What Country was Afghanistan before Afghanistan?

Answer 1

A country is a nation, and Afghanistan predates nations as a place of settlement by about 50,000 years. At least people have been known to live there for about that long. In fact, Afghanistan is thought to be one of the oldest permanent settlement sights known, possibly predating Egypt and Mesopotamia.

The political history of Afganistan is varied, beginning around 550 BCE with the First Persian Empire under which the disparate tribes from India to modern Greece, and as far south as Egypt were unified. This continued in 336 BCE under the Macedonian Empire, ruled by Alexander. In 322 BCE, with the death of Alexander, the territory passed to the Maurya Empire of India and this lasted until around 185 BCE. The Mauryan's bumped up against the rising Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, who took over a large part of the Afghan territory after 180 BCE. For the next 1800 years, Afghanistan and portions of it were passed among many different kingdoms and empires. Among these were the Kushans, Sasanians, Hephthalites, Kabul Shahi, Islamic Empires, Saffarid Dynasty, Samanid Empire, Gaznavids, Ghurids, Kartids, Timurids, Mughals, Hotaki Dynasty, and the Durrani Dynasty.

The Hotaki and Durrani Dynasties mark the beginning of the modern Afghan state with the rise of the Pashtun in 1709. After the Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah began to westernize the government, but his efforts failed because of pressure from Islamic conservatives. During the Cold War, Afghanistan was a buffer between much of the confflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The 1979 Soviet invasion and war with the (partially) US backed Mujahideen (direct lineage of the Taliban), the current war in Afghanistan, and the shaky nature of their government is a direct result of the "political" involvement of the US and Soviet Union in the area post WW2.

Answer 2

Ariana - Land of the Aryans.