Modern States of Persia and Afghanistan: Map & History

The Mughal power in northern India had been declining since the reign of Aurangzeb, who died in 1707; In 1751–52, Ahamdiya treaty was signed between the Marathas and Mughals, when Balaji Bajirao was the Peshwa. Through this treaty, the Marathas controlled virtually the whole of India from their capital at Pune and Mughal rule was restricted only to Delhi (the Mughals remained the nominal heads of Delhi). Marathas were now straining to expand their area of control towards the northwest of India. Ahmad Shah sacked the Mughal capital and withdrew with the booty he coveted. To counter the Afghans, Peshwa Balaji Bajirao sent Raghunathrao. He defeated the Rohillas and Afghan garrisons in Punjab and succeeded in ousting Timur Shah and his court from India and brought Lahore, Multan, Kashmir and other subahs on the Indian side of Attock under Maratha rule.

From Wikipedia: Durrani dynasty · History: Rise (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1878, Reza Khan was born at the village of Alasht in Savadkuh County, Mazandaran Province. His parents were Abbas Ali Khan and Noushafarin Ayromlou. His mother was a Muslim immigrant from Georgia (then part of the Russian Empire) whose family had emigrated to mainland Qajar Iran after Iran was forced to cede all of its territories in the Caucasus following the Russo-Persian Wars several decades prior to Reza's birth. His father was a Mazandarani, commissioned in the 7th Savadkuh Regiment, and served in the Anglo-Persian War in 1856.

From Wikipedia: Pahlavi dynasty · Family background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The country was made up of various ethnic groups such as the Pashtuns, Hazaras, and many others.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Afghanistan · Demographics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Like the past and present-day Afghanistan, the economy relied greatly on agriculture and mining.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Afghanistan · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

King Zahir Shah's cousin, Daoud Khan, signed a $3 million arms deal with the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and a 32.5 million arms deal with the Soviet Union in 1956. The deal gave the Afghan military imported T-34 tanks and MiG-17 jet fighters. A quarter to third of all Afghan officers had trained in the Soviet Union by 1973. It was also under the Kingdom of Afghanistan where the Afghan Commando Forces were formed as the Afghan Army's first special formations, notably the 242nd Parachute Battalion in 1965 and later, the 444th and the 455th Battalion in 1966 and 1973. All these battalions had airborne capabilities.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Afghanistan · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After General Daoud's 1973 establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, members of the People's Democratic Party (PDPA) were given positions in the government. In 1976, President Daoud established a seven-year economic plan for the country. He started military training programs with India and Egypt, commenced economic development talks with Iran. Daoud also turned his attention to oil rich Middle Eastern nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait among others for financial assistance.

From Wikipedia: Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) · History: Rise of communism (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the 1975 Panjshir Valley uprising, a failed Iranian–Pakistani (SAVAK and the ISI) backed rebellion which sought to oust the Republican government using Jamiat-e Islami, Daoud realised a friendlier Pakistan was in his best interests, therefore he was in support of resolving the border dispute with Pakistan and balancing Afghanistan's ties with the Soviet Union by expanding relations with the West and reaching out to Muslim nations such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Egypt and others for financial assistance.

From Wikipedia: Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) · Politics: Amelioration of Afghan–Pakistani relations (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A few days after the coup, the former Royal Afghan Army under Zahir Shah was now being referred to as the Afghan Republican Army under Daoud Khan in The Kabul Times newspaper.

From Wikipedia: Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Daoud Khan heavily focused on education and women's rights during his reign. His government opened many schools and by the time of the Saur Revolution, 1 million Afghan students were enrolled in school, many whom were girls.

From Wikipedia: Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978) · Education (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In its roots, the Arabic word mujahideen refers to any person performing jihad. In its post-classical meaning, jihad refers to an act that is spiritually comparable in reward to promoting Islam during the early 600s CE. These acts could be as simple as sharing a considerable amount of one's income with the poor.

From Wikipedia: Mujahideen · Early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Arguably the best-known mujahideen outside the Islamic world are the various, loosely aligned Afghan opposition groups who initially rebelled against the government of the pro-Soviet Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) during the late 1970s. At the DRA's request, the Soviet Union brought forces into the country to aid the government in 1979. The mujahideen fought against Soviet and DRA troops during the Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989). Afghanistan's resistance movement originated in chaos and, at first, regional warlords waged virtually all of its fighting locally. As warfare became more sophisticated, outside support and regional coordination grew.

From Wikipedia: Mujahideen · Cold War era: Afghanistan (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the Soviet Union intervened and occupied Afghanistan in 1979, Islamic mujahideen fighters waged a war against Soviet forces. During the Soviet–Afghan War, nearly all of the Taliban's original leaders had fought for either the Hezb-i Islami Khalis or the Harakat-i Inqilab-e Islami factions of the Mujahideen.

From Wikipedia: Taliban · Background: Soviet intervention in Afghanistan (1978–1992) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Until his death in 2013, Mullah Omar was the supreme commander of the Taliban. Mullah Akhtar Mansour was elected as his replacement in 2015, and following Mansour's killing in a May 2016 US drone strike, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada became the group's leader.

From Wikipedia: Taliban · Leadership and organization: Overview (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Kabul money markets responded positively during the first weeks of the Taliban occupation (1996). But the Afghani soon fell in value. They imposed a 50% tax on any company operating in the country, and those who failed to pay were attacked. They also imposed a 6% import tax on anything brought into the country, and by 1998 had control of the major airports and border crossings which allowed them to establish a monopoly on all trade. By 2001, the per capita income of the 25 million population was under $200, and the country was close to total economic collapse. As of 2007 the economy had begun to recover, with estimated foreign reserves of three billion dollars and a 13% increase in economic growth.

From Wikipedia: Taliban · Economic activities (CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to a 55-page report by the United Nations, the Taliban, while trying to consolidate control over northern and western Afghanistan, committed systematic massacres against civilians. UN officials stated that there had been "15 massacres" between 1996 and 2001. They also said, that "hese have been highly systematic and they all lead back to the [Taliban] Ministry of Defense or to Mullah Omar himself." "These are the same type of war crimes as were committed in Bosnia and should be prosecuted in international courts", one UN official was quoted as saying. The documents also reveal the role of Arab and Pakistani support troops in these killings. Bin Laden's so-called 055 Brigade was responsible for mass-killings of Afghan civilians.

From Wikipedia: Taliban · Condemned practices: Massacre campaigns (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In September 2021, the government ordered primary schools to reopen for both sexes and announced plans to reopen secondary schools for male students, without committing to do the same for female students. While the Taliban stated that female college students would be able to resume higher education, provided that they were segregated from male students (and professors, when possible), The Guardian noted that failing to reopen high schools for girls could prevent women from being eligible for admission in higher education, thus rendering the Taliban government's pledge meaningless. Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani said that female university students would be required to observe a proper hijab, but did not specify whether this required covering the face.

From Wikipedia: Taliban · History: Current education policy (CC BY-SA 4.0)