Other Afghanistan Resources

• Afghanistan Maps

• CIA World Fact Book - Afghanistan

• Department of State Reports on Afghanistan

• Background Note: Afghanistan

• UN Reports on Afghanistan

• Country Analysis Briefs-Afghanistan (Dept. of Energy)

• Drug Situation Report

• FAA Information

Afghanistan - A Country Study

• Afghanistan

• Foreward

• Acknowledgements

• Preface

• Country Profile

  • Country

  • Geography

  • Society

  • Economy

  • Transportation and Communications

  • Government and Politics

  • National Security

  •   Figure 1: Provinces and Capitals, 1985 (Map)

• Introduction

• Chapter 1. Historical Setting

  • The Pre-Islamic Period

    • Achaemenid Rule

    • Alexander and Greek Rule

    • Central Asian and Sassanian Rule

  • Islamic Conquest

    • Ghaznavid and Ghorid Rule

    • Mongol Rule

    • Mughal-Safavid Rivalry

  • Ahmad Shah and the Durrani Empire

    •   Figure 2: Ahmad Shah Durani's Empire, 1762

    •  Successors of Ahmad Shah

    • The Rise of Dost Mohammad and the Beginning of the Great Game

    • Background to the First Anglo-Afghan War 

      •   Figure 3: British and Russian Advances Toward Afghanistan in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

  • The First Anglo-Afghan War

  • The Second Anglo-Afghan War

  • Abdur Rahman Khan 1880-1901

  • Reign of Habibullah, 1901-19

  • Reign of King Amanullah, 1919-29

  • Tajik Rule, January-October 1929

  • King Muhammad Nadir Shah, 1929-33

  • King Muhammad Zahir Shah, 1933-73

    • Zahir Shah and his Uncles, 1933-53

    • The Pashtunistan Issue

    • Crossing Kabul River on inflated cowskins

    • Elderly mujahid holding Enfield rifle, World War 1 vintage

    • Mountains in Lowgar Province

    • Village in Paktia Province Photos courtesy Kurt Lohbeck

    • Early Links with the Soviet Union

    • Experiment with Liberalized Politics

    • Daoud as Prime Minister, 1953-63

    • The King Rules: The Last Decade of Monarchy, 1963-73

  • Daoud's Republic, 1973-78

• Chapter 2.  The Society and Its Environment

  •   Tent-pegging, a popular equestrian sport, especially among Pashtuns

  • The Natural Environment

  •   Figure 4: Topography (Map)

  • Population

  • Religion

    • Tenets of Islam

    • Early Development

    • Sunnis of the Hanafi School

    • Twelver or Imami Shia

    • Ismailis

    • Sufis

    • Meaning and Practice

  • Ethnicity and Tribe

    •   Figure 5. Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan and Adjacent Areas

    • Distribution

    • Interethnic Relations

    • Tribe

  • Family

  • Modes of Subsistence

    • Pastoralism

    • Mixed Subsistence Patterns

    • Agriculture

    • Urban Subsistence Patterns

  • Gender Roles

  • Health

  • Education

  •   Child injured by land mine

  •   Seven-year-old boy who kicked a butterfly mine Photos courtesy Anne Hurd

  • Refugees

    •   Classrooms for refugees in Peshawar Photos courtesy Anne Hurd

  • Warfare and Culture

    •   Nuristani girl in a refugee camp

    •   Young women learning to read in a refugee camp Photos courtesy Anne Hurd

    •   Children in a refugee camp in Pakistan Photos courtesy Anne Hurd

• Chapter 3. The Economy

  •   A Turkmen merchant

  • Growth and Structure of the Economy

  • Role of the Government

  • Banking and Monetary Policy

    • Money Bazaars

    • Prices

  • Infrastructure

    •   Figure 6. Transportation and Gas Fields

    • Railroads

    • Electric Power

    • Labor Force

  • Agriculture

    • Land Use Patterns

    • Crops

    • Developments after 1978

    • Land Tenure and Land Reform

    •   Paying for weapons

    •   Arms cache in Paktia Province; Commander Zamir Khank (far left)

    •   Arms depot

    •   Arms depot Photos courtesy Kurt Lohbeck

    • Livestock

  • Industry

    • Mining

    • Manufacturing

    • Effects of the War

  • Foreign Trade

    • Exports

    • Imports

    • Smuggling

    • Balance of Payments

    • Foreign Exchange Reserves

• Chapter 4. Government and Politics

  •   Mujahidiin on top of a downed Soviet helicopter

  • A Revolution Backfires

    • Evolution of the PDPA as a Political Force

    • Three PDPA Leaders

    • Formation of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

    • The Party Divided, 1967

    • Competition and  Reconciliation,, 1967-77

    • The Soviet Role in the 1978 Coup d'Etat

    • "The Revolution Devours Its Own," May-November 1978

    • Revolution and Popular Resistance 

    • Growing Soviet Involvement

    • The Deepening Crisis

    • Soviet Preparations for Invasion

    • The Soviets and Babrak Karmal

  • The Soviet Occupation

    •   Mujahidiin passing through a village

    •   Mujahidiin gather for an operation

    •   Hashish and opium poppy

    •   Soviet antipersonnel mine Photos courtesy Kurt Lohbeck

    • The Ideological Dimension

    • Long-Term Soviet Aims

    • The Regional Crisis

    • Pakistan and "Proximity Talks"

    • Iran and Afghanistan

    • China and Afghanistan

    • India's Position on the Occupation

  • Political Institutions Under Soviet Domination

    • The Political Role of KHAD

    • The PDPA after the Invasion

    • Factionalism

    •   Figure 7. Party and State Structure, 1985

    • Membership

    • The Succession

    • Government Structure

    • Provincial and District-Level Government

    • The Judicial System and Human Rights

    • The Search for Popular Support

    • The Loya Jirgah

    • The Promotion of "Official" Islam

    • National Minorities

  • Political Bases of the Resistance

    • Islamic Fundamentalists

    • The Traditionalists

    • Ulama or Mawlawi Networks

    • Sufi Networks

    • Tribal Networks

    • Shia Groups

    • Leftists Groups

    • Building Resistance Unity

  • Chapter 5. National Security

    •   Mujahid at prayer; at left, an antiaircraft gun

    • Background

    • The Coup of 1973

    • Politicization of the Officer Corps

    • 1978 Revolution

    • The Armed Forces After the PDPA Takeover

    • The Soviet Invasion

    • Reorganization and consolidation of the Soviet Forces

    • Offensives, 1980-81

    • Soviet Occupation Phase II, 1982-85

      • Helicopters

      • Fighter-Bombers

      • Air Bases

      • Chemical Warfare

      • New Soviet Weapons

    • Combat Activity, 1984-85

      • Kabul

      •   Mujahid repairing machine gun; local commander Abdul Haq looks on

      •   Father, son, grandson - mujahidiin

      •   Mujahidiin outside caves used as shelters

      •   Positioning BM-12 rocket launcher near Kabul Photos courtesy Kurt Lohbeck

      • Panjsher Valley

      • Pakistan Border Area

      • Southern Afghanistan: Qandahar

      • Western Afghanistan: Herat

    • The Afghan Armed Forces, 1985

      • Command and Control

      • Army Manpower, Organization, and Equipment

      • The Air Force

    • Internal Security

      • KHAD's Activities in the Mid-1980's

      • KHAD and Torture

      • The Sarandoy

      • Other Security Forces

    • Resistance Forces

      • Military Role of the Emigre Parties

        • Traditionalists

        • Islamic Fundamentalists

        • Strategies and Tactics

  • Appendix: Tables

  • Bibliography

  • Glossary