the past and present limited group of internal and external conspirators who have used beautiful words, such as peace, human rights, freedom of belief or faith, democracy, and socialism, as well as communism, as pretext for forcefully imposing their will on the defenseless people of Afghanistan and other oil-rich countries.

Last but not the least, this history book is the result of my thirty years of continuous research. I hope the effort is a useful asset for universities, colleges, and research centers. I would like to acknowledge that without the books and the sources listed in the references of this book, this book would have been impossible to write. All the writers, whether they have written books, articles, or expressed their valuable views on the Internet, have done incredible work in bringing awareness to the present and future generations. Therefore, I express my heartfelt congratulations to each of the respected writer for their courageous efforts to write the facts. I strongly recommend to all the readers of this book, for better understanding of the facts and the truths of the matters, to read all the books and sources I used. And also, I sincerely express that I tried, through all avenues possible, to keep this book free from plagiarism as is possible. But one thing should not be forgotten: nobody is perfect. I admit that I am not a historian and that English, after Pashtu and Dari, is my third language. Therefore, I humbly apologize for any errors or mistakes with regard to the English text that the reader may come across or notice.

CHAPTER 1

BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF AFGHANISTAN

History tells us about happenings and events of the past. Women’s and men’s life would be empty and without identity in the absence of history. Therefore, every individual, family, tribe, ethnic composition, religion, and nation depends on their historical background to establish their identity. Judging on the present without having information about the past would be unfounded and ludicrous. A study of history will serve well to avoid mistakes of the past. Based on evidence, such as documents, pictures, artifacts, and scientific investigation, the past can be discovered, which would enable men and women to determine and establish his/her true identity.

Based on the foregoing principle, the author has endeavored to present the link between various eras and major historic events in Afghanistan from the beginning of eighteenth century supported with photographs and documents so that the reader who has no prior knowledge about Afghanistan would gain an appreciation for the historical background of Afghans and Afghanistan.

In brief, Afghanistan, who has ties in its northern fronts with the plains of Central Asia, has been an inhabited land as long as recorded history has existed. The plains of Central Asia constitute one of the most social ancient communities. This establishes the reason for ties between history of Afghanistan and that of Central Asian peninsula. The inhabitants of these lands lived together for centuries. Even after metamorphic partitioning and splitting to various nationalities due to social, physical, and natural causes, the strength of the tying relations between them remained relatively stronger. Similar national tendencies could be detected as a common feature as a result of traits and patterns established over long stretches of time by their forefathers. Afghanistan, Persia, and Mawar-ul-Nahre (Central Asia), which have represented the same civilization for centuries, especially stand out. The interaction shaped up and supplemented the social conduct of their populations (pp. 33–1).

At any rate, there does not exist significant information and evidence about Afghanistan’s very distant past. Discovery of such archaeological articles as flint stone weaponry and bone implements from the Tara Kamar Cave in Eibak (near Mazar-i-Sharif in Northern Afghanistan) suggests they belong to the Paleolithic era. These were being used for hunting when man was living in caves, not used to agriculture and construction. One of Paleolithic era caves is that of Chelsotoone (a kilometer away from the thirty-five-meter-tall Buddha statue in Bamian). It can be said that a living community existed in Afghanistan as far back as 20,000 BC, making its way through primitive communal, tribal, and matriarchal society to Neolithic era (around 9000 BC) and on to the Mesozoic age. Copper being the handy metal replaced so many stone-made articles and implements, and thus, dagger, knife, and shovel were created. Man recognized that animals could be used as means to transport goods, and thus, attention focused to animal husbandry and livestock development in turn on to agriculture. This in turn changes the status quo of the two genders and gave men a higher social status. As civilization advanced to the patriarchal domination, collective ownership (of commodities such as dwelling, animals, implements, etc.) gave way to individual ownership, but ownership of land continued to be collective since land irrigation was beyond the effort of individual persons. And this trend in landownership continued for many centuries (pp. 33–1). In1965, in Auq Kiprak (south of Mazar-i-Sharif along the Balkh River), during Dr. Louis Dupree’s archaeological excavations, he discovered articles, such as rings, bracelets, and lapis lazuli gemstones, that date back to Neolithic era up to 9000 BC. It is believed that planting and growing grain food was the first order of agricultural activity in this very land. The American archaeologists believe that these indications suggest the existence of communal living that dates twenty thousand ago and that similar findings have not obtained from India or Central Asia.

Explorations in Mandigak (fifty-five kilometers north of Kandahar) in 1951 suggests that Afghanistan was inhabited since around 3000 BC, while the inhabitants lived in mud huts and engaged in livestock and agriculture. These findings (weaponry, jewelry, implements, and tools) indicate by virtue of their geometric features that those inhabitants possessed an advanced level of craftsmanship. The findings from Mandigak suggest that Afghanistan was situated in the crossroad of civilizations between the plains of Sindh and Iran from 1000 BC to 3000 BC. The trail of civilization development in the southern agricultural lands of Afghanistan had reached good fruition between 2000 BC and 3000 BC, and links with ancient cultures (such as Mohanja Diraow) had been established (pp. 34–1).

Historical Names for Afghanistan

For the information of readers, in the following paragraphs, the author would like to describe the historical names and boundaries of Afghanistan under the names of old (Ariana and Khorasan), new, and present-day Afghanistan.

(1)  ARIANA: This is the oldest name describing Afghanistan, used since around 1000 BC until fifth century AD. It means the place where the Arians inhabited. Avesta, the religious book of Zoroastrians, records this name as Ariana in contrast to Toriana, meaning the land inhabited by Torians, the nomads living across from the Jaihoon River.

The Boundaries of Ariana

Arathestian believed Ariana followed the shape of a parallelogram, while Estrabon believed it matched a square. Ustad Ahmad Ali Kohzad describes the boundaries of Ariana as follows: its eastern border is bound from Gulgate to Indian Ocean and Hindus (the Sindh); its southern border is determined by the great Indian Ocean; the northern border of Ariana is bound by the Saigon (Aumoo) River; and its western bound is determined by a line that connected Kirman and the Partly with Ariana or was delineating Fars to the west (History of Afghanistan, Vol. I [pp. 44-1]). Elsewhere, it writes, Its [Ariana] northern flanks made up of Paropamizosas Mountain and extending mountains that run from Northern India to the Caspian Sea, its western border is enclosed with the line starting from eastern corner of the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, passing through western parts of present-day Baluchistan, extending to the southern coast of whereby it separated the parts from the Mauds and separated Kirman from Fars (Ariana Encyclopedia, vol. I, p. 251 [pp. 18-1]). At any rate, historical data and stories suggest a very long past in Afghanistan. One of the famous stories is that of Zahak Maran, a monarch of several thousand years ago. He was of the same race who led forces to Afghanistan through Iran and defeated the Paradath rulers of Afghanistan at the time in their capital city of Balkh, culminating to the demise from throne of Jamshid, the king of Balkh. This lasted until Shah Fraidoon, who repelled the occupying force to their own lands, emerged and captured Zahak.

Another story speaks of Ninoose, the Asoori king, that around 1000 BC brought forces through Iran and Armenia to Afghanistan, and captured Balkh. Certain documents acknowledge that dynasties in ancient Afghanistan included the Peshdadis, the Kaihanis or Kawanis, and the Aspahs under whose reign the people of Afghanistan underwent from tribalism to factionalism to mythology, developing to a level of religious reform. This reform is best manifested in one of the most ancient books of the world known as Avesta (pp. 35-1).

(2)  KHORASAN: This name came into existence after the third century AD and was in use until the nineteenth century AD to describe Afghanistan for nearly 1,500 years. It means the emergence of sunrise, the geographic direction for the east.

The Boundaries of Khorasan

Wajid Ali of India wrote in 1845 on page 226 of his book, The Prelude of Sciences and Collection of Arts, about the geography of Khorasan, stating, It is bound in the west by the country of Fars, in the east by India, in the north by the country of Tatars, and in the south by the Arab Sea. Herat, Kandahar, Ghazni, and Kabul are famous cities of Khorasan. Pomegranates, grapes, and apples are among its fruit products (Great Khorasan, pp. 51–39).

CHAPTER 2

AFGHANISTAN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY AND SPIRIT FOR FREEDOM AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW AFGHANISTAN

The eighteenth century began when the world’s 640 million population was divided and governed by the great economic powers of Europe, such as France, Holland, Britain, Portugal, and Spain. They were trade competitors with a commercial and economic center in Paris engaged in trading slaves, gold, textiles, tea, and timber. They were aiming to build up their countries and focus toward industrialization by using scientific and technologic gains to promote their trade and economic status. Russia was also heading for industrialization to compete against France in places, such as Central Asia, Iran, and the Balkans in the Mediterranean Sea. But Afghanistan (called Khorasan at the time), the Osmaniye, Turkey, and the Mongol’s India did not pay attention to the importance of science and education and its significance for industrialization of their societies. Rather, under feudal systems, they were involved in fighting sectarian as well as religious wars and landownership whose result was looting of the population, social and national wealth, and forced unfair taxation. Then means of transportation over land were not mechanical, and animals, such as horse, donkey, camel, mule, and elephant were being used to that end. Naval transportation was confined to sails. And transportation in the air was perhaps not even a thought.

Communications means was crude and limited to written publications. Military armament was limited to canons and a few types of guns, sword, shield, spear, and dagger. Telecommunication of any sort did not exist. Dissemination of information or news take weeks or even months from origin to destination. For example, when Nadir Afshar occupied Delhi on February 14, 1739, the people in London did not know about it until October of that year (pp. 63–6).

Battles were generally being fought on a one-to-one confrontation basis as infantrymen or men riding horses. Loss life of men and other casualties—including looting—would have a high toll. These battles would last long, and logistical preparation would be very important.

In 1706, a year before the death of Aurangzib, who had often attempted the capture of Kandahar, Mir Wais successfully headed an insurrection against the Persian governor in Kandahar Province, Prince Gurgin, and thus commenced an astounding chapter of Perso-Afghan relationship, and of Afghan dominion paralleled only by the subsequent rise of Nadir Shah. Mir Wais killed the governor of Kandahar and drove out his troops and, for the moment, held that province as an independent principality at a time when the mogul throne was in disorder. This victory stirred the Afghan imagination and set light to a train that was to inaugurate a long era of Afghan conquest and lead eventually to the modern Afghanistan of today, which had not yet been a kingdom by itself (p. 49–6).

HOTAKI’S ERA

1706–1730

MIR WAIS KHAN HOTAKI

1706–1720

Mir Wais Khan Hotaki was the chief of the Ghiljai tribe and was a calculated, educated, and patriotic man. He killed Goregeen and forced out the Persian soldiers from Kandahar to Persia and thus liberated Kandahar. This was one year before the Mongol emperor of India, Aurangzaib, died.

This episode was followed by the one in which Assadullah Khan Sadozai, the governor of Herat, amassed fifteen thousand soldiers to force out thirty thousand Persian soldiers from Herat. Thus, Mir Wais Khan Hotaki initiated a liberation movement among Afghans. He was a highly respected leader. Therefore, he was named Mir Wais Naika (Grandfather Mir Wais). Uwrangzaib heard the news of developments in Kandahar, which had interchangeably been occupied by the Persians and the Mongols of India. He accordingly dispatched an army to occupy Kandahar but was dealt a severe defeat. Aurangzaib died in 1707, when he was ninety years old, and had reigned for fifty years. His son Moaazzam 53807.png who was the governor of Kabul, succeeded him at age of seventy and assumed leadership of the Mongol Empire in Delhi. Both Aurangzaib and his son were at serious odds with the Maharatha and Sikhs of Punjab and did not refrain from mass killings of the Sikhs.

After the death of Aurangzaib and the entanglements of his son in the internal clashes in India, the Safavides of Persia made several more aggressions to Herat and Kandahar but were repelled by Mir Wais Khan Hotaki, who unfortunately did not live long enough to achieve his stern desire of having a free and independent Afghanistan. He died in 1720 in Kandahar and buried in Kokran, a western suburb of Kandahar.

THE SUCCESSORS OF MIR WAIS KHAN NIKAH, 1720–1730

Mirwais Khan Nikah was succeeded by his son, Shah Mahmud, who immediately launched a military assault against Persia and captured Kirman as a result. In 1722, he assembled an army of twenty thousand men and crossed Esfahan. On October 21, Shah Hussain Safavi left his throne to Shah Mahmud, who went as far as Qazween, moving the capital of his government to Iran and choosing Esfahan over Kandahar as the capital against the wishes of many Afghans.

At the same time, Zaman Khan Sadozai was as the governor of Herat. He was the father of another Afghan hero, Ahmad Khan Sadozai, who was born from Zaman Khan’s wife Zarghoona. Zaman Khan died a few months following Ahmad Khan’s birth. Ismael Khan took over as governor of Herat after Zaman Khan’s death. Ismael Khan married Zaman Khan’s daughter or Ahmed Khan’s sister and kept Ahmed Khan under his own love and guardianship.

As Shah Mahmud Hotaki was edging forward in Persia and Osmaniye, Turkey, in furthering his expansions, he signed a treaty in 1724 with Russia (Peter the Great), resulting in the breakup of Iran. Although the treaty caused Shah Mahmud Hotaki some concern, he could not take a decision regarding it since he died at a very young age of only twenty-seven. Shah Ashraf, Shah Mahmud Hotaki’s cousin, succeeded him in ascending to the throne. Shah Tahmasib, the son of Shah Hussain Safavi, pulled up a huge military force in Farah Abad of Mazandaran under the command of Nadir Qoli, also known as Nadir Afshar, who was of Turkish origin and was a brave fighter, and attacked Shah Ashraf. In 1730, Shah Ashraf Hotaki was killed, and Nadir Afshar attained great victory and significant gains. He recaptured much of the Safavide’s territories. He threw out Shah Tahmasib and brought to throne his young son (Abbas Mirza). Nadir Afshar pursued further territorial gains, this time from the Osmaniyes of Turkey.

When Abbas Mirza died, Nadir assumed reign of power himself. He moved toward Khorasan, Herat, and Kandahar. He defeated Shah Hussain Hotaki, who had assumed power from Shah Ashraf Hotaki after his killing and reoccupied the territories that the Hotakis had liberated. It is noted that the defeat the Hotakis (Shah Mahmud, Shah Ashraf, Shah Hussain) faced were because (a) they moved the center of their administration away to Esfahan, thereby losing the people’s support, (b) they treated the royal family of Shah Hussain Safavi with despise, insult, and disrespect, and (c) they pursued sectarian fighting, which culminated in unfair and brutal killing of large numbers of people. These gave rise to the hatred and anger of the people of Persia. Since the base of administration was away from the people and their support, the end was clear. The hopes and aspirations by Mir Wais Naika, which focused on the independence and freedom of Afghanistan for the people of Afghanistan, did not materialize. It was a retrogression to the time before Mir Wais Khan Hotaki. It began and ended in Khorasan.

Nadir Shah, the Perso-Turkish soldier of fortune, swept into Afghanistan in 1737, as has been related, after seizing the Persian crown and expelling therefrom the Afghan king, and occupied Kandahar and Kabul, the erstwhile provinces of the Delhi throne. Muhammad Shah at Delhi was too involved in the anxieties of the Maratha menace to take effective notice of the loss of Kabul, and the Persian Shah advanced in a leisurely manner and by easy stages through the Khaibar and the Punjab, crossing the Indus in November 1738 and entering Delhi on February 14, 1739, barely a hundred years before the accession of Queen Victoria I. The Imperial armies had given way as he advanced, and had assembled at Karnal but to endure defeat. The emperor went out to meet the conqueror, and together they entered Delhi. The latter no doubt intended as bloodless a squeeze as possible, but there ensued by ill chance those terrible riots and massacres. (p. 63-6)

Nadir Afshar was not content with just capturing lost territories. From 1738 to 1739, he took control of Kabul, whose Mongol-appointed governor had already fled, and moved on toward Delhi through Khaibar and Punjab. He crossed the Sind River in November of 1738 and occupied Delhi on February 14, 1739.

During his occupation of Delhi, Nadir Afshar treated the Maharatha and Sikhs very unfairly and killed many of them in sectarian fighting and cultivated seeds of discord and animosity between the Sikhs and the Muslims.

Nadir Afshar plundered lots of gold and jewels, including the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond. He returned to Khorasan in 1741 and focused on occupying Bukhara and Khiva. He was assassinated on June 15, 1747, by one of his bodyguards, Saleh Baig, also a Turk. Thus, a new era began in Afghanistan.

CHAPTER 3

(3) NEW AFGHANISTAN

In the mid-eighteenth century AD, the name of Khorasan gave way to Afghanistan. In tenth century AD, the word afghan, which was the Arabic equivalent of auoghan, was used in the writings of Islamic scholars to describe the Pathan tribes. It gradually found wider use until in the nineteenth century, it included the country’s Pushtuns. But Afghanistan was used for the first time in thirteenth century AD to refer to some of the eastern provinces of the country. In fourteenth century, the Takht-i-Sulieman location in the east of the country was identified with this name. In sixteenth century, the districts around Kabul were being called Afghan land. In eighteenth century, the land extending from the Sindh River to Kabolistan and from Kashmir/Nooristan to Kandahar/Multan was called the land of the Afghans. Finally, in nineteenth century, Afghanistan became the official name of the country (pp. 9–1)

The author of this book acknowledges that he is not a historian to go back as far to the history of Ariana and Khorasn. Therefore, in the following chapters, he is trying to concentrate only on historical events based on available information from different credible sources to bring them to the attention of a curious traveler who is interested to know about the conspiracies and atrocities of Afghans and foreigners in the poor and undefended Afghanistan in last three hundred years, starting from the beginning of eighteenth century, covering the Hotaki’s era, New Afghanistan, and the present-day Afghanistan, up to the end of President Hamid Karzai’s era in twenty-first century. And eventually, at the end of this emotional and tiring historical journey, the reader may recollect his experience and impartially think about the last three hundred years of Afghanistan. Perhaps the reader can judge for himself who the conspirators and real enemies were, inside and outside, that caused all the atrocities in Afghanistan.

CHAPTER 4

AHMED SHAH ABDALI (DORANI)

THE FOUNDER OF MODERN OR NEW AFGHANISTAN

1747–1773

After the assassination of Nadir Afshar, a new chapter opened in the history of Afghanistan. Ahmed Khan Sadozai (Abdali), the son of Zaman Khan Sadozai, was born in Herat (1722). As an experienced twenty-five-year-old brave commander, he took charge of the forces comprising Afghan units of Pushtun, Hazara, and Uzbeck and led them unopposed to Kandahar. He was greeted warmly by all Pushtun, Tajik, Hazara, and Uzbeck tribal chiefs, especially Jamal Khan (the father of Sardar Painda Mohammad Khan), who was an influential chief of the Barakzai tribe.

After the death of Mir Wais Khan Hotaki, the Afghans were impatiently waiting for an able and patriotic leadership. So in the first available opportunity, in a gathering of elderly tribal chiefs in Kandahar representing all ethnic and religious sects, after several days of discussions, they called on Ahmed Khan to assume the responsibilities. The suggestion was posed by Sayed Sabir Shah Kabuli, who was a respectable clergyman. The congregation agreed to install a bundle of wheat stems on Ahmad Khan’s turban. Thus, Ahmed Khan Sadozai Abdali (Durani) was the chosen leader and the first king of modern or new Afghanistan.

Ahmed Shah Abdali, was a brave and valiant militant, patriotic, and calculated. He did not encounter defeat whether he fought in the armed forces of Nadir Afshar or when he was the ruler of Afghanistan. He practiced what he preached. He would honor the traditions, culture, religious affiliations, and local languages all the same. He would take decisions of national importance in consultation with the tribal elders, clergymen, and feudal. He would treat the decision and resolutions very seriously. He eliminated social injustice and intervention by the feudal in the local administrations, keeping them engaged in civilian and non-civilian service under his own supervision. He would not assign preferential status to those related to him, whether family members or personal acquaintance. He liked to be simple, shying away from royal ornamentation and the crown. He was humble and kind and gentle. He was very much abreast what was going on in the country and outside the country. He would consider the new Afghanistan’s prosperity in national unity. He brought about that unity with a monarchy throughout the country and thus established a new Afghanistan Empire. He established coin engraving to facilitate financial transaction of his government and the people. His bodyguards were all Qizilbash (an ethnic group of Shiite faith), with Farsi as their native language.

It was because of these virtues that he was known as Dor-i-Doran (the jewel of jewels) or Dor-i-Douran (jewel of the time) in his society, and consequently, he and his tribe were called Dorani. Ahmad Shah Dorani was also called as Baba, which means father. He is known as Ahmad Shah Baba (father of the nation).

Ahmed Shah Baba was deeply interested in the development of education, science, and literary work. He was an able poet in both the Pashto and Farsi (Dari) languages. He desired all-round progress in Afghanistan. But what was most significant for him was determining Afghanistan’s borders. He wanted that borderlines were established scientifically by reference to natural marks, such as mountains, rivers, and high plateaus.

Accordingly, one of his desires was that Afghanistan’s borders extend to the rivers Sind, Sutlej, and Amou (Oxus). During his rule, the world was still being run by the rule of jungle. The nations of the world would not be bound by well-defined political boundaries. The British and French empires were at odds with each other in their quest for expansionism and trade. Yet they did not have sufficient influence in the Mongol Empire of India to prevent gains and expansion by Ahmed Shah Dorani in the attempt to identify Afghanistan’s boundaries in India. On another front, Russia was thinking about occupying the Balkans to get to the Mediterranean Sea and not thinking about advancing to India to gain access to the warm waters. Consequently, during his rule, Ahmed Shah Baba was able to expand the territory of Afghanistan to Baluchistan, Sind, Daira Jot, Punjab, Lahore, Kashmir, Peshawar, Yusufzai, Badakhshan, Kandahar, Herat, Kabul, Hazaras, and Multan, and parts of Khorasan, Mashad, and Nishapoor to the west. The most famous battle that Ahmed Shah fought was the Pani Pat Battle that took place on July 11, 1761, where the forces compared as follows (p. 70–6):

In the northern frontier, Ahmed Shah Dorani renewed agreement with the king of Bukhara to recognize the Amou River as the boundary line between Afghanistan and Bukhara. At the end of his visit to Bukhara, the king of Bukhara gave Ahmad Shah Dorani the Holy Cloak of Prophet Mohammad 53731.png as a souvenir, and Ahmed Shah Durani brought it with great respect from Faizabad, Bukhara, to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Ahmed Shah marched his forces to the west and occupied Khorasan, which included Nishapoor and Mashad. During the rule of Ahmed Shah, expansion of education did not take place as a formal official undertaking. The effects of the feudal system still existed. And the European trade war had not found a way into Afghanistan.

Ahmed Shad Dorani desired a strong base and center for his administration. At first, he renovated the Kabul Bala-i-Hisar in 1753 but later chose to have Kandahar in 1761 as the capital city long before he would achieve his lofty aspirations of establishing prosperous Afghanistan. unfortunately, he died in October of 1773 at the age of fifty due to an ailment bothering him for some time. But he left an unforgettable name and legacy that the history will always record and remember. He was buried in Kandahar, and his son Taimor Shah succeeded him.

THE SUCCESSORS OF AHMED SHAH ABDALI

1-Timur Shah Durani, 2-Shah Zaman Durani, 3-Shah Mahmud Durani, 4-Shah Shuja Durani in his first reign,

5-Shah Mahmud Durani’s second reign, 6-Amir Doust Mohammad Khan Barakzai’s first reign, 7-Shah Shuja’s second reign.

THE REIGN OF TAIMOR SHAH ABDALI (DORANI)

1773–1793

Prince Taimor was born in 1747 in Mashad. He was selected as crown prince and appointed the governor of Herat in the later years of his father’s life. When he heard of his father’s illness, he immediately came to Kandahar. Upon his father’s death, he assumed the throne on October 23, 1773. In spite of having the fame and popularity of his father behind him, in the beginning of his monarchy, Taimor Shah ran across some family feud and opposition from the sardars (leaders) of the Barakzai tribe. He managed to overcome them. However, refusal to pay taxes and dues in the Abdali Empire, such as the Punjab Sikhs, Kashmir, Mashad, Nishapoor, Bukhara, and Turkistan, one after another. Except for Sind, where dues and revenue collection was a function of the Talpoori local administration, and Balkh, which had proclaimed independence, Taimor Shah managed to bring under his control all the other territories and compel them to pay their tax dues.

Taimor Shah, like his father, was against religious, ethnic, and language discrimination. His armed forces were comprised of the Pushtuns, Hazaras, Tajik, and Uzbeks. His bodyguards were Qizilbash (Shiite) as his father who were Farsi speaking.

Taimor Shah had grown up in Herat, where education and arts had prospered. Consequently, Taimor Shah was a well-educated man and had great respect for men of knowledge and literary works. He was able to produce poetry in both Farsi (Dari) and Pashto languages. One of his contemporary poets was Auisha Dorani (female) after whom, in 1960, a girls high school in Kabul City was named.

One of the very powerful men in Taimor Shah’s administration, who later assumed the position of chief minister or prime minister, was Sardar Painda Mohammad Khan, son of Sardar Jamal Khan Barakzai, who had been given the honorary title of Sardar Sarfiraz Khan by Taimor Shah when he had suppressed the uprising by the people of Khorasan, Mashad, and Nishapoor.

Taimor Shah had special interest for the development of local industries, such as textiles, leather works, metal works, needle works, masonry, and carpentry; and he would encourage internal commerce and trade. He had strong desire to build facilities in support of traditional education in contrast to a developing trend of new sciences in the Western world. In fact, three years prior to (Ahmed Shah Dorani) his father’s death, in 1769, James Watt succeeded in converting thermal energy into mechanical energy and thus invent the steam engine, giving rise to the industrial revolution with noticeable impacts to the industrial and economic sectors in the world. Throughout the world, other events took place one after another. The French versus the British were losing their colonies in North America and Asia.

In Britain, the parliamentarian system and individual freedom were proclaimed for the first time. The United States gained her independence from Britain on July 4, 1776. The Great French Revolution took place between 1789 and 1795, a historic event that gave rise to the collapse of the old despotic and feudal system, replacing it with a capitalistic system based on principles of democracy and free competition. This event gave a big boost to the elites’ morale who brought up the human rights idea.

The expansion of science in various political, social, economic, industrial, and technological walks of life was the order of the day. On the other hand, in despotic European countries, such as Turkey, and Asian nations, such as Iran, India, and Afghanistan, sectarian battles under the domain of authoritarian rule would pose great impediment toward blossoming of science. In fact, it would retard the progress process.

On the northern fronts of Afghanistan, Russia, sharing 1,600 kilometer border with Afghanistan, was keeping synchronized with the pace of scientific developments. Based on an expansionistic approach, the Russians were advancing toward the Central Asian lands. They were in conflict with the king of Bukhara and Cooqand regarding invasion of Tashkent until the czarist forces crushed them.

One year after assuming the throne, in 1774, Taimor Shah chose to relocate the capital of his administration from Kandahar to Kabul because of a strategic location that this city cherished between two mountain ranges called Shair Darwaza and Ausmayee and also because of his great interest in the Dari (Farsi) literature of Kabul. He took residence in the Bala-i-Hisar.

Taimor Shah moved with him some tribal leaders and chieftains of Doranis, Barakzais, and Qizelbash from Kandahar to Kabul, among them was Ahmed Khan Durani (Popalza-i).¹ Taimor Shah reigned for twenty years. He died in 1793 in Peshawar, which was his winter capital. He was buried in the Char Bagh area in Kabul City. Thirty-three sons and thirteen daughters survived Taimor Shah. The most famous of his sons who ruled after him were Homayoon. Mahmood, Fairozuddin, Abbas, Zaman Shah, and Shojah-ul-Molke. The first son that succeeded his father was Zaman Shah.

THE REIGN OF SHAH ZAMAN ABDALI (DORANI)

1793–1801

From among the thirty-three sons that Taimor Shah had, five were in some position of power with the zeal to assume the throne. These were Prince Homayoon, who was the governor of Kandahar; Prince Shah Mahmud, who was the governor of Herat; Prince Abbas, who was the governor of Peshawar; Prince Zaman, who was the governor of Kabul; and Prince Shojah-ul-Molke, who was the governor of Ghazni and Zabulistan. When Taimor Shah was on the last trip of his reign in Peshawar, where he died, Prince Zaman was the caretaker of the monarchy as the governor of Kabul, the capital city. He was the seventh son. He thus took advantage of the opportunity and imprisoned in Bala-i-Hisar his other brothers living in Kabul and proclaimed himself as the king. Homayoon, who was the eldest son and the governor of Kandahar, considered himself to be entitled to the throne and proclaimed his monarchy in Kandahar.

Prince Zaman was a very smart and religious man and knew very well the influence of the clergy in the Afghan society. So in the attempt to rally support from the clergy, immediately after the mourning ceremonies following his father’s burial, he went to Haji Mohammad Safiullah Mojaddidi Farooqi,