Roots of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a country in Northern Asia which is a mountainous country and it earned different names in different periods of history. History of Afghanistan is divided in to two parts. The first one is pre-Islamic and the second one is Islamic Period. In 1400 BC European came to Afghanistan and made a civilization by the name of Avesta. This civilization had a leader and the leader was controlling Avastians and people also used to follow some rules for having safe and good life. After this civilization too many other tribal societies were also created and joined .Finally in 642 AD the Islamic period got started and people changed their religion from Buddhism to Islam. It was a great change because after that too many Muslims kings governed .So that caused the situation to be politically changed. Since the beginning of time, the region that today is modern Afghanistan has undergone many different changes in power and has been conquered many times. In ancient times, Afghanistan was conquered by Alexander the Great and was under his rule from 329-327 BC. During this time, Afghanistan was known as the "Gateway to India".

In modern times, Afghanistan has been ruled by other famous conquerors and became part of various empires. In 1220 it became part of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan. In the 14th century it was ruled by Timure Lung.

During more recent times, Afghanistan has been an object of interest for other nations, most importantly Russian and Great Britain. Both of these nations wanted relations with Afghanistan in order to have easier access to India. As a result, war broke out between the two. In 1838, the first Anglo-Afghan War took place, during which Great Britain took control of most of Afghanistan's major cities. War broke out again in 1878 due to Great Britain's anger at Russian presence in Kabul. Between 1878 and 1919, Afghanistan would remain under British control, until it declared independence.

King Amanullah would declare full independence of Afghanistan in 1919. Between this time until 1979, Afghanistan had many different rulers who all led different regimes. In 1979, Afghanistan would be invaded by the Soviet Union. During this time, the USSR supported the Afghan president, Babrak Karmal. The Soviets would withdraw ten years later as the USSR began to collapse. After the initial withdrawal, the nation plunged into a state of turmoil in which there was much fighting.

The Taliban began to take control around 1992. In 1996, they would have full control of the nation. This lasted until 2001, when the United States came to Afghanistan to fight against Terrorism . Today, although Afghanistan has adopted a more republic-style government, it is still very unstable. The Taliban is still powerful. Finally it should be mentioned that the present population of Afghanistan contains many diverse elements, the result of large-scale migrations and conquests that influenced its culture and demography. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan, accounting for about 42 percent of the population, with Tajiks (27%), Hazaras (9%), Uzbeks (9%), Aimaqs (4%), Turkmen people (3%), Baluch (2%), and other groups (4%) making up the remainder .In the present study, eight ethnic groups were examined, with a focus on the largest four groups: - The Pashtuns, traditionally lived a seminomadic lifestyle, they reside mainly in southern and eastern Afghanistan and in western Pakistan. They speak Pashto which is a member of the Eastern Iranian languages. - The Tajiks are a Persian-speaking ethnic group which are closely related to the Persians of Iran. In Afghanistan, they are the largest Tajik population outside their homeland to the north in Tajikistan. - The Hazara population speaks Persian with some Mongolian words. They believe they are descendants of Genghis Khan's army that invaded during the twelfth century. - The Uzbeks are a Turkic speaking group that have been living a sedentary farming lifestyle in Northern Afghanistan.