C
overing an area of 647,000 square kilometers, Afghanistan is approximately double the size of Germany.
The Northeast is characterized by its very high mountains. They reach altitudes of up to 7,485 metres. The fertile valleys
are fed by the waters of the mighty Amu (once called Oxus) and Hilmand rivers. Afghanistans borders touch China, Pakistan
(once part of India), Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tadjikistan.
The variety of climatic conditions has led to the development of an unusually rich animal world. In the mountains,
enormous eagles wheel high in the air. This area, where the snowfields are permanent, is also the domain of Marco Polo
mountain goats, snow leopards and yaks, strong domesticated cattle. Yet, only 200 kilometres away, there are areas of eternal
spring ,or summer conditions in which palm trees and tropical fruits can grow.
The extensive areas of desert developed primarily as a result of destruction wreaked by ruthless conquerors
such as Genghis Khan or Tamerlane. But when the desert begins to bloom in spring and poppies cover it like a scarlet carpet,
there is a sense of reconciliation with the past. Ther poppies grow most densely in the area around the holy city of Masar-e-Sharif.
Afghanistan has strong ties in historical and linguistic terms with Persian-speaking countries such as Iran
and Tadjikistan. But development was also influenced strongly by many other peoples. The Uzbeks, Turkomen, Mongols (Hasara)
and Turko-Mongols who all migrated originally from China left a strong mark on the country. Pashtun, Beluchi, Kirghiz, Panjshir,
Nurestani and Indian minorities completed the colorful picture of this Central Asian land.
At that time the country was called Aryana. This means "land of the noble". The word Iran also derives from
Arya. Iran, Samarkand, Bokhara, Gandhara, India and Afghanistan have much in common in history over long periods of time.
For 800 years the Persian language was the official one in India and this is still the case in Tadjiskistan, Afghanistan and
Pashtu. It is thought that the Aryans in other words the Indo-Germans set off in two directions: some to India, and others
to Persia, Greece, Italy and Europe.
The Persians returned to Afghanistan in around 500 AD. Their rulers were known as the Achaemenides. The Greeks
under Alexander the Great from Macedonia pushed their way into Afghanistan in 332 BC. In Balkh (or Bactria), Alexander the
Great married Rochsana (Roxana), the daughter of Darius III, who had fled there. It is said that Kandahar bears Alexanders
name.
The city of Kandahar was the capital of Afghanistan before Kabul became the seat of government.
Greek governors ruled Afghanistan for around four centuries. Seleukus had to cede the area between Kandahar
and Kabul to the Masurya dynasty. Their most well-known king was Ashoka, who propagated Buddhism in Afghanistan.
From the middle of the First Century AD, the Kushan took power, They were nomads, who crossed the river Amu
in the course of their migration. After seizing power, they adopted the Greek language and style of government. The area controlled
by them stretched from the Gobi desert to the Ganges river in India. Their greatest king was Kanishka, who converted to Buddhism
in the meantime. It was he, who during his rule had the largest Buddha statue (Bott-Bodd) erected.
From the 4th to the middle of the 7th century, before the Arabs came, the Yaftaleee
ruled. Like their predecessors, this was a nomad tribe which attacked Afghanistan from the north.
1227-1365 After the death of Genghis Khan, the lions share of the Afghan provinces the Khanat was taken over
by his second son.
1381-1526 Tamerlane invaded Afghanistan and spread terror as widely as Genghis Khan had done before him.
A legacy of continuing catastrophe was the destruction during this period of the irrigation canal system. This led to fertile
land in the south becoming saturated with salt and to the growth of steppe. Only under his successors, the Timorid, was the
country able to recover. Under their rule Herat flowered as a city.
