History of Afghanistan

Durrani Empire, 1747–1826 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Durrani Empire, colloquially known as the Kingdom of Afghanistan, the Afghan Empire, or the Sadozai Kingdom, was an Afghan empire founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, of the Pashtun Durrani tribe. The empire spanned parts of Central Asia, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. Following Ahmad's death in 1772, his son Timur Shah Durrani became the next ruler of the Durrani dynasty. The Durrani Empire is considered the foundational polity of the modern nation-state of Afghanistan, with Ahmad being credited as its Father of the Nation.

Seat of power: Kabul

Emirate of Afghanistan, 1823–1926 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Emirate of Afghanistan was an emirate in Central Asia that encompassed present-day Afghanistan, as well as parts of present-day Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. The emirate emerged from its predecessor, the Durrani Empire, after the Barakzai dynasty prevailed in Kabul. The history of the Emirate was dominated by the 'Great Game' between the Russian Empire and the British Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. Emir Amanullah Khan signed the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 following the Third Anglo-Afghan War, gaining full Afghan autonomy, and the removal of Afghanistan's status of being a de-jure British protectorate.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

• Dost Mohammad Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1823–1839
• Shah Shujah Durrani, Emir of Afghanistan, 1839–1842
• Akbar Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1842–1845
• Dost Mohammad Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1843–1863
• Sher Ali Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1863–1866
• Mohammad Afzal Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1865–1867
• Mohammad Azam Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1867–1868
• Sher Ali Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1868–1879
• Mohammad Ayub Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1879–1880
• Mohammad Yaqub Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1879–1879
• Abdur Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1880–1901
• Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1901–1919
• Amanullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1919–1926
• Nasrullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, 1919–1919
• Abd-al Karim, Emir of Afghanistan, 1924–1925

Kingdom of Afghanistan, 1926–1973 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Kingdom of Afghanistan, also known as the Sublime State of Afghanistan, was a monarchy operating under a unitary state in Central Asia that was established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the throne. The monarchy ended in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état. Zahir Shah, the last King of Afghanistan, was eventually overthrown by his own cousin Mohammad Daoud Khan who successfully ended the centuries-old monarchy and established a republic.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

• Amanullah Khan, King of Afghanistan, 1926–1929
• Habibullāh Kalakāni, King of Afghanistan, 1928–1929
• Mohammed Nadir Shah, King of Afghanistan, 1929–1933
• Inayatullah Khan, King of Afghanistan, 1929–1929
• Mohammed Zahir Shah, King of Afghanistan, 1933–1973

Republic of Afghanistan, 1973–1978 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Republic of Afghanistan, also known as the Republican State of Afghanistan, was the first republic in Afghanistan. It is often called the Daoud Republic, as it was established in July 1973 by General Sardar Mohammad Daoud Khan of the Barakzai dynasty (alongside senior Barakzai princes) who deposed his cousin, King Mohammad Zahir Shah, in a coup d'état. The Republic of Afghanistan was also under a unitary and centralised form of government during the time. In 1978, a military coup known as the Saur Revolution took place, instigated by the communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, in which Daoud and his family were killed.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

• Mohammed Daoud Khan, President of Afghanistan, 1973–1978

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, 1978–1992 Draft, not yet reviewed

The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, later known as the Republic of Afghanistan, was the left-wing-led Afghan state from 1978 to 1992. The majority of the country's years in existence were marked by the Soviet–Afghan War. On 27 December 1979, the Soviet Union launched Operation Storm-333, assaulting the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul and assassinating Amin, who was then replaced by Karmal. It collapsed by the end of the First Afghan Civil War in April 1992, having lasted only four months after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

• Hafizullah Amin, President of Afghanistan, 1979–1979
• Mohammad Najibullah, President of Afghanistan, 1987–1992

Afghanistan, 1992 to today Draft, not yet reviewed

The mujahideen won against the Soviets in the Soviet–Afghan War, leading to the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989. The ensuing civil war overthrew the socialist republic and established the Islamic State of Afghanistan through the Peshawar Accord, which could not remain in force and resulted in a second civil war between mujahideen factions in 1992. The Taliban controlled most of the country by 1996, but their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan received little international recognition before its overthrow in the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan. The Taliban returned to power in 2021 after capturing Kabul, ending the 2001–2021 war.

Seat of power: Kabul

Rulers

• Mohammed Omar, Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, 1996–2001
• Burhanuddin Rabbani, Head of state, 2001–2001
• Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, 2004–2014
• Ashraf Ghani, Head of state, 2014–2021
• Akhtar Mansour, Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, 2015–2016
• Hibatullah Akhundzada, Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, 2021 to today