Afghanistan Timeline

1747 Ahmed Shah Durrani Consolidates Power at Kandahar
Ahmed Shah Durrani, the founder of the Durrani Empire and the modern state of Afghanistan, established his rule in 1747 at Kandahar. Ahmad Shah, a Pashtun from the Abdali clan, was electe...
1838
to 1842
The First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo–Afghan War lasted from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia be...
1839 Jul 23 The Battle of Ghuznee
The Battle of Ghuznee took place in city of Ghazni in central Afghanistan on July 23, 1839 during the First Anglo-Afghan War. By the 1830s the British Indian Empire stretched to the bo...
1878
to 1880
The Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War refers to a war between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan that lasted from 1878 to 1880. After tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the ...
1880 Jul 27 The Battle of Maiwand
The Battle of Maiwand was one of the principal battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The battle ended in defeat for the British Army and victory for the Afghan followers of Ayub Khan. T...
1919 Feb 20
to 1929 Jan 14
 Reign of Amanullah Khan over the Emirate of Afghanistan
Amanullah Khan (June 1, 1892 – April 25, 1960) was the ruler of the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1919 to 1929, first as Amir and after 1926 as Shah. He led Afghanistan to independence over...
1919 May 6
to 1919 Aug 8
 The Third Anglo-Afghan War
The Third Anglo-Afghan War (also referred to as the Third Afghan War) began on 6 May 1919 and ended with an armistice on 8 August 1919. Whilst it was essentially a minor tactical victory ...
1919 Aug 19 Afghanistan Gains Independence from the United Kingdom
Afghan Independence Day is celebrated in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Treaty of Rawalpindi in 1919. The treaty granted independence from Britain; although Afghanistan was n...
1929 Jan Conservative Afghan Elements Deopse Amanullah Khan, Habibullah Ghazi Installed as King
By 1928, Amanullah Khan had returned from Europe and brought with him vast social and cultural changes. This act, as well as pictures of the Queen of Afghanistan in western attire—without...
1929 Oct 13 Habibullah Ghazi Overthrown as Emir of Afghanistan, Executed
After overthrowing Amanullah Khan, Habibullah Ghazi's first order was to change the newly allowed western attire back to traditional clothing and to remove all the flowers from the presid...
1929 Oct 15 Mohammed Nadir Khan Assumes the Title of King of Afghanistan
Shortly after a rebellion by Pashtun tribesmen and forces of Habibullah Kalakani began against the monarchy, Mohammad Nadir was exiled due to disagreements with King Amanullah. After the ...
1933 Nov 8 Mohammad Nadir Shah Assassinated, Mohammad Zahir Shah Ascends to the Throne
On November 8, 1933 while distributing awards to high school graduates at Bala-e-sar, the King was shot dead by a teenager named Abdul Khaliq Hazara. The assassination plot was hatched by...
1933 Nov 8
to 1973 Jul 17
 Reign of Mohammad Zahir Shah over the Kingdom of Afghanistan
Zahir Khan was proclaimed King (Shah) on 8 November 1933, after the assassination of his father Mohammed Nadir Shah. Following his ascension to the throne he was given the regnal title "c...
1973 Jul 17 Mohammed Daoud Khan Seizes Power in a Bloodless Coup, Declares Himself President
On July 17, 1973, Mohammed Daoud Khan seized power from his cousin (and brother-in-law) King Zahir with the assistance of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (the Parcham party w...
1978 Apr 17 Mir Akbar Khyber Is Assassinated
In 1978 a prominent member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), Mir Akbar Khyber (or “Kaibar”), was killed by the government. The leaders of PDPA apparently feared that...
1978 Apr 27 The Saur Revolution: The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan Siezes Power
The Saur Revolution is the name given to the Communist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan takeover of political power in Afghanistan on 27 April 1978. It is said that this movement ...
1995 Nov 13 National Guard Bombing
On November 13, 1995 in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Telateen Street a car-bomb exploded. It was close to where the U.S. Army and the Vinnell Corporation were training the Saudi Natio...
1998 May 30 Afghanistan Earthquake of May 1998
The magnitude of the earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter scale. This was the second large earthquake in the area in 1998 after another earthquake on February 4. Approximately 4,000-4,500 pe...
2001 Oct 7 United States Invades Afghanistan
President George Bush and Tony Blair yesterday warned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the starkest terms that preparations for the war against them were complete and attacks could be...
2009 Jun 30 United States Soldier Pfc. Bowe R. Bergdahl Captured by the Taliban
(CNN) -- A United States soldier captured by the Taliban says in a video posted on the Internet he is "scared I won't be able to go home." The soldier was identified Sunday by the Pen...
2009 Nov 2 Hamid Karzai is Declared Winner of Afghan Presidential Election Without Run-off Vote
We regret the decision by Afghanistan’s opposition leader, Abdullah Abdullah, to withdraw from this week’s runoff election for the presidency. After President Hamid Karzai’s supporters tr...
2009 Dec 1 President Obama Announces 30,000-Troop Surge in Afghanistan After Months of Deliberation
President Obama has made a necessary, mature national security decision on Afghanistan – a state of affairs that he seems embarrassed about. Philosophically, Obama’s West Point speech ...
2010 May 17 Pamir Airways Flight 112 Crash
Wails of sadness echoed across a snowcapped mountaintop Tuesday as relatives grieved over 44 people aboard a passenger plane that crashed into a northern Afghan range a day earlier. Go...
2010 Jul 25 WikiLeaks Publishes the Afghan War Diary
The Afghanistan war logs series of reports on the war in Afghanistan published by the Guardian is based on the US military's internal logs of the conflict between January 2004 and Decembe...
2010 Dec 13 Richard Holbrooke Dies
Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani...
2011 Aug 6 31 Americans Killed in Helicopter Crash
A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 31 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Lad...
2011 Oct 29 Suicide Attack Kills 13 US Soldiers
A heavy explosion rocked Darul-Amman area of capital Kabul early Saturday. The incident took place after a suicide bomber detonated his explosives near a foreign troops convoy on Darul A...