Timeline of Afghanistan

This is a timeline of Afghanistan, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Afghanistan and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Afghanistan. See also the list of leaders of Afghanistan and the list of years in Afghanistan.

18th century

Year	Date	Event
1709	21 April	Mirwais Hotak, an influential tribal chief, gained independence at Kandahar after a revolution against the Safavid dynasty.
1713		The Safavid army suffered defeat in an invasion of Ghilzai tribal areas between Kandahar and Ghazni.
1715	November	Mirwais Khan died of natural causes. His brother, Abdul Aziz Hotak, inherited the throne.
1722		Battle of Gulnabad: The Afghan army captured and destroyed the Safavid capital of Isfahan. Emir Mahmud Hotaki declared himself Shah of Persia.
1725	22 April	Mahmud was murdered by his cousin Ashraf Hotaki, who succeeded him as shah and emir.
1729	29 September	Battle of Damghan: Mercenary forces, in the employ of the Safavid king Tahmasp II and commanded by Nader Shah, defeated Ashraf, killing him and driving his forces back to Kandahar.
1738		Nader invaded and destroyed Kandahar, and restored the Abdali Pashtuns to political prominence.
1747	19 June	Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Abdali Pashtun confederacy declared the establishment of an independent Afghanistan, with its capital at Kandahar.

19th century

Year	Date	Event
1809		Shuja Shah Durrani signed a treaty of alliance with the United Kingdom.
1826		Dost Mohammad Khan took the throne in Kabul, where he proclaimed himself emir.
1839	March	First Anglo-Afghan War: A British expeditionary force captured Quetta.
	August	First Anglo-Afghan War: Shuja was reinstated to the throne.
1841	November	First Anglo-Afghan War: A mob killed the British envoy to Afghanistan.
1842	January	Massacre of Elphinstone's army: A retreating British force of sixteen thousand was massacred by the Afghans.
1857		Afghanistan declared war on Persia.
		Afghan forces re-captured Herat.
1878	January	Second Anglo-Afghan War: Afghanistan refused a British diplomatic mission, provoking a second Anglo-Afghan war.
1879	May	Second Anglo-Afghan War: To prevent British occupation of a large part of the country, the Afghan government ceded much power to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of Gandamak.
1880	22 July	Abdur Rahman Khan was officially recognized as emir of Afghanistan.
1893	12 November	Abdur Rahman and British Raj representative Mortimer Durand signed an agreement establishing the Durand Line.

20th century

Year	Date	Event
1901	1 October	Habibullah Khan, son of Abdur Rahman, became emir of Afghanistan.
	20 February 1909	Habibullah was assassinated. His son Amanullah Khan declared himself King of Afghanistan.
1919	May	Third Anglo-Afghan War: Amanullah led a surprise attack against the British.
	19 August	Afghan Foreign Minister Mahmud Tarzi negotiated the Treaty of Rawalpindi with the British at Rawalpindi.
1929		Amanullah was forced to abdicate in favor of Habibullah Kalakani in the face of a popular uprising.
		Former General Mohammed Nadir Shah took control of Afghanistan.
1933	8 November	Nadir was assassinated. His son, Mohammed Zahir Shah, was proclaimed King.
1964		A new constitution was ratified which instituted a democratic legislature.
1965	1 January	The Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) held its first congress.
1978	28 April	Saur Revolution: Military units loyal to the PDPA assaulted the Afghan Presidential Palace, killing President Mohammed Daoud Khan and his family.
	1 May	Saur Revolution: The PDPA installed its leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, as President of Afghanistan.
	July	A rebellion against the new Afghan government began with an uprising in Nuristan Province.
	5 December	A treaty was signed which permitted deployment of the Soviet military at the Afghan government's request.
1979	14 September	Taraki was murdered by supporters of Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin.
	24 December	Soviet war in Afghanistan: Fearing the collapse of the Amin regime, the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan.
	27 December	Operation Storm-333: Soviet troops occupied major governmental, military and media buildings in Kabul, including the Tajbeg Palace, and executed Prime Minister Amin.
1988	14 April	Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet government signed the Geneva Accords, which included a timetable for withdrawing their armed forces.
1989	15 February	Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet troops left the country.
1992	24 April	Civil war in Afghanistan (1989-1992): Afghan political parties signed the Peshawar Accord which created the Islamic State of Afghanistan and proclaimed Sibghatullah Mojaddedi its interim President.
		Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami, with the support of neighboring Pakistan, began a massive bombardment against the Islamic State in the capital Kabul.
	28 June	As agreed upon in the Peshawar Accord, Jamiat-e Islami leader Burhanuddin Rabbani took over as President.
1994	August	The Taliban movement began to form in a small village between Lashkar Gah and Kandahar.
1995	January	The Taliban, with Pakistani support, initiated a bombardment campaign against the Islamic State of Afghanistan and its capital Kabul.
1996	26 September	Civil war in Afghanistan (1996-2001): The forces of the Islamic State retreated to northern Afghanistan.
	27 September	Civil war in Afghanistan (1996-2001): The Taliban conquered Kabul and declared the establishment of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Former President Mohammad Najibullah, who had been living under United Nations protection in Kabul, was tortured, castrated and executed by Taliban forces.
1998	August	Civil war in Afghanistan (1996-2001): The Taliban captured Mazar-e Sharif, forcing Abdul Rashid Dostum into exile.
	20 August	Cruise missile strikes on Afghanistan and Sudan (August 1998): Cruise missiles were fired by the United States Navy into four militant training camps in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

21st century

Year	Date	Event
2001	March	The Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan.
	9 September	Resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud was killed in a suicide bomb attack.
	11 September	September 11 attacks: An suicide attack by al-Qaeda killed nearly three thousand in the United States.
	20 September	United States President George W. Bush demanded the Taliban turn over al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden and close all terrorist training camps in the country.
	21 September	The Taliban refused Bush's ultimatum.
	7 October	Operation Enduring Freedom: The United States began an aerial bombing campaign against the Taliban.
2003	14 December	2003 loya jirga: A 502-delegate loya jirga was held to consider a new Afghan constitution.
2004	9 October	Hamid Karzai was elected President.
2005		Taliban insurgency: An insurgency began after a Pakistani decision to station eighty thousand soldiers near the Durand Line.
2006	1 March	Bush visited Afghanistan to inaugurate the renovated United States embassy in Kabul.
2007	13 May	Afghanistan–Pakistan Skirmishes: Skirmishes began with Pakistan.