MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Afghanistan

ONE LAND · 4 ATLASES

Afghanistan, on the map of history

What was Afghanistan before it was Afghanistan? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.

Herat, Balkh & Ghur (mod. Afghanistan) · The Mongol Empire, 1206–1294

Herat, Balkh and Ghur — Khorasan’s eastern rim — suffered the campaign’s worst systematic destruction (Balkh razed 1221, Herat massacred after revolt in 1222), and Bamiyan’s valley was reportedly annihilated for the death of the khan’s grandson. The region’s cities took generations to recover; some qanat systems never did.

OPEN THE MONGOL EMPIRE ON THE LIVING MAP →

Afghanistan · The Russian Revolution, 1905–1924

Afghanistan won full independence from Britain in 1919 and became one of the first states to recognize Soviet Russia — a buffer kingdom courted by Moscow as a lever against the British Empire in Asia.

OPEN THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION ON THE LIVING MAP →

Afghanistan · The Great War, 1914–1918

OPEN WWI ON THE LIVING MAP →

Afghanistan · The Cold War, 1945–1991

The empire’s last war: invaded in 1979 to save a client regime, held nine years against a CIA- and Saudi-funded, Pakistani-run resistance, abandoned in 1989 (Ch. 10). A million or more Afghans died; the Soviet state’s self-belief died with them. The weapons and networks the war built became the next era’s problem — presented to every sponsor in turn.

OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →