Home > Pre-Islamic period of Afghanistan
1 Prehistory
Archaeological exploration began in Afghanistan in earnest after World War II and proceeded until the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan disrupted it in December of 1979. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, and Iron ages were found. It is not yet clear, however, to what extent these periods were contemporaneous with similar stages of development in other geographic regions. The area that is now Afghanistan seems in prehistory - as well as ancient and modern times - to have been closely connected by culture and trade with the neighboring regions to the east, west, and north. Urban civilization in the Iranian plateau, which includes most of Iran and Afghanistan, may have begun as early as 3000 to 2000 BC (see also Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex). About the middle of the 2nd millennium BC people speaking an Indo-European language may have entered the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau, but little is known about the area until the middle of the 1st millennium BC, when its history began to be recorded during the Achaemenid Empire.
2 Achaemenid Rule, ca. 550 BC - 331 BCCenturies: 5th century BC 4th century BC 3rd century BC Decades: 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC Years: 336 BC 335 BC 334 BC 333 BC 332 BC 331 BC 330 BC 329 BC 328 BC 327 BC 326 BC Events October 1 B
The area that is present-day Afghanistan comprised several satrapies (provinces) of the Achaemenid Empire when it was at its most extensive, under Darius the Great (ca. 500 BC). Bactriana , with its capital at BactriaBactria (Bactriana) was the ancient Greek name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush ( Caucasus Indicus) and the Amu Darya (Oxus), with the capital Bactra (now Balkh). To the east, it was bordered by the ancient region of Gandhara in the Indi (which later became BalkhBalkh is now a small town in the Province of Balkh, Afghanistan, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital. Mazar-i-Sharif, and some 46 miles (74 km) south of the Amu Darya, the Oxus River of antiquity, which formerly flowed past Balkh.), was reputedly the home of Zoroaster, who founded the Zoroastrian religion.
By the fourth century B.C., Iranian control of outlying areas and the internal cohesion of the empire had become tenuous. Although outlying areas like Bactriana had always been restless under Achaemenid rule, Bactrian troops nevertheless fought on the Iranian side in the decisive Battle of Gaugamela ( 330 BC). They were defeated by Alexander the Great.
